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Are there any standards governing acceptable sound levels?
I’m a novice video editor and want very much to have my productions in compliance with the NTSC standards for DVDs. My question is elementary in nature. What are the acceptable audio levels for DVD movies? Where can I learn more about NTSC Standards for audio levels?
Thank you in advance for your professional assistance.
Sam Boulton
Video Editor, Volunteer
SBC Baptist Church -
5 Replies
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Hi Sam and welcome to the Cow Audio Forum.
There are no standards for broadcast NTSC. Discovery, OTOH, has some very specific audio guidelines.
Regards,
Ty Ford
Want better production audio?: Ty Ford’s Audio Bootcamp Field Guide
Watch Ty play guitar -
Hi Ty,
Thank you for your reply. I audio track I’m getting from my church for video editing is -6db or above and most of the songs are clipping. I’m having to adjust the audio gain down to -18db, and having it peak at -12db. What do you recommend other than shoot the soundboard man?
PS: The audio on your video clip is awesome….. crystal clear. It sound better than my itunes songs. I want my audio tracks to sound like that.
Sam
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Obtaining a feed from the FOH console rarely fits the bill. You should think of splitting the audio from the stage and have a separate mixer (board and person) just for the video feed. We use a FOH board feed at my church to feed the video system and it sounds awful half the time. However my church has neither the money nor the manpower to implement my above suggestion, which I’ve made to them on numerous occasions.
Rodney
Freelance Sound Technician/Mixer
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Rodney,
Thank you for your reply. Its good to know I’m not alone. Your media ministry sounds like ours, short on money and short on volunteers.
Our setup is simular, as oppose to the FOH feed, would you recommend using the monitor console to feed the video capture device?
Thk,
Sam Boulton -
Absolutely, but I would still want someone operating the board, ie: someone mixing. For us, the video feed is a “set it and forget it” type proposition (for the most part). If you have someone at the monitor console who is mixing for video, they could also be available to make mix changes for the monitor feeds. Typically, a monitor console uses the aux sends for the monitor feeds. Your auxes could be set as pre-fade sends, thus freeing the faders (and busses) to be used to mix and feed for video.
Freelance Sound Technician/Mixer
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