Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: 2nd language on the descriptive audio

This is topic 2nd language on the descriptive audio in forum Digital Cinema Forum at Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE.

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Posted by David J Hilsgen (Member # 2614) on 01-21-2015, 10:52 PM:

I have a drive in that i want to broadcast the spanish audio track besides the english, would that come out of the descriptive audio channel on my jsd60, if i get the right hard drive. for a server i have a dolby dss200.is there anybody else doing this .i have a 25% spanish speaking population up here in long prairie,mn also the projector is nec 2500.

Posted by Steve Guttag (Member # 268) on 01-22-2015, 02:47 AM:

It all depends on how the audio was encoded. What channel are they putting the second audio on? I would be surprised if they would put an alternate audio track on channels 7/8 since those are used for ADA purposes.

Posted by Marcel Birgelen (Member # 6801) on 01-22-2015, 03:12 AM:

I doubt there are any DCP releases out there that put alternate languages on some alternate channels. While I could see how this would make sense, the market for this is probably way to small to push this.

So, no matter what fancy channel mapping you're going to do, the biggest problem is that's just not there, in the content. The only alternative I could think of, would be playing the Spanish DCP on another server... which would not only be extremely cost prohibitive and complicate bookings, it will also be extremely difficult to automate and keep the stuff running in sync.

Maybe you could do something with Blu-Ray releases, since those often come with alternative language tracks. While I doubt you will find a workable player that could handle two separate audio streams at the same time, you could probably do some channel mapping magic when you convert those from Blu-Ray into a DCP, if you know what you're doing.

Posted by Carsten Kurz (Member # 5396) on 01-22-2015, 04:05 AM:

A german chain does it occasionally - but they get content mastered especially for this. They simply copy the original english language tracks (usually just the center) to the HI/VI tracks and then use the HI/VI equipment so that patrons have a choice to listen to the dubbed sound in the auditorium, or the original language version on the headphones. But it's expensive to have your own version mastered, and you need to get permission from the distributor.

One could think of other options (synced servers), but it's all quite expensive.
Maybe multiple drive ins could try to have these DCPs mastered and share the cost.

One would think that in the US BiLanguage DCPs like english/spanish should be the norm. One problem could be that with todays surround-type audiomixes, center-channel-only-dialog may not be considered appropriate anymore. More and more dialog is directed to surrounds, and very often left/right screen channels. However, for a drive-in, that should be no factor.

- Carsten

Posted by Monte L Fullmer (Member # 2797) on 01-22-2015, 05:06 PM:

In the DCP feature content string would need the the "LAS" in the string and the key to unlock as such.

"LAS" - Latin American Spanish.

Maybe check with the depots on these special files.

Posted by Jason Metcalfe (Member # 5739) on 01-24-2015, 05:19 PM:

Are the VI files built in as separate "reels"? Could a VF remap that content to the 7/8 channels?

Posted by Carsten Kurz (Member # 5396) on 01-25-2015, 08:02 PM:

CPLs with VI tracks will have a fully different audio multichannel reel played than the CPL without VI. The version without Hi/VI will typically contain 6ch audio reels (for 5.1 features), while the HI/VI version will contain at least 8ch reels.

VI/HI are usually placed on DCI channels 7+8 in interop DCPs. So, to hear them, no remapping is necessary. On 7.1 systems with BsL and BsR on channels 11+12, a remapping is necessary, swapping channels 7+8 and 11+12. But that depends on the capabilities of your audio processor also. You may remap in the server or the audio processor.

You would think that single-inventory DCPs, including HI/VI should be the norm. But there are a lot of systems hardwired, and when playing CPLs with HI/VI, these signals sometimes are heard on screen or surround channels. So the studios have been careful to issue single-inventory HI/VI DCPs.

- Carsten