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Compression and Normalization Gain
I tried to use the Compression and Normalization Gain tools in FCP without much success: First I used the compressor audio effect to change the perceived loudness of this interview clip i am working on and it sounds louder. Next I used Normalization Gain under the modify tab to set the level to -6db. FCP7 put the gain effect BEFORE the compressor and the levels went above -6db.
I tried nesting the audio of the clip after I had applied the compression and then applied the normalization gain to -6db. The result was that the loudness of the file reduced considerably. When I tried this on on other interview there were still parts where the loudness peaked above -6db.
I am no sound engineer. Is there a way to compress the dynamic range of the soundbites and then make sure the the ceiling is -6db?
Dave
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4 Replies
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You are not the only one who could never figure out how to handle FCP’s compression plugins.
I use WaveArts’ FinalPlug plugin, it works very well.
Alternately you could take your audio to Soundtrack Pro -
Fantastic. Thanks.
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Sound weird. Why don’t you just swap manually the order of the FXs around?
Besides, the Compressor is not so good in FCP.
Get Speech Cleaner from Izotope. Way better.Greetings,
Sascha
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I agree that the compressor filter isn’t great, but it should work better than the original poster describes. In my experience, turning off the “preserve volume” setting yields more predictable results. Once you turn off this check box, the track will no longer sound louder. Instead, FCP will just limit the maximum amplitude of the clip in question. Now you can apply the normalization gain filter to bring the levels back to where you want.
Although in my experience, the normalization gain seems to always set thing LOWER then where I set the slider (although I’m only judging the results using the built in meters).
I also like to nest the tracks in question that I want to compress and normalize, so I can apply the effects globally (this works well for reverb too). If you don’t like nesting, you can also export audio stems of select tracks and bring them back into the timeline.
Matt Lyon
Editor
Toronto
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