setting broadcast audio in fcp

[Shane Ross]

[chris rubino] “Can anyone inform me what my peak audio level should be and how do I set this level for the whole programme?”

First off, that is information that you get from the network. They need to send you a spec sheet as to what peak audio levels are, the difference in levels between dialog and music, and what all the requirements for video are as well.

Second, you set it for the entire programme by going through the show an mixing the audio…adjusting the levels until they meet that uniform level. And sometimes run it through a hardware audio limiter.

Or you hire a professional audio mixer to do this for you. Since this is a profession on its own.

[chris rubino] ” And interviews have been recorded in stereo with one channel much higher…ie i think its really mono. Do I eliminate the 2nd audio track of the interviews and centre the mono track?”

You really need the audio spec from the network. They have the answers as to what levels need to be, what the track assignments are supposed to be. Because most likely they won’t just want a stereo mix, but separate tracks with separate audio elements, like Music and Effects, dialog only, music only, production audio only. Find out what they require.

Shane

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[Michael Gissing]

This is not a task that FCP was designed to do. Send it to a sound post professional. German broadcasters are notorious for being fussy about tech specs and FCP doesn’t have audio editing accuracy, bus mixing or bus dynamics processing to begin to make a broadcast quality sound track.

Within the FCS suite, there is Sound Track Pro which is a much better tool and has the sort of bussing and dynamics processing tools to do a better job. Although it is a better tool, if you don’t know how to tracklay and mix for broadcast, then STP is not going to mix it for you.

[Walter Biscardi]

[chris rubino] “And interviews have been recorded in stereo with one channel much higher…ie i think its really mono. Do I eliminate the 2nd audio track of the interviews and centre the mono track?”

What you’re probably hearing is the main microphone on the interviewee and the camera mic so one channel is much louder than the other. Or the camera person set an audio limiter on one of the channels and not on the other. Common practice. I usually delete the extra channel, then duplicate the “good channel” to make a good clean stereo pair out of the audio.

But as others have suggested, audio mixing is not something FCP does well. When we have to mix for broadcast we send our shows off to an audio professional who runs ProTools. You would export an OMF from FCP to give to the audio professional, and they will give you back a properly mixed show.

Also, you will need the broadcast specs from the network or TV station you are delivering to.

Walter Biscardi, Jr.
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Biscardi Creative Media

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