Create Dialogue Bus

Step 1: Normalize Clips (Quick Leveling)

Before touching the mixer, you want to bring all your clips into the same “ballpark.”

• Go to the Edit or Fairlight page.
• Select all clips on all 6 tracks.
• Right-click and select Normalize Audio Levels.
• Set Mode to “True Peak” and Target Level to -3 dB.

This ensures no clip is peaking, but brings the quiet ones up to a usable starting point.

Step 2: Use the “Dynamics” Compressor (Consistency within Tracks)

To fix volume changes within a single track (e.g., someone leaning away from the mic), you need a Compressor.

• Open the Fairlight Mixer.
• Double-click the Dynamics slot for Track 1.
• Turn on the Compressor section.
• Set the Ratio to 3:1.
• Lower the Threshold until you see the “Gain Reduction” meter moving 3–6 dB when the person speaks.

This “squashes” the loud parts so you can turn the whole track up without clipping.

Step 3: Normalize the Mix to -14 LUFS

Instead of guessing with the faders, use Resolve's built-in Loudness Normalization tool at the very end.

• Switch to the Deliver page (the rocket ship).
• Go to the Audio tab in the Render Settings.
• Look for Loudness Normalization.
• Change the Standard to YouTube (or ITU-R BS.1770-4).
• Set the Target Loudness to -14 LUFS.

When you render, Resolve will automatically analyze the entire timeline and adjust the final master volume so that the average (Integrated) loudness hits exactly -14 LUFS.

Step 4: The “Pro” Shortcut (Vocal Leveler)

If you are on Resolve Studio, there is a specialized “Magic” effect:

In Fairlight, open the Effects Library. Search for Vocal Leveler. Drag this onto your Dialogue tracks (or a Dialogue Bus). This plugin uses AI to automatically adjust the gain in real-time to keep voices at a consistent level. It’s significantly faster than manual compression.

Summary Checklist:

• Clip Normalization: Gets them in the ballpark.
• Compression: Smooths out the “hills and valleys” within the track.
• Loudness Normalization (on Export): Hits the -14 LUFS target perfectly.

Would you like me to show you how to set up an Audio Bus so you can apply one single Compressor to all 6 tracks at once?

—

On each speaker track add Fairlight Compressor:

Suggested starting point (speech-safe):

• Threshold: -24 dB
• Ratio: 2.5:1
• Attack: 10 ms
• Release: 120 ms
• Knee: Soft (0)?
• Makeup Gain: OFF
• Auto Gain: OFF

On Each track AI Dialog Leveler

On the DIALOGUE bus, add FX in this order:

A) Compressor (glue compression)

• Threshold: -18 dB
• Ratio: 2:1
• Attack: 30 ms
• Release: 200 ms
• Gain reduction: aim for 1–3 dB on peaks

This evens speakers relative to each other.

B) Loudness Meter (essential)

• Target Integrated: -16 LUFS
• Target True Peak: -1.5 dB

Leave this open.

C) Limiter (last!)

• Ceiling: -1.5 dB (-2.5?)
• Gain: 0
• Lookahead: 1 ms

Add limiter to main buss to match, just to be sure.

• For all mp3, before doing the below in audacity
  • High pass filter 80hz
  • Low pass filter 1000hz
  • Noise reduction 34, 6, 8
• For mine and Dave's microphone audio tracks
  • Level speech 80
• For mine and Dave's group audio tracks
  • Level speech 95
• Noise reduction again 34, 6, 8 (may not be need, check before running)
• Export o flac vile with NR name suffix.

== Alternative

• De-Click Only when It's an issue.
• High pass filter 80hz
• Low pass filter 1000hz
• Normalize to -3db
• Noise Reduction

• Export video and audio separately from fbr files, from me and Dave.

==== Audio Edit Gain values for about - 10db level

• Dave -4db
• Tim -6db
• Howard -12db
• Pete B -12fb
• Pete N ?
• James F ?

Subtitle export params

• Pete N
  • Max line length 55 (9)
• Pete B
  • Max line length 58 (6)
• Tim
  • Max line length 56 (8)
• Howard
  • Max line length 55 (9)
• James
  • Max line length 54 (10)
• Dave
  • Max line length 60 (4)

• Max line length 50
• Max words 11
• No sentence break
• Process subtitles in video source
• Export subtitles to srt file
• Make sur subtitles file is in the subtitles sub directory
• Run the script C:\UT\PS1\video\srt2wiki4.ps1 to create the wiki text files to paste to dokuwiki.

© Copyright - 2025 - Tim Evans