From 8b1f88b3c06175f43fbdbe1af6e53933847cb195 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: WaterrrForever Date: Wed, 28 Oct 2026 01:31:41 +0000 Subject: [PATCH] docs(audio): say the render sums tracks at unity and limits nothing (#5652) An agent read the amix line's conditional `normalize=0` as "the render averages its tracks" and spent two full renders chasing loudness. The reference documented `data-volume` and the master bus but never said how tracks combine. Co-authored-by: Claude Opus 5.5 --- docs/reference/audio-effects.mdx | 18 ++++++++++++++++++ 1 file changed, 18 insertions(+) diff --git a/docs/reference/audio-effects.mdx b/docs/reference/audio-effects.mdx index aceac68080..506e29d34d 100644 --- a/docs/reference/audio-effects.mdx +++ b/docs/reference/audio-effects.mdx @@ -133,6 +133,24 @@ out of the chain rather than assuming what was minted. A `volume` lane and a GSAP tween on `volume` conflict: the lane wins and the tween is ignored. The linter reports that as `audio_volume_double_automation`. +### Tracks add up; nothing averages them + +The render sums every track at unity. A track at `data-volume="1"` sits in the +mix at its source level whether it plays alone or beside twenty others, and a +clip ending does not raise the ones still playing. Adding a track never turns +the others down. + +- `data-volume`, a `volume` lane, fades and a group fader each scale only their + own track or group. Doubling a voice moves the voice +6 dB; how much the whole + mix moves depends on what else is playing at that moment. +- Nothing limits the sum. Loud tracks that overlap can pass 0 dBFS and clip in + the exported AAC. Leave headroom, or put a `limiter` or `truepeak` on the + [master bus](#the-master-bus-data-fx-chain-on-the-composition-root). +- The render's master gain, `PRODUCER_AUDIO_GAIN` (default `1`), multiplies the + finished sum once, before the master bus chain. +- To check a level, compare the export against its source scaled by the + `data-volume` you wrote, in a window where only that track plays. + ### `data-fx-carve` ```html