Blog Archives

Here’s a quick way to hide, or reveal, audio track names on the FCP 7 Timeline.

A clip collision generally occurs when you are trimming. Specifically, when you are ripple trimming.

Steps for audio editing and sound correction in Soundtrack Pro.

Loading clips into an Audio File Project, reducing noise, and handling audio files in Soundtrack Pro.

When trying to sync audio to video using sub-frame slipping in the Viewer, a subscriber writes that Final Cut is setting a new In for his audio in the Sequence without actually slipping the Audio. This technique, which can be used in Final Cut Pro versions 4 through 7, explains how to adjust for this.

Two excellent questions by an editor/subscriber, L. Blake Baldwin, involving why the Master Gain defaults to .51, and also when to use a +3dB audio transition instead of a dB audio transition. We examine and answer both.

In this article we discuss the limitations of using the keyboard to target audio track numbering above 9, and the keyboard shortcut for the lower track numbers is demonstrated.

An editor’s interest in “cleaning up” some audio clips is a joy to answer, and very useful info to have.

Ben Balser had a client whose audio filters were grayed out in the Effects > Video Filters list. The problem was Effects Availability. In this article we walk you through how you can control which effects are displayed from the Effects tab in the Browser.

PluralEyes was specifically designed to sync clips and create multiclips based upon their audio. However, it can also sync clips in a sequence – even if there are timecode breaks in the clips – by aligning the audio.

When using Media Manager to archive media the key point to remember is that you need to select what you want to manage BEFORE selecting it from the menu. And, I always select what I want to Media Manage in the Browser, not the Timeline.

The View menu has changed in FCP-HD, making it easier to select how you want to monitor your audio and video. This quick article explains what you need to know.

Those green visibility lights on the far left of the Timeline have some very useful functions; and hidden keyboard shortcuts. Learn what they are here.

Those glowing green lights on the extreme left side of the Timeline have a very important purpose – especially if you are trying to see tracks below other tracks, output, or export. This article shows you their secrets.

Here are a series of tips, written by a professional voice-over talent, that you can use to make sure your voice-over scripts are organized, easy to read, and run correctly to time.

When you send a stereo audio pair to Soundtrack, STP treats it as a stereo clip. When you send a dual-channel mono pair to Soundtrack, STP treats them as two separate files. This article describes how to switch from one to the other.

The problem with reverb is that the effect needs to continue after the clip ends. While Soundtrack Pro has some great audio filters, often there just isn’t time to move your project from Final Cut to STP. In this tutorial, you’ll learn how to use nesting to create a reverb effect inside Final Cut that can last long after the clip itself is over. Best of all, this is both quick and easy.

get is the new kid on the block — an almost magical piece of software that searches your audio files looking for words you type into a typical text entry window. If you know “you’ve got the file around here somewhere,” but haven’t a clue where it is, get is for you, as this product review explains.

Adobe Premiere can create text transcripts of your media files. prEdit takes those transcripts and allows you to edit a rough cut for either Premiere or Final Cut just using those transcripts. For editors wading through a ton of material trying to find just the right quotes, this software can make your life VERY easy, as this product review explains.

Transcriptize is a new piece of software that takes the text transcripts automatically generated by Adobe Premiere or Adobe Soundbooth and formats them so people, rather than computers, can read them. PLUS, it allows you to a great trick to import those text transcripts into Final Cut Pro to speed your editing.

In this article Larry handles a question regarding whether a series of continuous time code cuts will translate into the OMF or be ignored.

During my recent seminar tour, I had a lot of fun showing how to take advantage of the audio clean-up power in Soundtrack Pro.

In this article Larry fields a question from a subscriber having trouble exporting a multitrack and directs him to the suggestion of another subscriber.

Mixing audio files in Soundtrack Pro is like editing video files in Final Cut Pro — there are lots and lots of files involved. Which means that if you don’t pay attention, things are going to get lost. This article explains what you need to know to keep track of everything.

Moving multi-track files from Final Cut Pro to Soundtrack Pro for mixing can cause problems, unless you understand how Soundtrack Pro handles linked files. This article explains.

I’ve done hundreds of hours of audio editing in Soundtrack and have discovered a wealth of features that make editing audio in it a breeze.

This technique occurred to me while I was developing my training DVD for Lynda.com on Soundtrack Pro because scripts in Soundtrack Pro have a quirky, potentially dangerous, behavior that surprised me until I did some research on them.

Stuttery audio generally is a problem with bad preference files. But, on a MacPro, it can be caused by putting your capture card in the wrong slot. This article describes the problem and what you need to do to fix it.

Surround sound mixing is even more of an art than standard stereo mixing. In this article, we take a quick look at channel allocations and some general thoughts to getting the right mix.

Audio that slowly drifts out of sync is often due to a mismatch between the sample rate at which you shot the video and the sample rate at which you captured the audio.

In this article Larry advises a subscriber who downloaded a beta version of Soundbooth and believes there may have been an error in his workflow.

Through edits are marked by red “bow-ties” which indicate cuts in a track where there’s no change in video or audio. This brief technique provides three different ways to get rid of these edits.

You may not know it, but there’s a fiber optic audio connection built into every Mac. This article describes what it is, where it is, and how to use it.

Audio distortion means disaster for your project. This article shows you a new technique in Soundtrack Pro that can guarantee to increase audio gain without distortion.

Way over on the left side of the Timeline are a set of gray buttons that very few people understand. However, when you know how to use the Patch Panel properly, you’ll be able to edit any clip to any track instantly. I use this ALL the time and can’t imagine editing without it. This tool is also essential when you want to make a video-only, or audio-only edit.

Track gaps are pesky things that sneak around and flash black at the worst possible moments. This article shows you how to find and delete them.

MS microphones are popular in documentary recording because they avoid problems with phase-cancellation. However, there is not an easy way to use them in Final Cut Pro — until now, that is, using this very simple technique.

When your audio mix is more complex than Final Cut can handle, this technique shows you how to export your audio using OMF, while keeping all your clips and handles intact.

Audio files are never lost, they’re just, um, misplaced. Soundtrack Pro automatically records files to a temporary location. Which means you can find your source files, even if there’s a crash. This article shows you how.

Does this happen to you? The audio waveforms don’t display in a Final Cut Pro 7 sequence when they should. Hitting option-apple-W simply brings up a series of Xs instead of a waveform. How do you get these back? By reading this article, which explains the problem and what you need to know to fix it.

Normally, audio is monitored off your deck or camera. However, if you need to listen to the audio during capture, Final Cut turns it off by default. This short tip shows you how to turn it on.

Final Cut Pro is two audio channels in, but up to 24 audio channels out. This article shows you how to get more than stereo from FCP.

By default, Final Cut outputs all audio as a stereo pair. However, Final Cut supports up to 24 discrete audio channels out — provided you know what to adjust and where to click. This article shows you how.

Increasingly, audio is being recorded in more than two tracks. However, Soundtrack Pro has a problem when dealing with more than two tracks. This article describes the problem, and a work-around that fixes it.

Multicam clips are new with FCP 5 and provide the ability to see multiple camera angles at the same time. However, while they are easy to use, they can be tricky to set up. This technique explains the steps you need to follow to get everything working smoothly.

In order to create a multiclip in Final Cut Pro, all the clips in it MUST match for codec, frame rate, and image size. They must also contain continuous, uninterrupted timecode.

Nesting is the process of placing one sequence inside another sequence. There are many reasons why this technique is useful. This article highlights several of them, including ways to fix problems when your nested audio does not appear.

Here’s a quick little shortcut that just appeared in the latest version of Final Cut Pro that is almost impossible to find.

Normalizing is one way to raise the gain of an entire clip without creating any over-modulation. Prior to FCP 6, only Soundtrack Pro could normalize. Now, FCP can, too. Here’s how.

All DV audio is not created the same. A client had a problem with the NS light lighting; finding the solution took a few days of phone calls. Here’s the scoop.