Ozone provides
three types of meters for viewing
the dynamics of a
mix. You can set options for these meters by right clicking
on any of the dynamics meters, or selecting the Meters tab of the Options
Dialog.
Level Histograms
Level histograms are provided in the Multiband Dynamics and Loudness Maximizer modules to provide a view of the audio level as a function of time.
As Ozone processes audio, it calculates the level and displays it on the level histogram. Unlike a standard level meter, the level histogram provides a view of the history of the level over time. The height of the histogram represents the high and low levels of the audio, while the width of the bar indicates the most frequent levels. In the example above, most of the time the level of the audio was around 12-16 dB, although in a few cases the level was as high as -8 dB and as low as -24 dB.
This meter is a powerful tool for applying dynamics. In the case above, we could apply some limiting or compression around 8-12 dB to bring down the edges of the top levels, but we could also apply expansion to bring up the levels that are found in the -24 dB range.
For additional visual feedback, the histogram is displayed in white for regions that are being limited by the Loudness Maximizer or the Multiband Dynamics. In the case above, we have a limiter threshold set around -10 dB that is limiting the upper crest of the signal.
You can zoom in on the level histogram by holding down the Ctrl key under Windows or the Command key under OS X and clicking on the meter. Left clicks zoom in the meter, while right clicks zoom back out. Under OS X you can also Command-ctrl-click to zoom out.
Reduction Meters
When working in the multiband dynamics and loudness maximizer modules, the reduction meter provides you with a readout of how much the dynamics processing is changing the level of the signal. You can set this to display the amount of compression and limiting, and/or the amount of gating by right-clicking (under OS X you can also ctrl-click) on the meter.
In the screen above, the compressor at that point in time is compressing or
reducing the level of the input signal by 3.3 dB.
Curve Level Meter
The meter on the far right in the screenshot above is a traditional dynamics curve, where the x or horizontal axis is the signal going into the dynamics module, and the y or vertical axis is the signal coming out. Flatter compression curves means the signal is being flattened (compressed) more.
Note: This help file is a quick reference for basic Ozone functions and controls. We have a separate "how to" guide that provides tips and techniques for mastering with Ozone. You can download this guide from http://www.izotope.com/products/audio/ozone/guides.html