Free audio levelling tool: Gigavox Levelator
prairiedogpics
wrote on 10/5/2006, 7:00 AM
Comments
Dan Sherman
wrote on 10/5/2006, 7:09 AM
But what does it do exactly?
Former user
wrote on 10/5/2006, 7:19 AM
There is a good description of what it does on the linked page.
Dave T2
Dave T2
Coursedesign
wrote on 10/5/2006, 7:29 AM
It rewinds the audio track.
AlanC
wrote on 10/5/2006, 7:29 AM
prairiedogpics
wrote on 10/5/2006, 7:42 AM
Alan C:
How's this?: Gigavox Levelator
I can never remember those damn tags, so thanks for THAT tool!
BTW, I've never used the "levelator"; I just came across a blog post about it, and thought video gearheads would find the idea for such a utilitiy interesting.
Dan
How's this?: Gigavox Levelator
I can never remember those damn tags, so thanks for THAT tool!
BTW, I've never used the "levelator"; I just came across a blog post about it, and thought video gearheads would find the idea for such a utilitiy interesting.
Dan
Tom Pauncz
wrote on 10/5/2006, 8:02 AM
Dan,
Thanks for posting this. I just tried it on a .WAV file (soundtrack of an AVI clip) that had been through Sound Forge NR etc.
The difference, for the better, is startling. WOW!!!!! A real no brainer.
Tom
Thanks for posting this. I just tried it on a .WAV file (soundtrack of an AVI clip) that had been through Sound Forge NR etc.
The difference, for the better, is startling. WOW!!!!! A real no brainer.
Tom
Jay-Hancock
wrote on 10/5/2006, 8:40 AM
Tom: in your opinion, where in the audio processing chain would it be best to run this? I suppose one argument is that it's best to reduce the noise first, that way the normalization doesn't amplify it. On the other hand, especially if you don't have much noise to deal with, it could be simpler just to start with better audio levels.
And how would you compare it to simply using Vegas's normalize feature?
And how would you compare it to simply using Vegas's normalize feature?
Coursedesign
wrote on 10/5/2006, 9:00 AM
The Levelator is not a normalizer.
It adjusts the levels dynamically, with a medium time constant, i.e. it's not too reacting too fast or too slow. The idea is that it should sound like a human being adjusting the levels on the fly.
If you use the Vegas normalizer, you may be OK, or you may find that you have a single peak that is way above the rest somewhere, and that will be at 100%. So when the result sounds too feeble you tweak the single peak and normalize again, only to find another little cough somewhere overwhelming the rest and that is now at 100%. Etc., etc.
So the Levelator is likely to be a much better choice for the podcasts for which it was designed.
Not the only way, but hey, the price is right...
It adjusts the levels dynamically, with a medium time constant, i.e. it's not too reacting too fast or too slow. The idea is that it should sound like a human being adjusting the levels on the fly.
If you use the Vegas normalizer, you may be OK, or you may find that you have a single peak that is way above the rest somewhere, and that will be at 100%. So when the result sounds too feeble you tweak the single peak and normalize again, only to find another little cough somewhere overwhelming the rest and that is now at 100%. Etc., etc.
So the Levelator is likely to be a much better choice for the podcasts for which it was designed.
Not the only way, but hey, the price is right...
AlanC
wrote on 10/5/2006, 9:12 AM
Dan
No excuse now. It doesn't get any easier.
I've not used the Levelator (and may never need to) but it looks pretty neat. I'll download it when I get home just in case I ever need to use it.
Alan
No excuse now. It doesn't get any easier.
I've not used the Levelator (and may never need to) but it looks pretty neat. I'll download it when I get home just in case I ever need to use it.
Alan
Jay-Hancock
wrote on 10/5/2006, 9:18 AM
...when the result sounds too feeble you tweak the single peak and normalize again
How do you "tweak the peak"? If you use volume envelopes, etc., will Vegas normalize against the resulting (not yet rendered) new levels? Or will Vegas only care about the peaks as they are shown in the .sfp files? If the latter, then I suppose you'd have to isolate the peak by splitting events..
So the Levelator is likely to be a much better choice for the podcasts for which it was designed.
And for those of us not doing podcasts? Hmmm... Whatever the case, I would certainly say this isn't a smooth workflow. If you have a project with 20 clips, you'd have to separate the audio from the video, render the audio, run this program, then bring the new audio into the timeline, being careful to line up the new segments correctly. Not easy! Or you could take each clip on it's own then rebuild it. Again, not easy!
How do you "tweak the peak"? If you use volume envelopes, etc., will Vegas normalize against the resulting (not yet rendered) new levels? Or will Vegas only care about the peaks as they are shown in the .sfp files? If the latter, then I suppose you'd have to isolate the peak by splitting events..
So the Levelator is likely to be a much better choice for the podcasts for which it was designed.
And for those of us not doing podcasts? Hmmm... Whatever the case, I would certainly say this isn't a smooth workflow. If you have a project with 20 clips, you'd have to separate the audio from the video, render the audio, run this program, then bring the new audio into the timeline, being careful to line up the new segments correctly. Not easy! Or you could take each clip on it's own then rebuild it. Again, not easy!
Bill Ravens
wrote on 10/5/2006, 9:31 AM
Normalizing is only the very first step one should take with audio. Significant improvement can be realized by a multiband compressor and loudness maximizerto raise the audio RMS signal even further without exceeding the brickwall limit at -0.1 dB on digital audio. Application of compression is not easily taken care of with a one button does all kind of software. For really quality audio, a great deal of EQing needs to be done with a tool like HarBal. If you have a number of audio clips you're bringining into a piece of work, it's pretty important all the clips have the same perceived volume. It takes more than just plain normalizing to achieve this. Once again, normalizing followed by compression to get a consistent RMS volume is what's needed. I've no idea what dynamics a podcast system has, but, the trick is to make audio transportable to al kinds of playback systems and media. It's exactly because of the differences in playback systems that a professional audio engineer makes his $$$$.
TheHappyFriar
wrote on 10/5/2006, 9:58 AM
what's the difference between tis & Sound Forge's Dynamic normalize which changed the audio level throughout the files to the level you tell it to?
don't forget the catch: And you'll be amazed that it's free (for non-commercial use).
don't forget the catch: And you'll be amazed that it's free (for non-commercial use).
Tom Pauncz
wrote on 10/5/2006, 10:19 AM
Jay & Stephen,
The clip I used for this one-off quick-and-dirty test, had been through only SF's NR 2.0. After Levelator, the clip displayed an amazing amount of depth and clarity - to my ears anyhow. More presence.
If I had to guess where in the workflow, after NR. Try it before you ever touch a clip with any other tool.
Tom
The clip I used for this one-off quick-and-dirty test, had been through only SF's NR 2.0. After Levelator, the clip displayed an amazing amount of depth and clarity - to my ears anyhow. More presence.
If I had to guess where in the workflow, after NR. Try it before you ever touch a clip with any other tool.
Tom
bakerja
wrote on 10/5/2006, 2:08 PM
All I can say is "WOW".
This tool just saved me a ton of work. I had a 90 minute program with several speakers on a panel with 3 mics that they were passing back and forth. Sometimes speakers were right on the mic, other times they were 4 feet away. Questions from the audience, etc. An audio nightmare. I ran it through this leveler and the results are nothing short of great. This video will ultimately be streamed and this product delivers as promised. Saved me a ton of segmeting, normalizing, compressing, etc.
Great product!
JAB
This tool just saved me a ton of work. I had a 90 minute program with several speakers on a panel with 3 mics that they were passing back and forth. Sometimes speakers were right on the mic, other times they were 4 feet away. Questions from the audience, etc. An audio nightmare. I ran it through this leveler and the results are nothing short of great. This video will ultimately be streamed and this product delivers as promised. Saved me a ton of segmeting, normalizing, compressing, etc.
Great product!
JAB