Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1455123
32 PRODUCTION SOUND & VIDEO – Spring 2022 That same producer went onto ask if production mixing would become unnecessary since levels could be adjusted in post production. Again, the answer is absolutely not. This is akin to suggesting that lighting is unnecessary now that cameras can capture high dynamic range images. Sure, an unlit scene can go through a degree of brightening and manipulation in post production, but at exorbitant cost and to the detriment of the nal product. An incompetent production mix (or worse, an unmixed production track) would make dailies of little use outside of visual purposes, would hinder our brothers and sisters in Local 700 when they have to stop to adjust audio levels multiple times during each shot, and would extend the re-recording mix period. The relationship between production and post production has always been that post's life is cheaper and easier when production does their job well and this technology, impressive though it may be, will not change that. On a similar note, multiple articles that I read when researching this piece suggested that productions would be able to get away with capturing all of their on-set audio by planting a single microphone to capture an entire scene. That is also patently false. This technology changes how computers process audio signals in digital les, not the physics of how sound carries through the air on set. Someone being picked up by a microphone across the room is never going to sound the same as someone speaking into a dedicated mic that is being boomed directly in front of them or clipped to their lapel. In short, this technology acts as a safety net during difcult environments for capturing sound. It does not erase almost a century's worth of best practices. However, looking to the future, this technology will become critical as the world moves into virtual reality production. Spatial sound requires audio les to be manipulated in real time by whatever algorithm determines the listener's proximity to a supported sound source. When in a virtual environment, listeners can be exposed to just as many disparate sound sources as they can in the real world, and having the ability to work across the entire scope of human hearing with any given audio source will be a necessity when crafting an immersive virtual soundscape. At this time, only a handful of production recorders support the capture of 32-bit oating audio les, with those being the Sound Devices MixPre-3 II, MixPre-6 II, MixPre-10 II & A20 Mini; the Zoom F2 & F6; and the Tentacle Track E—though more are set to hit the market in 2022 and their prevalence will only continue to grow as the global chip shortage comes to an end. In the meantime, Local 695 mixers interested in investing in 32-bit oat recorders are encouraged to download sample les and explore the benets in a hands-on manner so that they are ready to work with producers whose productions might benet from them. As someone who remembers listening to the mufed sounds of VHS tapes when watching his favorite movies and playing video games with 8-bit audio, the distance we've traveled is truly staggering. While we may not nd ourselves in need of an audio resolution greater than 32-bit until we gure out how to make movies on other planets, I nd myself looking to the future with wonder and curiosity. How will the stories of tomorrow sound and, more signicantly for us, what sort of tools will our brothers, sisters, and kin in Local 695 use to capture them? Looking to the future, this technology will become critical as the world moves into virtual reality production. Spatial sound requires audio files to be manipulated in real time by whatever algorithm determines the listener's proximity to a supported sound source.