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Topic: DRAS error rate

Antonio Marcheselli
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1260
From: Florence, Italy
Registered: Mar 2000

posted 08-28-2002 07:47 AM

A question: today I finally adjusted my DD reader (the first one I've adjusted alone!).

While DRAS10 said 1.5/2.5 in "error rate" window, my CP500 said 5.5/6.0 (don't worry, was a "known BAD" print! I have now 3.5 on other prints).
On DRAS' instructions I've read that the two values should be almost equal...

What is wrong?

Bye
Antonio

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Randy Stankey
Film God

Posts: 6539
From: Erie, Pennsylvania
Registered: Jun 99

posted 08-28-2002 09:02 AM

I don't know the specific reasons but I have been told that DRAS is not 100% accurate.

This came to me from my old supervisor who got this directly from Lonny J. I was told that the only sure way to know that the system is running correctly is to use a scope.

DRAS is accurate enough to do "check-ups" on the system to see that everything is running OK, provided you have done a full tune up with a scope and have a reference point from which to compare.

You do the full tune up. Make sure it's running well. THEN use DRAS to take a reading. Remember the reading(s) that DRAS gives you and use it the next time you do the check up. (I just took screen shots of the program and renamed them. (Theatre#-House#-Date... DRAS-298-12-8/02) Then, when I needed to refer back to them I could call them up.

Also, different pieces of film will cause differences in the readings. The reference readings that you just took may be virtually meaningless if a different piece of film is used.

If you keep these references the same between visits THEN you know that DRAS is giving you the right reading.\

On the other hand, if DRAS has you up and running where you weren't before... More power to you!

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Antonio Marcheselli
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1260
From: Florence, Italy
Registered: Mar 2000

posted 08-28-2002 10:13 AM

Thanks Randy for the info. I can understand "not 100% accurate" but error rate from 2.5 to 5.5...

I'll keep this in my mind!

Bye
Antonio

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Pete Naples
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1565
From: Dunfermline, Scotland
Registered: Feb 2001

posted 08-28-2002 02:25 PM

Are we talking WINDRAS here?

The early release tended to do things like this sometimes. There is an update which corrected this problem.

Never seen DRAS10 (DOS) do anything other than agree with the CP

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Antonio Marcheselli
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1260
From: Florence, Italy
Registered: Mar 2000

posted 08-29-2002 04:28 AM

No, was DRAS10 (DOS).

Bye
Antonio

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Gordon McLeod
Film God

Posts: 9532
From: Toronto Ontario Canada
Registered: Jun 99

posted 08-30-2002 09:52 AM

THe only way is to use a scope
Dras Win Dras is a fast checkup but not an acurate way of doing the alignment

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Antonio Marcheselli
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1260
From: Florence, Italy
Registered: Mar 2000

posted 08-30-2002 06:11 PM

Thanks Gordon.

Today I've show Stuart Little 2. Was in DTS but the Dolby Digital error rate for reel 4 (on the just calibrated reader) showed 2.5! What a satisfaction, was my first aligned DD reader!

Bye
Antonio

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Jon Bartow
Master Film Handler

Posts: 287
From: Massachusetts
Registered: Nov 1999

posted 09-04-2002 08:29 PM

I had the same thing happen to me today. I was using both my scope and dras10 at the same time (actually just using the scope, I just turned the laptop on to show a projectionist) I was diagnosing a problem that turned out to be bad sound drum bearings. The CP500 showed 6-F-7-F-F-8-7-F-etc... the scope showed everything was in order except a lot of bouncing (the bad bearings). Dras10 showed everthing was ok except the "vertical jitter" in the 12-20 range, but the error rate in Dras10 showed 0-F-4.4-F-2.1-F-1-4.2-0-F-etc...
I was running Dras10 under Win2K pro. I'm going to try it under Win98 and Dos 6.22 later this week on the same machine, same laptop just to see what is going on. Oh, it was a very old loop of cat. 69P that usually runs around a 6

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Mark Hathaway
Film Handler

Posts: 31
From: Australia
Registered: Nov 2001

posted 09-06-2002 07:34 PM

A little while ago I did a DD reader alignment on a kinoton in the screening room of one of our labs. When I'd finished we ran a new print of theirs, and saw error rates of 0.0. to 1.5 for a whole spool. Before that I'd never seen error rates that low.

Mark Hathaway
Senior Technician,
Atlab Image and Sound Technology,
Melbourne, Australia

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