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Sound levels for Short Film
Lets say first of all, I am not a sound person. I am currently in post-production with a short film which has no dialogue, only sound effects and music. All the sound effects are done in post. The short is being showcased at a festival in the summer.
The sound effects are in stereo (a1 and a2) on the timeline.
The music is in stereo (a3 and a4) on the timeline.I am exporting to prores 422 with audio stereo 2 channels 48khtz
What is the ideal sound codec and what pan do I use before I export?
What should go left and what should go right and so on?
Any input would be appreciated.
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7 Replies
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Aiff 48khz 16-bit is considered native in FCP, everything you edit should be transcoded to exactly those parameters.
Music is always stereo and is hardly ever panned right and left.
Sound effects can come to you as both mono and stereo files, and they are panned right or left to follow their source on-screen. In other words, if a car moves from right to left on-screen, pan the sound appropriately to give the impression it’s the sound of the car on-screen.
It all very logical, and should seem and sound that way to your audience. Make sense?
David Roth Weiss
Director/Editor/Colorist
David Weiss Productions, Inc.
Los Angeles
https://www.drwfilms.comPOST-PRODUCTION WITHOUT THE USUAL INSANITY ™
Creative COW contributing editor and a forum host of the Business & Marketing and Apple Final Cut Pro forums.
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Thanks for that. Yes the music is in stereo, so I will leave that in “0”
The effects are also in stereo so should I also leave that in “0”?
Is AAC a good enough codec?
Many thanks David!
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[Jon huseby] “Is AAC a good enough codec?”
Negative!!! AAC won’t cut the mustard. There’s a reason I mentioned aiff 16-bit 48kHz, and I hate repeating myself.
David Roth Weiss
Director/Editor/Colorist
David Weiss Productions, Inc.
Los Angeles
https://www.drwfilms.comPOST-PRODUCTION WITHOUT THE USUAL INSANITY ™
Creative COW contributing editor and a forum host of the Business & Marketing and Apple Final Cut Pro forums.
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The reaon why I didn’t go with the aiff 16-bit 48kHz is that it doesn’t come up as an option in the prores export window.
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Also as The effects are in stereo so should I leave that in “0”?
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[Jon huseby] “The reaon why I didn’t go with the aiff 16-bit 48kHz is that it doesn’t come up as an option in the prores export window.”
What app are you referring to? Quicktime Pro most certainly has that capability.
David Roth Weiss
Director/Editor/Colorist
David Weiss Productions, Inc.
Los Angeles
https://www.drwfilms.comPOST-PRODUCTION WITHOUT THE USUAL INSANITY ™
Creative COW contributing editor and a forum host of the Business & Marketing and Apple Final Cut Pro forums.
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[Jon huseby] “Also as The effects are in stereo so should I leave that in “0”?”
Are you referring to audio level? Because, if the effects are stereo, pan would be -1 channel-1 and +1 channel-2, although you will actually only see -1 in the viewer.
David Roth Weiss
Director/Editor/Colorist
David Weiss Productions, Inc.
Los Angeles
https://www.drwfilms.comPOST-PRODUCTION WITHOUT THE USUAL INSANITY ™
Creative COW contributing editor and a forum host of the Business & Marketing and Apple Final Cut Pro forums.
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