Settle a bet…

[Steve Eisen]

Besides getting your levels correct, you need to make sure the audio input settings on your DSR-45 are correct. You have 3 input levels, +4db, -2db and -10db.

Steve Eisen
Eisen Video Productions
Director-At-Large
Chicago Final Cut Pro Users Group

[John Fishback]

I think the approach you take has a lot to do with the audio content you’re woking with. For straight ahead dialogue, narration-based tracks or commercial spots I have to agree with a couple of posters who advocate letting levels fall between -6 and -3. Obviously, you have to watch your transients carefully. I usually apply some compression to assure there are no errant peaks. I’ll even go through the track and make keyframe adjustments to contol audio peaks. The tracks are hotter and don’t need normalization (which is basically bringing the audio gain up to just below the clip point). It also makes a big difference when exporting audio tracks to DVD or for web use. If you understand the process, it works very well.

However, for video or film projects that involve a lot of dynamics, I’ll average at -12 or -20 which allows for dramatic dynamics (explosions, etc.). I’ll always release the master with audio the way the client calls for it.

John

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