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Dialnorm… Help!
Hey folks –
So, I’m about to start FTPing spots to one of our broadcast outlets instead of having to deal with Betas (thankfully). However, among their specs, they list that dialnorm must be set to -23. Having not dealt with dialnorm before, I started some Googling, and have come up with a fairly confusing mishmash of information. I was wondering if someone could give me a straight answer on what I need to do to accomplish this.
I’ve read plenty of articles explaining what and why, I just need to know what has to be done on my end to comply with their specs. Can this only be accomplished using specific (and expensive) encoders, or is it more a simple matter of setting my general levels to a certain point?
Any help would be greatly appreciated! Thanks in advance!
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20 Replies
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When compressing to Dolby ac3 within compressor, you can set the dialog normalization in the audio tab. Change it to -23 from the default of -27 dBFS.
Jeremy
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Dialog norm is just metadata. You still need to have your actual levels compliant with maximum peak levels.
Broadcast specs are fairly universal but can vary by regions. In NTSC land maximum peaks should be -10dbfs (decibels full scale on a digital peak meter). In PAL it is -9dbfs unless it is for the BBC then it is -10dbfs. To be safe, make sure your audio limiter is capping all signal at -10dbfs, then set dialnorm to -23 as Jeremy has pointed out.
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They don’t mean just arbitrarily setting the dialnorm number to -23 in the Dolby Digital encoder.
What they mean is that the level of your ‘dialog only’ track, when analyzed by a program such as AudioLeak will yield an LAeq level of -23.
LAeq stands for the long-term A-weighted sound pressure level.
(If your program is already a mix of dialog, music, and Fx you will get an incorrect reading.)If it doesn’t match, you will need to adjust the overall level of your dialog track up or down untill it matches.
Then bring to the encoder. Now you can enter -23 in the dialnorm box.
It’s essential that this number is correct, as it determines how the perceived level of
you program matches the levels of other encoded material on either side of yours.
I know you’d like this to be really simple, but it isn’t.
If you don’t mind reading a little more, I have more on my post at Apple’s compressor forum.https://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1057931&tstart=0
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Well put, J-R.
I’ve written a couple of other things which I hope help to further complement the Dolby company line.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dialnorm
https://etvcookbook.org/audio/dialnorm.html
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Thanks, but I’m willing to bet that it will take a rejected progam due to incorrect
dialnorm for editors who master their own audio to convince them of the need to understand the importance of getting the dialnorm correct.
I didn’t mention the other aspects of incorrect dialnorm,one of which is the nasty pumping that will result if the home user has activated any of the Dolby decoder’s dynamic range control.And then there’s Dolby-E, if the program is being submitted for network distribution.
Of course there aren’t many here with the extra $20,000 in hardware to handle that themselves. -
So… I bring my dialogue track into Compressor and send it through the AC3 encoder. Fine. So now what do I do with this AC3 file? Final Cut won’t take it. ITunes won’t convert it. I need this to come back into Final Cut so I can put it back into the mix and render this out….
Suggestions?
Apologies if this is something obvious. I’m still a little green on FCP (and this is my first time using Compressor), so I’m still figuring out my workflow.
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What kind of file do you need to deliver?
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They take “almost every format electronically, including AVID and MEdia100 native formats. This would include Quicktime, MPEG-2, AVI, etc.”
Really, though, if I’m supposed to just be sending only the dialogue track through dialnorm and then mixing everything else to that, I’m going to have to find a way to bring it back into FCP so I can mix, right? This is my sticking point right now.
(Also, I would ideally like this solved ASAP – they’re waiting for the spots whenever I get them completed.)
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My point is that you won’t get a ac3 track out through FCP with embedded video. You can go through compressor and create a multiplexed MPEG2 file with ac3 audio, but your FCP native self contained movie is not going to have ac3 audio.
That’s sticking on topic, ain’t it?
Jeremy
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Um… I guess. I’m not really following you anymore, though. =)
So, is there a way to export my movie from FCP such that it keeps the audio tracks separated so I can then run it through the dialnorm compression? Am I on the wrong page entirely?
Let’s just pretend I’m stupid and step me through this.
On the spots in question:
One has music/lyrics only.
One has dialogue and music.
One has dialogue, music, and FX.
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