[This article was first published in the November, 2008, issue of
Larry's Final Cut Pro Newsletter. Click here to subscribe.]

I love audio. I love recording audio, mixing audio, and talking to engineers about audio.

But if there's one thing I've learned its that if I get five audio engineers in the same room at the same time, I'll have seven opinions on what qualifies as good audio levels.

Yet, good audio levels are essential to any video project. So, in this technique, I want to talk about two things:

* How to organize your audio
* How to set levels for your audio

ORGANIZING YOUR AUDIO

When ever you edit audio into your Timeline, you have to put it somewhere. My philosophy is that since you have to store it, why not store it in a place where you can easily find it.

Even better, why not store it in the same place for each project. That way, when you open up an old project, you don't need to wonder where everything has been put.

When I first started editing with Final Cut, I took it as a personal challenge to make sure there were NO empty holes in my audio tracks. I edited audio like it was a jigsaw puzzle. No two clips went in the same place, or even on the same track.

I was feeling pretty proud of myself until I needed to reedit a project I finished about six months earlier. It took me almost four days to figure out where I put all that audio!

Organizationally, it was a complete shambles, and it cost me days of time to figure it out well enough to fix it.

I realized then that there had to be a better way. There is -- its called checker-boarding -- and I stole it from the movies.

Here's the basic idea: Put the same audio on the same track. Though Final Cut audio is not track-based, both Soundtrack Pro and ProTools are. This means that if you ever plan to send your audio out for professional mixing, they will first take the time to checker-board your audio -- which costs you both money and time.

Plus, when you decide to start mixing your own projects, getting into the habit of checker-boarding will save you time as well.

So, here are the rules I follow as to what audio goes on which track. Feel free to borrow this for your own projects:

Audio Tracks
1 and 2 -- Sync sound -- what news calls Sound-on-Tape (SOT)
Your main speaker, the audio from the image on V1

3 and 4 -- Natural sound -- what news calls Natural-Sound-on-Tape (NATSOT) The sync audio from B-roll on V2

5 -- Narration. One voice needs only one mike, which needs
only one track.

6, 7, 8 -- Sound effects. SFX that you buy are mono. SFX that you
shoot yourself are stereo. Assigning three tracks means
that you have room for all of these.

9 and 10 -- Music cue 1

11 and 12 -- Music cue 2. Putting music cues on separate tracks allows you to slowly fade out one piece of music, while rapidly
fading in a new piece of music.

I always follow this track allocation during editing. If, for instance, I don't have a narrator, then I just pull up the lower tracks. However, I make a point to never combine different audio on the same track. Sound effects are never placed on the same track as sync sound.

AUDIO LEVELS

Here's the most important rule: Your audio levels must NEVER go over 0 dB. Not once. Not ever. The red clip lights must remain dark for your entire project.

There are only three technical offenses that will get an editor fired:

1. Audio levels that go over 0 dB.
2. White levels that exceed 100%.
3. Chroma levels that over-saturate.

Of these, the easiest to prevent is maintaining control over your audio levels. (Keep in mind that no one, really, cares how soft your audio goes -- that is an aesthetic decision you get to make. People only get bent out of shape when it gets too loud.)

However, audio sounds better when it is loud than when it is soft. So our goal is to get as close to 0 dB as we can, without going over.

Note: Here's another little-known audio factoid -- audio levels are logarithmic. Every time your gain increases by 6 dB, your volume doubles. This means that when your levels are hovering around -6 dB, you have as much audio gain between -6 and 0 as you do between -6 and -96. -6 dB is the 50% point for your audio levels!

So, here are levels that I recommend for all general mixing -- creating audio for DVDs, the Internet, broadcast, weddings -- anywhere that there is not a specific technical specification that you need to meet.

Audio level we must not exceed: 0 dB

Total audio mix level: -3 dB to -6 dB

Principle speaker (SOT) audio: -6 dB to -12 dB

Sound effects audio: -12 dB to -18 dB

Music when its an underscore: -18 dB

Use these levels as a guide to get your audio levels close. Then, use your good speakers, your good ears, and your good common sense to make your audio sound perfect.

Remember, the only level that counts is the level of the total mix.

Note: Don't confuse reference tones with audio levels. Reference tones are used to make sure audio levels match between various pieces of gear. They do NOT determine the maximum point of your audio levels.

Larry Jordan is a post-production consultant and an Apple-Certified Trainer in Digital Media with over 25 years experience as producer, director and editor with network, local and corporate credits. Based in Los Angeles, he's a member of both the Directors Guild of America and the Producers Guild of America.

The information in this article is believed to be accurate at the time of publication. However, the author assumes no liability in case things go wrong. Please use your best judgment in applying these suggestions.

The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author. This newsletter has not been reviewed or sanctioned by Apple or any other third party. All trademarks are the property of their respective owners and are mentioned here for editorial purposes only.

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