2021-06-19 Tea Time Topics #53-3: Rod Evenson Describes the Life and Death of SMPTE Standard RP173
This standard had to do with motion picture audio playback of many track formats and their relationship with the projection screen and viewer geometry. Hosted on Zoom by Dan Mortensen under the auspices of the Pacific Northwest Section of the Audio Engineering Society. Big thanks to Gary Louie for recording and editing these videos. Part 1 of this meeting is Colin Hancock describing modern-day acoustic recording on cylinders at https://youtu.be/HtUVE2eaOFQ Part 2 is the self-introductions of the participants and other discussion, and is not yet posted online. Rod sent the abstract below: SMPTE RP 173 Loudspeaker Placements for Audio Monitoring in High-Definition Electronic Production in context of Early Widescreen Cinema Sound SMPTE RECOMMENDED PRACTICE RP 173-2002 Loudspeaker Placementsfor Audio Monitoring in High-Definition Electronic Production In 1993, The Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers introduced a proposal for recomended practice in the placemant of loudspeakers used in audio monitoring of high-definition electronic media productions. After reviewing the draft of RP173, I issued a commentary on the proposal to Sherwin Becker, Director of Engineering for SMPTE Standards, pointing out some of the conflicts with existing practice in the production of multi-channel audio for widescreen motion pictures with technology introduced in the 1950s. The presentation will introduce RP 173 and discuss it with repect to motion picture sound systems used in Cinerama tm, Cinemascope tm, and Todd-AO tm. RP 173 was approved and published 1 January 2002, then withdrawn 25 September 2011, then reinstated June 2014 but will not have any future revisions. The discussion will welcome comments from the participants. Noting that the RP 173 arrangement might be used for low budget productions or student "film" or moving image media productions, there is the question of how their work would translate into a DCP (Digital Cinema Package) image+sound file for display in a motion picture theater environment. Having personally witnesed some SMPTE sponsered student film events shown in a large theater, I can tell you of the distraction of hearing stereo only behind the big screen where stereo with a phantom center tends to swing radically left to right and back as you move your head. Anything going into such a venue is best produced for an LCR (left center right) speaker arrangement. (so much for editorial).
This standard had to do with motion picture audio playback of many track formats and their relationship with the projection screen and viewer geometry. Hosted on Zoom by Dan Mortensen under the auspices of the Pacific Northwest Section of the Audio Engineering Society. Big thanks to Gary Louie for recording and editing these videos. Part 1 of this meeting is Colin Hancock describing modern-day acoustic recording on cylinders at https://youtu.be/HtUVE2eaOFQ Part 2 is the self-introductions of the participants and other discussion, and is not yet posted online. Rod sent the abstract below: SMPTE RP 173 Loudspeaker Placements for Audio Monitoring in High-Definition Electronic Production in context of Early Widescreen Cinema Sound SMPTE RECOMMENDED PRACTICE RP 173-2002 Loudspeaker Placementsfor Audio Monitoring in High-Definition Electronic Production In 1993, The Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers introduced a proposal for recomended practice in the placemant of loudspeakers used in audio monitoring of high-definition electronic media productions. After reviewing the draft of RP173, I issued a commentary on the proposal to Sherwin Becker, Director of Engineering for SMPTE Standards, pointing out some of the conflicts with existing practice in the production of multi-channel audio for widescreen motion pictures with technology introduced in the 1950s. The presentation will introduce RP 173 and discuss it with repect to motion picture sound systems used in Cinerama tm, Cinemascope tm, and Todd-AO tm. RP 173 was approved and published 1 January 2002, then withdrawn 25 September 2011, then reinstated June 2014 but will not have any future revisions. The discussion will welcome comments from the participants. Noting that the RP 173 arrangement might be used for low budget productions or student "film" or moving image media productions, there is the question of how their work would translate into a DCP (Digital Cinema Package) image+sound file for display in a motion picture theater environment. Having personally witnesed some SMPTE sponsered student film events shown in a large theater, I can tell you of the distraction of hearing stereo only behind the big screen where stereo with a phantom center tends to swing radically left to right and back as you move your head. Anything going into such a venue is best produced for an LCR (left center right) speaker arrangement. (so much for editorial).