Audio Clipping - Adobe Media Encoder 6

[Emmett Stang]

Hey REDusers,

Have just encountered a strange problem where perfectly mastered audio ( mastered in pro tools, brick-wall limiter etc.) that comes in CLEAN to PP cs6, but when added to the queue and encoded by AME 6, it is coming out clipped, even in spots that don't get close to hitting -.3 db .

Taking 5k files native from pp cs6 and encoding 1080p for youtube. Vid renders seem to be a little bit crisper with the advent of AME 6, but am running into this irritating audio problem.

Never had this issue before with cs 5.5 workflow (will consider trying AME 5.5). Saw there was an update to AME 6 and tried it again, but to no avail.

Any light to be shed on the subject is appreciated.

Thanks!

[Emmett Stang]

Bump + old AME (cs5.5) won't take a cs6 sequence, unless I am doing something completely off.

[Brad Allen]

Hey Emmett,

Haven't had this bug myself sorry. A big fix did come out for AME CS6 the other day. Have you updated to that to see if it helps?

[Emmett Stang]

Thanks for the response Brad,

I did update it, and had the same issue. There'll be a fix at some point, cs6 is still in early days.

[Emmett Stang]

Was thinking of rendering the video ONLY in AME 6 and then pulling in the 48/24 audio master separately through a different encoder. Any suggestions as to the smartest way to get that done?

Hope that makes sense.

Cheers.

[Marc Wielage]

Have just encountered a strange problem where perfectly mastered audio ( mastered in pro tools, brick-wall limiter etc.) that comes in CLEAN to PP cs6, but when added to the queue and encoded by AME 6, it is coming out clipped, even in spots that don't get close to hitting -.3 db .

-.3dB is very very loud for a video deliverable.

I would strongly suggest that you talk to your distributor and ask them what their audio delivery specs are. Many, many cable channels, networks, and home video distributors will routinely reject anything that goes about -10dBfs. Many companies are using the ITU Loudness Specification:

http://www.itu.int/dms_pubrec/itu-r/...3-I!!PDF-E.pdf

Theatrical has a whole different set of requirements, and for that, you need a good mixer, a good post house, using speakers set up for normal industry-standard reference levels (typically 85dB).

Having said that: Premiere should not be changing levels like this.

[Emmett Stang]

Hi Marc,

Thanks for responding. The mastering work is only for the internet. I realize there is a very big difference in mixing for other formats and for features especially. This seems to be a random problem I have encountered that is off the beaten path. A conservative master is perhaps in order.

Appreciate the link!