Paramount has done it again. This time, they’ve chosen Madagascar 2 to utilize their idea of a good method to deter camcording and R5 line piracy.

Paramount’s new anti-piracy measures revolve around fucking with the soundtrack of the 35mm film, so the normal digital audio switches to analog. Essentially what this means is, since analog soundheads get weaker over time, when the digital audio fails (which should never happen under normal circumstances), the analog backup audio is much quieter than the previous digital audio. So, you get a volume dropout that causes complaints.

Now, the only way to avoid the audio dropout is to adjust the strength of the analog reader so it outputs at the same level as the digital reader. Most people only have this done every six months as part of a preventative maintenance, so unless the PM was done within the past month, chances are the analog audio is already down 10dB or more.

Analog audio in today’s digital world is meant to be used as an all-else-fails backup. To force the audio from digital to analog is simply irresponsible. Also, the analog audio is a slightly different mix compared to the digital audio (Dolby SR compared to Dolby Digital 5.1/EX), so even under the best circumstances where the output levels match, there is still a noticeable difference to the audience.

Luckily, unlike the previous use of this method on Indiana Jones 4, theatres were sent a notice to warn them of this potential issue. I was able to EQ my analog readers to match the digital readers, so we didn’t get any complaints this weekend. However, I’m not going to bust my ass to keep the analogs balanced throughout our run of Madagascar 2, so I expect a few complaints later in the run.