24fps-25fps

Are all Nagras Crystal Sync?
Are all Nagra 4.2's crystal? My assumption is that they are, but it seems prices vary so much (I know that's related to condition and such). Can you tell me anything about the differences between Nagra 4.2, 4, and 4L?
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Contributed by Glen Berry

I was recently doing sound postproduction for the movie done with 16mm camera. the movie has been transferred on beta tape, than edited in PC computer PAL (which means 25fps). When I finished I transferred soundtrack on the TASCAM DA 20 and sent it to the laboratory. for editing and 35mm blow up. Because of the frame difference the sound was slightly (but noticeably) pitched down. Is there any way to avoid this without using expensive sync equipment?

Have your sound resolved at the lab. Resolving altering the real-time relationship of the audio to the video (correcting the "pitch" problem you mentioned). Any good lab will be able to resolve your audio, just be sure to tell them what you've done with your picture since shooting (transferred to PAL, etc.).

Another way to avoid this is to have the lab sync the sound when they do the telecine. It isn't very expensive if you have good camera logs and slates. That way, you will have beta tapes with pix and sound in sync. The quality of the sound on the beta tapes should be fine. Once you have edited picture, you can take the sound and dump it to a different format (DAT, DA-88) to sweeten, add tracks and mix to your heart's content. As long as you don't change the overall length, your finished sound track will match up with pix. This method will end up saving you a lot of money in the long run, without noticeable quality loss.

Berry is the founder of the Northwest Film School and the creator of Film Underground, a popular and successful network of Moviemaking web sites that includes Cyber Film School.

A former member of the Whatcom Film Association Board of Directors, he also has twice served as the director of the Northwest Projections Film Festival. An award-winning filmmaker, Berry specializes in post production and is currently employed as an editor and post production supervisor on professional independent productions. Berry has written for “The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Filmmaking,” “MovieMaker Magazine,” Cyberfilmschool.com and Filmfestivals.com. He also has served as an expert source for international newspaper and radio media outlets.

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