Recently I have been given the opportunity to work on a short documentary which is to air on tv next fall. However, I'm not that familiar with the rules and specifications for the real world of mixing for television broadcast and can't seem to find much on the net. Is the reference dB -12 or -20? And is there a difference between what they want music and dialogue peak levels to be at? I usually work in Pro Tools but I can't afford the DV Toolkit, so I'll be doing all my mixing in FCP. If any one could quickly lay out the basics it would be greatly appreciated.
Mixing for television broadcast
- Thread starter kire
- Start date
mediatvguy
Member
I usually mix our local half hour program to peak at -12db and I have never received a complain from the station. And it sounds fine on the air too...
I also use FCP
I also use FCP
Realdvxuser
Well-known member
For broadcast in the Netherlands we deliver at -9 as the peak. But this may depend per country, so it might be wise to check with the specific tv channel that will air your show. Definitely mix things up with a compressor over the dialogue. If you have Soundtrack Pro with FCP, you should be able to do this quite alright. Good luck!
Noiz2
Sound Ninja
You should get a spec sheet from the broadcaster. Specs vary a LOT. As a rule in the US -10 peak and -20 average are about right BUT PBS has a very specific spec that is different and more and more broadcasters are requiring you hit a number on the new Dolby bow (I want to say LM100 but I think that's not right). So definitely check, that Dolby box goes for around $5K US and hasn't been successfully emulated by anything else, yet.