My Day at Todd-AO

[Titanium Dome]

Through the LA Area Home Theatre Group, I got the chance to visit the Todd-AO Hollywood studios last Sunday. It was a rare treat, which I will share here.

I'll supplement the thread with photos, some stock from Todd-AO, some from other LAHTG members, and some lousy ones of my own.

If we could keep the chatter down until I get things posted over the next 24 hours, that would be great. But if you must post, I'll just ignore any questions or comments until I'm done.

[Titanium Dome]

We arrived at the Hollywood facility around 10 AM. It's on a side street, and if you didn't know where to go you'd never find it.

Stock photo:

[Titanium Dome]

Our host was Marc David Fishman, re-recording mixer and group member. His list of credits includes John Adams (2008 TV Emmy), Crash, Bucket List, Never Back Down, one of my favorites: Superbad, and recently Law Abiding Citizen.

He used Law Abiding Citizen, Never Back Down, and Sorority Row (yes, really) to demonstrate the equipment, techniques, different mixes, etc.

(pic to be added)

[Titanium Dome]

Our first stop, after checking in with security, was in Studio 1. If you locate the table with three seats, I planted myself in the left-most seat.

Stock photo:

[JBL 4645]

That’s a common name Glen Glenn that I’ve noticed over the years on the end credits of the original Star Trek TV show and Star Trek II the Wrath of Khan.

Dome I know you, had some pictures you, craft ole bugger you. :D Yeah keep those pictures coming alone there. I hope you have hundreds of them I like a peek inside around the mixing desk behind the screen the surrounds oh, yes keep them coming.:bouncy:

Okay you mentioned in of the other threads they have JBL stage fronts presumably five screen to handle the SDDS8 mixes and Bag End for the sub bass. So what are the surrounds on the sidewalls and most likely rear wall as they are not JBL from the looks of them?

Bet the noise level in that dubbing stage is many db lower than my room lol! I guess they have whispery air condition system keeping the room freshly breathable.

Marc David Fishman
Oh, a young lad younger than me.
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0279892/ (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0279892/)

Well there is only one film that I’ve heard on JBL sound system and that’s Disclosure (1994) (supervising sound editor)

That is very nice of him to show you around the Todd-AO facility.

[Titanium Dome]

That $1,000,000+ console is really four consoles in one. It's a Euphonix S5 Digital Mixing Console, with over sound 500 inputs available. Most everything is done with Macs running ProTools.

Here's one corner of the console.

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Here's a close of of the screen. Every single sound is on a different track.

[JBL 4645]

Those names are common like the Euphonix S5. In most cases there are hundreds or thousands of tracks playing at the same time on some mixes. Pro-Tools I’ve only seen it once working at college it wasn’t the only one as the other was QueBase.

A million so in some sense most modern soundtracks cost a million bucks!:D

I trying to resist but I’d like to keep the continuity of the text in correct proportions to the thread. Wow I almost feel off the chair dizzy that’s a bundle of tracks laid up there.

[Titanium Dome]

The studio had a couple of these portable, self-contained Mac Pro Tools on either side.

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The giant mixing suite is supported by a dedicated equipment room and projection booth above and behind the theatre. Tons of gigabit Ethernet connects everything.

Here's the four racked Euphonix units.

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Stacks
Of Macs
In the racks

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All of these units are synced by a single clock, keeping everything on time. One of Marc's comments was that most HT set ups do not have a unifying clock, thus introducing delay between units that creates sync problems.

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Making my Synthesis® stack look like a toy, the racked gear just keeps coming. Compared to the equipment rooms of the past, of course, this is a small space. Nonetheless it outperforms anything that came before it.

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Okay, I'm not going to show every last bit of racked equipment, so here's a final shot. Out good friends at Lexicon are represented.

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Just behind that bank of equipment are the projectors. It has one of the few 35mm cameras and perhaps the only 70mm camera still in use in a mixing studio.

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Calling them big, noisy, and hot does not do them justice. Notice the stove pipe to exit the heat.

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A glance out the projection booth window shows the 23' x 42' screen. It's perforated.

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The Christie CP2000 digital is the PJ of choice these days.

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Here's a closer look at its control touch pad.

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This is where they mix Family Guy, Entourage, and other TV shows hence, the TV for final checks. The playback system is JBL LSR units.

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It was pretty darn dark in there, so the pictures barely show the LSRs.

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This is nearly the equal of Stage one. Its size is comparable, but the mixing equipment is a bit less. It has a nice pool table.

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These volume units are all over the place.

[JBL 4645]

Christie dual 35/70mm projector I can’t see or tell what model not that it maters as long as it’s dual to handle both formats.

The pipe or vent to vent all that heat out of the lamp house as that xenon will be blinding hot and explosive as well it is lethal if you played around with and make hell of mess when it explodes!

I wonder if its 4KW or 7KW xenon?

The digital projector looks like the same one I saw at the VUE West End last month in one of their THX screens.

Yeah some digital cameras are just useless unless you have smart cheap SLR digital camera. Is it camera phone that you’re using Doug?

It’s nice to see some JBL LSR in the smaller dubbing rooms.

Keep those pictures coming along there, you did have enough memory on that card?:D

[jcrobso]

It describe film sound back in the analog days. Then it was 35mm open reel decks, lots of them. Each deck had an operator, his job was to press the play button at the correct time to add the sound on the tape to the final mix. Later automation was added and the tape decks were operated by remote control.
At the radio station I still have 1 open reel, several cart decks and CD players. The CD players are emergency backup in case the on air PC hangs up, which it does since it's a Windows PC, not my choice!:banghead:
My production rooms are not fancy, mixing console, 2 PCs and JBL monitors!:)

[grumpy]

Thanks for sharing that rare experience... would have been a real treat.
Maybe next year, if there's a repeat :)

[JBL 4645]

I found brief reference to the two dual 35/70mm projectors that are used at Todd-AO
http://www.in70mm.com/dp70/country/usa/_old/pacific/los_angeles/index.htm (http://www.in70mm.com/dp70/country/usa/_old/pacific/los_angeles/index.htm)

Also this link relating to the Bag End subs
http://www.bagend.com/todd-aowest.htm (http://www.bagend.com/todd-aowest.htm)

[Titanium Dome]

I found brief reference to the two dual 35/70mm projectors that are used at Todd-AO
http://www.in70mm.com/dp70/country/usa/_old/pacific/los_angeles/index.htm (http://www.in70mm.com/dp70/country/usa/_old/pacific/los_angeles/index.htm)

Also this link relating to the Bag End subs
http://www.bagend.com/todd-aowest.htm (http://www.bagend.com/todd-aowest.htm)

To answer your earlier question, the surrounds are Bag End as well.

[Titanium Dome]

One of our HT group members posted his better pictures here:

http://socalht.com/htgroup/todd-ao/html/0.htm

There's 70 photos. See if you can spot the JBL 4412s. Also, see if you can spot me. I'm in at least 24 of them, although it's a bit "Where's Waldo" in some of them.

For a good look at my duds, check out the picture where I'm next to the CSI sign as I enter Stage 4.

[Doc Mark]

Hey, TD,.

Great photos, and yes, I "found" you! Looks like you all had a fine day, and got to see some really interesting goodies. Thanks for sharing your day with us. Take care, and God Bless!

Every Good Wish,
Doc

[MikeBrewster77]

You had me at Pic #50 with the three LSR6332's :applaud:

Thank you for sharing!

[Ducatista47]

One of our HT group members posted his better pictures here:

http://socalht.com/htgroup/todd-ao/html/0.htm


I assume that is a nice SPL meter on the desk next to the remote controls in slide 45? It looks like my Radio Shack piece but a whole lot nicer. Fluke type colors too.

Clark

[JBL 4645]

Easy too spot the JBL 4412. wow the layout of the facility looks incredible a few achieve projectors and what looks like Moviola cutting machine.

[Titanium Dome]

I assume that is a nice SPL meter on the desk next to the remote controls in slide 45? It looks like my Radio Shack piece but a whole lot nicer. Fluke type colors too.

Clark

Yes, it is. I forget the brand, but it's obviously a huge leap above our standard RS units.

[JeffW]

I wasn't familiar with Todd-AO when this thread was active, but just had an experience with Todd-AO I thought I'd share.

While today Todd-AO is more on the sound side of the picture, Todd-AO also had a widescreen film format and a few feature films were shot in this 65mm negative/70mm print format.

One of these films, and the last one made in Todd-AO 70mm format after a nearly 20 year gap, was Baraka in 1992.

This film was re-mastered and scanned into digital format, re-released in 2008 on Blu Ray and DVD.

Here's the blurb from Wiki about the process (and this is also covered in the bonus footage on the Blu Ray disc)


Following previous DVD (http://www.audioheritage.org/wiki/DVD) releases, in 2007 the original 65 mm negative was re-scanned at 8K (a horizontal resolution of 8192 pixels) with equipment designed specifically for Baraka at FotoKem Laboratories (http://www.audioheritage.org/wiki/FotoKem). The automated 8K film scanner (http://www.audioheritage.org/wiki/Motion_picture_film_scanner), operating continuously, took more than three weeks to finish scanning more than 150000 frames (taking approximately 12–13 seconds to scan each frame), producing over 30 terabytes (http://www.audioheritage.org/wiki/Terabyte) of image data in total. After a 16-month digital intermediate (http://www.audioheritage.org/wiki/Digital_intermediate) process, including a 96 kHz/24 bit audio remaster (http://www.audioheritage.org/wiki/Audio_mastering) by Stearns for the DTS-HD Master Audio (http://www.audioheritage.org/wiki/DTS-HD_Master_Audio) soundtrack, the superior result was finally re-released on DVD and Blu-ray Disc (http://www.audioheritage.org/wiki/Blu-ray_Disc) in October, 2008. Project supervisor Andrew Oran says this remastered Baraka is "arguably the highest quality DVD that's ever been made". Chicago Sun-Times (http://www.audioheritage.org/wiki/Chicago_Sun-Times) critic Roger Ebert (http://www.audioheritage.org/wiki/Roger_Ebert) describes the Blu-ray release as "the finest video disc I have ever viewed or ever imagined."


This title originally popped up in a discussion of really high quality Blu Ray releases, and it's pretty amazing to watch. There's no dialog, no plot, just a series of scenes set to a trance-ambience soundtrack (think Hearts of Space, for instance).

At any rate, the quality of the video and the DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack make this an incredible demonstration for your home theatre, but the movie stands on its own as sort of a National Geographic magazine set to music.

More info with some stills of some of the scenes

http://www.spiritofbaraka.com/baraka

[Tom Brennan]

Quite a few pictures were shot in Todd-AO; Oklahoma, Around the World in 80 Days, South Pacific, The Wayneamo and Cleopatra come to mind.

http://i254.photobucket.com/albums/hh92/Irishtom29/captures/captures049.jpg

[JeffW]

Here's the list, I make it at 20 not counting the Todd-AO films about Todd-AO:

The following films were produced in the 70 mm Todd-AO format. (This list does not include films photographed in Todd-AO 35 (see above)).

Oklahoma! (http://www.audioheritage.org/wiki/Oklahoma!_(1955_film)) (1955) - 30 frame/s (also photographed in Cinemascope)
Around the World in Eighty Days (http://www.audioheritage.org/wiki/Around_the_World_in_Eighty_Days_(1956_film)) (1956) - 30 frame/s
The Miracle of Todd-AO (http://www.audioheritage.org/w/index.php?title=The_Miracle_of_Todd-AO&action=edit&redlink=1) (1956) - 30 frame/s; short subject
South Pacific (http://www.audioheritage.org/wiki/South_Pacific_(film)) (1958)
The March of Todd-AO (http://www.audioheritage.org/w/index.php?title=The_March_of_Todd-AO&action=edit&redlink=1) (1958) - short subject
Porgy and Bess (http://www.audioheritage.org/wiki/Porgy_and_Bess_(film)) (1959)
Can-Can (http://www.audioheritage.org/wiki/Can-Can_(film)) (1960)
The Alamo (http://www.audioheritage.org/wiki/The_Alamo_(1960_film)) (1960)
Cleopatra (http://www.audioheritage.org/wiki/Cleopatra_(1963_film)) (1963)
Man in the 5th Dimension (http://www.audioheritage.org/wiki/Man_in_the_5th_Dimension) (1964) - NYC World's Fair short subject
The Sound of Music (http://www.audioheritage.org/wiki/The_Sound_of_Music_(film)) (1965)
Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines (http://www.audioheritage.org/wiki/Those_Magnificent_Men_in_Their_Flying_Machines) (1965)
The Agony and the Ecstasy (http://www.audioheritage.org/wiki/The_Agony_and_the_Ecstasy_(film)) (1965)
The Bible: In the Beginning (http://www.audioheritage.org/wiki/The_Bible:_In_the_Beginning) (1966) - Dimension 150 variant
Doctor Dolittle (http://www.audioheritage.org/wiki/Doctor_Dolittle_(film)) (1967)
Star! (http://www.audioheritage.org/wiki/Star!_(film)) (1968)
Hello, Dolly! (http://www.audioheritage.org/wiki/Hello,_Dolly!_(film)) (1969)
Krakatoa, East of Java (http://www.audioheritage.org/wiki/Krakatoa,_East_of_Java) (1969) - presented in 70 mm Cinerama (http://www.audioheritage.org/wiki/Cinerama)
Airport (http://www.audioheritage.org/wiki/Airport_(film)) (1970)
Patton (http://www.audioheritage.org/wiki/Patton_(film)) (1970) - Dimension 150 variant
The Last Valley (http://www.audioheritage.org/wiki/The_Last_Valley) (1971)
Baraka (http://www.audioheritage.org/wiki/Baraka_(film)) (1992)