mix automation with sound forge vs pro tools?

[Douglas Spotted eagle]

Vegas has automation tools as well. ProTools doesn’t have anything different, I think we’re miscommunicating as a result of semantics.
Vegas has plugins that provide auto-leveling. So does ProTools. So does Sound Forge. Automation means it’s remembering moves you’ve made to the faders. Auto-leveling means it’s reading the audio levels and doing the volume changes for you to a preset max/min. Normalizing is bringing everything up/down to a pre-determined level, but there are various methods of normalizing (peaks/RMS).

Douglas Spotted Eagle
VASST

Certified Sony Vegas Trainer
Aerial Camera/Instructor

[Wayne Grauel]

i just read a wealth of information from Spot on another post.

So, I’ve been leaning towards sound forge and perhaps will stop 2nd guessing myself!..

Back to the mix automation.. what is really going on is this:..

I have about 40 sound files (recordings) from different periods of time, recorded with everything from Minidisk to an M-Audio 96/4 to a fostex 8 track HDR.

I want to bring all of these recordings into one “time line” and get them all regulated, cleaned up. Some are recorded at about -20 DB some are a little “hot”. Its classical organ so there are a lot of dynamics and essentially “soft” to “blow your hair dry” as far as the different selections go and the registrations or “sound of the organ”.. example… varies from “a single flute to Full organ”

So, with all of that, currently the tracks have some of the sublime quiet settings are just as loud as other recordings at full organ..(which would be just about maxed out as far as sound level goes)

so i need to get this lined up and regulated so the CD is not all over the map… with the listener having to constantly change the volume control.

I hope this explains it.

How does sound forge handle this?

thanks!
Wayne

[Douglas Spotted eagle]

You want RMS normalization if you don’t want to do this by hand (I sure would, if the content means anything to you).
Sound Forge offers RMS normalizing. If the sources are varied music and voice, good luck with trying to do this automatically. 🙂 I feel the pain you’re about to have.

Douglas Spotted Eagle
VASST

Certified Sony Vegas Trainer
Aerial Camera/Instructor

[Wayne Grauel]

Hi Doug..

yes.. we were on different scores and you picked up on and have explained what I’m trying to get…

bring the maximum volumes down to reason.. and then going from there with perhaps more “quiet tracks”.. ( in relation)

I’ve tried this by ear, with single tracks (recordings) ( i use vegas a lot for this)..

but i think my problem is that after doing for or 5 in a row.. my perception changes as to where “loud was” and my CD ends up all over the place…

so more than anything.. auto leveling with be my first choice based on how you describe it.

I really don’t understand the concept of normalization other than I tried it with a set of 16 tracks in Nero.. and when i played the cd.. it was “HOLY COW”… what did I do..

everything was bumped up just below the threshold of pain and totally way out of proportion.

I don’t mind reading on the subject if you have any resources for me to comprehend this further.

thanks again for ‘reading into” my post and seeing where i was going with this.

Wayne

[Wayne Grauel]

Doug, As per my other post..

Been there and done that with normalization….

YEAH, your right… not what I had in mind..

I feel the pain you’re about to have.

Yeah.. I had to laugh when I heard that…

thanks again for your help!
Wayne