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AUDIO PRODUCTION
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AutoMix Controls

The controls that are there are:

  • Enable Noise Reduction: This is a Noise Reduction algorithm that does not add any latency. This is useful for when the commentator is in the stadium for instance. Keep in mind that it is a heavy algorithm and thus the load on the CPU is high.
  • NR Amount: The amount of Noise Reduction applied. At 0 none is applied, at 100 the maximum is applied.
  • Dialog Focus: The dialog is always the center of the mix and will always be leveled at the same level. What this control does though is to give control how much the rest of the elements are pushed away by the dialog. The algorithm is technically more advanced than a simple ducking algorithm, but the outcome is comparable.
  • Focus Speed: The speed of the “Dialog Focus” fader riding.
  • Com Brightness: AutoMix does automatic EQing towards a standard curve. If you like the dialog to be slightly brighter or less bright (globally), you can change the setting with this knob.
  • Dialog Compression: This allows you to adjust the standard amount of compression AutoMix will use on the dialog signals.
  • Dialog Low Boost: This allows you to boost the low end on the complete dialog bus, for if you prefer more or less low end than the default settings.
  • Speech Reduction: The first element of the Speech Chain is a speech mixer. This process checks for the loudest signal and reduces the level of all the other signals. The speech reduction controls define how much it will reduce the levels of the signals that are not the loudest.
  • Speech Weight: Speech weight defines the weight between the main commentator and the other commentators. (Please keep in mind that, as of December 2021, it is a known issue that when there are more than 2 possible commentary channels the head commentator is till considered to be the first “booth” in the list. Therefore, it is recommended to keep the setting at 50% when more than 2 booths are selectable and / or used in the audio program.)
  • Ambience Smart Gain: This is the maximum amount that the Smart Gain algorithm is allowed to change the level on the input side. The Smart Gain algorithm always checks for sounds (like balls, cars etc.) that are important in the International Sound feed. If it finds these sounds, it will check if they are within a normalized range. If now, the input signal will be gained up or down. This control defines the maximum amount the algorithm is allows to gain the signal.
  • Ambience Level Speed: This controls the amount of smoothing on the input leveling. The higher the value, the more smoothing, the longer it takes to ride to the new level and the more stable the signal sound.
  • Ambience Mix: This is literally a level fader at the end of the Ambience chain. With this control you control the global level of the Ambience (to set it to taste.)
  • Ambience Compression: This is the amount of compression you want to set on the Ambience input itself.
  • VAD Max Leveling: VAD stands for Voice Activity Detection. With this algorithm we check for interviews on international sound. If an interview is detected and the commentators are not talking, the interview will be pushed up in level so that listeners can understand what is being said.
  • Squash: This is compression on the master bus. The higher the knob the more compression. This is useful for getting a good quality signal on higher levels than standard broadcast levels (-23 and -24). It can also be useful to adjust to taste if a compressed signal is desired.
  • Mute Release: Part of the Sports Automix program is a video channel that can be used to e.g., play highlights of a match in halftime while muting the International Sound and Dialog. With this control, you control the speed at which the International Sound and Dialog are faded in again when the highlight video would stop.
  • Master Gain: This is the final master. As standard the software will level towards -23LUFS. With this control you can set it to -24, -18, -16, -14 or any other desirable level by setting the difference between -23 and the desired output level.

*Some controls might not be there, depending on the version of AutoMix. The list of these controls is based on the November-2022 version of AutoMix.

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