Cantar v1.29 user manual 2004 Sept 28
p.7
An error free system
When you cold-start Cantar, it
assumes you want to continue
working on your latest project,
which is therefore displayed at
the bottom of the message
panel.
When you rent a Cantar, its project memory should
be empty; the message panel should read ‘No
Project’. Once created, a ‘project name’ regroups all
data related to it, such as the days of recording, the
tracks and the disks used... the project name is stored
in each audio file, there is no risk for a file to be lost
in a maze of terabytes.
Contrary to other machines the Cantar file sorting
system doesn’t rely upon disk partitions. Made of
Project, Working Day and Filetags, it allows for intui-
tive and safe retrieving of the audio files along the
post-prod chain. It is
not operator-error prone.
1. Project
To give a new project a name (eight letters and/or
numbers), switch the main selector to SESSION (2
o’clock). Rotate the jog to ‘New Project’, press OK.
A triangle points the character to be modified. Run
the jog to choose a letter, then press an horizontal
arrow to move on to the next letter. Once the full
name is entered, press OK.
If you are in a pinch and have no time to create a
project, directly go to RECORD. Your audio files will
be stored in a project called AACANTAR. Later on,
with a lap-top you will move these audio files out of
AACANTAR, into the project directory you would
have created in the mean time.
2. Working Day
(see time next page)
The ‘working day’ is not related to the actual ‘time-of-
day’ tracked by syncing clocks; it is an interpretation
of the ‘human’ day. See time next page.
3. File Name
(see tutorials also)
Made of f take desc status,
the Cantar file names instantly show the main para-
meters attached to a take.:
ST1254
==123a;14R_12==PX.wav
• auto-filetag
the never twice the same auto-
filetag
ST1254
is the
base of the Aaton filing system. This is the safest way
to sort huge amounts of files and never overwrite
one. It also is the simplest way to insure autoconfor-
mation between the polyphonic 16bit bounced files
sent to the editor, and the original monophonic 24bit
files going to Pyramix or Protools (through Titan3).
The auto-filetag, generated by Cantar itself, carries
two letters and six figures, it differentiates 6.7 million
takes... a location sound mixer lifetime!
The auto-filetags must remain untouched all the way
through to the final mix.
• take descriptor
the BWF format stores the Sc&Tk, the roll num-
ber IDs etc. within each audio file. These IDs are
called metadata and can be extracted at any time
then inserted in the file descriptor for the editor to
read them directly. The descriptor
==123a;14R_
12==
appears between (=) signs to emphasize its
modifiable status as opposed to the filetag intangible
character. See PPR chapter (page 11) to know how
to handle the take descriptors.
• status
the two last characters of the filename
e.g. PX or _4
show the polyphonic (interleaved tracks) or mono-
phonic (independant tracks) status of the recorded
audio tracks. This allows the operator, without using
a metadata-reading software, to directly see what are
the audio files made of.
Files
