A stand-alone subject of the film projectionist curriculum, and the half of a screening audiences notice first when it is wrong.
From an optical soundtrack to object-based immersive audio.
Sound is half of a film, and it reaches the audience through a chain that is longer and more fragile than most people in a cinema realise. This subject follows the whole electroacoustic chain of a working cinema - source, processor, amplifiers, loudspeakers and the room itself - and covers both channel-based and object-based systems, along with the calibration that keeps them honest.
In between comes the signal itself: analogue and digital audio, what sample rate and bit depth actually determine, amplifiers and how they are matched to a load, loudspeakers and the arrays behind a screen, and the microphones used for measurement and for the stage.
It ends with the physiology of hearing and with room and building acoustics: why a technically perfect signal can still sound wrong, how a room is measured, and what can be done about it. There are no entry requirements. Purchase grants a non-exclusive licence for 12 months from the date of purchase.
A picture fault is obvious and everyone sees it. A sound fault is often gradual - a dead surround, a drifting level, a room that was never calibrated - and a cinema can run for months without anyone identifying what is wrong.
Available on its own, or as part of Digital Cinema (€300, saving €60), or Complete Projectionist (€540, saving €180).
The subject runs in three parts. Each part is a self-contained block of lessons closed by a knowledge check - passing it is required to move on.
Audio Technology
Part 1
the arrival of sound in cinematography, the electroacoustic chain, cinema sound systems, channel- and object-based systems, sound processor calibration
Part 2
analogue and digital audio signals, amplifiers, loudspeakers, speaker arrays, microphones
Part 3
sound and the physiology of hearing, room acoustics, building acoustics, acoustic measurement, mixing for cinema
Part 1 in detail
Sound arrives in cinematography
from silent accompaniment to the optical soundtrack, magnetic sound, and the digital formats that followed
Electroacoustic chain
source, processor, amplifier, loudspeaker, room - what each stage does and where the chain is usually broken
Cinema sound systems
mono to 5.1 and 7.1, screen channels and surrounds, subwoofers, the standard layouts and what each channel is for
Object-based audio
how immersive systems differ from channel-based ones, rendering to a room, and what they demand of an installation
Processor calibration
setting levels and the reference fader, equalisation to the standard curve, delays, and verifying the result
Part 2 in detail
Analogue and digital
the audio signal, levels and decibels, sampling and quantisation, conversion, digital audio interfaces and formats
Amplifiers
classes and topologies, power, impedance matching, headroom, distortion, protection and cooling
Loudspeakers
drivers, enclosures, horns and compression drivers, crossovers, sensitivity and directivity
Speaker arrays
behind-screen arrays and surround arrays, placement and coverage, wiring and phase
Microphones
transducer types and polar patterns, measurement microphones, and the microphones a venue needs for events
Part 3 in detail
Physiology of hearing
the ear, loudness and frequency perception, localisation, masking, and safe exposure levels
Room acoustics
reflections and reverberation time, standing waves, absorption and diffusion, what an auditorium should measure
Building acoustics
sound insulation between auditoria, structure-borne noise, ventilation noise, and isolating a cinema from its surroundings
Acoustic measurement
measurement signals and analysers, frequency response and reverberation measurement, reading the results and acting on them
Mixing for cinema
the dubbing stage, reference levels, why a mix made at reference can misbehave in a badly set room, and what a cinema owes the mix
Lessons combine video lectures, illustrated reading and interactive elements, available 24/7. Knowledge of the most important concepts and principles is checked by tests throughout, and passing them is a condition of progressing through the subject. A certificate of completion is issued on finishing.
Calibrating a real room is a practical skill, and it cannot be arranged remotely. You get guidance: what to arrange in a local cinema, what to ask for, what to measure, and how to document it. After completing all the courses, you should be fully prepared to start your own practice.
#cinema #installation #postproduction #dubbingstage #broadcast #filmfestival #liveevents
Every cinema needs someone who can tell a dead surround from a bad mix, and who knows what the processor is actually doing. This subject gives you that orientation: how the chain fits together, what each piece of equipment in the rack is for, why the loudspeakers are placed where they are, and what calibrating a room to standard means - so that what was mixed on a dubbing stage arrives intact. It will not make you an acoustic designer, but it will let you follow the reasoning, hold an informed conversation with technicians and installers, and recognise when something is wrong. The same orientation is useful in festival and live event work, where a screening room is often assembled from scratch in a venue never designed for it.
Beyond the cinema, the electroacoustic chain is the same chain used in post-production and on dubbing stages, in broadcast audio departments, and in any screening room that has to be commissioned and verified. Room and building acoustics apply wherever a listening space is designed or corrected, and the measurement skills transfer directly.
Audio Technology is one of six subjects covering the whole projectionist trade. It completes the picture alongside Digital Projection, which delivers the sound to the processor in the first place, and Electrotechnics, which feeds the racks.
When does the course start? Are there fixed dates?
The courses are entirely online and self-paced. You decide the start date and the tempo.
How does the course work?
Each subject is a structured sequence of lessons that takes you into the material and explains each topic to the depth the trade requires. Lessons combine video lectures, reading and interactive elements. Knowledge of the most important concepts and principles is checked by tests throughout, and passing them is a condition of progressing - so that finishing the subject means something.
What do I need?
A computer or tablet with an internet connection, and the willingness to work through the material properly. There are no entry requirements - the courses are built to be accessible to complete beginners while still adding something for people already in the trade.
Do I need a background in sound?
No. The subject is developed from first principles - the signal, the chain and the room are built up from the beginning. If you already work in audio, the value here is the cinema-specific part: the standard layouts, the reference level, the calibration procedure and the acoustics of an auditorium.
Do I need measurement equipment?
Not to complete the subject. Measurement is taught with worked examples and real results, so that you can read and act on them. If you do have access to an analyser and a measurement microphone, the material tells you what to do with them.
Is there any practical training?
Not as part of the course. Working on a real system matters enormously, and it cannot be arranged remotely - you get guidance: what to arrange, what to ask for, what to try, and how to keep a record of it. After completing all the courses, you should be fully prepared to start your own practice.
Do I get a certificate?
Yes. A certificate of completion is issued for every subject you finish, listing the subject, its scope and the hours involved. It is a record of training, not a licence to practise - no such licence exists in most countries.
How long do I have access?
Twelve months from purchase, for each subject you purchase.
Can I take an examination?
This projectionist training has a formal counterpart in the Czech Republic, where it prepares candidates for a
state-recognised professional qualification examination, leading to a certificate with a Europass supplement. That examination is held in person and in Czech, so it is realistic only for candidates who can travel and speak the language. Everyone else should treat these courses as what they are: the knowledge itself, certified by us.
There are no entry requirements for this subject - no prior study, no qualification, no background in sound.
What you need to study
Equipment
a computer or tablet with a stable internet connection
Audio
headphones are strongly recommended for this subject - several lessons rely on hearing the difference being described
Time
roughly 8-10 hours per part if you want to work through it briskly - less if you take longer, which you are free to do
Helpful, but not required
Physics
secondary-school level - familiarity with waves and with decibels makes the early lessons faster
Access to a cinema
somewhere you can look at a real rack, processor and speaker layout while you study
Purchase grants a non-exclusive licence to the e-learning course for 12 months from the date of purchase.
