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Author Topic: keeping moniter on high volume Bill Langfield Master Film Handler Posts: 280 From: Prospect, NSW, Australia Registered: Apr 2001 posted 01-28-2003 10:49 AM                        About 15 years ago I worked for cool a company called GUO. They had some magic device that set off an alarm in bio if there was no sound output on a screen after about 60 seconds. A device similar to what networked radio stations use when they get 'dead air' I'd love about 16 of those - But ones that put the Ex off the air. Bill.  |  IP: Logged Brad Miller Administrator Posts: 17775 From: Plano, TX (36.2 miles NW of Rockwall) Registered: May 99 posted 01-28-2003 12:23 PM                     Bill, when posting back to back...  |  IP: Logged Jesse Skeen Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1517 From: Sacramento, CA Registered: Aug 2000 posted 01-28-2003 01:39 PM                     Geezus, did the guy I worked with get transferred to Texas? That makes about as much sense as having the lens turrets always go to Flat in between shows so the big anamorphic lenses won't bang against the side of the projectors Why are there so many people in this business who don't know what the hell they're doing??? My rule is- keep the monitors up during the trailers, then if I've seen the movie I'll keep it up loud enough to hear while going by, otherwise I'll keep it down since I don't want to spoil any part of the movie when I finally get to watch it (of course if there's any technical problems, you sometimes have to keep it turned up no matter what.) I keep it set on the center channel only too for my own strange reasons, though that's ended up helping me spot some problems with channel separation (trailers in digital usually have only dialogue in the center, no music.) If they wanted to drown out noise from the booth in the auditorium, wouldn't it make more sense to turn the main volume up? (That doesn't make much sense either, but more than turning up the booth monitor!)  |  IP: Logged Joe Redifer You need a beating today Posts: 12859 From: Denver, Colorado Registered: May 99 posted 01-28-2003 02:00 PM                        I always keep mine all the way down unless there is some reason I want to turn it up (watch a trailer, etc). There is no way that little booth monitor can tell me if I have acceptable sound in the auditorium or not. If there is a minor hum in one of the amps, the booth monitor won't pick that up! Also even if there is a dead amp I'd have to be switching the booth monitor back and forth across all the channels, because I sure won't be able to tell if an amp is dead (unless it is the center) when it is on "mix" or has more than one channel selected. Only going into the auditorium will tell you if your sound is acceptable.  |  IP: Logged Paul G. Thompson The Weenie Man Posts: 4718 From: Mount Vernon WA USA Registered: Nov 2000 posted 01-28-2003 02:35 PM                     Normally, I leave the monitors up loud enough to be able to hear it as I walk by the equipment rack. Normally, I monitor the center channel only unless someone tells me there is a "problem" with the sound in that specific auditorium.  |  IP: Logged Ray Brown Expert Film Handler Posts: 111 From: Dayton, WA, USA Registered: Sep 2002 posted 01-28-2003 08:31 PM                        I keep ours turned up just high enough so I can hear the movie or the music. Turn it up very loud and the cheapo speaker will hurt my ears.  |  IP: Logged William Leland III Master Film Handler Posts: 336 From: Charleston, SC, Registered: Aug 2002 posted 01-28-2003 09:34 PM                        Monitors turned up full, I think that is just the dumbest thing I have ever heard . If my District Manager told me to turn up the monitor's; I would not do it. Mark it seems to me, you have a good idea what you are doing in booth, so just ignore the upper bull shit that falls down from upper management , and what you think is right.  |  IP: Logged Brad Miller Administrator Posts: 17775 From: Plano, TX (36.2 miles NW of Rockwall) Registered: May 99 posted 01-28-2003 09:43 PM                     By the way, whatever you do don't specifically tell your DM that you refuse to follow his orders. And more importantly, do not point him to this thread. Next time you see him, just ask him politely "why". If he can't give you a reason, then why should you do it? And if his reason is stupid, then you'll get a laugh out of it while you blow the monitor speakers. (What make/model of monitors are they anyway?)  |  IP: Logged Gordon McLeod Film God Posts: 9532 From: Toronto Ontario Canada Registered: Jun 99 posted 01-28-2003 10:23 PM                     For years my mentor Ed McCormack had a policy for Odeon theatres canada of which he was the chief engineer that the booth monitors must be loud enough that when you walk by the booth it was audible and maintain that standard in where I service  |  IP: Logged Thomas Procyk Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1842 From: Royal Palm Beach, FL, USA Registered: Feb 2002 posted 01-28-2003 11:13 PM                     I wonder if all these people making booth operation demands have ever worked a week's shift in the booth before. DM -- District Manager or Dumbass Manager? =TMP=  |  IP: Logged Mark J. Marshall Film God Posts: 3188 From: New Castle, DE, USA Registered: Aug 2002 posted 01-28-2003 11:20 PM                    When you do blow the speakers in the monitor, he'll probably shoot down a request to get them fixed.  |  IP: Logged Franklin Armstrong Expert Film Handler Posts: 106 From: Orlando, FL, USA Registered: Sep 2002 posted 01-28-2003 11:34 PM                     I keep them off in my booth so I can hear the projectors!  |  IP: Logged Brad Miller Administrator Posts: 17775 From: Plano, TX (36.2 miles NW of Rockwall) Registered: May 99 posted 01-28-2003 11:39 PM                     We all need to install panes of glass to put at an angle in between the lens and port windows. This way we can see an image on the wall of the booth as we walk by. The way I see it, if we are listening to the audio of a movie, but not the actual reproduction of the audio in the theater, then seeing a reflected image of what is on screen should be just as good as looking at the actual picture that our customers are viewing. Sorry for being a smartass here, but if someone told me I had to keep the booth monitor up they would get some colorful "talkin' to". I need to be able to hear the projectors, and booths are plenty noisy enough as it is. This whole "keep the monitor on" thing is (in my opinion) just damned stupid. Really, what exactly does this practice offer??? There is too much dynamic range in soundtracks to possibly rely on it, and what good does it do to monitor one (or a few) channels? Are random audio failures in the middle of a movie that are caught by projectionists casually walking by that common??? I'm baffled. Someone please give me a VALID reason to do this. (Please no "I was taught to do it this way", because that is never an acceptable response. I must be given an actual REASON. Without a reason, what the hell are you doing it for then? )  |  IP: Logged Paul G. Thompson The Weenie Man Posts: 4718 From: Mount Vernon WA USA Registered: Nov 2000 posted 01-29-2003 12:41 AM                     The reason I keep the monitors "cracked" a little is because of start-up. On some of the soundheads, the latch for the lateral guide could unlatch itself and flop open. Result? I catch it immediately......and I keep the monitor up a little so I don't forget to turn it up on the next start. At one time, the lateral guide flopped open into the show, and I heard the obnoxious buzz. I immediately waltzed over to the machine (about 4 feet away) and closed it. Unlike the SH10** soundheads, as long as the door is closed, the guide will not flop open because of a design in those soundheads. The 5-Star does not have that provision, and could flop open at anytime you least suspect it. I have noticed that the catch in the 5-star sometimes does not completely seat. True, it happens once in a blue moon, but it can happen. I don't have the monitor blairing out that loud. Just loud enough where it does not seriously contribute to the ambient noise. Those booths that don't have a carpeted floor and ceiling tiles, well, that's a different story. I compromise on them.....  |  IP: Logged Daniel Burns Film Handler Posts: 52 From: dallas, TX, USA Registered: Jan 2003 posted 01-29-2003 01:02 AM                     Good one Brad I agree with Scott on this one. They just need to go ahead and fix the port glass. My theatres going to have to replace all the frames it looks like to stop our sound leakage.  |  IP: Logged

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