Help with normalize audio gain

pingo76 wrote on 7/3/2003, 5:36 AM

Hello. I have a problem. I have 2 separate audio tracks and some video tracks. The first audio is the speech the other is background music or fx or other. I use normalize on both to get at max peak level of -0.1 dB. But! When i play them one above another the master volume gets above 0.0 dB often +5.5dB. Is there a way to autoadjust audio that it never goes over 0.0 dB? If i play those tracks separately all works fine. When i play them both (audio track 1,2) one upon the other this effect occours. Any suggestions?
Sorry for my bad English.

P.S. Em i wrong to set the max peak level to -0.1 for broadcast? Should i use lower value?

Comments

Chienworks wrote on 7/3/2003, 7:22 AM

Consider that when you play both tracks together they get added together. What you are doing is doubling the amount of volume by playing both tracks together, and when the volume is doubled it goes up 6dB. This explains the +5.5dB peaks you're getting. So, if you want to use both tracks together reduce them by 6dB each after normalizing them.

There is a lot of debate about the proper audio level for broadcast. I've seen people say anything from -3dB down to -12dB. I tend to use around -6dB for the maximum peaks. Probably the best answer would be to ask the broadcasters that you're producing this video for. They'll tell you what they want.

pingo76 wrote on 7/3/2003, 8:27 AM

Thank you. I shall try reducing both tracks by -6 dB. My broadcasters don't know much either. :p