Sound Level Meters Window

An additional window, the levels window, can be brought up from the Window pulldown. The levels window displays the output audio levels after all mixing is done. The visible range of the sound level meters is configurable in Settings → Preferences, Interface tab under the Operations section.

Figure 2.43: Sound Level Meters Window

Sound level meters can be toggled in the viewer and compositor windows with the show meters button. They also appear in the patchbay when the track is expanded and in the recording monitor when audio is being recorded.

The sound levels in the levels window, compositor, and viewer correspond to the final output levels before they are clipped to the sound card range. In the record monitor they are the input values from the sound card. In the patchbay they are the sound levels for each track after all effects are processed and before down-mixing for the output. Most of the time, audio levels have numerical markings in dB but in the patchbay there is not enough room.

The sound level is color coded as an extra means of determining the sound level. Even without numerical markings, the sound level color can distinguish between several ranges and overload. Look at the color codings in a meter with numerical markings to see what colors correspond to what sound level. Then for meters in the patchbay in expanded audio tracks, use the color codings to see if it is overloading.

Be aware that sound levels in CINELERRA-GG can go above 0 dB. This allows for not only seeing if a track is overloading but how much information is being lost by the overloading. Overloading by less than 3 dB is usually acceptable. While overloading is treated as positive numbers in CINELERRA-GG, it is clipped to 0 when sent to a sound card or file.