audio mix for short film for theatrical…

[Job Ter burg]

That should have read 85dB, not -85dB…!

[Job Ter burg]

Never mind the levels in the Avid. You should calibrate your room to -85dB and create your mix, with peak levels not clipping in the digital domain.

[Dan Davis]

how do i calibrate my room to 85dB?

[Michael Kammes]

That’s a HUGE topic.

Start here:

https://duc.avid.com/showthread.php?t=87830

Marti Humphrey rocks.

In a nutshell, you play tones of of your speakers, and using a Sound Meter, you set the volume level of the tones to 85dB for listening. This volume level approximates the listening level in a theater so you can mix elements in relationship to one another.

I highly recommend hiring a post sound person to do a mix. An Avid is not the best environment for sample accurate editing or mixing. Yes it can be done, but for the same reason I don’t put a Pinto in the Daytona 500.

~Michael

.: michael kammes mpse
.: senior applications editor . post workflow consultant
.: audio specialist . act fcp . acsr
.: michaelkammes.com
.: twitter: @michaelkammes
.: facebook: /mkammes

Hear me pontificate: Speaking Schedule .

[Brad Leigh]

Dan
I’ll give you the short answer. ( This I am sure will cause much debate )
We send pink noise out of protools at -18. ( our system -18 = =+4dB )
You will need a sound level meter. Radio shack sells them for not much money. Listen to just one speaker lets say left. Turn your master volume up until you meter reads 85 Db spl. ( I use the C weighting not the A weighting 0Mark where your volume knob is.
With out changing your volume knob, monitor one speaker at a time. Adjust the Amplifier gain for the single speaker you are monitoring to 85 dB spl. Do this all the way around the room.
The problem is often with the subwoofer, it should be 10 dB above all the others. This can be hard to obtain and I know a few mixers that set the subwoofer to 92 dB spl. When you mix you normal listening level should be at the mark you notated at 85 db spl. All the speakers should be set at 85 dB spl. Because the distance can vary the amp gains may vary greatly. ( often center turned down and surrounds up )
Now I have setup for many film mixers, and often they vary speaker placement, and sound pressure level, so enjoy the debate, but this should be a reasonable rough guide.
Brad

[Grinner Hester]

you’ll just set up to tone as you normally would.