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This topic comprises 3 pages: 1 2 3
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Author
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Topic: Digital IMAX LFE?
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Marcel Birgelen
Film God
Posts: 3357
From: Maastricht, Limburg, Netherlands
Registered: Feb 2012
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posted 03-16-2015 03:34 AM
quote: Aron Toplitsky
Anyhow, with all of that said in terms of the low frequencies, could this be a new trend for IMAX, where they are filtering them during playback, perhaps to appease those who can’t handle it? It’s like Marcel said...
I don't think they're filtering anything during playback. Usually, IMAX doesn't allow you to mess with their IMAX Digital presets, so the only thing you, as an operator usually can do is turn the volume down, back from reference level.
The problem is, turning the volume down will apply to all channels and the whole spectrum equally, so it will also affect the impact of the sub woofer array.
I guess many people would prefer a presentation with a powerful bass, but without the feeling people in the movie are constantly screaming. ![[Wink]](wink.gif)
What I do know from people that actually work at an IMAX Digital location is that they DO get much more complaints about volume from their IMAX presentation than from their regular presentations. They have turned down the volume for certain features (and they probably also have forgotten to turn it back to reference afterwards).
So, I don't know of any IMAX corporate policy of turning down the volume across the installation base, but some managers do take customer complaints to heart. The way the "remedies" get implemented might not always offer a solution for everybody, unfortunately...
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Marcel Birgelen
Film God
Posts: 3357
From: Maastricht, Limburg, Netherlands
Registered: Feb 2012
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posted 03-16-2015 06:31 PM
quote: Carsten Kurz
The question is also, do they play 'regular' DCPs AND specially treated IMAX mastered DCPs? In that case, ref level and frequency response could change dramatically between different showings.
Usually, the only non IMAX DCPs that are shown are those in the pre-show: commercials, theater specific snipes and a few non-IMAX trailers. Those auditoriums normally don't see any non-IMAX features. IMAX essentially owns all of their equipment, so they decide what's being played on it and what not.
The IMAX Digital show usually starts with a somewhat cheesy IMAX snipe announcing the start of the real beef. The second projector will open the dowser and you'll notice a sharp increase in brightness. This is usually the first time you'll notice the subs in full swing. Also the rather visible pixel grid will usually somewhat vanish. I guess they accomplish this by running one of the projectors slightly out of focus. Obviously, the presets for regular DCP features are toned down on purpose, to maximize the perceived difference in "quality" between "regular" and "IMAX".
If you're playing a non-IMAX DCP as a feature, you may not advertise and sell it as an IMAX presentation and you're also required to play some kind of notice, making clear that this is NOT an IMAX feature presentation and therefore not an IMAX experience. You might also need to have special permission from the IMAX mothership, but this is me guessing.
quote: Mike Blakesley
The whole thing about "reference" volume levels is kind of a conundrum for me. How do you know what "reference" actually is? Do the directors actually want audiences to have an experience that big explosions and such sound awesome, but dialog comes off sounding like a TV that's turned up way too loud?
I fully agree with you. Although with IMAX it could be somewhat different. In normal feature releases, there is no real central entity that has end-control over the sound mix. You could say the studios, but there are many studios and subdivisions and most studios probably don't really care anyway. So you end up with many different mixes, one definitely mixed "hotter" than the other.
I'm not saying I'm in full agreement with this practice, but IMAX remixes all sound mixes before they hit their theaters. As mentioned before, it's rather unclear to what extend this remix goes. But in theory, they could "normalize" the mixes to some extend. A movie without any action scenes and just pure dialog will still not sound as hot as an action movie packed with non-stop explosions, but at least stuff like normal dialog would be at roughly the same level.
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