General Asylum

Posted by Rich H (R) on February 15, 2002 at 07:17:28

In Reply to: yep and much of the movie's audio is synthetic (more) posted by Aroc on February 15, 2002 at 06:13:39:

First of all, thanks to the original poster for the fun review of the maggies!

I don't mean to change the course of the thread...but "Aroc" wrote some interesting things.

"Aroc:" I agree with much of what you've written (if I've read you correctly). Movie soundtracks are definitely synthetic - I know because I do it all day as a movie FX designer. We all try to keep recording/sampling quality as high as possible. Nonetheless there can be a large variation between the sonic quality of the sounds that go into a sound track - from high-fidelity recordings and samples to...cruddy fidelity sounds/samples which just sound "right" in some places, sometimes subtley mixed into high-fidelity sounds.

And yet...a great sound system DOES make a very positive difference in reproducing movie sound tracks. High fidelity, which of course includes the idea of a lowering of distortion throughout the reproduction chain, is a definite plus in making movie soundtracks sound better - richer, more "varied," more enveloping and realistic.

I hear my tracks played on many different systems - in my editing suite, in the various mixing theaters, in home theaters, and on humble stereo/mono TV sets. It still amazes me how much better, how enthralling, and how much more realistic the tracks sound when I hear them on the best systems (such as a good mixing theater or a great home theater set-up) vs. lesser systems.

So, my point is that, while movie sound may come together in a synthetic manner, better quality sound - high fidelity - reaps just the kind of satisfying rewards as it does for music reproduction.

Rich H.