Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: DTS problems in Gods & Generals

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Posted by John Carpenter (Member # 1488) on 02-21-2003, 12:54 AM:

We have 3 prints of Gods & Generals - 2 of which are playing in DTS houses. On BOTH of the DTS prints we had identical problems with reels 2 & 8 - the DTS keeps falling out. Basically it looks like both reel 2 & 8 have problems with the time code as the reader barely seems to read it. On the reels before and after it there are no problems. Considering both prints have the same problems - was there a problem with the master and would a replacment reel even help? Any other people have similar problems with G & G tonight? Thanks!

Posted by Daryl C. W. O'Shea (Member # 1303) on 02-21-2003, 01:15 AM:

I haven't run it yet. By chance, are the print numbers close together?

Moving to FHF.

Posted by John Carpenter (Member # 1488) on 02-21-2003, 01:23 AM:

Sorry - I guess it should have been in FHF... its been a really long day. Yes our prints are 3178-3180. One of them is in Dolby EX so I dont know if that one had the problems, but the 2 running in DTS did.

Posted by Brad Miller (Member # 2) on 02-21-2003, 01:42 AM:

Flip prints tomorrow and see if the third copy plays ok in dts.

The print I assembled tonight had tears every few sprocket holes and was quite noticeable during buildup. Looks like there was a burred sprocket in the printer. It affected every reel. Won't know if it will affect projection or sound tracking, but I've seen it before and it's never affected it.

Posted by Daryl C. W. O'Shea (Member # 1303) on 02-21-2003, 01:42 AM:

I'd hazzard a guess then that they were all printed from the same negatives, and that either the printer became 'mis-aligned' for a bit or that all prints from that negative are bad.

I'd see if you can get some replacement reels.

Posted by Claude S. Ayakawa (Member # 1401) on 02-21-2003, 01:55 AM:

John Carpenter said one of the prints of "GODS AND GENERALS" he received is in Dolby EX. According to the Dolby and another site I get my weekly information on sound formats, neither list this film as an EX release. If it is and the mix is a good one, it should make the experience of watching this much anticipated film even better.

-Claude

Posted by Brad Miller (Member # 2) on 02-21-2003, 03:08 AM:

I stuck my head in on a dialogue scene and in an auditorium where dialogue normally sounds very good, this mix sounded like [puke]

(It could've been a dubbed scene though.)

Posted by Thomas Procyk (Member # 1170) on 02-22-2003, 06:20 PM:

A little off-topic, but I didn't want to add to the chatter in Feature Info:

The intermission on our print had one frameline at the beginning and one at the end. In the middle, it had a tiny dot on the image area at each frame line. Unfortunately, there was a lab splice in my intermission as well. About 4 minutes into the silence, the audience is reminded that a movie is playing with a nice "crack!" (analog house) [Roll Eyes]

=TMP=

Posted by Kenny Thies (Member # 1551) on 02-23-2003, 12:37 AM:

I've been having problems with Reels 9 & 10. The timecode LED flashes on and off and even drops out of digital. I've decided to just go to analog since there isn't a very high attendance here.

Posted by Brent Mahaney (Member # 1090) on 02-23-2003, 08:47 PM:

We have had similar problems with reel 8 bouncing in and out of digital on one of our prints. And to expand on Brad's comment, the mix isn't the best in the world. The high-end doesn't sound very crisp to me, but admittedly, I'm WAY too picky about sound.

Posted by Gordon McLeod (Member # 33) on 02-23-2003, 10:23 PM:

What lab printed the defective time code
Maybe it is about time to start "outing" bad labs for time code problems getting a replacement reel after the fact impacts the opening weekend audience that is the bigest numbers for any release

Posted by Brad Miller (Member # 2) on 02-23-2003, 11:35 PM:

I can report the SRD track plays fine and dandy. [Big Grin]

Gordon, it was printed at the Tech lab overseas.

Posted by Karen Hultgren (Member # 395) on 02-24-2003, 07:51 PM:

Be sure your readers are calibrated for 4 volts DC.

Karen at DTS
khultgren@dtsonline.com

Posted by Kenny Thies (Member # 1551) on 02-24-2003, 08:22 PM:

Karen,

Mine is right at 4v. The first 8 reels play without a flicker. As soon as the 9th reel hits, flicker away of the time code light and goes through reel 10.

Posted by John Carpenter (Member # 1488) on 02-24-2003, 11:40 PM:

WB thought that our problems with reel 2 & 8 was caused by bad DTS discs, which we all knew to not be the case. But we tried that today after they shipped us new ones and same thing--- perfect timecode reading in reel 1 and at the reel change - in & out time code on reel 2. Hopefully we will be getting replacement reels soon?

Posted by Joe Redifer (Member # 3) on 02-25-2003, 02:23 AM:

I see the WB ain't too smart. Bad DTS discs causing the reader to flicker? Sure. But hey, you had to try them just to prove them wrong!

Posted by Karen Hultgren (Member # 395) on 02-25-2003, 12:19 PM:

Please remember that the people at the film depots are not technical and really don't understand how DTS works, so please do not rely on them for troubleshooting.

A "bad" disc will never EVER cause the reader to blink. If the timecode reader's green LED is blinking, it is a print or film path problem. If only one or some reels blink, then you have bad reel(s) that need replacement. If all reels blink, then it's a hardware problem that must be fixed. For details, please email me.

Karen at DTS
khultgren@dtsonline.com

Posted by John Carpenter (Member # 1488) on 02-25-2003, 02:06 PM:

Karen-
thank you for all your continued contributions here... and I knew that it was the print and not the discs. But sometimes you gotta do things the wrong way first [Roll Eyes]

Posted by Nathan Guerriero (Member # 1214) on 02-26-2003, 06:10 PM:

I've had the same problem with my print. I initially just thought that it was due to my ailing CDROM drives. Is it the forum's opinion that this indeed is a bona fide timecode problem?

Posted by Kathy Roberts (Member # 1410) on 02-26-2003, 08:26 PM:

Our print of Gods and Generals has issues with the DTS disks after the intermission. So does another theatre down the road.

Posted by Daryl C. W. O'Shea (Member # 1303) on 02-26-2003, 08:27 PM:

Just after the intermission? Are you rebooting the DTS unit after you swap the discs (assuming you have a two drive unit)?

Posted by Kenny Thies (Member # 1551) on 02-26-2003, 08:43 PM:

Mine starts flickering on reels 9 & 10. This is right after the intermission in reel 8. I have a DTS model with 3 drives, so all three disks are in at all times. We have even switched the location of the discs in different drives. Did not make a differece.