I have been in film and tv production sound for over 30 yrs. and
although I've use DATs and 8trk. hard disk exclusively for several
years, I have often used MD as a backup on smaller projects. I have
used them with no failures to date for both recording and set
playback. I do place SMPTE Time Code on one trk. and a program mix on
the other. Since the vast majority of camera setups involve the use
of a single boom mic, generally single track is OK. I have never
personally had a situation where the back up was needed but do know
of it being used on other shows with perfectly acceptable results-
the backup being certainly better than no track at all! Don't forget
two things: 1) the final product will have music, snd. effects etc.
mixed in and by the time all is said and done virtually any recording
medium will work. 2) Few if any speaker systems use in film
reproduction (much less the listeners who hear this stuff) would ever
be able to tell the difference between recordings made with the
current 16/24 bit prof. recorders digital we use and a MD recording.
Most people even with well trained hearing, need headphones to really
ear the difference and it has to be a pristine music track at that.
This is especially true in the freq. range of the human voice that we
dialog mixers work with.
Most of the arguments I've heard regarding MD are purely academic and
serve no useful purpose in the real (or reel) world. It really all
gets down to MIC PLACEMENT in the end. As far as "sounding like shit
that..." the original post referred to, that is utter nonsense. A
well mic'd shot using the proper mic for that particular set-up will
sound just great. Granted MD is not going to sound as good as a
96/128k/48bit professional unit but it is an excellent recording
medium for anyone making a film on a tight budget or where getting an
HHB or Fostek portable time code DAT unit is not feasible. And MD is
a excellent choice for radio broadcast. Again, I can't stress enough
that mic choice and placement are the absolute paramount (no pun
intended) concerns for production sound recording. With millions of
$$$ of the best recording equipment in the world, your tracks will
still sound like shit if the mic is in the wrong place!
I hope this helps in your choice.
Cheers,
DK
-----------------------------------------------------------------
To stop getting this list send a message containing just the word
"unsubscribe" to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
