How normalization gain works in finalcutpro, How normalization gain works in final cut pro – Apple Final Cut Pro 6 User Manual

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Chapter 3

Evaluating Levels with Audio Meters

Raising Audio Levels Using Audio Normalization and Gain

When you edit, your audio may come from a variety of sources, and the levels often vary.
Final Cut Pro includes a Gain audio filter that allows you to amplify (or attenuate) the level
of an audio clip far beyond the +12 dB gain available with audio level keyframes.

To amplify the audio level of clips whose levels are too low, you can manually apply the
Gain filter. The only risk with manually applying gain adjustments to a clip is that you
may amplify the audio too much, resulting in distorted audio. To guarantee that clips
with low audio levels have the optimal gain, you can normalize your audio clips using
the Apply Normalization Gain command.

How Normalization Gain Works in Final Cut Pro

Audio normalization works by scanning audio for the peak (loudest) sample level and
then applying a Gain filter that brings the peak level to the level you request. By default
this value is 0 dBFS, the highest level possible before clipping occurs. The Gain filter
raises the overall audio level.

In most applications, audio normalization is a destructive process because it
permanently modifies audio files. Final Cut Pro applies normalization nondestructively
by applying a Gain filter to a clip instead of affecting the clip’s audio file. You can
disable or remove the Gain filter and hear the original, unmodified audio file.

To apply normalization gain to audio clip items in a sequence:

Select one or more audio clip items in a sequence.

Choose Modify > Audio > Apply Normalization Gain.

The Apply Normalization Gain dialog appears.

In the “Normalize to” field, enter the value you want to raise each audio clip’s peak value
to, then click OK.

The dialog displays a progress bar and Final Cut Pro begins calculating the peak value
for each clip. After processing, each selected clip has its own Gain filter applied with a
gain adjustment appropriate for that clip’s normalization.

First, audio is scanned and the
audio peak is detected.

Next, gain is added so the
audio peak is set to 0 dBFS.

The audio is normalized, with
the peak level set at 0 dBFS.

Peak

0 dBFS