DTV Ready? Says Who?

"I don't think the trickle-down effect (from DTV) has totally hit yet." reports Alex Riordan, a freelance sound engineer in Chicago who has worked on the "Understanding..." series for Cronkite Ward Productions on The Learning Channel, PBS specials, commercials and an upcoming feature, "Serious Business," "But we have seen some demand for MS Stereo from NBC and other quality producers."

Alex also reported that Bill Curtis's "New Explorers" series is recording digital MS Stereo.

Riding the longest economic boom time since the '60's, consumer electronics manufacturers supported by new FCC mandates are working feverishly to get the new digital standards out to consumers who seem ready to buy, but what are the field recording engineers buying in anticipation?

"One thing's for sure," notes Riordan, "Digital audio is the way to go." Riordan has equipped himself with two Portadat machines from HHB, which he chose in response to producer's demand for DAT field recording on TV commercials.

Darrell Henke also saw the trend to DAT early enough to get a good price on his analog equipment, "I sold my timecode Nagra 4STC analog deck for about $7,000. My timing was good, because HHB had just come out with the Portadat with timecode and accessories for about that amount. My friends thought I was being hasty, but honestly, I've never had a request for the analog when the DAT was offered."

Henke, whose work on "Walker" takes him everywhere from 110 degree desert to snow drifted mountains and "a lot of bouncing in the back of a dusty pickup truck, shooting about 12 pages a day," wanted a sound recording medium that didn't need a backup tape. He chose the HHB DAT machine because, "it had a reputation for never failing, and I haven't lost a byte yet."

"I'm seeing an increase in double-system DAT recording," says Riordan, who divides his work between video and film assignments, "When a producer wants the very best audio for video, they will spend the extra bucks for a good DAT with SMPTE synch. I own two HHB Portadats for this purpose and they've proved to be the most economical SMPTE capable decks on the market."
Both sound men tend to use the same microphones in DAT work that they trusted in their analog days. "I go with a Neumann KMR 81 or 82 for exterior shotgun work," says Henke, "And a Schoepes MK41 super cardiod for interiors." Riordan emphasizes that the mixers must also be top quality, "Shure or Cooper," while Henke prefers a heavily modified Interface 200B with his own limiter, packed so, "Everything fits as if it's one package, easy to carry up a mountain."

When asked what changes they are making in the field in anticipation of DTV demands, both soundmen point to the postproduction department.

Henke details, "Most producers just want me to give them a great mono track. I'll do a stereo recording if we have, say, two people on horses talking to each other. For that I'll run two Electrosonic VHF band radio mikes and record to separate tracks on my Portadat, but that's not responding to a DTV demand. That's just getting two good mono tracks. I think the DTV audio revolution is going to happen in the post house long before it gets to the field."

Riordan agrees, but has had more experience in recording in MS Stereo. MS or Mid-Side stereo is a method of recording that allows the post house to adjust the apparent distance of the audio sources. "For MS Stereo I mount two mikes in the center of the action. One, a Sennheiser MKH 50 directional, the other an MKH 30 bidirectional. Each gets recorded on its own track and in the post house, they run them through a matrix system that allows for adjustment of the stereo effect."

Riordan uses the onboard decoder in his mixer to monitor the stereo signal in the field, before recording on his HHB Portadat. "The Portadat is ideal for both single track and MS stereo recording. It's quick to roll, features all time code formats and features confidence monitoring."

Henke thanks his Portadat for eliminating the time wasted changing tapes. "No threading, no rewinding. I use 34 minute Maxell cassettes which best matches the film loads we use, which is 16mm, shot in HD format."

Remote work takes careful battery planning as well, "The Portadat uses 12 D-cells which will last for five to six days - a production week, but I keep two gell cells on my cart as well, one for the DAT and one for the phone and mixer. Generally, I can't afford to take chances with anything on a show like this. It's eight months solid work each year and there's no room for down time."

At the end of each season, before he moves into his hiatus period of commercials and industrials, Henke sends his DAT machine off for a full servicing at the factory.

Looking to the future, both soundmen mentioned the new Diva (MANUFACTURER?) recorder that employs direct-to-hard drive digital recording and random access. "The new Nagra four track digital looks impressive," says Riordan, "But if we had it in the field, what post house could handle it?"

Henke agrees, "They're using the Diva on really big shows, but frankly, I can still use my Sony consumer DAT for backup and I think the we're all going to be waiting a while still to see if DTV makes any demands on us in the field. I think the post houses will make the first steps."

While there doesn't appear to be a noticable trend in the field toward gearing up to DTV, there is a strong trend to the higher quality afforded by digital recording and computer-enhanced post production techniques. In a time of uncertainty, underscored by a promise of great things to come, most practitioners seem to be doing their best to keep informed, make conservative decisions and satisfy the quality demands of their clients.