Ron:
If you open a ProTools or Final Cut/Soundtrack Pro mix of a major motion
picture, you'll find that by far the majority of the mix goes to the
Center channel. Occasionally, foreground information is panned to L or
R, especially if you have a two-shot of obviously left and right
positioned talent.
Except for a stand-out special effect, the surround Ls & Rs only carry
location ambiance (or diagetic sound [
http://filmsound.org/terminology/diegetic.htm ]).
Typically music is mixed to the L and R channels, and sometimes reverb
from the music is added to Ls and Rs. One trick that's often done, if
you only have a stereo ambiance track (such as street noise or room
tone), is to add it delayed by 1/2 to 3 frames to the Ls and Rs with
some reverb mixed in.
On 11/17/2011 02:06 PM, rterry_uk wrote:
> Hi and thanks for the replies.
>
> I'm using Sony Vegas Pro 10 with DVD Architect (about to upgrade to SV Pro
> 11) and a quick look at both indicates that DVDA supports Dialnorm. I've done
> a very quick look into Dialnorm and settings in DVDA and the wikipedia link
> you posted Steve. A little experimentation should yield some, hopefully,
> positive results.
>
> Until my move to Vegas all recordings were stereo (DD) and narration or/and
> focus on a particular sound was just a case of what sounded right as long as
> there was no clipping and the narration or focus subject was clear but not
> overpowering ... if you understand, just a nice well balanced production.
> With 2 rear channels added to the equation, the concentration of
> narration/focal in centre front and, if the situation requires it, the LFE to
> mix in as well I guessed there must be a proven/best practice balancing act
> to perform, hence my question.
>
> Thanks again
>
> Ron
>
>
> --- In Steve Sergeant<> wrote:
>>
>> Does your software allow you to set Dialnorm [
>> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dialnorm ]?
>>
>> At the risk of overstating the obvious, It's best not to attempt mixing
>> a surround sound production without a surround sound monitoring environment.
>>
>> If you're creating a 5.1 mix, then your narration would typically only
>> appear in the Center channel. Unless you're trying to achieve the
>> unnatural effect of the narrator being beside or behind the viewer.
>>
>> If the listener has a different speaker arrangement than 5.1, the
>> decoder in the playback system should downmix that center channel to the
>> appropriate available speakers. (Such as for 2-channel playback.)
>>
>> If you have 4-channel or 5.1 channel location ambiance, then that should
>> be assigned to L, R, Ls,& Rs at matching gains. The ".1" channel is
>> called LFE (Low Frequency Effects), which describes well it's intended
>> use. Some home theater systems with small speakers channel all low
>> frequencies through the LFE channel as a cost-saving measure, but that's
>> not the original intent.
>>
>> Is your narration always going to be the loudest thing in the program,
>> or are there ambient, sound effects, or music tracks that get louder at
>> times? If there are, then you want to set the Dialnorm level for the DD
>> encoder appropriately to indicate the average RMS level of your
>> narration and any other dialog. One of the proposed standards for
>> broadcast television would set Dialnorm, and thus the average level of
>> narration and dialog, at -24_dB-fs.
>>
>> I know I've seen books on good surround sound mixing techniques, but I
>> don't nave the references with me at the moment.
>>
>>
>> On 11/16/2011 05:44 AM, rterry_uk wrote:
>>> Hello to all
>>>
>>> My new video editing software is able to record in 5.1 sound format
>>> (DD) and I was wondering if there is any 'best guide' as to sound levels
>>> for the finished production.
>>>
>>> As an example, if I record say the narration track at about 0dB (5
>>> PPM) should the front L&R be the same or lower say -4dB (4 PPM) and what
>>> of the surround levels -4dB (4 PPM) again? (all in UK scale)
>>>
>>> Thanks in advance
>>>
>>> Ron
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