Setting Volume Levels?

[Ambrosia7177]

Getting ready for bed, but wanted to ask this...

What is the correct way to go about setting volume levels on a video so the user has a good experience?

Presumably you would start off by setting your speaker volume to the middle setting, right?

Then from there, I guess you can adjust the levels in iMovie so things sound like they are at a proper volume level?


Side note:
This is a topic that I need to learn in Audacity, and if I understood it better there, I would probably know what to do here?!

I think the way sound engineer tackle this is to look at the dB level and adjust accordingly, because presumably most humans perceive loudness at similar levels - assuming you are hard-of-hearing.

But that is really what I'm confused about...

How can I set the volume on *my* Mac and ensure that on everyone else's computers/devices that things sound acceptable?

Nothing is more frustrating that having your ears blown out or having to fiddle to increase the volume on a video!

Thanks.

 

[sahnert]

In iMovie and audio apps the term for what you are looking for is “Normalize”.

Assuming you have a good recording to start with, there are many different audio processing tools to get audio sounding the way you want (compressors, limiters, gain, eq, etc.) but at the end of the day what you want is for the loudest parts of your audio to be at or near unity gain (0 dB on a level meter in audacity for example.) This is what the Normalize function will do. Can be found in the audio tab of iMovie settings or can be done manually by adjusting the gain/level of the audio in the timeline.

 

[Ambrosia7177]

In iMovie and audio apps the term for what you are looking for is “Normalize”.

Assuming you have a good recording to start with, there are many different audio processing tools to get audio sounding the way you want (compressors, limiters, gain, eq, etc.) but at the end of the day what you want is for the loudest parts of your audio to be at or near unity gain (0 dB on a level meter in audacity for example.) This is what the Normalize function will do. Can be found in the audio tab of iMovie settings or can be done manually by adjusting the gain/level of the audio in the timeline.

Okay that sorta helps, but not entirely.

You could have a video that is "normalized" but the audio is too high or low, right?

I thought normalization just made sure that the volume was consistent.

What I am asking about more is how do I make sure that what I heear is what you here?

For instance, if I had my volume level too low on my Mac, to get things to sound good to me might mean I am blow your ears out when you listen to things, right?

Or if my volume level is too high, then what sounds good to me might be too faint to you.

As mentioned in my OP, presumably if I have my Mac's volume set of 5 (on a scale of 1 to 10) then I should avoid that issue, right?

 

[sahnert]

What I am asking about more is how do I make sure that what I heear is what you here?

Everyone perceives loudness differently. What sounds good to you with your Mac set to 5 might sound too loud or too soft to someone else sitting in the same place. They might need to turn the volume up or down for the audio to sound “the same” as it does to you.

Add to that the nearly endless variety of paths that the audio will take before it gets to a listener’s ear (wired or Bluetooth headphones, device speakers, external amp, hifi speakers, etc., user EQ, volume settings...). A result of all this variety is that you cant count on what you are hearing being the same as what someone else hears.

The best you can do is pass the strongest audio signal you can without clipping/distorting. (This is a simplification, because Compressors, EQ, etc. can all effect perceived loudness.)

So:
set your Mac volume at comfortable level (play a reference video or audio file that sounds similar to what you are going for and turn your volume up or down to be comfortable working) then use the tools in iMovie to get your audio sounding good to you.

First set the overall volume of a clip, then add any enhancements that you like (EQ, noise reduction etc)

Here is an overview of the iMovie tools for adjusting volume:

https://help.apple.com/imovie/mac/10.1/index.html?localePath=en.lproj#/mov3b5ded23e

Elsewhere in the same document are instructions for using EQ and other enhancements.

Hope this is helpful.

 

[Ambrosia7177]

@sahnert,

Awesome response! 👍

I think getting a Ph.D. would be easier than mastering audio and video?!

Every YouTube video I watch opens up news topics and questions nd it is so overwhelming.

I'm not sure how to finish my first video or even what it should look like...