Question for Bob Zelin, or one of the BM guys…?

[Bob Zelin]

This is a general response. I have found that the meters and scopes native to any NLE – Final Cut Pro OR AVID are useless, and everyone, including the original developers of AVID, like Eric Peters, urged users to use external scopes for critical measurements.

When you relate to analog levels, calibration can only be done with audio measurement equipment, which can be as simple as a cheap AC voltmeter from Radio Shack. I have recently purchased a Velleman scope, which does audio dBu measurements, and was very surprised at the actual readings when looking at the outputs of mixers set to zero, like Mackie and Behringer. Behringer, from their own product line, would have the UB2442FX mixer have zero VU set for 0dBu, and for the MX3242X mixer, zero VU was set for +4dBu. I can assure you that inexpensive VTR’s, like the UVW1800 Beta machine are all over the place, and they have no nice “preset tweeks” like older BVW-75’s to allow for easy calibration. You will notice on UVW-1800’s (for example) that you may set your level to 0VU, record this level, play it back, and it will come back at a higher level. How do you fix this – you hire a tech to align your machine.

Many people live with these errors, as they are shocked and surprised to see how expensive external scopes and external meters cost. The cheapest SD scope currently is the Videotek VTM-150, and it’s around $4000 US, and the cheapest HD scope is the Videotek VTM-420, which is around $12,000 US. This is the cost of an entire FCP HD system with Blackmagic hardware and storage.
I believe at NAB2005, Astro Systems and Hamlet may be coming out with cheaper HD scopes, but these will still be in the $6 – $7000 range.

As for audio metering, scopes like the Videotek series have built in detailed audio meters, but even simple external audio meters, from companies
like Coleman and Douroughs cost more than any Mackie or Behringer mixer, so most people, like you, just sit there and suffer, and say “how come my meters on my FCP (or AVID) system seem like they are all over the place !

Wish I had a better quick answer for you, and perhaps someone else does.

I am certainly not the last word on the software scopes for FCP.

bob Zelin