Bars and Tone Question!!!

I recently dropped off a DVCAM tape to be transfered to DigiBeta and the guy just called and asked about my tone.

Mine is at -12db and he said DigiBeta is usually 0db and asked if I wanted to change it.

What should I do? Will this affect things later on like the sound mix or calibration for DVD lay offs?

Uh, what guy? Cause he doesn't know what he is talking about. Digital audio needs to have tone at -12db. ANALOG audio is at 0, but digital betacam doesn't have those indicators. -12db. 0db would be peaking waaaaaay bad.


www.shanerosseditor.com

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Huh? In the digital world, it *should* be at -12db, which roughly equates to 0db on analog devices. If you set the digital tone to 0db, there wouldn't be any headroom!

Marco Solorio | OneRiver Media | ORM Blog | Twitter | Facebook | Media Batch

Doh! You beat me to it, Shane!

I tend to do that.

AND I MISSED YOU AT NAB! Gads...forgot to look for your booth. WAAAY in the back


www.shanerosseditor.com

Listen to THE EDIT BAY Podcast on iTunes
[itunes.apple.com]

Heh, yeah, they stuck us somewhere between Apple, BMD, behind MOTU and 615 Music and a stick or two from the Sierras. Amazingly we got good traffic and a lot of interest. Next year should be slamming. But there's always May LAFCPUG meet! ;-)

Marco Solorio | OneRiver Media | ORM Blog | Twitter | Facebook | Media Batch

Of course for PAL the line up Tone is usually -18db on Digital...

Always check with your client/broadcaster what the tech specs are!

Ben



For instant answers to more than one hundred common FCP questions, check out the LAFCPUG FAQ Wiki here : [www.lafcpug.org]

In NTSC, DV tone is usually set at -12dB; DigiBeta is -20dB. Sounds like the guy is talking about analog Beta, 0dB tone.


www.derekmok.com

He does sound like a transplant from the analog world. Analog VU meters have "zero" two thirds of the way up from the left and tone is generally set for that. Because this type of meter is slow responding, most of the show will appear lower than that. Above zero is called "in the red" and occasional show peaks are allowed to go there.

Digital, on the other hand, has zero all the way up and is the point that the show becomes damaged. Permanently.

Also digital meters tend to be peak reading which means most of the show is above the tone. Where to put the tone varies with the type of recording. High End, Professional digital machines in the US use -20 and the ones in Europe use -18.

If you cut your show normally, most of the show should peak around -4 to -6 on the Final Cut meters when the tone is -12.

[www.kozco.com]

I'm just to popular today. These are two videos of everything running normally through a 3 minute song. Sorry for the stiff download. It shows each tape machine being adjusted properly for a correct DV timeline. Render and watch your own meters on a DV timeline. Stick with the song until the end. That's where it hits the peaks.

Koz

That's interesting - I always set up to -20 for digibeta PAL and it looks fine on the external meters here. Might go have a chat to the techs today..

I would - its more likely that Oz followed the BBC guidelines with PAL line up (seeing as the BBC engineers invented it). Pretty much all the other UK channels I've worked for use the same.

[www.bbc.co.uk]

PDF on BBC worldwide Tech specs: [www.bbc.co.uk]

Look at page 8 & 9 for audio Levels & Line up.


Ben



For instant answers to more than one hundred common FCP questions, check out the LAFCPUG FAQ Wiki here : [www.lafcpug.org]

Thanks Ben - a nice read before bedtime, those specs lol.

It's interesting that I've never been pulled up on this, and that my meters all hit zero when I'm outputting -20db. Public holiday today, so no techs for miles, but I will ask one about it when I can collar one in the hallway.

And where do I set my tone for Hi Def output?

At the moment I'm setting up with tone at -20 and peaks at about -6 or so.

What do you reckon?

Harry

> At the moment I'm setting up with tone at -20 and peaks at about -6 or so.

That sounds really hot. (And that sounded like a valley girl) A peak of -6dB would be more for a tone of -12dB.


www.derekmok.com