Monitoring audio at -10db on FCP 5.1.4

I work in the UK on FCP. The audio meters are perhaps more conventional with -6 db. -18db etc...I have to traffick content at -10db and I don't have PPMs (fine for -6db) so I rely on FCP's audio meters which do not have -10db settings on the meters so I guess. This works most of the time but I have been flagged for supplying audio that falls .5db od -10. Is there a way round this? Cheers Phil UK.

Phil,

This is another shortcoming of FCP...the audio meters totally $uck. I use an archaic workaround but it works...use the Audio Mixer meter (which is larger than that useless little side meter). Open the window & put it in a place on your screen where you will not have to move it. Look at the Master Levels. At the bottom, type in -10 db then put a small piece of scotch tape fashioned into an arrow at the slider's red line level there on the monitor. Set it back to 0 db. Now you have a marker (the tape) for reference @ -10db....just don't move the Audio Meter window.

When life gives you dilemmas...make dilemmanade.

Cheers Joe...Yes the FCP audio meters do s*** and that is a fact. I had thought of the tape marker but I use those soft Sony plasma screens and am wary of putting tape on them. Usually my soundbeds come from a videosonics house but these ones came from the famous Abbey Road and are incorrect.

That's why I mentioned "scotch tape". It's thin clear plastic tape usually used for light paper taping that won't ruin the monitor. Just don't press hard on it (tap it on) and remove it ASAP.

When life gives you dilemmas...make dilemmanade.

I really like this program for audio monitoring:

[www.audiofile-engineering.com]


It has a customizable interface that shows you audio energy any way you like to see it. It has meters, waveform, scope, lisajou, spectrum. You can set it up any way you like.

I run it on a laptop next to the edit system feeding it from the analog outs from my capture card.

-Vance

Ooh that's cute. Love the BBC meter!

That is cool and looks worth the $50 and has a PPM. Thanks.

that is a most excellent find.
Have you figured out a way of using it on the same machine as FCP yet?

Trevor-

I have not tried running it on the edit machine. Two reasons, first is screen real estate. I have a bunch of meters that I keep open at once. I really like the level history graph, a couple of vintage VU's, lissajou, spectrograph, correlation, digital levels and waveform. That pretty much fills the laptop screen.

All that takes a bit of processor power. My PowerBook G4 runs with the processor pretty much loaded down. I would be concerned about dropping frames, even on a more powerful system.

-V

Usually I do a rough mix of the levels in Final Cut then I export the dialogue and music tracks separately into Soundtrack Pro to adjust overall levels and compress. Then i export them out as a 2 track master and separate audio/dialogue tracks for the various channels on the digital beta as according to specs. That's my workaround.