Attempting to Learning Networked Audio, Timecode, Metadata with dailies workflow

[PatrickFaith]

I'm trying to learn networked audio, timecode & metadata for film. I'm specifically interested in getting the dialog metadata from the script supervisor intergrated to the shot lists with dual record from the cameras and audio's recorders. Also I need the time code to feed into my performance capture system. My normal config right now is a A & B weapon, a Nagra VI and A&B XSENS(all the performance capture system needs is a simple timecode coming into the computer mic). I have fairly complex scripts and dialog, I often need to go through a lot of lines, and do up to 4 scenes per day, so am having a hard time lining up all the shots to the audio to the metadata (which I require to be keyboard entered). Right now I have keyboard entry into the nagra, seperate metadata entry to the weapons, seperate keyboard entry for performance capture, the script supervisor is running off of paper and keeping track of all the file names with shot lists. Detailed produciton notes writen on paper is the fallback right now, which sometimes falls behind on fast days, then when the material is needed that becomes a serious issue. My current workflow on the daily side is premiere to frame.io, but I don't have anything decent for my script supervisor.

First thing is I'm basically confused on the basic "standards" for this. I see Zaxnet ( https://zaxcom.com/what-is-zaxnet/ ) , lockitnetwork (ambient stuff i think ... http://lockitnetwork.com/home/ ), among others like dante. Also all the metadata standards for this i'm totally confused on (i.e. seems like a mix of proprietery and open xml standards). Another thing is the production software where I can easily see this on my computer and type things in with a keypad that integrates with daily workflow software.

Perfect world would be if you could post your exact config, and basically how it connects together. I'd like to understand the plus & minus wireless vs wired connected systems also, and how different approaches allow a mix of vendors while others are a soup to nut vendor approach.

Also I'd like just some detailed "tutorials" links on this, the corporate web sites are just to vague, I can't figure out exactly what is going on. I really like exact examples, like how exactly would something like Omod work with this, or any other integrated vendor examples. Another example would be from a real set, like exactly how does light iron live play work with all this. Also what are the different budget ranges needed for various type systems. Thanks in advanced for the help.

Edit: found this recent article that is pretty good explaining things generally, but still no exact details - https://library.creativecow.net/stump_dave/metadata/1

Edit: also found this great series on understanding dante ... https://www.audinate.com/resources/training-and-tutorials

 

[David Peterson]

Got a local rental house to pop along and rent items from? Using it in practice means you'll gain a much deeper understanding.

 

[PatrickFaith]

Got a local rental house to pop along and rent items from? Using it in practice means you'll gain a much deeper understanding.

Good idea, there's a nice sound stage & rental place close to me that I've used before, but it leans more to the tv and web stuff so I'm not sure they will have what I need.

In general though I don't feel I'm learning anything fundamentally new when I dig into this, it seems almost 25 to 40 year old concepts that I have worked on before, but with technology that is atleast 1000 times cheaper. I especially find frustrating the lack of easy to understand documents and standards, it feels to me like a ancient glacier of architecture that is breaking apart with the recent (to film production) watershed of cost reduction in computing.

 

[Marc Wielage]

Two books I would recommend to you are these:

John Purcell's Dialogue Editing: A Guide to the Invisible Art

and also

Scott Arendale's Modern Post: Workflow and Techniques for Digital Filmmakers

I don't agree with everything in these books (particularly because things change so fast in this business), but I think more than 90% of the information is correct in terms of how I see things being done in LA. And that goes for the low-budget indie world, for TV, for studio features, all kinds of projects.

Purcell's book covers how editorial takes care of dialogue from the moment it's recorded to how it's synced up for dailies, how the files are organized, how metadata is applied, how the show is edited, and then how dialogue is conformed and remixed later on. In some cases, the metadata effortlessly passes through from place to place, but in others it requires 3rd party software and/or manual intervention in order to jam all this information in there.

Arendale's book is more about the big picture, including editing, color, sound, VFX, final delivery, and so on, but a good chunk of it is on sound and how all the various pieces fit together.

90% of your questions would basically be answered by hiring a sound supervisor and/or a post supervisor, since that's basically what they do. Keeping track of the pieces, the dailies, the metadata, scripts, file backups, conforms, edit lists, edit versions, master files, and all that stuff is a monumental task even for one person. If you're trying to do ten other jobs at the same time, the risk you take is that you'll be crushed by too much work, or part of it may be delayed or harmed over time.