Confused about Mixing levels: 0Db, -6Db...

[DecadenceFilms]

Yeah,

Basically don't know what I'm doing, or more correctly, don't know what I'm supposed to be doing when it comes to mixing the audio for my short film.

Is that the peak of the audio, or the average?

I presume it's the peak. So do I look to compress the dynamic range so that the soft things are louder and the loud things are softer and get it all relatively loud, or what?

I'm not explaining myself very well I know....

In the past I've been asked to supply audio at 0DB by distributors. I did what I thought was right and got the money, but I don't actually know what I'm trying to do.

I read in the Soundtrack Pro manual that -6Db is the standard for Theatres (the film is intended for festivals). So yeah, I've got the software and the recordings to do whatever with the files, I'm just not sure what it is that I am supposed to do.:shocked:

Excuse the newbie style posting. Audio is something that I am quite new to.....


For an understanding of the sound I've got. It's set on a quiet set indoors. The general dialogue is fairly quiet, then there are moments of high tension/anger which are extremely loud. There's no background noise. Got a bit of noise flaw on a couple of shots, but I can clean that up easily enough. Just want to know what I'm kind of aiming at before I start fiddling.

 

[Steve House]

Saying the audio is at 0dB is meaningless. Decibels indicate a ratio between two levels and when you cite them you have to indicate relative to what. Saying audio is -6dBFS or +4dBu, OTOH, includes the reference point.

Why would you want to compress the dynamic range to make everything equally loud? Drama results from contrast - while you don't want it to go so quiet that no one can hear the dialog and jump to so loud that it hurts the audience's ears, contrast between soft passages and loud ones is part of telling the story. Some compression is fine, making sure the quietest passages are clearly audible and the loudest passages don't clip, but don't fall into the trap the popular music has of making everything in-your-face loud. Perhaps okay for a commerical (though I personally hate in-your-face ads that are louder than the show), not so good for a dramatic production.

Do your final mix by ear on a calibrated monitor setup. Never exceed -3dBFS on the loudest sounds to avoid accidently clipping. Mix the film to taste, seeking a balance.