I would say that 3-trk is A standard, and not THE standard. Originally 3-trk
was for mono recordings with separate dialog-music-effects (DME) as well as for
stereo music elements in a left-center-right (LCR) configuration. In 1953 Fox
began making fullcoat 4-track LCRS(urround) mixes to accompany their new
Cinemascope format. This included putting 4 thin mag tracks (2 on each side of
the perfs) on the release prints to be played in the theaters. 6-track mixes
have been around since at least the late 70s, and when I worked in film editing
this was the format that was delivered on fullcoat 35mm mag for the final print
master, as well as for all the test screenings we did. Usually the basic
configuration for this was(is) LLcCRcRS (also referred to as a 5.1 sound), with
the S being the subwoofer, or boom. Sometimes the 2nd and 4th channels are baby
booms. 70mm release prints have 6 thin mag strips surrounding the perfs. Also,
there are Dolby stereo matrix prints, which are L and R tracks recorded on a
3-track head, with the 3rd track blank. The 2 stereo tracks essentially become
LCRS when played through the Dolby matrix. This configuration is called LtRt
(Left total-Right total).


I'm just scratching the surface here, and the non-engineer in me is probably
screwing up a lot of the technical descriptions, but just wanted to give my 2
cents of experience.

Tim Wilson
Preservationist
Audio Mechanics




________________________________
From: Roderic G Stephens <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask]
Sent: Thu, August 19, 2010 4:17:09 PM
Subject: Re: [ARSCLIST] help: 16MM mag sound film

Hi Tom,
In checking on the web, I found that 17.5mm was really split 35mm stock with the
sprockets on one edge. In the few 16mm productions I edited, standard 16mm
fullcoat was the sound track material and is still used today. The split 35 to
17.5mm stock that you talk about was used on certain dubbing stages I remember
to run at 90ft./min on special interlocked dubber machines. Even today, 16mm
fullcoat is used, but more by hobbyists. From a blog: "Some sound stocks were
17.5mm stocks, essentially slit 35mm sound film with single sprockets. I've
never seen any of these. They were intended to be used at either full 35mm speed
or half speed as needed."
http://www.filmshooting.com/scripts/forum/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=8841&start=15
I guess I was thinking as an older motion picture editor as far as the 35mm
fullcoat tracks/channels. When I was involved with fullcoat in film dubbing up
through the '90s, it was standard to have the dialog on the first track, the
music on the second and the effects on the third. But, in the evolution to
multichannel music soundtracks, more channels were created and laid down on
fullcoat. In my day, the width of the three (dial/mx/fx) channels was
considered to be the maximum for the proper signal to noise ratio and frequency
response plus enough separation between the channels/stripes to eliminate cross
talk. http://recording.org/media-production/31946-single-stripe-2-stripe-full-coat-35mm-mag-reels.html

This site seems to indicate the 3-stripe is still standard in motion pictures
unless you go to 70mm which then allows plenty of room for 7 channels. However,
they talk about four to six channels on 35mm, too, so things have evolved.
More often today, the mixes are done on a digital work station without using
35mm until the very end if it's a film finish, at least to my knowledge through
the American Cinema Editors' magazine (Cinemaeditor) and the Editors Guild
magazine articles. ProTools is the big player in all of this. This in the
article, "Score Keepers, Mixers Who Capture Composers' Cues" in the
November/December issue of the Editors' Guild Magazine, "Analogue score
recording is a thing of the past, but no one is lamenting the loss...." Scoring
mixer Lessie Ann Jones says, "Today, the recordist is more of a ProTools
operator and editor, and the music editor puts the takes together after the
music-mixing process is completed.... After
the cues are recorded, the score is delivered to the dub stage for the final
mix, usually in the high-resolution (up to 96K) WAV format" (pg.37-39).
Today, on lower budget productions, one person can record, edit and finish on
Avid. Final Cut Pro and other digital editing systems. Even High Definition
material can be captured, edited and outputted on today's systems, literally,
one-man-bands. So much for "holding it in your hands" as some of the older film
editors talk about in missing the romance of film.
Rod Stephens
--- On Thu, 8/19/10, Tom Fine <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

From: Tom Fine <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: [ARSCLIST] help: 16MM mag sound film
To: [log in to unmask]
Date: Thursday, August 19, 2010, 1:46 PM

35mm actually allows up to 6 tracks on full-coat, with many other varients:
http://frank.mtsu.edu/~smpte/table.html
I've seen one-track, 3-track, 4-track and 6-track 35mm mag-film recorders and
dubbers.

I've never seen a 16mm full-coat mag-film, just 17.5mm. I'm sure 16mm exists,
I'm just not sure of any standard formats as far as tracks. I assume
single-track was definitely an option.

-- Tom Fine

----- Original Message ----- From: "Roderic G Stephens" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Thursday, August 19, 2010 4:32 PM
Subject: Re: [ARSCLIST] help: 16MM mag sound film


Hi Shai,
In my experience, there is usually just one track on 16mm fullcoat. 35mm
fullcoat allows room and width for three tracks or stripes if it's been coated
that way.
Rod Stephens

--- On Thu, 8/19/10, Shai Drori <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

From: Shai Drori <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: [ARSCLIST] help: 16MM mag sound film
To: [log in to unmask]
Date: Thursday, August 19, 2010, 12:49 PM

Does anyone have information about the standard used to record audio on 16mm
full coat film. A project came in where the audio for the film is on full coat
16mm and I wonder how many tracks could there be or how many formats. Any info
or links will be appreciated.
Shai