audio confusion

I?m having difficulty understanding FCP?s audio standard.

I recently had a network reject my work due to low audio levels. When I output bars and tone from FCP (I?m using FCP 4.5 HD) it registers as -12db on my FCP audio meter. I therefore mixed my audio as if -12db was the equivalent of 0 vu from my analog days. I have been told I should mix to 0 by other non-linear editors. In my mind that would make my mix hot. Any insight into this issue would be appreciated. Thanks.

Rick Davis

Zero VU and -12dB DV Standard are not the same thing--or they are only sometimes.

If you can stand the stiff download, this is a web site I created which has a musical track properly mixed and what happens to three of the four major world-standard audio meters (I don't mave a BBC PPM).

[www.kozco.com]

The idea is to put this on a timeline and watch the difference between your own Final Cut meters and what's happening to the VU or Digital Peak meters on the screen.

The music gets louder as the piece progresses, so it's most important near the end.

VU in particular doesn't respond to aggressive, percussive peaks in the sound, so the two meters will differ the most during those.

I gotta fix that download. It's a little rough because it's very important to see the motion of the meters, so I can't change or compress the framerate.

I understand this is being used in schools to illustrate the difference between the various meters.

Koz