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Audio Mix sounds bad
Hello,
I have finished a short production where I had music going up full level, down under while people talk, back up full level, etc.
The entire audio track was mixed closely watching the audio levels on FCP’s audio display.
Everything sounded great.
But, when I play a DVD of it in my home theater system, the levels do not seem to be OK, somewhat the voice seems to be a bit lower (or the music a bit louder)
I am using the Share option in Final Cut Pro 7 to burn the DVD. Are there any settings that need to be adjusted? I thought that excellent sound from FCP would mean at least the same quality and levels on a DVD.
Yes, the whole production was rendered prior to burning the DVD.
The audio tracks for the music from CD were converted to 48 KhZ prior to importing them into FCP.
Thanks for info
Bert
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3 Replies
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Bert- How does the DVD play on your Mac? If it is OK there you may need to adjust things on you home theater for the DVD player. A home theater system typically needs to be adjusted for each source whether it be DVD player, CD player, VHS deck (if you still have one), or Cable Box.
I know I have tweak my amplifier settings when I change sources.
If the DVD is not playing properly on the Mac you’lI need to go back to FCP where I suspect your music is stereo and voice mono in your FCP timeline. Once your mix is right on the timeline be sure your audio settings are correct on your conversion to DVD compliant files.
HTH,
JerryMacPro 2.93 Quad
FCP7
Sony Z-1
GV-HD700 -
First off, how are you monitoring the sound when you’re mixing on FCP? We use self powered KRK Rokit 5 monitors fed by an AJA Kona board here.
Your home theater is 5.1 surround probably, right?
The DVD is Stereo right?
Generally in a 5.1 surround system, the Center speaker is the one set up for voice reproduction. The left and right speakers are generally set up for music, sfx and background elements.
When you play a stereo DVD on a 5.1 surround system and it only plays on the left and right channels, the voices generally sound more muffled while the music and SFX play louder.
Try forcing your system to play in Surround mode with your DVD to force the audio to the center speaker. Your voice levels should come back up.
Walter Biscardi, Jr.
Editor, Colorist, Director, Writer, Consultant, Author, Chef.
HD Post and Production
Biscardi Creative Media“Foul Water, Fiery Serpent” Winner, Best Documentary, LA Reel Film Festival.
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There are so many potential issues with the way a home theatre setup is configured that it is impossible to say if there is a problem with the way you are encoding.
One tip is to tweak the Dolby settings in Compressor to set Dialog norm at -31 (basically turning it off) and most important set dynamics compression to none. The default is film compression. You don’t want the Dolby chip doing any levels or compression so make sure those two things are disabled with the settings I have recommended.
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