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MillimeterDigital Blue
Jan 1, 2003 12:00 PM, by Michael Goldman
Production mixer Joe Kenworthy has worked on NYPD Blue for nine of its 10 seasons, and he has spent much of that time testing various recording formats, promoting the notion that the show's audio should eventually move beyond analog media. Only in the last year, however, did he finally convince producers — when he presented them with the option of recording direct to DVD-RAM.
“Over the years, their big issue was always this feeling that the warmth of the sound wasn't quite the same during tests with other formats, including DAT,” says Kenworthy. “So, for years, we just stayed with Nagra analog tape. This year, though, we tested the Fostex DV40 (DVD-RAM master recorder), and we all agreed the recordings were as warm as what we were doing before, with advantages for post, so we made the switch.”
Kenworthy and Pete Elia, the show's re-recording dialogue mixer at Westwind Media, Burbank, both believe NYPD Blue is the first episodic TV drama to switch to recording audio onto DVD.
For now, both men strongly insist, as Kenworthy says, “this is the best medium to record audio for episodic work. We tested hard-drive systems, but feel this approach was the more efficient way to go, without sacrificing quality — the sound quality was not as warm and consistent with the hard-drive systems we tested.”
Kenworthy and Elia point out that one of the main advantages of the system is that it speeds things up in post by keeping audio on an all-digital path from start to finish. But Kenworthy adds there are also advantages at the front end — during the production-recording phase. The DV40 permits him to record four tracks of audio on set, rather than the two tracks to which the production was previously limited. “That makes me more flexible in gathering material to offer the dubbing mixers,” he says.
Kenworthy added that, at press time, he was just “a short time away” from switching to the next generation of the Fostex box — the PD-6, which is designed to be a smaller, lighter version of the DV40, suitable for location work.
“The PD-6 is battery powered, so we can take it just about anywhere,” says Kenworthy. “We're beta testing it now, and I expect to start using it before the current season ends.”
In either case, Elia and his colleagues at Westwind are now receiving production audio they can bring directly into their digital editing system and begin editing without generational loss, and they can do it more quickly and efficiently, according to Elia.
“The big thing for me, as the re-recording mixer, is that I get a digital file from the beginning, and all our digital editing machines can take those files and begin work, with less transfer time,” says Elia. “We are using a first-generation signal all the way through the chain, which keeps quality high, and it's quicker, with no conversions involved.”
On the quality side, Elia says he has a greater ability to brighten dialogue than he did in the past, thanks to the all-digital path.
“Without the transfers, we don't lose little details,” he explains. “In the past, there were times when I would try to brighten a line, and I would EQ it, and there was nothing there — the frequency range of the signal no longer existed from what they originally captured on set. Now, when the files come to me, it's the same frequency range as what was originally captured — it's been preserved. So, if I hit the EQ button, I can push that signal more than I could in the past.”
On the financial side, Elia suggests the all-digital approach has the potential to provide great savings for producers.
“It used to take a guy about one or two days to load all the material they captured on set for us, working a night shift, before we could get to work on the episode,” says Elia. “Now, it takes a half shift, or less. Ultimately, we might not be offering producers contracts that are cheaper up front, but overall, they can save money because there will be less overtime involved for the editor.”
