Page 1 of 1

Audio levels ok for cinema?

Posted: Thu Mar 09, 2023 1:28 pm
by heedwa117
Hi

So I just created a DCP for feature length film to be shown in the cinema - the integrated loudness comes in at arouns-23 LUFS.

Would you say this level is ok for cinema? Or should it hover more around the -20 LUFS mark?

The film is a quiet-ish drama, with little to no music.

If you need more info, please let me know.

Here is a screen shot of the audio levels
DCP OGM Audio levels.png
DCP OGM Audio levels.png (53.68 KiB) Viewed 429 times

Re: Audio levels ok for cinema?

Posted: Thu Mar 09, 2023 5:24 pm
by Carsten
With peak levels already around -1dB, there is not much you can do within DCP-o-matic to increase levels or loudness.
Normally, I would aim more towards -20 LUFS in a cinema - however, as you say it is a quiet piece, it COULD even be that -23 dB is still too loud.
The perceived difference of -3 is small anyway. I think you are safe at -23 LUFS, and the RMS levels look good for 'a quiet' piece.

Re: Audio levels ok for cinema?

Posted: Wed Mar 15, 2023 12:23 pm
by heedwa117
Thank you so much for the response. You were right, it was a touch too loud for a quiet film, even at -23 LUFS. The projectionist had the volume at 4.5, I may ask him to reduce it to 4.2 perhaps.

But thank you again for your help, really appreciate it.