For Release: July 30, 2012
Top Mixers Address Digital Audio Cinema Techniques, Formats & Standards
SAN FRANCISCO: The 133rd AES Convention will introduce a dedicated Sound For Pictures Track. Featuring award-winning presenters focused on key technical and creative issues related to digital audio production for feature films and TV, the Track is co-chaired by leading sound mixer/producer Brian McCarty (The Big Lebowski, Dick Tracy, As Good As It Gets) and by Steve Martz, Sr. Design Engineer, THX Ltd. Key issues to be addressed by the Sound For Pictures Track include: Post Production Techniques, Standards and Multi-Channel Formats for Digital Cinema.
“The AES is the leading forum for audio for film and TV sound,” McCarty says. “Top sound mixers have been attending the Convention for years to exchange ideas and information and kick the tires on new technology. Early this year we formed a Technical Committee on Sound for Digital Cinema & TV. Our objective is to adopt a consistent approach for Digital Cinema sound installations, and contemporary digital dubbing stage recording and mixing activities worldwide. Based on the initial reception to this Committee, Executive Director Bob Moses felt it was time to develop a formal AES Convention Track for this increasingly important field,” McCarty adds.
SATURDAY, Oct. 27, AES Sound For Picture Track Presentations Include:
POST PRODUCTION AUDIO TECHNIQUES FOR DIGITAL CINEMA & ANCILLARY MARKETS: Chair, Brian McCarty, managing director, Coral Sea Studios, Australia; Panel, Lon Bender, Oscar-winning, effects designer & mixer, Soundelux, LA; Brian Vessa, leading sound mixer, Sony Pictures, LA; Jason LaRocca, Emmy-nominated independent mixer. As the film industry rapidly moves towards full-bandwidth, multi-channel discrete formats for audio distribution, post-production techniques to provide high-quality audio continue to evolve. This workshop will address technical and creative changes being implemented to accommodate this shift.
RECONSIDERING STANDARDS FOR CINEMA SOUND - ALTERNATIVES TO ISO 2969: Chair, Brian McCarty; Floyd Toole, pioneering acoustical consultant / retired corporate VP, Harman Research; Keith Holland, University of Southampton, UK. For over eighty years ISO 2969 (aka SMPTE S202) has been a cornerstone of the audio reproduction "B-Chain." Like the RIAA curve, it was originally implemented to compensate for defects in the delivery medium. This panel will examine the implications for these standards and the B-Chain as film rapidly shifts to Digital Cinema delivery, with, for the first time, full bandwidth soundtracks.
NEW MULTI-CHANNEL FORMATS FOR 3D CINEMA AND HOME THEATER: Co-Chairs, Christof Faller, Illusonic GmbH, Brian McCarty, Chair, AES TC-SDCTV; Erno Langendijk, Philips; Wilfried Van Baelen, Auro-3D, Belgium; TBD, Dolby Laboratories, SF; Kimio Hamasaki, NHK, Japan; Jeff Levison, Iosono, Germany; Stefano Lacaito, Imm Sound, Spain. Several new digital cinema formats are under active consideration for cinema soundtrack production. Each was developed to create realistic sound "motion" in parallel with 3D pictures. This workshop presents a rare opportunity for the proponents of these leading systems to discuss their specific technologies.
“We have developed an extremely diverse and comprehensive Sound For Pictures Track,” Brian McCarty says. “Our Workshop participants are all outstanding leaders in their fields. The ‘New Multi-Formats For 3D Cinema’ panel is a particularly newsworthy event. Gathering developers of competitive systems together for a high level, working dialogue is a major coup which may have important ramifications for film exhibitors.”
Sound For Pictures Track Co-Chair Steve Martz points to three related events, which will be of particular interest to Sound For Pictures Track attendees. “Academy Award-winner Ioan Allen, Sr. VP at Dolby Laboratories, will illustrate innovative audio mixing and editing techniques in his Historical Events presentation, The Egg Show: A Demonstration of the Artistic Uses of Sound on Film."
“And,” Martz adds, “Two concurrent Technical Tours should not be missed. Roger Wiersema is coordinating a tour of the Polarity Post production complex, and Dave Nelson is hosting a concurrent tour of Outpost Studios. As both these facilities are located in the same building in SF’s popular Embarcadero District, participants will be able to attend both. This Convention promises to make a deep impact on industry thinking about sound for Digital Cinema,” Martz concludes.
The 133rd AES Convention will be held October 26-29 at SF’s Moscone Center. For details please visit www.aes.org.
Photo: AES Convention, Sound For Pictures Track Co-Chair, Brian McCarty.
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The Audio Engineering Society was formed in 1948 by a group of concerned audio engineers. The AES counts over 14,000 members throughout the U.S., Latin America, Europe, Japan and the Far East. The organization serves as the pivotal force in the exchange and dissemination of technical information for the industry. For additional information visit http://www.aes.org
