Does anyone mix audio for TV?

[nickfever]

I have an opportunity to mix a television show that would be aired on national TV.I have never done this before, and I would like to try for the opportunity. It is a show that will be broadcast nationally.I haven't received a spec sheet from hem yet, which I know I need, but I don't know what all that entails. (I believe test tones are one of the specs that a spec sheet entails).I'm not even sure what the process is from receiving the audio from them to how i would return it to them. Is there a way it is typically done?I am not even sure what other questions to ask here, but hopefully this will get the ball rolling.FYI - I run DP 5.13 on a mac pro.Thanks,Nick

[mazz]

Nick,I've never done this before either but I do know that there are certain level specs that must be met but in the era of "digital but still analog" TV I don't know what those specs would be. The main thing is that broadcast isn't mixed like records, you're never supposed to go in to distortion (analog), I don't know what the maximum levels for digital are. Test tones are easy, you can probably download those.Try to find the maximum level specs online, I think that's the main thing you need to know. There's other folks here that might have more experience with this, Aub and Stick come to mind. Maybe send them a PM in case they miss this post, I know they're both pretty busy right now.You can mix it on anything, DP is fine. For delivery they might want surround "stems" which I believe have a labeling format that you should follow, i.e. Lt, Rt, C, LFE, Ls, Rs, or something similar. Those would be mono tracks. The other thing they might want if they want a surround mix is a stereo "downmix" which I think you can do in DP as well, I've never done surround but I know some of the terms . Of course, to do a surround mix, you need a surround monitoring system. DP has a surround master and a surround panner in it but I've never called them up but the manual has all the info you need.Also remember that broadcast uses 48K sampling rate so either work at that rate or you'll have to do a conversion before you send it, other wise the pitch will be off and it will sound funny (probably faster if you accidentally send them 44.1).That's all the info I've got for now. I gleaned that from reading every article in Mix and other magazines every month religiously, whether it pertained to me or not. I'm just fanatical that way.Good luck!!MazzGood luck, you can do it, just find out the parameters.

[aubreyz]

Nick,There are some basic rules of thumb for mixing to TV, but networks have slightly different standards. Ask and they will provide you specs.The main thing to remember is that there is a different VU scale for broadcast. Standard mixing (all the way up to 0 on the digital scale) means that -10 on the digital scale is actually your unity 0dBu. For broadcast in the US, 0 dBu is -20 on the digital scale, in the UK it's -18.So your unity level is -20. Depending on the network specs, peak level will be around -8 and average dialog level around -17.You will need a good rms and peak meter (I use massey's free meter but it's Pro Tools OSX Only)I also mix with unity gain = 83db spl on my studio monitors when mixing for TV.One thing you get to play with in mixing this way is... gasp... DYNAMIC RANGE! For music, it's all about pegging the meters without really pegging them. For TV it's about average levels, not pegging everything.HTH,Aub

[mojobone]

Roger Nichols Digital's free version of Inspector (VST) is a great tool."That's all the info I've got for now. I gleaned that from reading every article in Mix and other magazines every month religiously, whether it pertained to me or not. I'm just fanatical that way."EM and Recording among others, in my case. It helps to be a little obsessed. Sound On Sound's my current fave. Great posts, Aub and mazz.

[soundsgreat]

Hey Nick,TV audio really is a specialised field ( my wife is a TV audio director, mainly live broadcast )In a nutshell, once the programme has been commissioned, either through a network, or from private sources, the producer will engage a sound designer to take care of the audio.His role is to give finished audio product to the vision when the final cut is made.So, his role from day one, even before the shooting starts, is to go through the script, talk about tone, texture, special audio effects, central and incidental music scores etc and provide the equipment and presonell to make it all happen.Last on the list is obviously the audio mixdown. He may choose to do it himself, or alternatively, as in this case, outsource it to a production house or other person.Most TV audio mixdowns require an edit suite, which is set up primarily for this purpose. It's one hell of a job, mixing to vision, as it requires that perfect balance of dialogue, atmosphere (atmos, or "background noise" ), foleys, effects, and suitalbe music score at the right points.It can be done on a limited budget, but it is very difficult to get a professional pruduct without the gear, and previous experience. The MAIN point would be to make sure you have active and strong communication with the director, to see what he's looking for and the mood which he wishes to create, and then see how it goes from there.On a technicaL note, the tone you are referring to is "1k TONE" used for calibrating audio equipment, and checking feeds. Also, unless it's a high end programme, such as CSI, the majority of television is mixed in stereo, with a 5.1 emulator being added at the time of broadcast by master control.Hope this helps, and most of all..... good luck !cheers, niteshift

[wodinlord]

Aug 19, 2008, 8:49pm, nickfever wrote:I have an opportunity to mix a television show that would be aired on national TV.I have never done this before, and I would like to try for the opportunity. It is a show that will be broadcast nationally.I haven't received a spec sheet from hem yet, which I know I need, but I don't know what all that entails. (I believe test tones are one of the specs that a spec sheet entails).I'm not even sure what the process is from receiving the audio from them to how i would return it to them. Is there a way it is typically done?I am not even sure what other questions to ask here, but hopefully this will get the ball rolling.FYI - I run DP 5.13 on a mac pro.Thanks,NickI do this everyday. The other responders have given very good advice. What type of TV show is this? Drama, Comedy, Documentary, gameshow, etc...? Are you adding any foley yourself? What format will you deliver the mix in? Stereo or 5.1? Will the mix be returned on digibeta tape or...? What audio are you getting - full separate tracks, submixed stems i.e. foley, music, dialogue stems? Is it coming to you as one large chunk or in segments (between commercial breaks) or in reels? (11 or 22 min as in film) How are you mixing to pic? Quicktime? Let me know these and maybe I can give you a tip or 2 to watch for. Congrats and good luck.Wodinlord

[twilsbach]

As woodinlord mentioned, too many variables to really give you much guidance.I'm mainly on the other side of this equation though, I'd be the video editor who prepares and sends you the files you'd need. (usually OMFs), and the person laying back the mixed audio and ultimately mastering the whole thing to tape. If you have specific questions from that side of things, feel free to ask.

[nickfever]

Aug 20, 2008, 5:40am, wodinlord wrote:Aug 19, 2008, 8:49pm, nickfever wrote:I have an opportunity to mix a television show that would be aired on national TV.I have never done this before, and I would like to try for the opportunity. It is a show that will be broadcast nationally.I haven't received a spec sheet from hem yet, which I know I need, but I don't know what all that entails. (I believe test tones are one of the specs that a spec sheet entails).I'm not even sure what the process is from receiving the audio from them to how i would return it to them. Is there a way it is typically done?I am not even sure what other questions to ask here, but hopefully this will get the ball rolling.FYI - I run DP 5.13 on a mac pro.Thanks,NickI do this everyday. The other responders have given very good advice. What type of TV show is this? Drama, Comedy, Documentary, gameshow, etc...? Are you adding any foley yourself? What format will you deliver the mix in? Stereo or 5.1? Will the mix be returned on digibeta tape or...? What audio are you getting - full separate tracks, submixed stems i.e. foley, music, dialogue stems? Is it coming to you as one large chunk or in segments (between commercial breaks) or in reels? (11 or 22 min as in film) How are you mixing to pic? Quicktime? Let me know these and maybe I can give you a tip or 2 to watch for. Congrats and good luck.WodinlordIt is documentaty/interview TV show. They gave me an OMF file (with no video) from last season that has test tones, volume and pan automation, but did not specify whether it was before or after they sent it to be mixed. They haven't given me any more info. I am going there today to see i I can get some more info in person.Thank you everyone thus far for your great input! Hopefully I will have more info later today.Nick

[nickfever]

Ok, I have some more info. It will be 8 tracks of audio in an OMF file that I have to mix down to a stereo file.and I have much more time than I thought to practice mixing some files from last season that they gave me.Is "dipping" for the narration synonymous with ducking, or is it riding the volume fader down to make any narration stand out? ... or something entirely different altogether?Also, as I understand the definition of unity gain, - it is is the approximately RMS of the track?? For instance, if the narration track is supposed to be at -17dB, then I want the RMS value to be approximately the same. Correct?It seems fairly simple (Hopefully I wont be taking my foot out of my mouth later)Thanks again everyone for your help,Nick

[mojobone]

Aug 22, 2008, 3:50pm, nickfever wrote:Is "dipping" for the narration synonymous with ducking, or is it riding the volume fader down to make any narration stand out? ... or something entirely different altogether?Ducking would be using the signal from the narration track to trigger (or key) a compressor or limiter to reduce the level of the backing track or tracks when the narrator is speaking; this is the most common application for ducking, and you can also do it with automated faders, which is more flexible, but depending on your software, can be more difficult to set up.Dipping is a similar but more subtle process that uses a keyed dynamic EQ to reduce the midrange frequencies (where the voiceover lives) leaving the highs and lows in the background tracks untouched.I'll leave your second question to the real experts. [munches popcorn]