Note: This article by Fred Ginsburg was originally written for and published in the 2015 Anniversary & NAB issue of Student Filmmakers Magazine.
The answer to the questions, “How loud should my dialogue be recorded? What should it read on the meter?” depends mostly on what type of meter you are looking at.
Essentially, there are three types of professional audio meters that you are likely to encounter, not counting the cryptic “idiot meters” filled with random symbols that often take up space in video viewfinders. (More about these “idiot” meters later in the article.)