Quote:
Originally Posted by Jesse Peterson  DVD
Here, same rules apply as with the theatrical mix, except that the room is calibrated lower (see the DUC sticky)
Just one question on this.. I've read that DUC sticky a few times and don't see a definitive answer. Is there an actual lower ref level when mixing a movie for dvd, or is the lower level mentioned due to smaller rooms? Other than cleaning up some of the HF junk that the curve/screen hides, Are there significant level changes to the same film when it goes to dvd? I've always wanted to know this.
J |
Here's a thread where Tomlinson Holman himself explains this:
Mixing levels for Dolby Digital: DVD vs. theatrical - The Digital Video Information Network
So, yes - it is only because of the room size/monitoring. Theatrical printmaster can thus be printed directly to DVD(*), dialnorm would be set to -27, so the player itself would trim the playback by 4dB - that is how your 85dB calibrated room playback becomes 81dB. When I mix for DVD, my room is, in fact, calibrated to 85dB - I set my limiter to -4dBFS, and mix by ear, so my dialog ends up about -31dBFS, instead of -27dBFS. Then, when exporting, I add 4dB gain after the limiter, so the dialog ends up at -27dBFS, while the peaks end up just below 0dBFS. I would get the same if I calibrated my room to 81dB, but then I couldn't watch DVDs - the player would duck 4dB further, so I'd be listening at 77dB.
But 81dB is not a good volume for every room, so the best way to calibrate the room (IMHO), is to play many reference DVDs (movies), and try to set a common listening level that will suit them all. Then you can check what level is that to know where you're at (I ended up at 79dB, because I'm in a very small room), and to be able to maintain that calibration.
(*) The re-mixing of theatrical releases for DVD does not happen because of different reference, or DVDs dynamic range - it happens because of:
1) the x-curve, as you suggested;
2) because of different target listening environment - home is not as quiet as the theater, sound is often reproduced from poor speakers, so this re-mix serves mostly for the quieter parts to be raised a bit;
3) the specifics of near-field listening - some errors in details and imaging can get revealed. Also, loud parts can get too loud when listening close.
That said, I will update the DVD section a bit, so that it states the differences in room and monitoring, not just calibration.