Master entire project audio at once

[skyoptional]

I have over a hundred audio clips in my project, and I want them all to be the perfect volume, isnt there some kind of tool for that?  And they should be like -1, right before the red bars am I right?  

Thank you!

[Byron Cortez · Accepted solution]

You could try the following:

- Open the Audio Track Mixer from the Window menu
- Unfold the little arrow to be able to insert the effects.
- Apply a Tube-modeled Compressor
- With double click on the name of the applied effect you open it and in the Track Fx Editor window you apply a Pancake Batter effect to it.
- Play around with the settings especially with the Ratio.

- Perform this procedure on each audio Track that you need.

Regarding the levels there are some references such as that the voices can be more or less between -12 dB, the sound effects between -10 dB and -30 dB, the musical tracks could be between -20 dB and -30 dB. These values are not set in stone so it is your ear that should really define the best volume level for your audio clips.

I hope this helps.

(screenshots Audio Track Mixer)

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[skyoptional]

Thank you for your help!   The video with the problem audio is here if you wanna check it out.  https://youtu.be/pt1Br8Sp-PI 

Can I do something like nest the entire audio and apply one compressor,  or reimport a lossless render and do it that way?  I checked out the pancake batter approach-  probably the best but above my pay grade!

[JOHN MONDO · Accepted solution]

I kinda have a different perspective. Balancing audio and sweetening audio is what editing is all about. Alternatively, you can pay an audio engineer to mix your audio, but I consider it an essential editing skill. I normally have my essential sound window open next to my audio meters and adjust audio as I go. I have saved an essential sound base preset which works for most dialogue clips, with some medium compression and eq on it. I adjust volume there and use the repair option to clean up anything as much as I can. I also have Lumetri on the same tab so I can quickly adjust and correct any colour or luminance problems.

I'd start by establishing that base preset -

Clarity - Dynamics set to 3

Clarity - EQ - Vocal presence set to 5

Clarity - Enhance speech - Low tone

There are other methods you can use like limiters, mastering and there is a Loudness tab in Essential sound that has an Auto match setting, but I don't trust any of these over my own ears.

[skyoptional]

I'm experimenting with the seesential sound tab now, but the video volume is offensivly loud to me, and when I adjust the volume down using this feature, it is still loud but the decibal meter says its at -18 decibals.  I don't know how to measure the loudness or how loud the audio should be, so I'm just comparing it to youtube videos and trying to get it to sound right.  

Also I have envelopes on many clips and when I hit "match levels" all the audio becomes extremly quiet..  

[JOHN MONDO · Accepted solution]

I'm not sure what you mean by "offensively loud". Loudness is more about the volume of your speakers. For social I generally try and mix as loud as I can without introducing distortion (meters peaking into the red). For a drama, you would expect much more dynamic range - so you mix dialogue at a lower level than say a fight sequence or a car crash or loud music. For a TV commercial I would use something like loudness radar (Audition) and mix to whatever the regs are for the platform (say - 18dB average), otherwise it will get rejected.

Bottom line - use your meters and your ears, but don't be fooled by volume.

[skyoptional]

I feel like i should be paying for this prompt and professional consultation, but instead, perhaps I can ask one more favor of you;  could you  tell me if that first sequence is way too loud?  Thank you! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pt1Br8Sp-PI&t=164s 

[unmesh.pansare]

I found this youtube video very helpful- it neatly explains how to balance audio levels using Tube modeled compressor

https://youtu.be/yye3Q6IDXJ4?si=tCYIHSboPEIT9Z9E