CompuServe Messages

I recently went through this process with an outside sound studio for music compositing. Here's the process we went through. All video live sound including voices were edited on beta SP frame accurate decks +-0. I laid in a "clapboard graphic" plus a sound pulse on 1000 Hz. for one frame 5 seconds prior to program and 5 seconds after the one hour program. This show is being designed for network broadcast. I used Non drop frame time code for real time compatibility with the audio guys who didn't want to use DF.. Next the beta master was dumped to a DAT including the pulses. I also cut a window dub of the video to VHS for audio placement and time reference. The dat and the win dub was given to the sound lab and they laid in the music and a few sound effects. mastered on a ADAT recorder that had 8 tracks composed on a MAC Non linear audio editor. The one hour sound track was sampled at CD quality and was a 1.1 G. file! I believe they used a Sony ADAT. This was mixed down to L+R stereo and back to DAT. I took the DAT that still included the pulses and recorded to beta SP again. This was lined up with the graphic on the original master that now has the audio eresed. I insert edited the sound in one pass beta to beta back to the original video. It lined up all the way through and was lined up on the outgoing graphic as well. The final step was to post stripe the LTC on the Master with new NDF time code so the tape time will match the broadcast clock in real time. This is only important on long programs. The process went quite smoothly except for a screw up in phase of one of the channels but we took care of that once discovered. For your process, based on what you told me the best device would be an ADAT with multitracks. that is RS-422 controlled. Check the Sony, Alesis, and Panasonic. For the non-linear part, I wouldn't bother with all the video hardware since your emphasis seems to be audio. I would recommend getting a MAC system since they are somewhat more capable than the PC's right now for this professional application. I have Midisoft products here but they are like toys compared to a good MAC setup. For any transfers, and this is important, you must use either synced video tape or DAT recording equipment because the old capstan tape driven systems are too inaccurate for any kind of resyncing of the sound to video. DATs, ADATs and video recorders also use capstans for drive but the actual tape speed is controlled by synchronous motors locked to the control track pulse or ATP (auto tracking pilot) subcarrier as in 8mm or DAT systems. This makes it extremely accurate. This can even work with the 3/4 equipment assuming they are using LTC and frame accurate edit controller. Hope you can decipher enough of this success story to help you choose your tools properly.