Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Artwork on early Dolby SR logo

This is topic Artwork on early Dolby SR logo in forum Film-Yak at Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE.

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Posted by Bobby Henderson (Member # 840) on 03-16-2002, 07:46 PM:

I've been tweaking around a few symbol "Pi" fonts in Fontographer 4.1.5 to have all the film sound logos in my collection available in a handful of True Type and Postscript Type 1 formats. I may even use a new utility called "Volt" to convert them into OpenType as well.

Anyway, I'm trying to find good source material on the first DolbySR logo (which appeared in 1987). I've already got a perfect version of the currently authorized (and arguably plain) Dolby SR logo. I also have a vector copy of the most commonly used one that is now outdated. That one had the "Dolby Stereo" name along with the double-d symbol to the left, SR to the right and "Spectral Recording" on top.

The logo in question just has the Dolby Stereo brand with "Spectral Recording" in taller more skinny letters on top. No SR off to the right. Orion Pictures used the logo on lots of movie posters, such as "Robocop," "Dances With Wolves" and "Silence of the Lambs". If anyone could send me a good, sharp, high resolution scan of the logo I would really appreciate it. The artwork I have on hand is just not good enough to get a dead-on vector replica made.

Posted by Joe Redifer (Member # 3) on 03-16-2002, 08:59 PM:

I can't help you but if you stumble across a Dolby logo that I can import as a 3D object in Ray Dream Studio, send it over!

Posted by Bobby Henderson (Member # 840) on 03-17-2002, 02:36 AM:

Which logo do you need? I have just about every conceivable Dolby logo you can image (in vector form which you can import into Ray Dream Designer). That one Dolby SR logo is really about the only one I am missing from my total collection of theirs. I have a lot of DTS, SDDS, CDS, LC-Digital, 70mm logos and a lot of other odd thingies. Specify a file format (such as AI, EPS, CDR etc.) and I can send it over.

I have the Univers type fonts that I need to get this first Dolby SR logo mastered properly. However, I need a good scan source to use as a master to lock down in a draw program to use in placing new vector art. The envelope filters featured in CorelDRAW, Illustrator or Freehand distort type in a way that doesn't work properly in creating the bowed effect for those "Spectral Recording" letters. And even though Dolby offers lots of guidelines of trademark use as well as quality vector art, they don't offer anything on old discarded logos. That's where this Dolby SR logo falls. I'd just like to get it properly vectorized for historical purposes.

Posted by Joe Redifer (Member # 3) on 03-17-2002, 03:29 AM:

I'll take everything you've got! If you have anything that says "Dolby Surround" (!) that might be cool as well. I was looking for SR logos but I don't have the original one. I only have a large bumper-sticker of the Dolby SR with the "Spectral Recording" in bowed form above "Dolby Stereo".

Actually I have two. Want one? They are not in mint condition, but still decent. I also have one that just says "Dolby" with the logo. Kinda boring.

Whenever I think of the original SR logo, I am reminded of that super long trailer with the rainbow colors with Henry Mancini (sp?) music behind it -- the guy who did the original Pink Panther music. I guy I know has a few copies of that on film, but I haven't talked to him forever.

Posted by Bobby Henderson (Member # 840) on 03-17-2002, 01:53 PM:

If you have extras of those large Dolby SR bumper stickers, heck yeah i'll take one. Brad has my snail mail address. My vectorized version of that Dolby SR logo is pretty well done, but I could use a larger printed source to hone in those bowed "Specral Recording" letters to more exact detail. The previous source I used was from a Dolby SR ad in a 1990 issue of Premiere Magazine. Your bumper stickers look better since they are not suffering from dot gain/ink bleed problems.

Do you have a draw program like Adobe Illustrator or Macromedia Freehand? I can send some files of those Dolby logos in that format or EPS if you like. Ultimately, I want to put all of those logos in a single font (as well as having them in separate AI, EPS, CDR and FH9 files). I have just about every Dolby logo you could imagine (all perfectly digitized according to Dolby specs), except for that original Dolby SR logo and the Dolby Megasound item they used in the early 1980's.

Posted by Joe Redifer (Member # 3) on 03-17-2002, 02:06 PM:

I have Adobe Illustrator 9. Would the same EPS files be able to be imported into Ray Dream? Or would that be a different file type?

I'll try to figure out a way to package this thing (poster tube?) and get your address from Brad and send it off soon. If I am ever in OK I expect to see this plastered on the back of your van/truck/pinto/love bug/whatever you have.

Posted by Bobby Henderson (Member # 840) on 03-17-2002, 03:51 PM:

I'm not sure which flavor of EPS Ray Dream Designer prefers, but since you have AI9, you can export EPS in a variety of version flavors. I have Adobe Illustrator 7 (I may get the version 10 upgrade). I'll put together a collection of files and e-mail them to you. On the Dolby SR item, yes a good poster tube would work fine (or anything strong enough to keep the mailman from crumpling it when he tries to jam it in my mailbox).

I'm also doing similar logo archiving efforts with DTS and SDDS. Another "misc" archive would include a bunch of other current and dead formats from THX and 70mm to dead items like Senssuround, CDS and LC-Digital.

Posted by John Hawkinson (Member # 1135) on 03-17-2002, 05:31 PM:

Bobby,

I just went looking for you. Here's a scan from the Dances with Wolves one-sheet, and here's one from the ad slick. The quality isn't stellar, but that's how the one-sheet looks.

Our RoboCop one-sheet doesn't have this logo.

Silence of the Lambs does have it, though it's smaller than Dances, and has a nasty colored background that would likely make it turn out worse.

Enjoy.

--jhawk

Posted by Bobby Henderson (Member # 840) on 03-17-2002, 06:08 PM:

Thanks for the scans, JHawk. That is the logo I am trying to get perfected. I think your scans are a little better than the source material I have. The only thing I can think of that might feature that logo in better form would be a display ad in an old issue of Variety or Box Office magazine. Ink bleed on some movie posters can make the job tough for getting an accurate logo vectorization.

Posted by Joe Redifer (Member # 3) on 03-17-2002, 06:19 PM:

Excellent. I'll send you the same SR sticker that has been immortalized on this page and seen by tens of people! I'll try to get the shortest poster tube I can. But don't be too surprised if it doesn't fit in your mailbox

Posted by Thomas Hauerslev (Member # 566) on 03-19-2002, 04:25 AM:

I believe I have Dolby's original SR logo in my files. Let me have a look and come back to you.

------------------
Cheers, Thomas
..in70mm - The 70mm Newsletter

www.in70mm.com www.dp70.com www.70mm.dk www.hauerslev.com http://hjem.get2net.dk/in70mm

Posted by System Notices (Member # 2357) on 05-13-2013, 03:39 PM:

It has been 4073 days since the last post.

Posted by Aaron Garman (Member # 1653) on 05-13-2013, 03:39 PM:

quote:
the same SR sticker that has been immortalized on this page and seen by tens of people!

It truly has. I was google searching Dolby Stereo logo and this post was one of the first hits.

That sticker is awesome. I'd love to get signage for my home theatre with the original Dolby Stereo logo, thus the google search.

AJG

Posted by Joe Redifer (Member # 3) on 05-13-2013, 07:05 PM:

Did I ever send that to you, Bobby? I don't remember sending it anywhere. But then again all those years of hardcore LSD took their tool. Man, I wish I could still run Ray Dream Studio on my more modern computer. It was great for animating logos and titles.

I swear I saw the plain "Dolby" sticker around here somewhere recently. It's not large.

Posted by Bobby Henderson (Member # 840) on 05-14-2013, 05:51 PM:

Yep. You sent it to me. I still have it:

Regarding Ray Dream Designer, yeah I remember the program being fairly easy to use. Back in the 1990s Corel bundled a sort of Corel-branded version of it with CorelDRAW. It didn't get along very well with CorelDRAW .CDR files. I seem to remember having better luck bringing in logos saved in .EPS format from Adobe Illustrator.

I haven't messed with 3D software much in recent years -even with Blender supposedly being a pretty good program and open source.

Adobe is reportedly bundling in a "lite" version of Cinema 4D with the new version of Adobe After Effects being released in June. We'll see how well that works. Or rather, how easy (or difficult/time consuming) it is to use.

Posted by Joe Redifer (Member # 3) on 05-15-2013, 11:30 PM:

Your photo looks so much better than mine. There really is no reason for that. My little Epson camera with near-megapixel resolution should have been totally future proof. Also, it looks like you've been keeping it between books to flatten it out.

Posted by Bobby Henderson (Member # 840) on 05-16-2013, 02:24 PM:

I have it placed in a drawer under a stack of 70mm ads (mostly full page) from The New York Times. Nothing too heavy.

The photo would have come out even better if I had held my hands a little more steady (it's just a tiny bit fuzzy). My 24-70 f/2.8L zoom lens doesn't have image stabilization.

I'm really hoping Japanese made lens prices might take a serious drop now that the US Dollar is trading above 100¥ to $1. The exchange rate had gone as bad as 70¥ to $1 in recent years. Maybe that's why Canon is charging $2,499 for the 70-200 f/2.8L IS version II lens when the version I model cost $1,799. There is a $300 instant rebate on that lens until June 1. I've had the non-IS version for a few years and am seriously considering an upgrade.

Not that I would use a 70-200 zoom to take that Dolby SR sticker photo. You gotta get back like 15 feet or so just to get to minimum focus distance.

Posted by Joe Redifer (Member # 3) on 05-16-2013, 06:34 PM:

It's amazing the distance the lenses need for minimum focus distance. I have a 100mm prime lens (not L, but whatever the step below L is... Ultrasonic?) that can focus on things as close as maybe about a foot or a bit less.

Posted by Bobby Henderson (Member # 840) on 05-17-2013, 11:52 AM:

Yeah, I can get really close to subjects with my 24-70 zoom. Come to think of it though, I'll have to check the focus limiter switch settings on my 70-200 zoom. I might have it flipped to the long end of things. I'd like to get a good macro lens, like maybe the 100mm f/2.8L macro. Apparently it also doubles as a really good portrait lens. But I'm lusting after that image stabilized 70-200 more.