Typical Audio Levels

Colione

Colione

Active member
Hi,

This may be a simple question but I don't really know, nor could I find the answer so I'm going to ask it.

What levels should you be aiming for in your audio for

Dialogue
Prominent Music
Background Music
Background Noise
Ambient Noise

This very well could be a trial and error thing, where I should just experiment and figure out what works best. Which I am going to do, but if anyone could offer any tips on their experiance (a field in which I slightly lack) I would greatly appreciate it.

I am thinking of aiming for prominent dialogue audio to be -6. Or should I aim for 0? The audio readout bars in FCP are red at zero, ... this is where I could use some tips! Thanks. I appreciate anything that can be offered.

-Cole
 
Re: Typical Audio Levels

I aim for -6db peaks with everything I shoot. That's 3 reds on your DVX.

If you're in a situation where you can't trust the peaks to not break that limit... then just set your ch2 down so that it only hits -12db peaks... or split the difference a bit.

That way if something overloads the -6db setting you can revert to the -12db channel in post.

99% of the time I get the best results at -6db peaks though... the other channel is simply insurance.
 
Re: Typical Audio Levels

Matt,

Thanks!
I think when I was shooting I was way below -6. Now I'm cranking it in FCP to turn it up to whatever I want. I'm pretty sure the levels were pretty constant throughout the shoot. (except for in a few scenes) so the the noise level should stay fairly constant throughout too. Thanks!
 
Re: Typical Audio Levels

the real consern is to get good level befor the a2 d convertion not to hot to distort and not to low to increase the signal to noice ratio , the potesiometer on dvx dialing with the digital signal -so be carful
 
Re: Typical Audio Levels

Oleg, sorry to come back at his but I was thinking...

The potentiometer works with converted digital signal??? Than how can I avoid it clipping before the A/D circuit? Only with using limiters or a dedicated mixer? 'Cause I remember my case with the PD-150, where I had clipping reproduced in the lower channel and we came to the conclusion that camera had the potentiometer after the A/D signal, but when I think of it, it does not make sense. What you are saying is that clipping can happen no matter what level you set your channel level inside the camera? Isn't that just plain dumb?
 
Re: Typical Audio Levels

thats why mixer is a nice thing :-)
to hot mike would do bad to your pre as bad as to low sencetivity one or just to low line level , the panasonic made some stupid mistake not to criate another few steps in analog domain (-60,-50)
good analog stage cost money they made something that would work with everge levels that you get and if you need something difrent you just pay extra
 
Re: Typical Audio Levels

Man... The reality is harsh, I guess. So all that time I was trying to get a good level in my meters and it was making absolutely no difference? It would sound the same after they were equalized in FCP? Man, I have to do some testing... I'll have at leas a lav mic until tomorow I can run some tests and see/hear for myself. Anyway, then I was totally wrong in all that discussion of the need for a mixer. Maybe the improvement in S/N would be far more critical than the changed pres... At least for some mics...
 
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