Dialogue Editing

118 GETTING STARTED ON DIALOGUE EDITING
value) equals 0 on an analogue VU meter, which equals 4 dBu, which is
1.23-volt RMS.
There are many excellent discussions of level, headroom, and the like. 4 Debates
over the “right” reference level are longstanding, passionate, and often personal,
so this is not the place to get into it. Bottom line: Before you begin your
project, determine the reference level of the original fi eld recordings, talk to
your studio engineer to learn the local reference level, and have a chat with
the rerecording mixer. Together, you can come up with a reference level. Odds
are it will be −18 or −20 dBFS. If your studio doesn’t provide reference tones,
the best place to fi nd them is on a commercial alignment CD. If this isn’t an
option, you can download calibration test fi les. 5
Most workstations provide a way to make a reference tone. It’s not the best
choice, but it will do in a pinch. In Pro Tools, for example:
Click on Dial A.
In the session Start and End windows at the top of the interface, enter
a start time of 00:59:00:00 and a duration of 30 seconds. (This example
is for reel 1.) You’ll see this area highlighted in your session.
Choose the Signal Generator AudioSuite plug-in. Select a 1000 Hz
frequency, −18 dB level, and sine wave. Then press Enter. You’ll see a
new tone created on the track.
Label the tone “1 K reference @ −18 dB.” You can reuse it for other
sessions; just remember where it’s stored. Better yet, put a copy in your
personal folder on the computer’s internal hard drive or on your USB
Flash drive.
Copy the tone onto every “real” track (not a work or junk track). Mute
every tone except the tone on track 1; otherwise, you’ll go deaf and give
your speakers an unnecessary workout.
Using Your Reference Tone for Daily Alignment
Each editing day should begin with a quick alignment of your monitor chain.
Running a tone through your monitor mixer and external meters will ensure
that you’re always working at the same monitor level and that your meters
can be trusted. Sending a known reference through your system will also tell
you if you have a technical problem. If the reference tone doesn’t behave as
4 For a thorough explanation of the mysteries of exchanging signals between analogue
and digital domains, see “The Ins and Outs of Interfacing Analogue and Digital
Equipment” by Hugh Robjohns, in Sound on Sound (May 2000).
5 One source of quality calibration test fi les is Blue Sky International (www.abluesky.com).