Blackmagic DaVinci Resolve Fairlight

This describes the Fairlight tab within Blackmagic DaVinci Resolve. These Informations and Tipps are from Fundamentals of Mixing Sound in Fairlight Course.

Audio Settings for Interviews

Check if all paths are specified where your 3rd party plugins are located and maybe disable plugins that are not going to be used.

Timeline Sample Rate
- Audio Sampling Rate: 48000
Audio Metering
- Target Loudness Level: -16 LUFS (dynamic range / Low: -16 for Web lower quality playback / High: -23 LUFS for Cinema Theater)
- Loudness Scale: EBU +9 Scale
- Track Meters: Post Fader
Immersive Audio: all unchecked

Prepare tracks so one may work with it

Copy tracks (if you had recorded with two mics and you want to convert them to two mono tracks)
Label tracks (maybe change the color as well)
Make sure they are correctly set. Do this for every track and clip:
- Right click on Track -> 'Change Track Type to': 1.0 = Mono / 2.0 = Stereo / 5.1 / 7.2 / ...)
- Select clip and right click -> 'Clip Attributes' to adjust the track mapping from the source clip

The 'Quick Mix' is a quick and dirty way to get your production as fast as possible 'out of the door' (but doesn't take care of mic bleeding):

Enable Meters and right click -> 'Loudness Standard': 'BS 1770-4'
Normalize Tracks. Do this for every clip:
- Select clip and right click -> 'Normalize Audio Levels' / 'Normalization Mode': 'ITU R BS 1770-4' / 'Target Level': '-1.0 dbTP' (True Peak) / 'Target Loudness': '-26 LKFS' (Loudness K weighted Full Scale) -> Normalize
Meters / Loudness: 'Reset' -> 'Start' / Play for a while / read the 'Integrated' value
Enable Mixer
On mixer click on 'Master Bus' / 'Effects' -> '+' -> 'Channel' -> 'Vocal Channel' on the new panel:
- Enable 'High Pass': 'Frequency': '50'
- Enable 'Compressor': 'Threshold': '-18' / 'Ratio': '3' / 'Reaction': '0.4' (combined 'Attack' and 'Release' / this needs to be tweaked a bit later) / 'Gain': <enter value of the Integrated Loudness Meter>
On mixer click on 'Master Bus' / 'Effects' -> '+' -> 'Dynamics' -> 'Limiter' on the new panel:
- 'Limit': 'Threshold': '-2.5' / 'Release': '0.40'
Play for a while
tweak 'Compressor' / 'Reaction' to sound good
tweak 'Compressor' / 'Threshold' and 'Gain' so that 'Gain Reduction' meter bounces between '0' and '-5' and make sure that on the 'Limiter' panel the 'Reduction' meter is less active then the 'Compressor' (Compressor should do the heavy work while the Limiter should only take care of the rare peaks)

This method is similar to the 'Quick Mix' but adjusting the Effects on every track (instead of the master bus) and taking care of mic bleeding: