mastering for DVD, HD-TV, and Film

[knerd]

Ok, so a buddy of mine has been getting more and more jobs scoring for indie films etc etc... He comes to me for mixing, mastering, and for tracking live instruments if he needs to...

ANYWAYS, the business is starting to boom and get serious [HBO series!! ] .. So, Instead of guessing, I was wondering if you slutz could shoot some #'s at me..

for example: when I master audio that's going to Beta-SP, I know that I need to have L2 set so it can't go over -6dB... when I see those ads on TV, they sound loud and clear.


So, when I master something for film, do I bring it all the way to 0? or -6? or what?

What about something that might be on DVD? does that go to 0 or -0.02 or something else?


I know when something is gonna be broadcasted on radio or TV, they like the audio to be at 16bit, 48k... what about DVD or HD-TV?



thanks!
-Rob

[MAProTulz]

Each network has it's own standards. If you're only doing music (I say only just to infer that once you're done with the music, you hand it off to a post mixer who's mixing the entire show - Mx, Dx, Fx, etc) then do what you need to do to make it sound the way you want. The mixer will adjust balances to his or her needs anyway. If you're handling the final mix of something, a good rule of thumb is no peaks above -12. Your 0VU = -20dBFS. Try to get the mix there without leaning too hard on limiters and it'll sound natural.