Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Cause for audio dropout in a Technicolor Digital Cinema Presentation?

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Posted by Scott Jentsch (Member # 1681) on 05-23-2008, 03:37 PM:

I attended the first Thursday showing of Indy 4 at the iPic Entertainment at Bayshore Town Center in Glendale, Wisconsin (Milwaukee area), which was done with the Technicolor Digital Cinema system.

The image was rock-steady, which is always appreciated, but right after the movie began, there was a brief audio dropout. It reminded me of a reel change dropout on a Dolby Digital print, which I haven't heard in quite a while (Marcus has gotten better at showing Dolby Digital prints in the last several years).

Is there anything in the automation sequence that would cause such a dropout?

It only happened once, thankfully, but I thought it was odd nonetheless. I figured someone here might know if this is something that can happen from time to time or if it was just a random, one-time thing.

Posted by Todd McCracken (Member # 4718) on 05-23-2008, 03:41 PM:

Look at the "Audio cap on Indy" thread in the film handlers forum

Posted by James Westbrook (Member # 3690) on 05-23-2008, 06:55 PM:

The cap-code issue regards film. This is a digital presentation that is mentioned in this thread.

Posted by Mark Strube (Member # 4190) on 05-23-2008, 07:01 PM:

The same thing happened while I was watching National Treasure 2 there, in the middle of the movie, a very short audio drop-out, but noticeable. I'm sure it's some sort of software glitch, might get fixed with an update.

On a side-note, I'm not too impressed with their auditorium design... did your screen have top & bottom masking to make it scope?

Posted by Mark Gulbrandsen (Member # 72) on 05-24-2008, 09:28 AM:

It could have been something stupid like an operator messing with the processor input controls. I would certainly attend aother screening and see if the same thing happens before I'd blame it on defective print files or the equipment. 99% of the time it's always operator error....

Mark

Posted by Bruce Hansen (Member # 281) on 05-26-2008, 02:58 PM:

Could this be the "digital" version of the audio crap code that is being put on the film prints? If you went to the same theater, and the same screen, and the drop out happened in the same place, it might just be audio crap code.

Posted by Mark Strube (Member # 4190) on 05-27-2008, 12:15 AM:

Was this code on National Treasure 2? Because that also had a drop-out... at the same movie theatre.

Posted by Scott Jentsch (Member # 1681) on 05-28-2008, 08:42 PM:

While I liked the interior decorating and the lighting in the theater, and the seats were pretty nice, I didn't like the fact that the screen was only about 28 feet wide, and they used vertical masking.

I thought the screen was much too small, especially for a movie like Indy 4.

We were about 40 feet back, and oddly enough, I don't think I would have felt comfortable being any closer. It may have to do with vertical angle, as the closer seats start getting pretty low. The cheaper seats (non-reserved/non-VIP) are so close that they are not worth any money to sit in. Your eye level in those seats is below the bottom of the screen!

The audio glitch only happened once, so I'm inclined to believe that it was operator error, something in the automation sequence, or sunspots.

At $9 for a matinee showing, it may be some time before I return to see another movie. I might need to see Indy 4 again in a larger theater to see if my opinion of that movie improves. I've had previous experiences where the theater's presentation influenced my opinion of the movie negatively (e.g. Gladiator at Westown's Ultrablur).