-
Setting the overall volume
I’ve edited my first video which consists of Front, Center, LFE and Rear audio tracks from the original video, plus a music track that I’ve added over the top. I’m reasonably happy with the relative volume of each track (all I did was drag the volume slider on the music track to about -16dB). The problem I’ve got though is that the whole thing is too quiet. Providing I turn my speakers up, it’s fine, but then I have to turn them back down or else everything else is too loud!
This is another “first time user” question, but is there such a thing as setting a “standard” volume? I understand that some things are louder than others, but in general, I notice that videos are all about the same volume – I don’t have to keep adjusting my speakers depending what I’m listening to.
-
5 Replies
-
Broadcast audio usually has an average loudness of -24dB FS +/- 2dB. Obviously if you are rendering for the web you can make it as loud as you want. If your audio is too low you could normalize your events but this can get very tedious if you didn’t do it before you started cutting events up. You could use a tool like VASST Property Assistant which will allow you to normalize all of your audio with a single click (among other things).
An alternate solution is to place Wave Hammer Surround on your master audio bus and use the Volume Maximizer tab to raise the volume using compression. The lower you set the Threshold, the louder the audio will get.
~jr
http://www.johnrofrano.com
http://www.vasst.com -
The volume that many wedding videographers agreed on was an average of -12db. I like an average of -9db as long as no peaks are clipped. Using -12db (softer side) or -9db (louder side) seems to be comprable to volume levels of commercial CDs and DVD movies. Some commercial CDs are notorious for over driving levels to the point of clipping. That doesn’t make it right but that does dictate the volume level that users have their entertainment equipment set to.
-
[Morris O.] “The volume that many wedding videographers agreed on was an average of -12db.”
Also I should have mentioned, that the American Post Production standard is -20dBFS = 0VU and the European standard is -18dBFS = 0dBu. You’ll find Rock Radio to be anywhere between -16dBFS and -12dBFS. So it depends on were you are and what the content is.
I guess the real answer to Paul’s question, “… is there such a thing as setting a “standard” volume?” the answer is:
It depends on who’s standard.
😉
~jr
http://www.johnrofrano.com
http://www.vasst.com -
OK, so it turns out (probably unsurprisingly) that it’s a lot more complicated than I was hoping for! I’m a complicate “newbie” and just editing a few videos for home, so I guess as long as I get something “about right”, that’s good enough.
I used a combination of the “Normalize” switch (the Normalize Peak Level in preferences defaults to -0.1) and audio event envelopes. When I play it, the meters on the surround master max out at -0.1 (only momentarily) and probably average at around -12. Most importantly to me, it sounds OK without me having to adjust my speakers.
Thanks for your help.
p.s. I don’t suppose there are any good links to “beginners guides” to this kind of thing (or video editing in general)?
-
[Paul Walker] “probably average at around -12. Most importantly to me, it sounds OK without me having to adjust my speakers.”
That’s really the main thing. Put a Hollywood DVD on and adjust the volume to a comfortable listening level. Then put your DVD on and if you don’t have to re-adjust the volume, you can claim success! 😉
[Paul Walker] “p.s. I don’t suppose there are any good links to “beginners guides” to this kind of thing (or video editing in general)?”
We have lots of professional training for sale on at VASST.com. The Absolute Training for Vegas + DVD Beginner Bundle will give you a solid foundation for video editing and DVD creation. Sound Forge – Essentials for Audio Editing while not specifically about Vegas, describes all of the plug-ins that are the same in Sound Forge and Vegas and it teaches you a lot about audio editing.
~jr
http://www.johnrofrano.com
http://www.vasst.com
Reply to this Discussion! Login or Sign Up