Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Digital Marriage Proposal

This is topic Digital Marriage Proposal in forum Digital Cinema 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=16;t=001318

Posted by Lee Eady (Member # 6411) on 12-18-2012, 08:34 AM:

hi guys and ladies,
this is my third or 4th stupid question to curse the forum with.

ok so this guy made a short film, like 1:30 that starts off with the green trailer screen, making it look like a preview... then it becomes evident that the guy is proposing, and at the end he says"will you marry me?" he is proposing in our theatre and its a mess. so i got the laptop hooked up thru the DVI-1 port under the projector,
(it a Christie CP-2000SB) and HDMI cable plugs into the laptop. theres a pre set computer channel I can choose and it looks ok.
Then I have the sound running from the headfone jack, then splits to an adapter making it into a coax like you put in the back of yr TV or VCR. the end of the wires are stripped down and I have them going into the back of the amp where the old 35mm projector sound used to be plugd up... , Lemme think....
its an old MODII-C I think- cant recall on spur of the moment.
anyway, when i first set this up, I bought a brandnew movie, a cartoon movie for my daughter, SPIRITED AWAY. and it sounded SOOOOOOOOOOOO good set on stereo A or SR I cant recall. but this guy's proposal sounds ;like hell. they are doing the deal on the 22nd and Im getn nervous. whats up with the sound and what should i do?

Posted by Marcel Birgelen (Member # 6801) on 12-18-2012, 10:25 AM:

Why don't you create a DCP from the movie you're about to show and ingest it into your system just like you would do with other movies and/or trailers? Woudn't be that the easiest and most professional way to do it?

There are some instructions how to do it on this forum.

Posted by Jim Cassedy (Member # 4115) on 12-18-2012, 12:44 PM:

Have you tried listening to the audio on the original source
material? Mabye it was recorded badly, in which case it's
going to suck no matter what you do.

Posted by Scott Norwood (Member # 30) on 12-18-2012, 03:09 PM:

So you are using the laptop headphone output into the optical input on the processor? The only way that there might be any hope of that working out well would be if you used a DI box between the laptop and the optical input.

A much better approach would be to use the non-sync input, since that will expect a line-level source (which is approximately what the laptop will do), not a solar-cell-level source (which is what the optical input expects). It will also bypass the noise-reduction circuit in the processor.

Posted by Dennis Benjamin (Member # 1137) on 12-18-2012, 06:37 PM:

When I saw the name of this post I honestly that it had something to do with a Christie Projector having a Marriage Tamper Issue. I thought someone had a proposed fix or work around for when this problem occurs.

Posted by John Roddy (Member # 7348) on 12-18-2012, 06:37 PM:

I had to do the exact same thing at my theater a few months ago. Someone brought a homemade proposal trailer and gave it to us to test it out a few days before the deal. For that, I connected my laptop to the projector through VGA via a scaler box (projector was a Barco DP1500) and hooked up the audio through a 3.5mm jack converted to stereo RCA which I plugged into the non-sync plugs on our audio processor. It looked and sounded pretty decent, although it was a pain to set up.

I opted to go for the custom DCP route instead. I used ffmpeg, SoX, and OpenDCP to build a functioning DCP, (luckily, I've toyed around with this idea in the past) which I just threw into a modified playlist. That worked perfectly.

I would strongly recommend going for a custom DCP instead. In addition to solving the potential audio issues, it makes automation and seamless transition a cakewalk. But, if you're set on going for the laptop method, just try troubleshooting the issue with as many possible solutions as you can think of.

Does the source audio sound OK?
Is there any other way you can connect the audio?
Do any of those other ways sound even marginally better?
Have you tried different cables?
Have you tried this setup on another audio system?

Posted by Lee Eady (Member # 6411) on 12-19-2012, 10:44 AM:

THANKS SOOOO MUCH FOR THE INPUT!!!

1st- I would LOVE to create a DCP and I WILL try that, Ive just been too intimidated by that prospect in the past as Ive been hearing about folks doing that.
2nd- the 'trailer proposal' DOES sound like crap, although its halfway decent it just wasnt mixed well. I have tried cleaning it up a bit with MIXCRAFT recording software and i just cant do anything with it. the good thing is that it only has to be shown ONCE.
3rd- I thought I read the MODIIC manual thoroughly but obviously not- because I missed the non-sync input approach. I will Box is...
4th-this guy "hooked up the audio through a 3.5mm jack converted to stereo RCA which I plugged into the non-sync plugs on our audio processor. It looked and sounded pretty decent, although it was a pain to set up." this is making me feel hopeful. and no I havent tried other cables. I HAVE to figure out this DCP thing! thanks again. [Confused]

Posted by Carsten Kurz (Member # 5396) on 12-19-2012, 10:58 AM:

Go the NonSync way. If there is a hum on the sound, try to run the laptop from battery, not mains supply (but check beforehand if it is fully charged and able to survive the session).

If you do this more often, get a 'DI-Box', isolating transformer, etc. for it.

- Carsten