I have my project settings at -3db pan law.
When I export a project as an interleaved stereo file and then offline analyze the file I get exactly -23 db LUFS INT.
When on the other hand I export the same project as a split channels what seems to happen is that the two channels seem to get “aligned” in the center, thus applying the -3db attenuation defined for signals that occur in the center. Therefore when those two channels are inserted in a new project that itself is set to work with a -3db pan law (e.g. another application like Davinci resolve or Premiere or so, or even just another daw) and get panned L & R the result is an output that is 3 db lower than the original project master output (or the respective interleaved file).
So I wonder if this is something that was overseen by the developers or if this is the actual preferred behavior.
This can/must be worked around by changing the pan law to 0 db BEFORE exporting the split files, which makes a batch export of a stereo plus two split files impossible as they would not deliver the identical LUFS level. This seems odd to me and might be fixed by adding the option in the export window whether the pan law should be respected or not, or respectively if the pan position of the two channels should be considered to be maintained or not. 99 % of the time one would export a split STEREO file with pure L/R channels, no?
I have yet to find out whether an application like Davinci Resolve/Premiere/finalCut follows a pan law itself or whether it is common use in video editors to have a -3 db pan law or not, and whether it is possible to alter this in their preferences. That said I think it might be a handy option to have right at the export. Also I wonder whether the split option actually renders the project exactly as the interleaved stereo files through the master bus.
Has anyone of you any thoughts about this?
Do I miss something here?
@Martin.Jirsak Maybe you want to enlighten me whether this is actually the way the devs wanted this? What do you think about this?
I think you might be doing something wrong. I routinely deliver shows both interleaved and split and i never had a problem. If what you said was correct some of my mixes would fall out of spec and fail QC. But they don’t.
Give a clear repro outline and we can check it…