Daniel Pellerin is a Genie and Gemini Award-winning sound supervisor, rerecording mixer, music supervisor and contractor. Recent credits for Daniel Pellerin Digital Sound Productions include the dramatic features Being Julia and The Dark Hour; the TV series Puppets Who Kill; docs The Take, Shake Hands with the Devil: The Journey of Romeo Dallaire, Shipbreakers, A Whale of a Tale and ScaredSacred; and the animated film Yankee Irving, started by the late Christopher Reeve.

Three features unveiled at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival and at the Vancouver International Film Festival had their world premieres on Digi Beta video featuring a 5.1 Digital soundtrack. They were Shake Hands with the Devil: The Journey of Romeo Dallaire (White Pine Pictures), Shipbreakers (National Film Board/Storyline Entertainment) and A Whale of a Tale (NFB/Storyline/Acqua Film). A total of eight films were projected in this format or with HD masters as the visual source for selected festival screenings.

Traditionally, theatrical screenings of these formats have been afterthoughts, technically speaking. With the advent of good high-end digital projection, we have witnessed a vast improvement on the image side of the equation, but sound stayed firmly in the past, with conventional two-track stereo playback remaining the norm. The rare exception would allow you to monitor the Dolby Lt/Rt surround information through a proper decoder, if available. But until now, it was impossible to access the 5.1 mix from a two-track video master of your movie’s soundtrack.

What has finally made it possible is simply this: once you create a Digital 5.1 discreet final mix print master for your project, you can transfer this version of your audio mix encoded with Dolby E onto two tracks of your video master, be it Digital Beta or HD.

Dolby E is a process by which you encode a six-track (5.1 discreet master mix) and a two-track (Lt/Rt Dolby encoded surround version of your six-track mix) onto two tracks of your video master, using meta-data as your audio carrier. In order to play back this audio source, it must be decoded properly through a Dolby E decoder. This audio format was originally created to accommodate multi-track formats utilizing only two tracks as the carrier for eight separate tracks. Primarily designed for broadcast purposes, it became quickly apparent that it could also be used for other applications.

Once projection technology began to deliver high-quality video-source projection, it became painfully obvious that audio quality had to follow suit.

Higher resolution than film

The image can be projected in any standard theater properly equipped with a high-quality video projector, and can be shown full-screen from the 16 x 9 version of your picture. Meanwhile, your soundtrack’s original final mix can be experienced in full Digital 5.1 splendor through the cinema’s playback monitoring system at 20 bit/48K resolution – an even higher resolution than a Dolby Digital (AC-3) encoded soundtrack on a conventional film print!

So what does this mean for filmmaking in the future? Two things.

First, do yourself a gigantic favor and mix everything you produce from now on in the 5.1 sound format, whether you are delivering for theatrical or for broadcast only. This will of course allow you to create a proper film soundtrack if you end up requiring a theatrical release later on.

This happened recently on the documentary The Take, which we mixed in 5.1 for video masters only, primarily for television and festivals. Distributor Odeon Films subsequently picked up the project for a proper theatrical release.

No problem. The final mix was created in 5.1 and could be transferred to Dolby Digital as an optical track for print release. The only other expense incurred above and beyond the transfer to Magneto Optical Disk and optical film sound stock is, of course, the terrifying Dolby licence fee. Its cost varies depending on the number of prints you are making and the length of your production. Shorts are cheaper – the longer the short, the more expensive the licence.

Secondly, even if you do not intend to release your production theatrically or show it theatrically in 5.1, you will be able to archive your mix in 5.1 so that if your future broadcast is in 5.1 or even Dolby Surround, it will be ready for transfer in those formats. And you will also be ready for proper audio formatting of your project onto DVD, allowing your production a better presentation format than the antiquated, rough and ready VHS – video’s equivalent to the audio cassette, may it also die a quick death.

Remember, you only need a Dolby licence if you are making a film print utilizing the Dolby process to create your 5.1 and/or Dolby Stereo Surround track for film optical transfer, and if you are going to project your Dolby E soundtrack theatrically. Otherwise, if you are only broadcasting or making DVDs for distribution without a theatrical release, you only need a contract – which incurs no extra cost – if you intend to use the Dolby logo on your production titles and promotional materials. It is simply a matter of getting written permission from Dolby Laboratories.

The bottom line is that 5.1, properly mixed and presented in proper playback conditions, sounds far better than the other formats available. This invariably enhances your overall production values immensely. My wish is that you may have the good fortune of experiencing the special clarity and dramatic dynamic range that this sound format offers you and your audience. You’ll never regret the effort and you’ll never forget the experience. Guaranteed.