Help making a Beta SP tape

musman wrote on 1/7/2004, 1:10 AM

Need to make a new copy of my movie onto Beta SP for a festival showing. However, in making my copies on VHS and DVD I have run into some audio issues.
My short has a track of a projector noise that I added to help simulate the feel of a silent era film. On DVD it sounds great and pretty much like it does on preview in Vegas. But, on VHS the projector sound is much lower and I have to kick it up 1 db to make it sound as it should.
My question is, for the Beta taping, should I give the people who'll transfer it from my dv tape a copy with the regular projector audio or the version with +1 db? Don't know if this is a common analog to digital issue or just a problem with my equipment.
I'm leaning towards the regular projector audio, but appreciate any thoughts or advice. Thanks ahead for any help!

Comments

farss wrote on 1/7/2004, 3:26 AM

musman,
um, I hope that was a typo, 1 dB is an inaudible difference!

What does the sound meter at in Vegas?
If it looks between the -10 and 0 mark I wouldn't be pushing it any higher. Just put tone and bars at the beginning of the tape.

Problem with all of this is they'll probably do the right thing, set their gear off you tone and your levels should endup exactly the same on the SP tape as they were on the DV tape EXCEPT when it gets to the festival they'll do what they like with it.

One thing to take into account is the festival venue. Here in Sydney we have Tropfest. Main venue is a huge park with about 100,000 people crammed in plus it 's relayed to pubs etc. I wouldn't be going for any subtle audio in that environment if you get what I mean.
If it's in a cinema where you hope the audience will keep quiet is a different matter.

BTW it isn't hard to xfer to SP yourself. It maybe cheaper to hire a machine. SP tape isn't cheap though.

musman wrote on 1/7/2004, 11:53 AM

Thanks for the help, I appreciate it. From what I thought I learned in a recording studio, 2 db should be the minimum that a human ear can detect. What I changed is the track volume in Vegas for the projector and going + 1 db from 0 definitely does make a difference. Tried +2.9 db and that was overwhelming. So, I don'tunderstand, but just play with it until it sounds right.
That sounds like a fun festival y'all have. Love to check it out, but unless they play for my trip, it doesn't seem likely. My showning is definitely a drinking crowd, but I'm just going to leave the projector track alone and bet it's an issue with my equipment when I make a VHS.
Thanks for your help!