Reid Caulfield
Forum Replies Created
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Well first, when you say you were peaking at 0, are you talking about 0VU or 0dBFS (digital scale)? If the latter- which is what I’m guessing – this means you had absolutely no headroom left, so of course it was crashing loud in those sections. And usually when shows peak at 0dBFS, they average around -6. Again, way too loud. I like average program level between -14 & -12, peaks at -8, lower sections of non-dialog audio between -14 & -16.
As for the LtRt mix, was this a surround (5.1) show that you then collapsed in LtRt Stereo? And if so, how was that accomplished? I read a post on some forum the other day that suggested that someone’s 5.0/5.1 mix had simply been combined down into 2 channels, which is not the way to go since often you’re combining multiple full level channels into just 2. Reducing multiple channels down into stereo is part common sense, part mathematical coefficient, part art. When I mix for stereo, a lot of dynamic range restriction is usually required to fit a film’s sound into 2 channels. When I mix in 5.1, I’m able to reduce the use of those tools because I have extra dynamic space to play with. And if it’s Dolby Stereo you’re after, well that’s a whole new set of criteria & restrictions right there.
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I’ve been experimenting with WELL RECORDED stereo location dialog (usually in-studio interviews) and I have to say that the results can be stunning. Now before everyone starts jumping in on me, let me say that these were controlled situations with typical mono lav/boom feeds as well. One of the problems with even great stereo dialog is that it’s hard to maintain consistency across talking heads because it’s laborious & time consuming to set up to do right.
Also, especially for television, there’s no place to put stereo dialog since the cablers are requesting that mono dialog be paned center channel only in a 5.1 mix with music & FX L/R only & similar restrictions for what goes in the surrounds so they can knock out foreign versions by simply turning the center channel off. Which I think is ridiculous but that’s another thread.
For a simple stereo mix, consistent, well recorded DX across a show would be awesome. Anyways.
Reid C
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I know this is an old thread but I use a few methods to get from mono or stereo to 5.1 & I gotta say UnWrap never fails to amaze me. I bought a System 6000 solely for UnWrap (at auction 🙂
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Target broadcasters all have their own very specific audio specs. You need those. And just throwing a limiter & compressor at the mix rarely gets you there. Personally, I shoot for -8 to -6 at the top (peaks), -14 to -12 for average program content. When sections of the show are music only, -18 to -16 is what I go for, unless you’re trying to make a dramatic point with loud music. In other words, when dialog or FX are not present, don’t push music up to -10 or -6 just because there’s nothing else there.
Reid C
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I’ve gone through 2 of the USB2-based bare drive connection solutions. The power bricks were inadequate and wouldn’t power anything over 500GB. I prefer the less portable but sturdier solution from Wiebetech:
https://www.wiebetech.com/products/RTX100.php
so far, so awesome.
Reid C
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Must be the season for unmanned solutions. I’m spec’ing such a shoot now. We need to do trigger recording as well as remote manual trigger. REALLY remote. Like Web-based control, if we can. Maybe from 60 miles away, maybe from 3000 miles away. Depends on budget & whether I have the sea legs to spend 90 days on a boat hitting record on a bunch of lipstick & other stationary cams. Oh, then there’s the storage dilemma. But that’s another forum.
Reid C
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More & more music is coming out of mixing at about -6 on the digital scale. They leave 6dB for the mastering guys to add EQ or processing. These days, most pop comes out of mastering at -2 or -1. It’s all about the loud. Straight normalizing rarely happens after the mastering step because wholesale level changes affect balance & EQ, which changes the whole aesthetic.
Reid C
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Audio Hijack Pro or WireTap Studio can do timed recording. Never tried multiple instances at the same time, though. Might work. No TC though.
Reid C
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This is an old question but I’ll answer it anyway. What was the channel configuration of the material you pitch shifted (Mono, stereo, 5.1, etc)? Pitch shifting stereo material does a lot of harm to a file aside just changing pitch. The more channels you add into the equation, the more of a problem you’ll have. When you say you changed the pitch to accommodate NTSC to PAL conversion, are you talking about changing the time base as well, or did you change the timebase first and now need to change the pitch to match the original? Or did you do it all at once? What software or plugins did you use to do this? It’s really a 2 step process.
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I do a lot of this & would be happy to talk to you about it. Lots of ways to go with it depending on budget, available materials, etc. Contact me off list at reidwc@sbcglobal.net.
Reid C