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Exporting 4 X stereo channels embeded in a QT
Hi there, does anyone know if it’s possible to export the following from Avid Media Composer 8?:
A Quicktime, same-as-source video settings, with four distinct audio channels with the following stereo info:
Audio 1 – stereo mix of a show panned L
Audio 2 – stereo mix of a show panned R
Audio 3 – stereo mix of M&E tracks panned L
Audio 4 – stereo mix of M&E tracks panned RThe show is a cudown of an existing project. All audio stems were provided to me as separate files (stereo music L is one file, stereo music R is a separate file, etc). They were all imported, synced up to video, edited, and now we are trying to export a QT with the above audio settings.
The problem we’re running into is that it seems that our only option (directly out of Avid) is to export a Quictime with two interleaved stereo channels (Audio 1 is the stereo interleaved mix of the show, Audio 2 is the interleaved M&E of the show) because when we pan manually and export Direct Out (a QT Audio Option under Export Settings), it changes the channels to mono (gets rid of the pan information).
Avid tech suggested the workaround is: do a stereo mixdown of the entire show to a new track, and a stereo mixdown of just M&E to a new track, delete individual stems / tracks, move the stereo mixdowns to track 1 & 2, and export same as source with “stereo” Quicktime audio settings. That will produce a Quicktime with both the full mix of the show, and a full mix of M&E tracks, but it only gives me two tracks of audio, and the network is looking for 4 tracks with the above settings.
The below thread suggests exporting a QT reference file and bringing it into another application:
https://community.avid.com/forums/p/67755/379280.aspx
But does anyone know how to do this from Avid, natively? Is it possible? (in other words, do you need another program like Premiere or ProTools to achieve this?)
Thanks in advance.
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5 Replies
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Keep your tracks as they are, do a mixdown and export with “direct out” for audio does not work for you?
Michael
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Hi Michael, thank you for your response. Unfortunately, we’ve tried the Mixdown / Direct Out method a few different ways, each with no luck. Here’s what was tried:
– We mixed down the entire show to one stereo track, mixed down the M&E’s to one stereo track, then deleted all stems so that the sequence only had two stereo mixdowns (the whole show, and just the M&E’s). We then did an export with “Direct Out” selected under Export Settings > Audio Format, which resulted in (as one might expect) two interleaved stereo tracks (which, the network is asking for four tracks, not two):
NETWORK REQUIREMENTS:
CH 1: LT – Full Mix (Left Total)
CH 2: RT – Full Mix (Right Total)
CH 3: Music & Effects (Left)
CH 4: Music & Effects (Right)– (Just for kicks) We also mixed down the entire show to two mono tracks, mixed down the M&E’s to two mono tracks, deleted all stems so that the sequence only had four mono mixdowns, panned each track as follows (to achieve a “fake stereo”: A1-L A2-R A3-L A4-R). We then did an export with “Direct Out” selected under Export Settings > Audio Format, which, (as I guessed it would), resulted in 4 mono tracks.
– And, as per Avid Tech’s suggestion we mixed down the entire show to one stereo track, mixed down the M&E’s to one stereo track, then deleted all stems so that the sequence only had two stereo mixdowns (the whole show, and just the M&E’s). We then did an export with “Stereo” selected under Export Settings > Audio Format, which also resulted in two interleaved stereo tracks (as you might guess), not four.
(FYI, the video setting was “Same As Source” for all of the above exports).
So, it seems as if, by nature, “Direct Out” won’t split two stereo tracks into four independent tracks, which is what the Network is asking for. We’re still trying to figure out a way to accomplish the above network deliverables, though. Any additional thoughts would be greatly appreciated.
And, thanks again Michael for the response.
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I should also clarify (or, re-emphasize), that the only “Direct Out” 4 channel Quicktimes we’ve successfully exported have had 4 MONO tracks.
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I struggled with this without success and in the end did a two stereo track mixdown (as you did) Full mix + M&E. in the audio project I set to direct out and exported an xdcam file at 50 meg which the client was very happy to accept. On re- import this gives 4 tracks which represent the 2 stereo pairs. Hope that helps.
Graham
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To get this to work you also have to have the Audio Project output settings on Direct.
Michael Wolf
http://www.mikewolfpost.com
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