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Hey guys :)
I'm very new to the mixing world, I've got my basics down with Pro Tools so I do know how it works...
I was wondering if you guys could give me tips on mixing for TV.
I need to know the basics like, what levels should my dialogue and music not peak over? Should I use an overall compressor and limiter on my auxiliary tracks? Do I need to set a reference tone to calibrate my project and how would I do this?
I'm using Pro Tools 8 HD :)
Thanks, any help would be greatly appreciated...
The basics are thus:
"What are the specifications of the broadcaster you're delivering to?"
You're asking us to distill a very complex process down into a "paint by numbers" process. If it were that easy, there'd be a manual that anyone could follow. I'm not trying to be mean by saying this, only trying to give you an idea of the scope of the question you're asking.
Most broadcasters currently adhere to either ATSC-RP A/85 (-24 LKFS, +/-2, with no True Peaks over -2 LKFS) or EBU-R128 (-23 LUFS, +/-1, with no True Peaks over -1 LUFS). LKFS and LUFS are pretty much the same thing, by the way, but True Peaks are not the same thing as digital peaks. Older broadcast models required a dialog level of -27 LEQA.
Depending on the broadcaster, there may or may not be a hard limit of -10dB (digital peak). I believe the BBC still uses PPM as their standard.
Is that confusing to you? If so, then I've just given you a few things that you can research. Broadcast "standards" are standard only to the broadcaster that requires them. Without additional information, it's impossible to tell you what your targets are. How you get to those targets is dictated by the content you're mixing, the type of program it is, the producer/director's desires and CRAFT!
Do yourself a favor. Use Google to look up your basic questions (i.e. reference tones). Put some effort into finding the answers yourself. Then come back here and ask specific questions regarding facets of what you're trying to do. The amount of time it took me to type this response isn't even a fraction of a percent of the time it would take to adequately answer the current question you've asked. Again, I'm not trying to be mean here. Blunt, maybe...but not mean.
