Sound Striping Super-8

[BolexPlusx]

So I'm waiting for my very first sound projector to show up after I bought it on E-bay, and this whole new world of possibilities in filmmaking has opened up...(I call it breaking the sound barrier)

I realize of course that sound camera film is dead now five years, but I'm pretty psyched that I can at least develop quazi-synched sound tracks, maybe mix some music and narration in and than lay it down on a mag stripe, but the stripe is the issue.

Can anybody recommend some striping services? (I don't mind sending it to Europe if that's where the quality and value are)

[Konton]

Really? That sounds expensive. This is what I know:

Cohen Phillips
2923 North 7th Street
St. Joseph, Missouri 64505

Regular 8mm & Super 8mm Sound Striping (main track only). $0.08 cents per foot ($10 minimum order). Please send payment in full with the correct postage for $4.50 (Priority Mail in USA for up to 2 pounds weight).

Paul Yost Sound Striping Service
117 Ruby Ave.
San Carlos, CA 94070
(650) 592-0112

Paul's prices for Super-8: 30 cents a foot for main stripe only, and 35 cents a foot for main and balance stripe. It's not cheap, but he does good work. I use cement splices and they cover them fine. No recording drop-outs over the splices.

Best of luck. I prefer sound striping my own film. I have a sound striper with glue and tape I might be willing to sell. Let me know.

[BolexPlusx]

Thanks!

A Couple more questions:

Do you have any experience with stripes done over cement splices? I am concerned that when the stripe has to climb the overlap the bond may be weak and the stripe liable to peel. (Would it be better to stripe before you edit and waste a little on the out takes?)

What's your opinion on balance stripes? Is there a certain footage below which they don't make a difference?

If I decided to do it myself, do you know a source for stripe material?

Finally, can anybody vouch for these guys?:

http://www.spondonfilms.freeserve.co.uk/sound.htm

They seem cheaper than Paul Yost even given postage to England. But if the quality isn't there who cares?

[Konton]

I don't have any experience with stripes done over cement splices. Sorry. I think it would be nice to have the balance stripe, but I don't think it really makes much difference in the audio. Go to the end of the "Editing and Telecine" section and I mention sound striping to see where to get the materials.

Dave Adams who ran Spondon Film Services dies last year. I thought there was no Spondon Film Services anymore because he was the sole proprietor. Just a website. Have you been able to contact them? Let me know because I tried e-mailing them months ago about their Universal Scope Stand and never heard back. I ended up getting a scope bracket mount from Classic Home Cinema but it is over priced and of bad quality compared to that Universal Scope Stand

<font color="#a62a2a" size="1">[ August 17, 2002 04:11 PM: Message edited by: Konton ]</font>

[Mikko]

You can edit your films with cement splices and put the sound stripe after that. It'll work better that way.
Once (the first time) I striped the films before editing and it did not work at all. Terrible sound drops and pops at every splice!
Edit first, stripe later!

M

[tom hardwick]

Only "edit first, stripe later" if you use tape splices. If you've used cement the film surface will never be flat and you *will* get audio dropout at the splice.

I use a Fuji tape splicer and the perforated tape comes on a roll. A small patch is put between the magnetic tracks so as to leave them clear.

The balance stripe was just that: it was designed to "balance" the roll of film as it was wound onto a spool. It was never meant for recording on, though my Elmo GS1200 does a passably good job when the bias settings are tweaked to suit the magnetic emulsion.

tom.

[tanenbaumm]

Hiya! I'm a wide-eyed newbie in the super 8mm film world so please forgive if my questions reflect that! I'm taking some film courses at SF City College, so hopefully my wit, knowledge and sagacity will increase over the coming months.

I'm interested in the idea of adding sound, but I'm trying to understand some of the basic issues involved in non-synch. I understand from this thread that one can add a magnetic stripe which a sound reading projector can pick up. What I don't understand is how it can be properly synched if you're sending it out to a lab. How can you ensure that the audio and the film will mesh properly once that striping's been done if you're not there to oversee it? Is there special equipment used, or special notations you give to the sound striper?

A quick rundown of the methodology would make me a happier camper. Thanks!

[BolexPlusx]

What the striper would actually do for me is just add the sound stripe to the film. I would record the sound myself using the recording input and head on my sound projector.

PS: Theprojector showed up (Bolex SP-80 Special) and it is really great. The shame is I only have one film with a sound track so far and I'll probably be pretty sick of watching it before I manage to make one of my own!

[tanenbaumm]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size=2 face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><table border="0" width="90%" bgcolor="#333333" cellspacing="1" cellpadding="0"><tr><td width="100%"><table border="0" width="100%" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="2" bgcolor="#FF9900"><tr><td width="100%" bgcolor="#DDDDDD"><font size=2 face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">&lt;font size=2 face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif"&gt;Originally posted by BolexPlusx:
What the striper would actually do for me is just add the sound stripe to the film. I would record the sound myself using the recording input and head on my sound projector.&lt;/font&gt;</font></td></tr></table></td></tr></table></BLOCKQUOTE>
Gosh, now I'm even more confused. You're recording audio on your projector? Obviously I expect a sound projector to play sound...do I understand you right that you can use it to record too?

Let's say for sake of argument that I film some footage and record some audio (wild) on a minidisc or ordinary tape recorder. I then edit the film and edit the audio to match (either by tape splicing or on my computer). What steps do I need to take to produce a stripe from that audio that a striper can affix?

Thanks for your patience.

P.S. Congrats on the new projector!

<font color="#a62a2a" size="1">[ August 30, 2002 01:51 AM: Message edited by: tanenbaumm ]</font>

[BolexPlusx]

It's true that many sound projectors have the capability to record sound. This one came with an input for the microphone it came with or "a record player". (Hey it was made in the 70's, what do you expect!)

My basic plan is to record some semi-synched sound using a minidisc recorder, and import it into my PC and mix it with music and narration. Since I do a lot of nature films, I don't do too much with "actors" on the screen. Therefore I can get away without lip-synch. Most of the sound is continuous ambient sounds like water flowing or the wind or birds in the background. When I'm done assembling the track, I'll lay it down on the edited, striped film.

I have a lot to research and assemble in terms of methods, hardware and software. It's OK though, it's a great challenge that will keep filmmaking from becoming routine, and should be a lot of fun.

It will also open up a lot of new possibilities for films. One of the reasons I stopped making films twice in past years is because I ran out of subjects and new ideas.