limiting audio above certain dB level

[Jim Greene]

Yes, the included Sony “Wave Hammer Surround”. Choose to bypass the compressor then in the Volume Maximizer tab set the Output Level to the desired -dB value. See screenshots below:

-Jim.

[Grzegorz Kwiatkowski]

thanks! I am doing 23 minute episodes for cable tv and it’s really cumbersome process to stare at the dB meter all the time. Hope this will ensure me that audio doesn’t exceed defined level.

[Grzegorz Kwiatkowski]

damn! it was the best advice for me so far. This will save me hours of time.

thanks again man

[John Rofrano]

[Grzegorz Kwiatkowski] “thanks! I am doing 23 minute episodes for cable tv and it’s really cumbersome process to stare at the dB meter all the time. Hope this will ensure me that audio doesn’t exceed defined level.”

Actually if you are doing this for broadcast they probably also have a loudness level for you to meet. In that case, you may not want to bypass the compressor. TV audio is usually compressed to keep the loudness level constant. I would start with the [Sys] Master for 16-bit preset and work from there. Broadcast audio usually averages a loudness of around -24dBFS so you also might want to add the Track Compressor preset [Sys] 1.5:1 compression starting at -24 dB to the dialog tracks.

I would make sure that you fully understand the audio specs that they require. Some stations clip at -10dB even though the specs let you go higher so you might want to mix for the lowest common denominator.

~jr

http://www.johnrofrano.com
http://www.vasst.com

[Grzegorz Kwiatkowski]

I am aware of this. Anyway I don’t give the material directly to tv channel. Before this, I am giving the material to the company which transcodes the files and prepares them for broadcast. But just one thing I got to do myself is to keep audio level under 0dB. Then they can do the rest.

[John Rofrano]

[Grzegorz Kwiatkowski] “But just one thing I got to do myself is to keep audio level under 0dB. Then they can do the rest.”

Is that 0dBu or 0dBFS (Full Scale)? They are different and you need to know which one they mean. There is no single standard for converting between digital and analog levels. The American SMPTE standard defines -20 dBFS as 0dBu (or 0 VU). Vegas is showing you levels at dBFS so if they don’t want any audio to be above 0dB analog you need to make sure that they don’t exceed -20dBFS in Vegas. If you already know this then my apologies. (better safe than sorry)

~jr

http://www.johnrofrano.com
http://www.vasst.com