Dolby Media Meter and Movies

[zzstation]

Hi guys,
I'm mixing a documentary using DMM. It's for a big room cinema.
The Master will be DigiBeta or HDSR I'm not sure yet!
Sometimes, when I mix for Discovery Channel My Infinite term is -27.
Should it be the same in this case?
How about my Dynamic Range?
Tks for your help,
zzstation

[mikevarela]

others will chime, but using the DMM in this case isn't really necessary. It's main use is in broadcast, as material needs to be metered for metadata (dialnorm). In film, you mix in a calibrated room with your ears. Most film mixes will see dialogue in the -31 to -27 range, but this is just a guide. Documentary pieces tend to get mixed a little hotter - closer to TV. So maybe set your room between 79-83.

It's always great to have extra tools to verify material, and this is one of those that would help you see where things are falling, but the best course of action would be to mix as you hear it, then take it to a stage for a run through to verify the mix against a larger acoustic space just to be sure.

Have fun!

[jeremiahmoore]

Vis-a-vis documentary pieces getting mixed hotter - esp. in the doc world, many times there's not the budget to do a separate theatrical mix. So whatever you do may need to translate to the DVD / internet or broadcast world. Hence "a little hotter - closer to TV." DMM can give you some reassurance your DX is in the ballpark.

Whatever you do, see if there's a broadcast spec you need to meet later, and take that into consideration.

FWIW, my room (small, nearfield) is set at 78dB SPL for mixing docs. To the ear, I keep the DX in a "just slightly over conversational" range.

-jeremiah