Loudness Configuration

There are several loudness features available in the Audio Editors:

• Loudness Processing in the Clipboard

• Loudness Meter (EBU-128)

• Loudness Track

• Loudness-Compliant Saving

Table of Contents

Activate Loudness Features

Requirements

The editors need at least one configured LoudnessSet that defines whether audio material is loudness compliant or not. To set up such a LoudnessSet and loudness relevant configuration, please refer to the manual LoudnessInDigaSystem_AdminManual.

The files LoudnessDLL.dll and LVC.ocx must exist in the editor directory for the loudness features to work. LVC.ocx has to be registered using regsvr32.exe.

Global Loudness Sets

A loudness set can be set as default settings for all Audio Editors. Based on this set, the editors will perform all loudness relevant calculations and metering. The key can be defined on GLOBAL, LOCAL and USER level in the |Common|Loudness| folder:

Note for MTE: If this entry is missing all loudness features are disabled for the corresponding customer/computer/user. If the Loudness Set is invalid or incomplete, a message will be shown at editor startup indicating the source of the problem and that all loudness featured will be disabled.

Loudness Normalization and Analysis in the Clipboard

To activate these features, the Audio Editor user needs the new right MTE_LoudnessProcessing, which you can create under Objects|Actions by selecting New from the context menu in the Actions list and then typing the name of the right. The right is then selectable for all users under <User>|Rights|Actions|.

Loudness normalization via the context menu of a clipboard element is available without any additional parameter.

Automatic loudness analysis can be enabled by the parameter:

…|…Track|Settings|Loudness|ClipboardAutoLoudnessAnalysis=1.

When set to 0, the automatic loudness calculation is disabled, but still available via context menu.

Loudness Meter

In the editor open the menu "View -> EBU-R128". The Loudness Meter can be embedded anywhere in the GUI or be displayed in a separate window.

To activate the feature the Audio Editor user needs the right MTE_LoudnessMeter, which you can create under Objects|Actions by selecting New from the context menu in the Actions list and then typing the name of the right. The right is then selectable for all users under <User>|Rights|Actions|.

The user right MTE_ChangeLoudnessDisplaySettings (under |User|<user>|Rights|Actions|) allows the MTE user to call the Loudness Meter settings via a right-click anywhere in the Loudness Meter pane.

Loudness Track

Displaying the loudness track requires the user action right MTE_LoudnessTrack, which you can create under Objects|Actions by selecting New from the context menu in the Actions list and then typing the name of the right. The right is then selectable for all users under <User>|Rights|Actions|.

Loudness Track can be displayed through View -> Loudness track menu item and toolbar button 

Loudness-Compliant Saving

The activation of this feature requires a parameter under |Settings|Loudness|:

Key	Description
CheckBox_SaveLoudnessCompliant	Default=2. Show Loudness compliant checkbox in the audio save dialogs. The value 0 deactivates the check box feature, a value of 1 activates the check box and automatically selects it. With the value 2 the check box is available, but not checked. 3 means that the check box is selected and the user can not remove the check mark.

Loudness Visualization Controls Set

Limits describing the maximum loudness compliance values are taken from a Loudness Set Core (as described in LoudnessInDigaSystem_AdminManual) and the name of the set to be used is defined by the parameter Common|Loudness|EditorLoudnessSet . An incomplete core set triggers a message when MTE starts and disables all loudness features:

Parameter Name	Default Value	Description
LVC_Color_ILK_Above	rgb(155, 155, 155) (dark gray)	ILK meter: Color above (Target Value + Tolerance). See IntegratedLoudnessTarget and ToleranceForIntegratedLoudness (both in Loudness Set Core).
LVC_Color_ILK_Below	rgb(215, 215, 215) (light gray)	ILK meter: Color below (Target Value - Tolerance)
LVC_Color_ILK_Tolerance	rgb(65, 176, 223) (petrol-blue)	ILK meter: Color between (Target Value + Tolerance) and (Target Value - Tolerance)
LVC_Color_LRA_Above	rgb(243, 178, 0) (orange)	SLK meter: Color above Maximum. See MaximumLoudnessRange in Loudness Set Core.
LVC_Color_LRA_Below	rgb(215, 215, 215) (light gray)	SLK meter: Color below Maximum
LVC_Color_MLK_Above	rgb(155, 155, 155) (dark gray)	MLK meter: Color above (Target Value + Tolerance). See MaximumMomentaryLoudnessLevel (Loudness Set Core) and LVC_MLK_Tolerance.
LVC_Color_MLK_Below	rgb(215, 215, 215) (light gray)	MLK meter: Color below (Target Value - Tolerance)
LVC_Color_MLK_Graph	rgb(160, 128, 64)	Loudness graph: Color for MLK curve
LVC_Color_MLK_Tolerance	rgb(65, 176, 223) (light petrol-blue)	MLK meter: Color between (Target Value + Tolerance) and (Target Value - Tolerance)
LVC_Color_MLK_LimitLine	(implicitly calculated)	MLK meter, MLK graph, and loudness track: Color of the limit line. The default color is calculated from other colors in the current UI scheme.
LVC_Color_Numeric_Invalid	rgb(0, 0, 0) (black)	All numeric meters: Text color in invalid state (when data of prior analysis is displayed, but data has changed meanwhile)
LVC_Color_SLK_Above	rgb(155, 155, 155) (dark gray)	SLK meter: Color above (Target Value + Tolerance). See MaximumShorttermLoudnessLevel (Loudness Set Core) and LVC_SLK_Tolerance.
LVC_Color_SLK_Below	rgb(215, 215, 215) (light gray)	SLK meter, SLK graph, and loudness track: Color below (Target Value - Tolerance)
LVC_Color_SLK_Graph	rgb(0, 128, 160) (petrol-blue)	Loudness graph: Color for SLK curve
LVC_Color_SLK_Tolerance	rgb(65, 176, 223) (light petrol-blue)	SLK meter: Color between (Target Value + Tolerance) and (Target Value - Tolerance).
LVC_Color_SLK_LimitLine	(implicitly calculated)	SLK meter: Color of the limit line. The default color is calculated from other colors in the current UI scheme.
LVC_Color_TP_1	rgb(243, 178, 0) (orange)	TP meter: Color between values of parameters MaximumTruePeakLevel (Loudness Set Core) and LVC_TP_Range1
LVC_Color_TP_2	rgb(155, 155, 155) (dark gray)	TP meter: Color between values of parameters LVC_TP_Range1 and LVC_TP_Range2
LVC_Color_TP_3	rgb(215, 215, 215) (light gray)	TP meter: Color below value of parameter LVC_TP_Range2
LVC_Color_TP_Above	rgb(255, 46, 18) (red)	TP meter: Color above value of parameter MaximumTruePeakLevel (Loudness Set Core)
LVC_MLK_Tolerance	1.0	Momentary loudness tolerance. See LVC_MLK_Target.
LVC_SLK_Tolerance	1.0	Shortterm loudness tolerance. See LVC_SLK_Target.
LVC_TP_Range1	-3.0	dBTP meter: Color range border between MaximumTruePeakLevel and LVC_TP_Range2.
LVC_TP_Range2	-9.0	dBTP meter: Color range border between LVC_TP_Range2 and lower limit. See Loudness Set Core.
LVC_TP_DecayRate	0	dBTP meter: Setting this to a positive value makes the display less jumpy. This can be a floating point value and is measured in dB/s. Use the point (.) as decimal separator. This value is defined as part of the loudness set, but it can be overridden for the Audio Editor.

The color values in hex format RRGGBB are equivalent to rgb(r,g,b) with r, g, b in decimal. (For example, #ffff00 or #FFFF00 is equivalent to rgb(255, 255, 0)).

Note: Colors not depending on loudness values are part of MTE's GUI color sets, as described in Section 4.2 below.

Loudness Visualization Controls Layout Set

The layout of loudness controls is bundled in a rectangular grid, as seen in the Loudness Meter and the Loudness Track header. The grid consists of a list of rows, each containing a comma-separated list of controls which share the width of the row equally. Each control may be used only once (with the exception of Empty) in the complete grid. The grid layout can be defined in parameter sets. In MTE there are two sets defined:

• LoudnessPane_ (layout of the Loudness Meter)

• LoudnessTrack_ (layout of header content in Loudness Track)

Supported controls

• Numeric data display of current value: CurrentTP, CurrentMLk, CurrentSLk (synonym: CurrentdBTP)

• Numeric data display of maximum value: MaxTP, MaxMLk, MaxSLk (synonyms: dBTP, TP, MaxdBTP, MLk, SLk)

• Numeric data display: ILk, LRA, dBTP, MLk, SLk

• Bar graph display: dBTPMeter, MLkMeter, SLkMeter

• Control bar with start/stop buttons and time display: ActivationControl

• Loudness history graph: HistoryEnableControl, HistoryControl

• Loudness ear showing the loudness quality: LoudnessEar

• Empty spaces: Empty. (This is intended for creating an empty space in the layout and may be used multiple times. You can add a number in braces to set a fix width in pixels (e.g. "empty (2)"))

Example Configurations

For MTE's LoudnessMeter LoudnessPane_Row1 = ILk, LRA LoudnessPane_Row2 = dBTP, MLk, SLk LoudnessPane_Row3 = dBTPMeter, MLkMeter, SLkMeter LoudnessPane_Row4 = ActivationControl LoudnessPane_Row5 = HistoryEnableControl LoudnessPane_Row6 = HistoryControl

For MTE's LoudnessTrack LoudnessTrack_Row1 = ILk, LRA LoudnessTrack_Row2 = MLk, SLk LoudnessTrack_Row3 = dbTP, Ear

List of MTE Specific Loudness Settings

All MTE-specific loudness settings are listed in the table below. Many "Common" parameters can be evaluated by other applications supporting loudness features, too.