Full House Productions: Trackwise: Audio Restoration

trackwise® - our services

Preservation & Restoration • Equipment • Fees

Our services include:

  • Advising you on how to pack your audio material to send it to us, and we’ll even provide you with the proper mailer if desired.
  • Working within your budget. Audio preservation doesn’t always have to be expensive, but it does have to be done right. That’s why we always fully assess the materials before we quote the project.
  • At Trackwise® we recognize that some of you may want to archive audio on analog media and store it in humidity and temperature controlled environments, while others of you may want to archive the audio as digital files so you can duplicate the files many times and store them in many places. Either way we’re here to do the job. We’ll discuss this with you before hand and decide what your needs are and which archiving method will work best for you.
  • Once we receive the materials we inspect, evaluate, provide a written assessment, and store it properly until it is to be transferred, preserved or restored. We will discuss with you what format you want your restored audio on and advise you on how to maintain it for generations to come.
  • Any audio restoration requested or required is only undertaken upon your approval.
  • With a staff of experienced and well-trained engineers knowledgeable in the characteristics of various audio formats over generations, your transfers will be done with careful attention to audio detail and adjustment of sound for accurate playback and recording.
  • When the project is complete we’ll return your restored audio and your original source to you.

Preservation & Restoration

Trackwise specializes in sound preservation and restoration. Restored sound can be digitized and used with restored/digitized pictures. We can restore or preserve sound from these formats:

  • Kinescope prints
  • Push-pull optical sound
  • Timecode, Rangertone, Fairchild, 14 KHZ, neopilot and stereo sync for 1/4” & 1/2” tape
  • 17.5mm magnetic and 16mm picture with magnetic stripe
  • 78 - 33 1/3 rpm records
  • Digi-Beta, Beta-SP, 3/4-inch and VHS Tape

Transfers can be made from:

  • Shrunken and damaged 16mm and 35mm mono sound prints
  • 35mm stereo sound prints
  • 16mm magnetic center and edge track
  • 35mm magnetic stripe, fullcoat 1,3,4,6 track sound

Trackwise evaluates, inspects and repairs:

  • 1/4 inch and 1/2 inch audio tape, audio cassettes
  • 16mm and 35mm magnetic and optical print soundtracks, composite prints

We also :

  • Stabilize the emulsion of deteriorating magnetic acetate film and tape to minimize warping that causes wow and flutter.
  • Cure sticking on polyester magnetic film and tape
  • Use analog and digital processing to reduce or eliminate clicks, pops, hiss and hum, and, if necessary, equalize and level to give overall improvement.
  • Master and Duplicate 1/4inch tape
  • Convert to and from Digital files up to 192 khz 32 bit sample rates
  • Can provide Polyphonic Broadcast Wave files (bwf) with Metadata
  • Transfer to and from DAT and DA-88
  • CD and DVD Replication (with authoring, if desired)

 

In addition to restoration we offer a home to students and first-time filmmakers, helping them negotiate the trickier aspects of preparing for optical printing.

Our experience began with converting 35mm nitrate features to 35mm safety soundtrack for 20th Century Fox, Warner Brothers, MGM, and Turner Entertainment. Universal’s features were transferred to ¼” tape. For Sony Pictures, features were converted from 35mm acetate to polyester magnetic soundtrack. Through MoMA, Anthology Film Archives, George Eastman House, Cineric, Cinemas Arts, Colorlab, PostWorks, Ken Burns’ Florentine Films, we have restored the sound for many features and shows appearing on PBS, at museums and archival exhibitions. Our staff of experienced and well-trained engineers are knowledgeable in the characteristics of various decades-old audio formats, and give the utmost attention to audio details and adjustment of sound for accurate playback and digitization in all transfers.

 

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Equipment

16 mm and 35 mm film phonographs — variable scan to eliminate noise and hiss

16 mm & 35 mm mono-optical recorders

16 mm, 35 mm and 17.5 mm magnetic dubbers and recorders

1/4 & 1/2 inch tape machines for various formats

DA-88, DAT, CD and DVD capable

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Fees

Our fee schedule at Trackwise is determined either by hour or by project. In order for us to give you an accurate estimate, it’s vital that we inspect the materials that need to be restored before beginning to work on them. Many times what appears to look good to the naked eye proves, upon close inspection, to be not as good as it looks. Many different factors, including water damage, humidity, improper storage, and exposure to chemicals, can result in damage that may not be obvious. Our goal is to give you the best assessment of your materials to achieve the best results. First, we will discuss the project with you. If you have a budget, please let us know and we’ll work hard to meet it. Then, after reviewing the materials, we will give you a quote. Remember that each project is unique because of the way that the materials were preserved and recorded many years ago!

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