Video editing question (Beta SP/Digibeta)

Hi, I'm making an uncompressed SD quicktime file including clock, bars etc, which I'm going to take to a facilities house in Soho to layoff to Betacam SP tape. (Also to Digibeta later on) Both NTSC and PAL.

I know to make the tone -18dB, but in the main programme, what should I make my loudest peak? I've heard various things, 'below 0dB' or 'about -9dB' or 'about -6dB'... I do know that a previous tape I had made had its loudest peak as about -9dB, and in the festival it was in, it was REALLY quiet. It's not for broadcast, only for festivals. Will I be safe as long as it's under 0dB?

Thanks for any advice.

I've forgotten a lot of this stuff, but I believe peaking at 8 (analog), -10 (digital). Tone at 0 (analog), -18 (digital).

You could try hitting 0 (digital) for festivals, and if it sounds ok then don't worry too much about it. I would say its worth being louder than quieter.

Makes my head hurt! So in the Final Cut Pro timeline, I make the main prog audio loudest peak go to +8dB?

I read on another forum that the -10dB peak level for digital was more just a standards thing, and it's okay to go up to 0dB. I feel like I might go for that when I do the Digi, but for now I'm just doing the SP.

Thanks! If anyone else has some specific advice, bring it on...

I usually normalise to around -6db, but maybe that's just me. You might be safe going to 0db depending on the application, but the higher you go, the bigger the risk of distortion. Definitely wouldn't go higher than 0db.

GfK, are you referring to Digibeta or Betacam SP?

Neither, just generalising. :)

I tried outputting a .mov from FCP with peaks at +8dB, and it sounded pretty bad in Quicktime. I'm a bit lost now...

But that is too high for digital. (computer=digital)

Yeah, I wondered about that :) so am I correct in thinking that in order to get peaks of 8dB on analogue, it's about adjusting the input levels on the deck? In which case, if I want to take a Quicktime file to the facilities house to put onto SP, what should I make the levels in my FCP timeline?

As you say, it is about adjusting the input levels on the deck. You may as well leave your levels as they were recorded (or at least mostly).

But the point is, I'm not just giving the facilities house the main programme. I'm making a Quicktime movie including colour bars and tone, black, card, countdown etc. So as I'm making the reference tone, surely I need to make the peaks right relative to the tone?

Ah, yes I see. Yes, you are right. Just keep within the params (mentioned above) for digital and it should be fine.

So, tone -18, peaking -10? I just wonder if that'll mean it plays too quiet in festivals? I had a Digi done to roughly that before, and it was so quiet compared to all the other films...

Something that just occured to me is this: your maximum peak can hit 0 (digital) sometimes, but your regular peaks should round off at about -10 (digital). So, things like normal talking voices should hit -10 (digital) but explosions, car alarms, and sometimes music can hit 0 (digital). Hope this helps.

Ah, that helps a lot. Thanks. I'm beginning to get my head round this...!