Best Audio volume to export at for youtube.

So im having a self conscious issue with audio volume when i export for youtube. I dont want to export something, wait hours to upload to oyutube and find something is too loud of low. The FCPX metering is so confusing without an exact statement of dbfs or db. So in Logic Pro X on the fader its a healthy volume and hitting around 0db and just under according to that program. But when i export it and import it into FCPX to sync with my video clip. its between -12 & -20. Varying betweening those ranges too. When I increase the volume to get closing to 0 in FCPX on the meter... I get the yellow/red clipping visuals on the timeline itself that the volume is way too loud. yet even on some of the red peaks and clicks its not hitting red on the meter. its peaking around -6. So im getting a visual representation on the timeline to avoid the peaks when its goes towards yellow and defintely lower if its red on the clip itself. But the metering feels so quiet judging it by that. Remidning myself it was a decent level i exported it at in logic pro x. So im assuming the metering is dbfs? and that the actual DB would be around the a level im getting?

Apologies if my wording is confusing. But to sum it up. would the -12on the FCPX but a perfectly fine volume for youtube? or not? since the visual waveform loudness and the metering feel so different.

As far as I can tell, the FCPX meters show DbFs, although I have never seen any official Apple document that confirms this. We deliver TV commercials at -12 db based on FCPX meters. For YouTube, we generally bump that up a bit and set levels not to exceed -6 db. I don't know that there is any BEST level for online web delivery. If you create some type of "in your face" high energy video and want a louder playback then perhaps -6 db to -3 db would be fine, but content that has some degree of dynamic range (indie film, movies in general) probably benefit from keeping dialogue at -12 or -18 db and leaving headroom for loud impact sounds to reach -6 db or -3 db. It really depends on the overall audio range of your video. I my opinion, I would avoid mastering your video to 0 db for any web use. That's right on the edge of clipping.

interesting enough, YT doesn't mention in its uplaod recommendations any audio settings (aside sample rates).

When it comes to 'loudness in the net', not alone dBs are of importance, but LUFs.
And there is a handy plugin for that:

www.klangfreund.com/lufsmeter/

This has been pretty interesting lately to find myself. I've read in multiple places that "video for the web" should be averaging at -12db and peak at -6db. Likewise for broadcast (probably US), the average needed is -18db.

Sources:
Larry Jordan
Ripple Training

Actually, they are working on developing specs for it actually. I don't know if its been made official yet, but from what I remember it was around -16 or -14LUFS with peaks hitting -1 or -2dB.

I guess the feeling is as good as it is to preserve a lot of dynamics in any audio, how people consume multimedia audio is also something that matters. Seemingly people are in offices, or at schools, on trains, in busses, at airports,etc... These are seemingly much more noisy environments. So my guess that the reason why they set the soundness at around -14 is so people can hear it and appreciate it better in these environments.

I don't think its official yet so it doesn't matter too much, but if you were interested enough you can try looking it up.

That's an interesting question. I've come to do a lot of video of live spoken word performances and most of it end up going straight to YouTube. I've generally been running the vocals around -12 in FCPX as well trying to make sure the Audience reactions and applause peak around -5. Isn't US Broadcast something similar in range??

This is a similar article to what I've read, it could even be the same. I've read a few though.

www.pro-tools-expert.com/home-page/2015/...etwork-file-playback

The good news is we have an excellent mechanism to measure and specify loudness with the BS1770/3 standard that has been accepted worldwide. Why YouTube are settling on -13LUFS is baffling me and I am a little surprised that the AES document is suggesting a window of -16 to -20LUFS. I agree with Paul Figgiani that -20 is getting too close to -23 which is accepted as too low for mobile devices. If we are going to have a range then I would suggest it is a range around -16LUFS. I would prefer a 1LU tolerance both ways so a range of -15 to -17, but if it is essential to have a wider range, and I don't think it is, then make it -14 to -18LUFS please rather than -16 to -20 LUFS.

It still seems a little chaotic with YouTube suggesting one thing, AES suggesting another, and the author himself interjecting his own compromise between the two, -16LUFS with 1LU tolerance and -3dB for peaks. Personally, I think his rationale makes a lot of sense and would be what I would follow until it officially gets clarified.

Where I work, videos heading to broadcast are set at -12 and for web -6.

Sometimes I get lazy and export both version out at -12. Web doesn't really matter, but some broadcast engineers can be very picky.

I'd be curious what the majority of web videos are uploaded at....maybe a poll should be done?

The meters in FCPX measure/display Peak Amplitude. This is nothing more than an indication of proportional voltage, aka signal level. It has nothing to do with perceptual Loudness. For instance two independent clips can share the same exact maximum peak. However, one clip may be perceptually louder than the other. The Peak amplitude indication should be used to make sure you are not overloading (clipping) the signal (input or output). What you need to measure is average, perceived Loudness - indicated in LUFS (Loudness Units Relative To Full Scale). The descriptor is referred to as Integrated or Program Loudness.

For spoken word/YouTube web delivery you want to target -16.0 LUFS. The maximum True Peak should never exceed -1.0 dBTP in the distribution file. If you need more dynamics, lower the Integrated Loudness target to something like -18.0 LUFS. Anything lower will be difficult to hear in problematic environments, especially when consumed on a mobile device.

Feel free to ping me and I'd be happy to offer further insight.

-paul.
@produceNewMedia