dumping footage to BETA from MINI DV and the audio problems

G

Gundorf Dunderklumpen

Well-known member
I recently produced a commercial for a local magazine and made music in "Soundtrack" from Apple. and also had someone record a Voice over and put it on to disc as a mp3 file.
I finished the commercial and checked the levels to be sure they wer in and around -12db. Everything sounded great. I took it to the station on a MINI DV tape where they dubbed it to BETA. They said it sounded great but when it hit the air (broadcast) the volume was really low.
I called the news station and they said that the frequency was too high. THey said that the highs were too high. THen I recieved a call from their tech person who said that in fact My frequencys were good it was just a matter of getting the audio to sound the same after dubbing to BETA.
I am still a little confused because Ive done a few commercials with MINI dv and have not had this problem.
Should I be checking my frequecy range somehow or is there a numerical place to adjust audio so that it will be ok for the air?
Has anyone else encountered audio problems on the air after dubbing MINI DV to BETA
thanks for any help....
 
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These Are Strange Times. . .

high8 said:
I am still a little confused because Ive done a few commercials with MINI dv and have not had this problem.
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ive encountered the same thing before..(or what sounds similar anyway) remember that when working with digital audio you can peak right at or under 0 db.. the problem i encountered was that although the station was asking for levels at -12 db.. they were working with an analog audio system and betaSP (analog format). so in the digital domain just stayed under 0 db so its not clipping or peaking on your digital meters at all , i use -6 to -3 db is a good # to be around for average peaks with limits reaching 0. and it should translate fine for levels into the analog world as long as they know what they are doing.

the issue i had was that i asked why -12 db and they said it ws standard.. i told them i was working with all digital audio and would be delivering on a digital tape format (DV).. they had no clue as to what i was talking about , but i gave them the benefit of the doubt and figured maybe i just didnt know what was going on ..and sent them a copy with correct digital levels(right under 0 peak), and one at -12 on the digital scale... long story short.. they used the correct digital level version. other was too quiet.
 
Hi8,
When laying down bars and tone at the head of your spot, the tone should be -12db in digital. On your dub to Beta, specify that tone should be recorded at 0db. This will automatically raise the overall level properly. Most cable outlets and stations are not used to working in mini DV/DVCAM...even here in LA they tend to mess up the MPEG compression for air if not working from a Beta dub. Don't know why, but they do.
Hope this helps.
Ken
 
The techs at TV stations usually calibrate to -20dbfs which is actually the correct professional digital level (what they are use to getting with dvcam, digibeta, etc). If you are sending them -12 dbfs, they are very likely calibrating it incorrectly at -20 dbfs. Always specify on the tape label that tone is -12dbfs. This happens often enough you would think the techs would catch on. Either way, it's up to you to label your tape if you want to avoid the confusion. Better still, make your own analog dubs so you have full control of the final master.

Best of luck
 
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