Final Cut allows you to connect an unrelated audio clip with a video clip, using either Link or Merge. This article describes how and how to select the right one.
I got burned by this when I was prepping my most recent webinar for posting. My audio slowly slipped out of sync. I hate when that happens. What I discovered is that the Soundtrack Pro sample rate preference setting overrides the sample rate of the Final Cut Pro project, resulting in a slow sync drift that will drive you nuts. This article explains what you need to know to fix it.
Why doesn’t MP3 audio play nicely with Final Cut Pro? The answer is because Final Cut Pro was invented to support only uncompressed audio files. There are only three audio formats that Final Cut supports: AIF (and AIFF), WAV (and Broadcast WAV), and SDII. All compressed formats (like MP3 and AAC) need to be converted into an uncompressed format before you can edit them.
Final Cut does not like, in fact, it HATES, putting compressed audio files (MP3, AC3, AAC) in the Timeline. They sound awful. Instead, you need to convert your compressed audio to AIF before importing them into Final Cut Pro. This technique describes how.
It’s such a simple thing, but very hard to find. Here’s a table that allows you to convert the word count of a document into how many seconds it would take to read. Very useful.
Stuck trying to figure out how to delete audio tracks in Soundtrack Pro. Here’s the answer in about three paragraphs — including pictures!
It’s possible to drag files from the Finder into the Final Cut Browser. But do you want to? In this article, I explain the process and provide reasons both pro and con about doing so.
A common complaint about matching audio between DSLR cameras and digital audio recorders is that the audio sync drifts. This article provides three references you can use to resolve this problem.
I’ve taught this technique in my classes for a long time, but recently discovered that I have not written about it. When you are compressing a QuickTime movie for a DVD, the default settings for video and audio compression may need to be tweaked.
Soundtrack Pro is far better at editing and mixing audio than Final Cut Pro is. While this can make your audio sound a lot better, you still run the risk of knocking your audio out of sync. This article explains more about how to prevent this problem.
In the category of “you don’t know what you don’t know,” here’s an interesting piece of trivia. Ever wonder what that checkbox called “Little Endian” means when you are saving audio? This article tell you so you can now impress your friends.
Recently, Euphonix invited me to their LA offices to take a look at a suite of new products designed for video and audio editors. — a series of external control surfaces. Control surfaces have been a fixture in the audio industry for many year, but for video editors, this is a fairly new concept. This article takes a detailed look at each of the four units Euphonix provides, along with thoughts on where they fit into a post-production workflow.
PPMs are something we never hear about in North America. All our audio is measured in dB. However, in Europe, PPM is THE standard of audio measurement — and Final Cut does not support it natively. This article explains what you need to know, and how to measure audio in PPMs.
MXF is the native format for a variety of HD video formats. However, it is not one that Final Cut Pro currently supports. This short article details what you need to know to get your QuickTime video into MXF format.
Normally, when you export a QuickTime movie from Soundtrack Pro, the audio travels with the video. But, not always. This article shows you what you need to know to export audio and video successfully from this audio editing software.
Asymmetric trimming allows you to trim the audio and video in opposite directions at the same time. I’m still not sure if this is a good or bad thing. Here’s how it works.
These ten suggestions on ways to improve your audio recording are excerpted from The Sound Effects Bible written by Ric Viers. If you are having problems getting your recording to sound the way you want, check out these tips.
Final Cut expects all cameras to shoot audio at 48 kHz. But, what happens when they don’t? Well, you get audio drifting out of sync, or no audio at all. Many low-end cameras record audio at 32 kHz. This technique shows you what you need to know to capture your audio accurately.
There are very few things that cause as much confusion to video editors as working with audio. In this technique, I show you a very efficient technique for structuring where to place audio in your timeline and suggest audio levels that can make your project sound GREAT! If you read only one audio article this month, this is the article to read!
One of the signs of getting older is that our hearing is not as sharp as it once was. So one of the things I do in my mixes is to be sure that I make things as clear and easy to understand as possible. This article walks you thru the specific steps you can take in Soundtrack Pro to make your audio as clear and distinct as possible.
When capturing from tape, Capture Now should always be your last choice, not your first. Sometimes, when using Capture Now, your audio may drift. If that happens, read this article.
This article shows the best way to get audio out of FCP so you can finish your mix in your favorite audio program.
Here’s a neat trick to make a constant speed change to a video clip without changing the sound of the audio.
This is a quick simple technique to automatically create keyframes for an audio filter. Basically, audio key-framing in real-time.
Audio in FCP is clip-based, rather than track-based. This article describes a variety of ways to change the levels of more than one clip at once.
Ever wonder what levels to set your reference tones to? Should you output tone at 0 dB, -12 dB,-18 dB, or -20 dB. In this discussion, Larry is joined by Woody Woodhall, president of Allied Post, to get a better understanding of the issue. And, yup, it’s just as confused as we thought!
Final Cut Pro hates compressed audio. This article explains the problems you will having working with it, as well as providing a simple conversion process that solves the problem.
Using Pro Tools to mix your Final Cut Pro project is a great way to achieve excellent audio. However, there are some tricks you need to understand in this process, as explained here.
Setting the correct audio recording levels on a video camera is crucial to obtaining the best sound during production. This short article explains some of the choices and what you need to know.
Here is a great trick to solve one of the features of FCP that drives me nuts — we can’t slip keyframes. But, here, in this article, I’ll show you an undocumented way to slip audio keyframes. Very cool and very quick.
It’s easy to create burned-in timecode for video clips. But what about visible timecode for audio clips? The answer is “maybe,” but probably not.
Every clip in Final Cut supports up to three timecode tracks — a primary and two auxilliary tracks. This article describes how to access them, change the timecode they contain, and idea on what to use them for.
One of the common problems that inexperienced Final Cut editors run into is audio that slowly drifts out of sync. While the problem may appear to be within Final Cut Pro, the cause is actually due to mismatched audio sample rates between the video you shot and the way you are capturing it. What makes this worse is that many consumer cameras default to an audio sample rate of 32 kHz, while Final Cut expects 48 kHz. In this step-by-step tutorial, I’ll explain what an audio sample rate is and how to change your Final Cut settings to capture your audio accurately.
It’s late at night, you are wrapping up a project. Just when you think you can go home, you discover that your final export from Soundtrack Pro, doesn’t sync with your final export from Final Cut Pro. Grrr!! Now what? This article explains a very nifty technique that solves that problem in short order.
Soundtrack Pro does not create audio CDs automatically, but you can still do so, if you know how. This article explains the steps. Also, Peter Neil, from the BBC, suggests another program that makes this process even easier.
Soundtrack Pro allows you to easily make an insert edit and keep everything in sync. However, just because it is easy to do, does NOT mean it is easy to find. This article explains what you need to know to make it happen.
Having problems with audio playing at the wrong speed? It may be due to mismatched sample rates. This article describes what you need to know, and to do.
A while ago, I wrote about how and why to create submixes in Soundtrack Pro. While submixes can be used for reverb, a better way is to use Sends and Busses. This provides greater control and more flexibility than a Submix, but it is a bit trickier to understand.
Submixes allow us to group audio tracks in Soundtrack Pro. This allows us to apply to adjust the volume, apply an effect, or create separate outputs for a group of tracks. Just as nesting in Final Cut Pro allows us to do things that we can’t using individual tracks, submixes provide the same opportunity to us in Soundtrack Pro. This article shows you how.
