DVD audio levels for documentary?

Tomorrow i'm mixing an amateur documentary for a friend. I was wondering what kind of levels i should use for peak,dialogue and music?
It's for a festival and will be projected in a theatre if he makes it through.
Would i mix it different for television?
thanks in advance.

G'day again =iS=.
+8 when reference to 0VU is broadcast standard.
if referenced to -20dbfs the signal will be super hot, but it doesn't mean distortion will be heard as broadcast equipment has very high head room.
it would certainly clip your standard i/o's used with logic.
the minus 20dbfs is an RMS value, and that means the peaks could go way over that, say -6.-3.(as i suggested) nice headroom for dialog, explosions, surges in the music, etc.
i often play back DVD's thru my mac, using the same setup i mix with.
however, i'm not hearing all that much dynamic range, although, with THX processing, the sound is very good.
broadcast equipment is both rugged, and good sounding - has to be.
some broadcast desks with only 8 channels and say, four busses are very expensive ($100,000)- greeeeat for analog summing freaks, you can't o/l them easily.
anyway, i've been experimenting with DVD's as the medium for future music releases and i'm impressed with the dynamic range and the faithfulness to the original, sonically. Very sloooooow burning with Toast, through.
I use 24/96, even when the logic mix is 24/44.1.
this way, you can say goodbye to dithering and compression to get a louder
product.
best, my friend, david r.

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Audio Level for documentary

Hello Everyone,
I am currently editing a short documentary focused on a Rock band. As I never really spent many energies on Audio in my previous projects, I would like to be precise in this one.
Does anybody knows what are the audio levels that I should mantain for dialogues? I heard that they should stay below 12-dB. Is that true and is there anything else I should know?
In addition, I obviously will put rock songs during the film, is there another rule for music?
And my last question is, whenever I want the interviewees to talk, with the music on the background, what level should I decrease the songs so that they don't interfere with the dialogues?
Thank you so much!

Richard,
Really? That low?
I generally find that setting the total output to -6 or so makes it about the same level as commercially made videos - like from Vevo.
Just to make sure, I downloaded a video of Maroon 5 running all over LA to play at weddings (I know - illegally - but only for a test) and put it into Premiere Pro. I set the audio to max out at -6 by putting in a -6 gain. I took turns playing it back from YouTube and from Premiere Pro and it sounded like the same level to me. A non-scientific test of course, but it seems reasonable to me.
If you want to recreate the test, I downloaded this video:
I used this web site to do it. Free Online YouTube Downloader: Download YouTube Videos, Facebook and many others!
It doesn't make you download any software. I imported the resulting MP4 and set the gain to -6. You do it and see how you feel about it.
Please, anyone reading this, do not use other people's work in your own videos. This is for the purpose of testing only.
As for how low the music bed should be under the speech, that is something to be experimented with. Just make sure that the total lever is around -6.

Audio Level for the web

What audio level does one set for video files to be viewed on a web page? (specifically Flash)
I realise there is probably no "Standard" for this but what process/levels have others used.

Firstly - I have followed Andrews advice and peaked to just under 0db. (This is what I would do for a DVD export as well since I am not coping with Broadcast reference levels.) Thanx Andrew (I dont usually do web work so needed some tech reasurance)
Heres the go.
No the site I linked to is not my work but I am doing exactly the same for that same client (and a different product range). Just a litle more interactive. User will click on a Q and A and the subjects will answer.
The client is not only concerned about technical details (which they leave to me), they are also concerned about the aesthetics and design. They did not want a player visible at all.
The design for all their work is covered by a "style book" so we all follow that for all work. Basically it is "clean/fresh".
The idea of a clean screen without the player visible fits this concept and it is cool and fun. Suits the target audience. Teens/ youth.
I deliver flv with alpha (and swf) to the web guys who bolt it into the page and to the Q/A links.
I shot green screen then keyed the characters. I then composited the two characters beside each other for a large number of clips. The characters give the impresion of interacting with each other. Heads turn to each other at various times. Some of the clips are looped but all needed registration to avoid "shifts". Time consuming but great little project
The movie can be stopped by simply clicking another Q/A link or other stuff on the page. If this is done the characters simply stay on screen in their "Iddle/Wait" state. They do not dissapear of the screen. This maintains the look and design.

Adjusting audio levels for authoring

Hello,
Is it possible to raise the audio levels in Encore so the levels are higher for the muxed DVD than the source audio files themselves? Is there a way to do this in an Encore timeline?
Thanks,
Mtbakerstu

Welcome to the forum.
Audio Level/Gain adjustment will need to be done in PrPro, or perhaps Audition.
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Low Audio Level for USB Audio device

Hello,
I'm recording a voice over for a keynote presentation.
-The internal mic records just fine, but when I use an external usb mic, the level into keynote registers very low.
- in the system preferences the audio input for this exteral mic is perfectly fine.
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I'm glad you mentioned the preset, Silal. I kept meaning to bring that up, but forgot.
Set Preprocessing to None. That will keep high level short duration sounds, like drums, etc., from overtaking your dialog, and crushing it.
The way DIALNORM is intended to work, you set it to the average level of your dialog from your editing app. If you're working in FCP, then that might be something like -12. That setting will cause the player to attenuate the level so dialog is attenuated by 19dB (-31 minus -12 = 19dB of attenuation by the player).
That, in turn, allows the ridiculously loud music and nat sounds in the film soundtrack to sound "more natural", as they blast your ear drums into bits. "More natural" means "much louder than dialog, just like they are in real life".
Bah, humbug! Let me hear what the talent is saying. I don't care if I can hear every nuance of that rock ballad, I just want to be able to follow the story, the plot.
Hey, I'm an old dude, you whippersnappers.
But back to the point, by setting DIALNORM to -31, the player works out the math like this:
-31 minus -31 = 0dB of attenuation
So, your level should be exactly what it was before the compression/conversion. Why it isn't is a mystery, still.

What is the best audio level for making a CD from video?

I know that -12dB is the optimum level for making a DVD. When I took this same level (peaking at -12dB), exported it to AIFF and then put it into iTunes and burned a CD, the volume was definitely lower than other CDs.
Does anyone know the standard level for CDs?
I'm doing this to convert a video of a concert into a CD.

The standard for CDs is basically -0.1. Generally, at least with pop & rock, the mastering stage puts the levels as loud as they possibly can be without distorting.
Plus, with content like music that is a little more consistent (level-wise) than dialog, SFX, etc., it's easier to ride it up closer to zero.

Hi, with mix16 pro app, can anyone tell me when you set different audio levels for different tracks, does the app remember the level set the next time you use it? Or does it default to the original setting when you power down after a show? Thanks!

Hi
I use backing tracks for some songs with a live band and we are having some issues with levels. Some are higher than others etc. I use i pad to run the tracks. I am looking for an app that where I can control the levels better. Ideally, an app where I can set the level of each track to a desired level and leave it at that level for good. Mix16 Pro seems to do that but I wonder does it save the setting as I do not want to set the levels every time I use it.
Thanks

Hi
I use backing tracks for some songs with a live band and we are having some issues with levels. Some are higher than others etc. I use i pad to run the tracks. I am looking for an app that where I can control the levels better. Ideally, an app where I can set the level of each track to a desired level and leave it at that level for good. Mix16 Pro seems to do that but I wonder does it save the setting as I do not want to set the levels every time I use it.
Thanks

DVD-audio player for os x?

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DVD audio level

Is there any way to increase DVD player SDK750SU2 output volume level? The television volume control will not raise the volume high enough when using the player.

Going back a year, or two, one user was convinced that he should mix for the "worst-case scenario," i.e. the little built-in speakers in a TV. My suggestion was to offer two Audio Streams, as one would with PCM and then DTS, and allow the user to choose via a menu. In this case, it would be the mix, and not the encoding of the Audio Tracks. For some reason, he did not want to offer that, but wished to instead mix for the TV and then force the home theater set to suffer, thinking that the TV was the ultimate mix. Oh well.
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Balancing audio levels for multiple tracks in PP CS6 ...

I have a relatively long home movie (1:50) with clips from multiple cameras dispersed throughout.   One of the camera's audio is far lower than the rest.    What is the easiest/fastest way for a consumer editor to get a reasonable result? Doesn't have to be perfect, but eliminating the need to hold the TV volume button is the goal.   I'm guessing some of you out there have dealt with this issue a few times and can give me a boost.
I've seen some tutorial videos on using the Audio Mixer, but that appears to adjust volume for an entire track.   I suppose an option here is to manually move all of the quieter clips' audio tracks to a different track number and then use the mixer to adjust.   Trial and error I assume to get it right.
Another video I found shows balancing by pulling up clips one by one into Soundbooth and then processing them together. I don't own Soundbooth unless it ships with CS6 and I didn't know to install it. I like the concept though - some way to normalize (if the right term) the volume, although certainly I want some variance so that when someone is shouting or screaming the volume is still higher.
Other videos show adjustments to the volume level by dragging the little yellow volume line on a clip by clip basis inside the track display.   Easy enough, but if I end up deciding I want to make further adjustments I have to go back through all the clips again.   I suppose one advantage here is that those quieter clips sometimes run in batches so could use key frames.
Feedback?

Just closing the loop here ...
I ended up doing the separate track and audio mixer volume adjustment with some individual clip gain tweaks.   Turns out one of my cameras was quiet and another loud, so I used three audio tracks in my movie, one for footage from each camera (luckily the two offenders were more limited).   The nice thing about this approach is that adjustments are easy to make across the board.
On the 6db volume gain, turns out that was enough. Maybe someone has some input here, but I find that watching video on my TV with my surround sound system the volume levels are way more sensitive than my PC.   Ok, not 100% - there were a couple of clips where I upped the gain as well.
The gain adjustment and looking at the waveform diagram is very useful for getting an idea of what level of adjustment is required.   So I did make use of this feature to get feedback on how to adjust the volume level noted above.
If I was really serious, I would have done a bunch of marking key frames and adjusting the volume within the clips.   One of my cameras is really loud when the person filming speaks but the other subjects are much softer. But I took an 80/20 approach and the movie is a little loud in some spots and a little soft in others, but not so much that I have to adjust the volume button. It would be tedious to edit all the footage in this way.   Although I did make use of the key frames for some background music.
Needles: I was looking for a consumer level solution, although admittedly didn't investigate what you suggested.

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1.) How can I select a portion of audio in the Viewer and adjust just that portion's auudio using the Level option?
2.) What is the easiest way to remove parts of audio while someone is speaking and says a quick "ugh" or emits a breath sound?
Thanks!

the problem with removing offending sounds is that you will usually notice the drop out of room tone. In this case, find a clean piece of audio and use that to replace the offensive sound.
This is VERY easy to do in soundtrack pro.
If you are intimidated by the pen tool, you can blade the clip in the timeline and adjust levels on individual sections and add dissolves to make the adjustment gradual.
There are many ways to skin this cat including real time "automation."

I want to attach an external speaker to boost audio level for certain sites with low audio.

I have a Pavilion g7*1237dx Notebook pc.
Does it have bluetooth?

Hi,
Based the following link, No:
http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/document?cc=us&dlc=en&docname=c03072347&lc=en&product=5199554
You can use a dongle (USB - BT) for your machine.
Regards.
BH
**Click the KUDOS thumb up on the left to say 'Thanks'**
Make it easier for other people to find solutions by marking a Reply 'Accept as Solution' if it solves your problem.

Audio Levels on different tracks-How do I adjust them

I have a series of inteviews on my edirol which come across fine into ST. I've moved into production and have recorded some fixes and patches to complete the interview. These were done directly into ST using a mic. This is where the problem occurs, I can't seem to find where to adjust the audio levels for the new tracks I recorded. Having read through the ST doco, its brevity is to be admired. Help, any help appreciated.
I'm new to the sound field, currently studying journalism and audio is part of the brief.
regards, Wayne

Hi WayneAu,
1- In the audio tracks section, click the 'envelopes disclosure triangle'
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By clicking and dragging a keyframe you can adjust the volume for specific portions of the track, perform fade-ups or fade-downs, etc,.
I hope this helps.
In Solidarity,
Alain
http://www.crazyredacesproductions.blogspot.com/

Adjusting audio levels in a clip

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Adjusting Audio Levels Of Two Tracks

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Changing audio levels?
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Al

DVD audio levels for documentary?

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