Comments

riredale wrote on 6/15/2004, 8:00 AM
Go into the AC3 encoding menus and set "Dialog Normalization" to -31. At that setting, the perceived loudness of the decoded AC3 on the DVD player will be the same as the wav input to the encoder. If you use a value of, say, -27, then the decoded audio will be [(-31)-(-27)]=4db lower than the input.

As for consistency in your audio, you can manually go through your project and boost or cut your audio segments using the Volume Envelope, or you can normalize each clip to 0db peak. Keep in mind that not all audio should be normalized. A whisper, for example, shouldn't be normalized to 0db.
Spot|DSE wrote on 6/15/2004, 8:00 AM
Use WaveHammer or WAVES Ultramaximizer. A compressor for final output is pretty well requisite for good output of audio at consistent levels. Bring your peaks to within -03 dB for max out put, or -2dB for safe, max output
burchis wrote on 6/15/2004, 8:20 PM
Thanks riredale & Spot for your help, I do appreciate it.
TheHappyFriar wrote on 6/15/2004, 9:08 PM
I must be wierd: I normaly don't adjust the output audio (unless it clipps or is below -4db most of the time). It still sounds good to me though (i normaly listen through a surround sound system & tv speakers to check it).
burchis wrote on 6/17/2004, 3:50 PM
My projects sound good, it's just if I have the volume set at say 15 while watching a tv program, I also want the volume to be at the same level when I play a DVD. In most cases I am having to turn the volume down to about 10-12 so that the level is same as if I am watch something on TV when set to 15.
Jameson_Prod wrote on 6/17/2004, 5:33 PM
May I suggest a little trial and error? Why not use the meters on the master bus and make a short DVD with the volume set at -5 or -10 db(anything of your choice) and see how it works on your TV with the volume set at 15. Then adjust accrodingly up or down until you achieve the desired volume. Just make sure you make a note of the master buss level as you go. Once you find that level that works for you, a quick adjustment at the end of all editing with a volume envelope or the master bus would be pretty simple.

Just a thought.......
burchis wrote on 6/17/2004, 6:55 PM
Thanks JP for your suggestion, I'll give it a try.
scottshackrock wrote on 6/17/2004, 7:00 PM
i actually do recording (audio) every other day..with vegas.
video editing is just my pasttime, HA!

anyway, compression is a great place to start.

i would reccommend NOT compressing the entire project (like one master compression effect)..simply because there is music, sound FX, dialogue, etc. etc. all being compressed with hte same settings. Techniically this is not good, and audibly, it will sound crazy. ha....

anyway, what everyone has said really is right - just gotta go through it yourself and pick the best volumes for each scene. it's expecially hard to do if you do not have good mics during your video recording/mass background noise, etc.