Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: DTS Problem with Sweeny Todd

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Posted by Chad M Calpito (Member # 3736) on 12-23-2007, 10:49 AM:

After I had built-up Sweeny Todd, I did a test run in theatre #9, our only DTS Equipped auditorium. Before running it, I put in the DTS Discs in the Dual-Tray DTS Player. After that, I ran the movie. After the trailers ended and the movie started, the DTS System wasn't playing for Reels 1-5, but, kicked in once Reels 6 & 7 were going through. The movie had been playing in Dolby SR for most of the movie. Anyway, it had been running fine in Dolby Digital in auditorium #1, with no sound issues, but, when it gets switched to #9, it will do the same thing. Now, I don't know if it is the actual print DTS Time-Code or if it is the DTS System. [Confused]

Every print that has been running in #9, including the current one of "Charlie Wilson's War" is running through great in DTS.

The Dolby SR works good, but, the sound has to be turned up a notch. Any ideas as to why this is happening? I can get the DTS Player information such as Model number tonight when I go in at midnight to do my movie builds if that will help with the diagnosis. [Big Grin]

Posted by Randy Stankey (Member # 64) on 12-23-2007, 11:34 AM:

Do all the basics first.

Be sure your DTS reader (and, by extension, the rest of your projector) are threaded properly and that they reader is functioning. The status light on the reader will tell you if it is working correctly.

I assume your reader and player are hooked up correctly because you said they worked before.

Verify that the status light stays on during the whole film, not blinking on and off at random times.

Ensure that the correct disks are in the player and that they are clean and unscratched. *YOU* physically go there and look at them! Don't trust anybody else to look for you. People make mistakes. And, don't assume that, because they are fresh from the factory that they are clean and not scratched. I have seen disks come right out of the can, direct from the lab/depot, that have been dirty, scratched or otherwise trashed. If your disks are not clean and in perfect condition, replace them and retest.

Reboot the player. Sometimes the software that makes it run gets "wedged." Make sure the right disks are in the correct drives and power the unit off. Wait for 10 seconds and power on.

Verify that OTHER movies play correctly in that machine.
Check other titles as well as different prints of the SAME title.
Does one play and the other not?

Does this print play correctly in other theaters?
(Yes, I know you said that this is your only DTS house. General troubleshooting technique.)

Finally, check the print for physical damage or see if it is a bad print. Sometimes the soundtracks get printed wrong.

If you have eliminated all of these things, THEN we can start talking about whether your player is bad. Maybe you need a drive upgrade. (If it hasn't been done already.) Maybe your machine needs repair. You won't know this until you have eliminated all the easy things first.

Posted by Chad M Calpito (Member # 3736) on 12-23-2007, 11:53 AM:

Thank you so much, Randy. The advice you gave is greatly appreciated and will put it all into action. [Big Grin]

The DTS Player is hooked up correctly. [Big Grin]

Posted by Randy Stankey (Member # 64) on 12-23-2007, 01:57 PM:

It is very easy to make a false assumption that the equipment is broken. Even experienced people do it. The second a machine doesn't work as expected, we throw up our hands and say, "Well! It's broken!" But the problem was really something simple.

I once drove 1,000 miles one-way to fix a problem that nobody seemed to be able to figure out. When I got there I found the power cord hanging loose in the back of a sound rack. I plugged it back in... Problem solved! (Boy! Was I pissed off!)

There was another time when I was out on the rifle range with a shooting buddy of mine. He's a high precision benchrest shooter. He reloads his own ammo. One day, I look over at him and he's tearing his gun apart, right there on the firing line. He's cussing and swearing the whole time. "Damn gun keeps misfiring!" he tells me. The poor guy spent, probably, an hour disassembling and reassembling a $5,000 target rifle but STILL couldn't get it to function.

So, out of curiosity, I pick up one of the misfired rounds and look at it. I shake it. There's powder in it. But when I turn it over and look at the tail end, I see the dented-in primer but I don't see any of the blue lacquer that I know he uses to seal his primers.

"So... Umm... John, are these factory loads?"

"Nope! Just made them this morning. Worked-up a new load and I wanted to test them out."

I turned the shell toward him and said, "I didn't see any dope on them so I figured they were new."

"Shit!" he yelled.

Turns out he picked up a box full of spent brass and reloaded them but forgot to put new primers in them! [Eek!]

He'd been fucking around for a whole hour, tearing apart his expensive custom rifle all because he assumed it was an equipment failure and not because of something simple.

He put another round in the chamber and made sure the primer was hot and the gun worked perfectly!

Moral of the story: Don't assume something is broken until you've checked the easy stuff first!

[Wink]

Posted by Blaine Young (Member # 3992) on 12-23-2007, 02:02 PM:

If it helps at all, Disc A has R1, R2, R3, R4 and the Trailers (R14). Disc B has R5, R6 & R7.

Should also note that the last 24 seconds of R7 (during the Parkes/McDononald & Zanuck logos) are not on the disc and the DTS will do a "show end" revert before your automation closes the change-over douser. For our installations, the DTS-6D reverted to Non-Sync and the DTS-6 reverted to SRD.

Posted by Gordon McLeod (Member # 33) on 12-23-2007, 02:03 PM:

Check the disks to make sure they haven't got warped in the film can during shipping
It makes no difference which drive the disks are in
you must reboot the player after changing disks
Is the timecode light staying solid during the bad reels?
and what is the system and CDrom LED on the player indicating
If you swap the disks does it play the other reels?

Posted by Demetris Thoupis (Member # 833) on 12-27-2007, 05:24 AM:

Logical thing would be that DTS should be playing in Reel 5 too since Reels 5-7 are on one disc and 1-4 are on another. Stragely enough, we never had any reports from projectionists in Cyprus regarding DTS not playing. We have only been using DTS-6D systems though.

Posted by Hugh McCullough (Member # 1542) on 12-27-2007, 06:10 AM:

I have had the same problem on two occasions in the past.

The first time the DTS code, for some odd reason, was not printed on every reel.
Another copy was obtained that did not have this problem.

The other time I noticed that the disc did not reflect light over all it's surface.
On closer examination I could see that some areas of the disc were coated in a very fine dull film. I assume that this was some type of preservative that should have been cleaned off before the disc was despatched.

I soaked the disc in warm water, with a small amount of washing up liquid, for about two or three minutes, then gently dried the surface with a lint free cloth.
Disc now played perfectly.