Now that all of the major non-linear production audio recorders are capable of recording directly to Compact Flash card, hard disc drive, solid state drive or even USB Flash key, DVD-RAM is becoming less relevant. Factor in the fact that DVD-RAM is too slow to keep up with the recorders’ added track count, and it becomes clear that it’s time to retire DVD-RAM from location audio.

Zaxcom’s decision in 1999 to use DVD-RAM as a recording and deliverable medium for their DEVA II recorder changed location audio and post-production in revolutionary ways. DVD-RAM perfectly met the needs of sound mixers, who required the ruggedness, immediacy and relative low-cost of DAT and 1/4″ tape, and the needs of post-production, who required compatibility with the computers used in their workflows.

With the introduction of the Fostex DV40 in 2002, DVD-RAM’s status as the new recording standard was cemented in place. Just as DVD-RAM bridged the Broadcast Wave files recorded by production with the Avid and Pro-Tools systems used by editorial, the DV40 bridged those same non-linear files with the linear world of telecine. The DV40 allowed the files recorded on set to be treated (in a somewhat ironic twist) like a linear piece of tape. Thus, telecine facilities were able to use the DV40 as a drop in replacement for the DAT and Nagra T decks. Physically, the DV40 had all the same connections as its DAT counterpart on the back of the unit, and so it felt familiar to the facilities’ chief engineers.

The transition was not easy. There were a number of technical hurdles, including issues with getting the major operating systems to read the DVD-RAM discs themselves, as well as incompatibility between the DV40 and other manufactures’ non-linear location audio recorders. There was also another hurdle: inertia. For production mixers, this was not an issue for the most part because they were forced to change – by early 2003, major parts for location DAT recorders we no longer being manufactured, and so it was very clear that they would have to invest in the new technology. Post-production, however was slower to embrace the change. Certainly part of this reluctance was financial – it’s difficult to invest in a new, potentially unproven technology and simultaneously support the old technology. But a lot of it was more subjective – “The old way still works great – why change it now?” was something we regularly heard (with notable exceptions from post companies that chose instead to lead and innovate).

In 2009, we are once again at the precipice of a new transition. Panasonic has announced that the industry standard SW-9576 DVD-RAM drive (the kind that accepts DVD-RAMs in a cartridge natively) is no longer being manufactured. Earlier, Maxell announced they are no longer making DVD-RAM discs in a cartridge. While it is true that we can adapt easily and use non-cartridge DVD-RAM discs (in some cases by using a clumsy “carrier”), track counts are getting higher (in the case of one recorder, it is now possible to record sixteen tracks over the shoulder!) and burning DVD-RAM discs on location in the less robust non-cartridge variety is inherently less reliable.

Instead, I propose that we skip optical media entirely. Almost all of the recorders currently used in production have the ability to record natively to or copy to HDD, SSD, CF Card or USB drive. Prices for Flash media have dropped dramatically in price, and their speed has dramatically increased. We are just about at the point where CF cards and USB keys can be billed to production as expendables, and for long-term or more “vertically integrated” production, trading round-robin style of CF cards between production and post will work. This is a win-win for everyone “burning” was never an activity meant for the rigors of location, and the speed of optical can never match the speed of flash memory or even HDD. Transfers into post-production workstations and servers see an even more dramatic increase in speed (reading is almost always faster than writing). This increased efficiency will lead to lower costs – both on the production side and the post production side.

This was recently illustrated to me by two shows that we worked on this year. The first show was a police action/drama show for a major broadcast network. The production mixer called me for support because his DVD-RAM discs were not consistently and reliably burning all of the production audio files. This was understandable, given the nature of their production: lots of run and gun, long hours, little time between setups, and many tracks. Production was upset because re-burning took valuable time, both on set and in post. I knew they weren’t shooting on film, which meant there was no telecine process. I asked the him to find out from post if they would be willing to try Compact Flash cards instead of DVD-RAM discs. This seemed like the perfect solution – editorial was upstairs from their main studio, and an investment in 8 CF cards of 8 GB each would easily pay for themselves with never having to purchase DVD-RAMs for the run of the show, not mention never having to deal with burning again. The answer from post was disheartening: “No!”. When I pushed for an explanation, I was told that they didn’t want to change because DVD-RAM is what they were used to, and that was that.

The second show was a feature film produced by a major studio. They required that the production mixer turn in two DVD-RAMs – one for telecine in New York, and the other to be ingested into the Avid by the assistant editor in LA. The production mixer called me and asked for my help in finding an alternative to burning two DVD-RAMs. I suggested that since the second set doesn’t ever need to go through a DV40 (or its replacement the DV824) for telecince, why not rotate CF cards with the LA office. There were regular shipments going back and forth between editorial and the New York production office, so shipping wouldn’t be an added cost. Production and post both embraced the idea, and even purchased the high end Firewire 800 Lexar CF reader/writer (http://www.lexar.com/readers/pro_udma_reader.html). They report that it has increased their efficiency and paid for itself several times over.

There are still a couple of issues that need to be addressed, particularly with any workflow that involves rotating media. Chief among them is, “What is the audio master?” since this does make post responsible for the audio’s safekeeping. Also, any workflow that involves a Fostex machine for telecine still requires an optical disc. Pressure needs to be exerted on Fostex to provide an upgrade to the machines to allow them to accept USB and FireWire mass media, if not CF cards directly. Fostex’s main competition in this area, the Aaton Indaw, can accept any media compatible with MS Windows.

The cost savings and efficiency are too significant to argue with. In fact, I hope that for NAB 2010, I will write about audio workflows that skip media entirely and transmit directly to the editing room, via hardwired or “4G” wireless TCP/IP. Incidentally, the BBC is doing this already with kids shows.