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Post by Haley on May 18, 2017 20:08:19 GMT -8
Definitely more of a tech question, but hoping someone can give me some info!
I've just recently started a contract for a video game that gave me specific instructions to keep my recording RMS to between two dB levels (between -15dB and -18dB). I'll be completely honest and say that I have no clue how to normalize my audio to maintain this average, so if anyone could explain how to do so in Audacity I'd be incredibly grateful!
Cheers!
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Post by benedict on May 18, 2017 23:33:48 GMT -8
There's an Audacity filter for RMS normalization, but it doesn't come with the stock installation: forum.audacityteam.org/viewtopic.php?f=42&t=89293Unfortunately that's about as far as my knowledge extends. I just installed it a couple of minutes ago after reading your question, and haven't had a chance to play with it. |
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Post by benedict on May 19, 2017 18:53:56 GMT -8
Yeah... Now that I've played with it some, I really hope someone who knows more about post processing (Duffy!) can chime in on this thread.
As far as using it goes, the RMS Normalize effect works a lot like the Normalize effect: Type in the dB value you want to normalize to, click go, and let it do its thing.
The problem I'm having is that when I try to RMS normalize a vocal track to the numbers you mentioned, -15dB to -18dB, I get massive clipping throughout the track. The peaks are just too hot compared to the RMS level. Compression helped some, but it took a couple of passes of each before I got rid of the clipping altogether. Applying effects iteratively this way feels really wrong, and I wasn't all that happy with the resulting audio.
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Post by Haley on May 21, 2017 17:22:08 GMT -8
Cheers for the link, benedict! I looked everywhere in Audacity for something to modify RMS and just figured I was missing it. I definitely agree with you, though, and had the same experience. I've never actually been given such an instruction on a contract before. I'm cool with controlling peaks, maintaining volume, and various other things that get brought up from every producer/company, but RMS normalization has been a new one. Not sure how big of a deal it would be to anyone, but I will confirm with contractor to ensure everything is OK.
If anyone does have additional info on this, would be mega cool though!
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Post by Rebekah Amber Clark on May 21, 2017 17:56:38 GMT -8
I don't want to be That Gal, but were you aware of the requirement before signing the contract? If so, you're in a bit more of a pickle since basically you've promised to deliver... On the other hand, if by any chance this was brought up *after* the contract, I wouldn't hesitate at all to bring up your concerns directly, and maybe ask them if a) they can talk you through it, b) they have someone on staff who can adjust the audio to their specs themselves, or c) if they don't mind that much if it's not exactly -15 to -18 db. =)
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Post by benedict on May 21, 2017 19:51:28 GMT -8
This is for a video game?
Try applying the filter on each line spoken rather than on an entire track.
I found that the filter is very sensitive to how much of the track is quiet. After playing around with the filter for a bit and thinking about the math, it makes sense. RMS is root mean square. If half your track is down at the noise floor, the RMS measurement will be low, but your peaks will remain the same. Only sample the parts where you're speaking, and the RMS measurement will be more representative.
This is also why I'm guessing the forums I was looking for answers on, primarily music forums, didn't run into the clipping issue. Songs tend not to have quiet bits in them that would throw off the RMS measurement.
But by all means check first, as Razzle said.
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Post by Haley on Jun 15, 2017 16:57:34 GMT -8
I don't want to be That Gal, but were you aware of the requirement before signing the contract? If so, you're in a bit more of a pickle since basically you've promised to deliver... On the other hand, if by any chance this was brought up *after* the contract, I wouldn't hesitate at all to bring up your concerns directly, and maybe ask them if a) they can talk you through it, b) they have someone on staff who can adjust the audio to their specs themselves, or c) if they don't mind that much if it's not exactly -15 to -18 db. =) No, it wasn't mentioned prior to anything at all, actually.  I would definitely have inquired as to what they meant if it had been mentioned prior! They have stated it is "optional", though, and I do figure that since they are a professional game studio they will have someone on staff who can adjust the audio files as needed... benedict, I appreciate your input but I think this is a bit beyond me! haha! I will let their audio staff figure it out.  Cheers for fiddling around with it all though, good info to have going forward in case I run into it again! |
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Post by Lady Stardust ★ on Jun 19, 2017 3:00:05 GMT -8
I've actually never even heard of RMS before! I feel it's fairly common to be asked to normalize the overall audio to say, -3 dB, but this is a new one. I'm going to look it up now...
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I would definitely have inquired as to what they meant if it had been mentioned prior! They have stated it is "optional", though, and I do figure that since they are a professional game studio they will have someone on staff who can adjust the audio files as needed...
Cheers for fiddling around with it all though, good info to have going forward in case I run into it again!
