Brodcast audio level

[Mike Schrengohst]

What is the tape format??
I have received spot masters on BetaSP
from agencies and not one tape ever
had consistent audio. If I set the
playback to tone on 0db the
spot audio could be -12 all the
way to +20.

So the answer is I don’t know.
But I would keep the levels
a little hotter vs. too low.

[Dave Friend]

In the U.S., tone should be set to -20dBfs and the max program peak should be no more than -9dBfs. Normal speaking voice level peaks at about -12dBfs.

Hope this helps.

Dave

[Kevin Christopher]

and I wish everyone would adhere to this. I deal with broadcast masters on a daily basis, and I get stuff from editors all over the US, and I would say that only 10% come in right. People aren’t tought production standards anymore, they grab a camcorder, and suddenly they are a producer.

Kevin

[Pinner]

So you are saying that standard is bars and tone set to -20bd and main show audio should not peak any higher than -12db.

[Pinner]

From the tech requirements sheet I received from the network it states. “The audio can be on channels 1 and 2, they must be consistent throughout the show and peak at 0uv.

[Dave Friend]

[Pinner] “So you are saying that standard is bars and tone set to -20bd.”

Yes.

[Pinner] “and main show audio should not peak any higher than -12db”

No. The -12db is a rule-of-thumb for a voice speaking at a normal level – if they are shouting it would be higher. I suggested a absolute max of -9db. These are the specs for the network stuff I have delivered.

[Dave Friend]

[Pinner] “and peak at 0uv.”

One point that is probably causing confusion is that the spec you quote uses a VU scale. Premiere (and most any other program dealing with digital audio) uses peak meters where zero is the max possible value. Zero VU is not the same value as 0dBFS.

This paper may be helpful.

Dave

[Chris Holland]

That brings up another question:

When I bring a New Bars & Tone into Premiere it sets the level at -12. I figured that was where I should set my projects in Premiere to be for final output.

The issue I run into is this:

I run througth Firewire to a DV deck. The deck runs into a mixer. Generally everything we send out goes onto Beta for delivery. The problem is this. When I go into the BETA I get the tone to be 0db on the VU meter. Without fail the audio levels I see are always way low.

To get any type of level above say -10db i have to set my Premiere project to around -6.

So what is the equivalent from VU to the Premiere settings? Do I need to ride the board after I’ve got the tone recorded? It’s kind of confusing. I never had this issue until I went to DV.

[Dave Friend]

[Chris Holland] “When I bring a New Bars & Tone into Premiere it sets the level at -12.”

IMO, Premiere has it wrong. Perhaps Adobe has a good reason for using -12 but I’ve never found or heard a good explaination for it.

[Chris Holland] “So what is the equivalent from VU to the Premiere settings?”
The link I provided earlier in this thread has a chart that shows the relationship between the most common audio level measurement methods. If you adhere to SMPTE recommended practice then reference tone should be -20dBFS.

When recording to BetaSP set the record deck’s level to 0VU as you have been, but using -20dBfs as the reference tone level instead of -12. Then, if your program audio on average peaks close to or slightly above -12dBfs, with a max no greater than -9dBfs, I think you will find that the BetaSP program levels will be just right.

Works for me anyway.

Dave