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Old 06-24-2017, 07:19 AM   #1
El Buey
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Default Consolidate/Export sets all track db's to 0?

I guess I'm an idiot...just want to send consolidated tracks to a mixing guy who wants levels around -6 db, or at the very least NO peaking in red. But when I consolidate, all tracks are automatically re-set to 0 db, which makes project peak way into the red. Tried setting my pre-consolidated tracks to even lower db but it doesn't matter...everything goes to 0 after consolidating. WHAT AM I MISSING HERE?? Thanks for any help!
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Old 06-24-2017, 07:43 AM   #2
DVDdoug
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What are the levels of your "untouched" tracks? Maybe you need to lower the track & master faders? If you are mixing or using effects (or normalizing), of course the levels will be affected.

If your rendered track is hitting 0dB without normalizing or limiting it's probably clipped.
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Old 06-24-2017, 08:06 AM   #3
serr
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As a mixing guy, I might make a request like that. That means in a perfect world to record your tracks correctly so they end up in that range.

However, if that recording didn't go down that way...

I absolutely want the raw tracks as recorded with NO alterations. Not even level. No exceptions! Yes, yes, they're not perfect and don't hit the range I first asked for. But I want to be the one in control of fixing that at this stage.

I suspect your situation is actually the same. If a mixing engineer asked you to alter potentially flawed tracks like that before sending them unheard, that would be a red flag. I'd email him back and clarify to avoid any miscommunication. "Hey some of these tracks aren't perfect. You want the raw track as opposed to me possibly crudely making it worse right?"
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Old 06-24-2017, 08:11 AM   #4
El Buey
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I recorded all tracks (MIDI) at -2.5 db or less. Then adjusted finished tracks even lower (to as much as -8 db). At this point nothing, including master fader was even close to clipping. I did not normalize anything, left it as is. I figured the consolidated tracks would reflect the same levels as before consolidation. But it doesn't. Everything gets bumped up to 0 db...only 1 track is clipping but all tracks combing cause master to clip pretty heavily. I guess I just have to send it to mixer guy like this. There must be something I did wrong during this process to make it so I can't adjust the levels the way the mixing guy wants. In the future I'd like to know how to avoid this issue.
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Old 06-24-2017, 08:55 AM   #5
El Buey
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Thanks Serr and Doug. I have put in a "need clarification" to the mixer guy. This is my first ever attempt at multi track recording and as such I am not expecting miracles, more curious how a real mix would sound compared to my "volumes only" mix.
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Old 12-16-2017, 07:17 AM   #6
Pearson
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Hi all!
I'm having the same problem.Any solutions?
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Old 12-16-2017, 10:38 AM   #7
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I'm a little confused by the OP because MIDI doesn't have db levels, and any MIDI track would be consolidated as a MIDI file and not make any sound at all. So let's assume there was some VSTi making audio out of that MIDI, and it THAT was captured as an audio item somehow...

I've never used this function, but from the videos I've watched, it seems that it only deals with things on the right side of the screen (Arrange window) and completely ignores anything on the left (TCP/MCP). None of the FX or fader settings are taken into account. Theoretically, you could delete all of the items from your project, insert the consolidated files into the appropriate tracks, and have it sound exactly the same.

I guess I didn't really see if it took into account any item/take settings or FX. One would think it would have to, no? IDK though.

I agree with serr that I'd rather have exactly what you recorded and deal with leveling myself. It's easy enough to Ctrl-A, normalize, reduce item volume 6db if dude really thinks they need to be exact.

I said I never do this. If it was me, I'd render stems via the render dialog. This will include any FX and fader moves you've made (bypass any FX you don't want printed) and allows you a lot of flexibility in naming the resulting files. That doesn't sound like a big thing, but those consolidated files seem to have ugly names, and why set yourself up for that whole other step of renaming?
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