Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: SDDS-7 ?

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Posted by Michael Pace (Member # 553) on 07-05-2001, 11:27 PM:

I received a print of HEARTBREAKERS that has a sticker on the end of each spool that states:

HEARTBREAKERS
REG/DOL SR DTS SDDS-7

I am wondering if anybody has come across this SDDS-7 before or this is just a typo error and should be either 6 or 8.

This is also one of only a very few prints that I have received that does not have a SRD track on it.

Michael.

Posted by Aaron Sisemore (Member # 145) on 07-05-2001, 11:54 PM:

its a typo, it has SDDS-6.

MGM does not use Dolby Digital on their films, except for the Bond titles.

Aaron

Posted by Michael Pace (Member # 553) on 07-06-2001, 12:34 AM:

Thank you, Aaron.

Kind Regards,

Michael.

Posted by Jason Burroughs (Member # 68) on 07-06-2001, 01:09 PM:

Could this be SDDS's attempt at an EX type encoding?

Posted by John Pytlak (Member # 331) on 07-06-2001, 01:58 PM:

The SDDS website does not list "Heartbreakers", as it only lists movies released through last year (2000):
http://www.sdds.com/movies/movlist.html

------------------
John P. Pytlak, Senior Technical Specialist
Worldwide Technical Services, Entertainment Imaging
Eastman Kodak Company
Research Labs, Building 69, Room 7419
Rochester, New York, 14650-1922 USA
Tel: 716-477-5325 Cell: 716-781-4036 Fax: 716-722-7243
E-Mail: john.pytlak@kodak.com
Web site: http://www.kodak.com/go/motion

Posted by Aaron Sisemore (Member # 145) on 07-06-2001, 02:01 PM:

>>Could this be SDDS's attempt at an EX type encoding?<<

It would have been done after the fact, as 'Heartbreakers' was not an EX title to begin with.

Another theory with this labeling is if TES labels their prints for Australia (and the rest of the world for that matter) similarly to the way they do for the US, the '7' may be the number of reels in the feature... i cannot remember for sure, but 'Heartbreakers' may have been a seven-reeler.

Aaron

Posted by Michael Coate (Member # 757) on 07-06-2001, 03:48 PM:

quote:
MGM does not use Dolby Digital on their films, except for the Bond titles.

MGM has begun releasing selected titles with Dolby Digital (SR•D) soundtracks, though they seem to ping-pong between DD/DTS/SDDS and DTS/SDDS releases depending on the title.

Check the Print Format & Trailer forum for which titles had Dolby Digital.

Posted by Mike Judge (Member # 558) on 07-06-2001, 05:50 PM:

Heartbreakers was a 7-reeler, I believe they are printing the amount of reels on the cans now, that's what I think you're seeing. I'll double check some cans when I go in tonight.

Posted by Aaron Sisemore (Member # 145) on 07-06-2001, 06:10 PM:

>>MGM has begun releasing selected titles with Dolby Digital (SR•D) soundtracks<<

Show me an example, Bond titles and non-US prints dont count. I stand by my original statement.

>>Check the Print Format & Trailer forum for which titles had Dolby Digital.<<

Been there, Done that. Result: All *NONE* of them. Not even 'Hannibal' (surprising, seeing that Universal was involved)

Aaron

Posted by Bobby Henderson (Member # 840) on 07-07-2001, 01:37 AM:

MGM/UA is kind of a funny company when it comes to using digital sound formats. The Bond films are not the only ones to get Dolby Digital tracks, but the support of Dolby Digital by MGM/UA is very spotty at best. I do recall one period of time a few years ago when they released a string of DTS-SR*D sountracked prints ("Unforgettable," "The Birdcage" etc.). But that was about it. I think MGM may be the only company left doing any major film releases at all where DTS is the only digital sound format on the print.

Posted by Gordon McLeod (Member # 33) on 07-07-2001, 01:12 PM:

Usually they use SRD or SDDS if only the production company they are releasing for has already signed a deal for the other formats

Posted by Bobby Henderson (Member # 840) on 07-07-2001, 08:53 PM:

Another thing that is really funny is how MGM/UA will release a lot of their movies theatrically with only DTS for digital sound. Then they turn around on the DVD release and only use Dolby Digital. The only reason why "Hannibal" will carry both DTS and Dolby Digital audio tracks on the movie disc is because of Universal Pictures' involvement with the film.

Posted by Mike Spaeth (Member # 524) on 07-07-2001, 08:59 PM:

"Hannibal" DID have Dolby Digital on it. I screened it in DD and it was playing back in digital.

Posted by Aaron Sisemore (Member # 145) on 07-07-2001, 09:34 PM:

I do not remember whether Hannibal had SRD or not, the listing in the Feature Info here said it did not, but if it DID, it would have been because of Universal's involvement.

I still stand behind my original statement: Besides Hannibal and the Bond titles, there have been NO MGM titles with SRD since 1995.

-AS

Posted by Michael Pace (Member # 553) on 07-08-2001, 02:27 AM:

Ah, yes. I remember HANNIBAL very well. It had SRD here in Australia but what attracted my attention was the fact that the print had 'Argentina' instead of the normal 'International' on the head leaders.

I played the first spool just to make sure that it was going to speak in English and not in Spanish. It was in English but it would have been quite an unique problem if it was in another language as, if I remember rightly, all the prints were imported copies.

Regards,

Micheal.

Posted by Michael Brown (Member # 890) on 07-08-2001, 08:43 AM:

Bobby, Did the Birdcage have a Dolby Digital track. All the posters and the end credits list it as DTS-Stereo/DTS Digital.

Posted by Steve Guttag (Member # 268) on 07-08-2001, 09:06 AM:

I'm pretty sure the Birdcage had a DD track....I seem to remember that the DTS time-code got messed up during printing...R-3 had R-1s time-code so when R-3 hit....the sound was from R-1.

Steve

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"Old projectionists never die, they just changeover!"

Posted by John Pytlak (Member # 331) on 07-09-2001, 11:18 AM:

Michael Pace said: "what attracted my attention was the fact that the print had 'Argentina' instead of the normal 'International' on the head leaders...I played the first spool just to make sure that it was going to speak in English and not in Spanish...if I remember rightly, all the prints were imported copies."

Making release prints is a GLOBAL business, often determined by plant loading, labor costs, and exchange rates. Prints for the USA often are printed and processed in Canada or Italy.

Posted by Michael Pace (Member # 553) on 07-11-2001, 09:49 AM:

John Pytlak said " Making release prints is a GLOBAL business,...."

In recent times we have been receiving a substantial number of our prints from Atlab who have a plant in Sydney.

We have had prints from Technicolor which have come from Middlesex in England and a few prints which are processed in Canada.

Also from the States we receive quite a few that have been 'rejuvinated' after their initial release in the USA and then
are released in Australia later.

One print even had a brand new spool one. MOst of these prints have a very distinctive smell which is a dead give away as soon as the box is opened.

For some reason the prints from the States with SDDS tracks on them seem to work better than some of the film that is processed in Australia.

Our print of 'Moulin Rouge' is a good example of having troubles. In spool eight we started to experience trouble with the SRD track to the extent that it was actually 'stuttering'and we were forced to manually pull it back into analoque. It was then transferred to an auditorium that has SDDS and the same spool would not play in SDDS.

A new spool eight was ordered and placed into service which fixed the SRD problem and when tried again in SDDS only one of the SDDS tracks is working. It is the main track that is running and the response in the auditirium sounds good, the other track is simply not there.

I have watched the two leds that indicate the track status and only one led is lit and the other does not even flicker on for the full length of the spool.

Our print of 'Pearl Harbor' has not missed a beat and it is also an Atlab print from Sydney.

Kind regards,

Michael.

Posted by John Pytlak (Member # 331) on 07-11-2001, 01:25 PM:

The UV-cured coatings used to "rejuvenate" the backside of used release prints can have a very pungent, even acrid, odor. If you look carefully at the print by reflected light, you can usually see the coating, which is usually only applied to the area between the perforations. The coatings cannot be removed, as the are impervious to water and most solvents.