ITU-R BS.1770-1 Loudness, Free VST Plugin

i am erikd wrote on 1/27/2012, 7:03 AM
When submitting digital content for broadcast delivery these days I'm having to comply with the ITU-R BS.1770-1 audio loudness standard. If you enjoy learning more about this kind of mind numbing information you can read about it here:

http://tech.ebu.ch/docs/r/r128.pdf

and here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loudness_war

Many of you already know much more about how this all works than I do as I am largely just in the compliance phase. If they accept the content, I'm happy to move on without fully understanding all the details and intricacies.

There are many solutions out there to monitor for -23 LKFS or 0 LU (depending on your personal preference) and some are quite expensive. I came across this free VST plugin that works in Vegas9e (Maybe someone else can verify if it works OK in V10 or V11) and it seems to do the trick for me so far. It can be set to measure LKFS or LU; I prefer LU but these are only two different ways of expressing the same measurement.

If you are interested, go to the link and click on the tab AC-R128. Again, it's a free VST plugin that works fine in Vegas.

https://www.audiocation.de/en/plugin

Erik

Comments

Marco. wrote on 1/27/2012, 7:34 AM
I just wondered when Vegas would come up with a measurement tool supporting the r.128 conditions. Thanks for the link, will test in V11 now.
Erni wrote on 1/27/2012, 9:51 AM
Many thaks Erik!

Erni
musicvid10 wrote on 1/27/2012, 11:01 AM
Nice to know about, Erik.
If you know the authors of this plug, please ask them if they can include an ATSC A85 scale, which is slightly different that R128.
Of course we Vegas users are still limited by the fact that VST plugs still do not work on the surround master, which is a big deal for program production for broadcast.
R0cky wrote on 1/27/2012, 1:14 PM
MusicVid, I think I've had success in loudness measurement in a surround project by creating a bus and routing all of the tracks to it as well as the surround master.

I put ozone 5 (which has EBU metering) on the bus. You have to open up the bus effects chain to see the meter but it seems to be working for me.

I haven't read the EBU docs to know if this is a legal way to measure it or if I've introduced an offset.

rocky
i am erikd wrote on 1/29/2012, 12:18 AM
Glad to help. Anyone want to give some feedback on their impressions of the plugin? An audio buddy of mine is not a big fan of any real time approach to a reading of the loudness. Suggesting software that takes and audio file, bakes it and spits out a report reading instead. This sounds good to me also but it appears to be expensive also. musicvid do you know of anyone requiring the ATSC A85 standard that you deliver your content to? I don't know the authors at Audiocation BTW.

Erik
i am erikd wrote on 1/30/2012, 1:48 PM
Fuchs, musicvid, Erni...how is it working for you?

Erik
Erni wrote on 1/30/2012, 5:58 PM
Erik,

I use Vegas Pro 64 521. The plugin 64 crashes Vegas. The 32 version just work fine.

Erni
musicvid10 wrote on 1/30/2012, 9:51 PM
Installs in the correct folder.
Does not show up in my Vegas 8.0c, Vista 32.
i am erikd wrote on 1/30/2012, 11:45 PM
Erni,

I can confirm that for me also Vegas 11 crashes instantly every time I try to apply the plugin. Is your 32bit version 10e?

Erik

NickHope wrote on 2/17/2012, 6:54 AM
Same as musicvid, it sadly doesn't show up in Vegas 8.0c (Windows XP).

However it does show up in 10.0e. I did a comparison with the Nugen VisLM demo meter and got exactly the same results, so it appears to work well.

It appears the starting price point for paid loudness meters is $299. That's what VisLM-C costs, and also the new Waves loudness meter. For an extra $150 the history display of the VisLM-H meter sure is nice though!
R0cky wrote on 2/17/2012, 8:40 AM
ozone 5 has it and you get all of the rest of ozone. I think it's $299 too.
rocky
NickHope wrote on 2/17/2012, 9:00 AM
Rocky, looks like you need the Advanced version for that, which is $999.
Jakob wrote on 2/17/2012, 10:11 AM
Here is an another one :
http://www.toneboosters.com/tb-ebuloudness/
10 euros...
NickHope wrote on 2/17/2012, 10:17 AM
Wow, with history logging too. I think you may have just saved me about $436 Jakob.
i am erikd wrote on 2/19/2012, 1:40 AM
Thanks Nick for letting me know you got exactly the same results as Nugen VisLM demo. The history option so far doesn't seem to be something that I have to have so I'm going to stick with the freeware for now.

Erik
i am erikd wrote on 2/19/2012, 3:41 AM
Thanks Nick for letting me know you got exactly the same results as Nugen VisLM demo. The history option so far doesn't seem to be something that I have to have so I'm going to stick with the freeware for now.

Erik
bsuratt wrote on 2/19/2012, 11:03 PM
Which folder in V11/64 to install Toneboosters?
Duncan H wrote on 2/19/2012, 11:29 PM
Hi.

I've just installed these and they work perfectly in Vegas Pro 11 (64bit) on Windows 7. Simply extract the files to VST folder. Mine happens to be under: c:>program files>VST plugins. Upon extraction, it created a folder within my VST plugin folder titled: TB_Plugins_v2.5_x64 and creates its required subfolder automatically within this folder.

Trust this helps.

Duncan

i am erikd wrote on 7/25/2012, 2:43 AM
I just wanted to add to this thread that I found a workaround for using the Audiocation loudness plugin in 64bit Vegas. I'm happy because I like this plugin the best of the free ones that I've tested.

The workaround is open the veg file in a 32bit version, add the plugin, save and exit. Then open in 64bit and works as expected.

Note: I think you should then turn off the plugin after using as it might cause crashing of renders etc. in 64 bit if you leave turned on.

Erik

rraud wrote on 7/25/2012, 10:21 AM
This ATSC doc is worth perusing as well. http://www.atsc.org/cms/standards/a_85-2011a.pdf
I've been using the Audiocation loudness plugin for a while now in VP9. (on an XP machine) It seems to work fine and it agrees with the ATSC test files.
It does not however work with Sound Forge.
I'm not holding my breath for any metering 'updates' in any of SCS products.
wwjd wrote on 7/25/2012, 3:44 PM
k, I know there are 9004 pages to read about certified loudness settings, but can someone point me to the quick idiot sheet?

Like GENERALLY, to compare to real movies you should average around -24 or -18 or soemthing? Or a very short quick synopsis of TV expectation? I'm entering a short film contest soon, and wonder is better than just LOUDERIsing everything to -.03 ??
mudsmith wrote on 7/25/2012, 6:25 PM
A lot of the hullabaloo is about broadcast television standards here in the states. Perhpas the most stringent requirements for the states are defined by PBS. Their standards are in print and available as .pdf downloads from pbs.org.

One should note that their absolute standard for full digital peaks is -2dbfs, but they outline everything else within these same downloads.

It is probably true that if you adhere to their standards you should meet the standards of most other television broadcasters, at least in terms of audio.

Their video standards more stringent, as well, but are worth looking at in the same technical requirements document.
wwjd wrote on 7/26/2012, 11:38 PM
so no one knows the basic averages? I mean without paging though their thick PDFs? I did try that once last year. Didn't find what I was after, didn't learn anything
ChristoC wrote on 7/27/2012, 5:08 PM
wwjd, there is no "quick idiot sheet" - the problem in the past has been sound done by idiots, with unsatisfactory results, hence the new standards; you need to get the new metering and learn to use it correctly, or have someone who knows what they are doing involved in the final process.