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Getting a consistent audio level
Hi Everyone,
I had filmed a wedding for a friend, and the audio levels are all over the place because the ceremony is at one level, and then there is very loud drums in another part, or people talking over music during interviews,etc. What’s the best way of setting the audio levels, so that all parts are at a decent level for viewing on DVD without peaks but not too low either. I know Premiere is not the best program for this, but I don’t have Audition. I’m willing to go through each clip in the timeline and alter levels one by one, but I need some sort of idea of how much I should be altering each clip.
steven
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2 Replies
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There is an effect in PP 2.0 called Multibandcompressor. This should do what you need.
I can’t remember if PP 1.5 had it, but there probably was a compressor.
– Derrick
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Well, there’s any number of ways to accomplish final volume levels, but I’ve always watched the footage enough times by the end of the project, that simple volume settings are usually sufficient.
With regard to drums, live drums punch through just about any setting and you can find audio editing programs for free (depending on your Premiere version, platform and OS) that include simple peak limiters. If you[‘re going to view the footage on a high dynamic range system (like a home theatre system) you might want to peak limit loud passages, so as to avoid startling volume changes. A “compressor” may also be helpful in bringing voices up to better audibility in some situations.
“Normalize” is a function that should be used sparingly. This will level your sound output to your input specs, but here again, you main find yourself defaulting to using your own ears once you hear what the final output becomes on some lower volume talking passages with background music or noise. Depending on your version of Premiere, you may already have these in the audio effects panel or clip menu. The only trouble with these limiting and compressing solutions is that they tend to take the “life” out of the sound track unless used with great caution.
Premiere has what USED to be thought of as “state of the art” automated mixdown…. that is, the ability to set volume at any point in the track and have the track “remember” your setting as it plays. In the hardware version of this feature, you’d actually see the mixing board sliders moving up and down by themselves and in a dimly lit studio control room, you’d actually see 48 channels of automated controls moving soundlessly through the mix on millions of dollars worth of hardware.
Now, we’re able to do that on our computer screens, and I wouldn’t minimize the power you already have with “plain” Premiere.
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