Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Seabiscuit Cyan Track?

This is topic Seabiscuit Cyan Track? in forum Film Handlers' Forum at Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE.

To visit this topic, use this URL:
https://ft-forum.com/ft/cgi-bin/ubb/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=1;t=005327

Posted by Edward Jurich (Member # 1787) on 09-15-2003, 10:55 AM:

We started running Seabiscuit last Friday and noticed some problems with the sound. The level is down some and there are patches of noise. It's a Norelco projector and if you're familiar with it you know there is no scan line on the track. Instead an image of the track is projected onto a slit in front of the cell. Anyway, during the noisey section, I looked into the cell window and saw that the track has a cyan tint and the tint was splotchy. If this isn't a cyan track then it's a really bad silver track. We don't have a LED reader so it's still the old exciter lamp stereo pickup.
Is anyone aware of Seabiscuit prints being released with a cyan track? If this is actually a cyan track then the biggest problem seems to be noise, the level drop wasn't that bad.

Posted by John Pytlak (Member # 331) on 09-15-2003, 11:01 AM:

AFAIK, there were no cyan dye analog tracks for "Seabiscuit". Woody Allen's "Anything Else" from Dreamworks will be the first feature with all release prints having cyan dye analog tracks. It opens this Friday, September 19.

Dye Tracks Website

NATO InFocus Article

NATO OnLine

http://groups.google.com/groups?q=anything-else+%22cyan+dye%22&hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&safe=off&as_qdr=all&selm=bf5l4j%2417fv%241%40news3.infoave.net&rnum=1

If a conventional print accidently had poor or non-existant silver redevelopment, the track would be very noisy on a tungsten exciter lamp reader, and would be a dark blue, or magenta (high magenta track).

Posted by Bill Gabel (Member # 1105) on 09-15-2003, 11:15 AM:

This is from the memo placed inside the cans for "Anything Else".

"Anything Else" is the first Cyan Analog Soundtrack Release - September 19th.

Over the the next few months, film companies will begin releasing film with cyan dye analog sound-tracks. The first film to be released this was will be the new Jason Biggs, Christana Ricci romantic comedy, Anything Else, scheduled for release September 19, 2003. All prints will have the new tracks. The new process will have significant environmental benfits.

To play the new analog sound-track, your projector must be equipped with a visible red light analog reader. If you attempt to play this soundtrack using a white or infra-red reader, the sound level will be greatly reduced. If you only have white light for the analog track, and have not yet converted, you may get by temporarily by turning up the fader for the feature.

Digital playback (which is also cyan) is not affected by the new process.
The digital soundtracks (Dolby Digital, DTS, and SDDS) play fine with either a red or a white light reader and no equipment changes are necessary for any of the digital soundtracks. Yet, the analog "back-up track" will not be an effective back-up track without a visible red light analog reader.
If your projectors are not yet equipped with red light analog readers, you should contact your theatre equipment dealer as soon as possible.
For further information about analog cyan dye tracks, the environmental benefits, and red light readers, go to.

www.dyetracks.org

Note: Nowhere in the memo does it state that the film is a Woody Allen feature. And like in past Allen pictures state that it is Digital Mono mix.

Posted by John Hawkinson (Member # 1135) on 09-15-2003, 11:18 AM:

Cyan tracks are easily identifyable. They are bright cyan.
Paul Konen's picture in the Anything Else FITA thread doesn't get the color balance right, so it doesn't look quite like that, but it is very jarring.

There's no way you could look at it and not know.

--jhawk