Magnetic Striped film - can u cut w/o destroying sound

David Gottlieb · October 8, 2005

Can you cut film that already has a magnetic stripe on it before you shoot? I recently bought 2400 feet of Kodak Ektachrome 7240 Video News Film that already is magnetic striped. I have not shot on it yet and it is unopened in my fridge, but i need to know if I'll have to do an in camera edit or 12-minute takes (they're 400' each) or some mixture of both which would be infinitely more complicated than normal editing. I plan to film it with a normal no-sound 16mm camera and add sound in post. On that subject, can you film it without sound and not damage the stripe? This is an expired stock but if anyone knows if you can splice magnetic strips without sound distortion that would help a lot.

Would appreciate any suggestions - thanks!

Laurent Andrieux · October 8, 2005

Added a 2 cents in the other topic you created... Please don't cross post, thx !

David Gottlieb · October 8, 2005

Added a 2 cents in the other topic you created... Please don't cross post, thx !

Sorry new to this please add replies to the first post I did under 'Film Stocks' - thanks

Brian Drysdale · October 8, 2005

Can you cut film that already has a magnetic stripe on it before you shoot? I recently bought 2400 feet of Kodak Ektachrome 7240 Video News Film that already is magnetic striped. I have not shot on it yet and it is unopened in my fridge, but i need to know if I'll have to do an in camera edit or 12-minute takes (they're 400' each) or some mixture of both which would be infinitely more complicated than normal editing. I plan to film it with a normal no-sound 16mm camera and add sound in post. On that subject, can you film it without sound and not damage the stripe? This is an expired stock but if anyone knows if you can splice magnetic strips without sound distortion that would help a lot.

Would appreciate any suggestions - thanks!

I shot a film using mag striped B & W neg which was cut into A & B rolls without any problems. When they shot news using the mag stripe it was edited using a tape splicer. A magnet was used to wipe the sound from the overlap due to the sound head being ahead of the picture (26 frames?).

However, some film cameras may not like the magnetic stripe, certainly Aatons don't. So, it would be an idea to test the stock in the camera you're planning to use.

Brian

David Gottlieb · October 8, 2005

I shot a film using mag striped B & W neg which was cut into A & B rolls without any problems. When they shot news using the mag stripe it was edited using a tape splicer. A magnet was used to wipe the sound from the overlap due to the sound head being ahead of the picture (26 frames?).

However, some film cameras may not like the magnetic stripe, certainly Aatons don't. So, it would be an idea to test the stock in the camera you're planning to use.

Brian

Which camera did you use with your project and was the sound preserved well? This is a new area for me so any tips and suggestions are greatly appreciated.

Brian Drysdale · October 9, 2005

On this project we didn't use the magnetic strip, since the final film had a print with optical sound.

If you want to record the sound on the mag stripe whilst shooting you'll have to shoot single system sound (com mag) using a camera like a CP16 with a built in magnetic sound head (you'd also need the Auricon Amp/Mixer). Assuming you're using old style film editing, you can either cut the film with the sound combined with the picture (the flatbed editor will need to have a head fitted), or copy it onto a double system (if was being edited on film it would have been transferred 16mm magnetic film).

They used to shoot news this way. The sound quality wasn't as good as recording double system, but the originals are still in news film libraries. However, over time the mag stripe can lift.

If you're doing a non linear video edit, transfer the picture and sound together on a TK that has a sound head fitted for magnetic stripe. There could be a problem finding one, but they're around for transfering older material to video.

Basically, I'd ignore the magnetic stripe and use double system sound. You'll also find problems projecting it, since most 16mm projectors only have optical sound. Also, cutting single system film is a bit of a lost art: it was ok for a news item but not much else.