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Audio for Theater vs Television
I know this is probably more complex than I appreciate, but I am finishing a documentary that will show in a movie theater (film festival). It sounds good on a television and on monitors in my small editing room. But I am wondering what adjustments might need to be made for a theater experience. Specifically, I wonder if I need to change the equalization, maybe brighten the sound track. Any suggestions would be much appreciated. Jim
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3 Replies
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The only suggestion I would have is to roll-off the low end using a low-cut filter or EQ at about 250 Hz (-6db/octave roll-off). Unless you actually have a reason to make your audience aware of something at that frequency range. Many theatres are set-up for THX or some other sub-harmonic processing and it can get really annoying if it’s used incorrectly. I assume your program is not 5.1 surround so you may not even be sending anything to that channel anyhow.
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Try a shakedown cruise in a theater first to get a sense of what that particular system is doing to your sudio.
From there, try to make changes in your own monitoring system to make it give you a more realistic (as in what a theater sounds like) playback.
Regards,
Ty Ford
Ty Ford’s “Audio Bootcamp Field Guide” was written for video people who want better audio. Find out more at https://www.tyford.com
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The piece is recorded and mixed in simple 2 channel stereo. I will try the EQ approach. There are no sound effects that would benefit from the very low frequencies. Since there is a lot of dialogue and interviews, I am concerned that the audio might get “muddy” in a more dynamic environment like a theater. Thanks for the advice.
Jim
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