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FCP X destroys my audio
This is now the second time that FCP X has burned me on audio. I have a 5 min. project with audio sources coming from a 4-channel WAVE file (mono mic tracks) and stereo music cues. Stereo mix.
Everything sounded fine through the mixer, but it was impossible to get an export that was clean. Every export attempt resulted in a file with an intermittent crackle/distortion on the right channel. And at peak volume! Tried various audio/video and audio-only formats. All the same.
I ultimately had to download and install Soundflower, so I could hijack the audio stream. This let me record the audio playing in real-time using QTX. I then resynced that audio file audio and the video mixdown in FCP7 and then exported a clean version. Sheesh!
I still have no idea what’s causing the crackle in the export and is therefore still a problem. I’ve pretty well lost trust in anything FCP X does with audio.
– Oliver
Oliver Peters Post Production Services, LLC
Orlando, FL
http://www.oliverpeters.com -
45 Replies
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So it plays back OK in real time but exports with noise?
Or are you hearing the noise through a capture card but not soundflower?
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Yikes! Will be following this thread closely, as that is a disaster.
I used to get intermittent crackles or pops — usually at cut points in the audio tracks — in FCP7, which seemed to be created by FCP, since the original files had no noise. I always assumed it was my fault somehow, and the only work-around was to re-import audio.
Anything heard in realtime on the tracks, of course, went through to the export.
But have not yet heard this on FCPX, e.g. noise created at export. Mostly working with dual mono (one track from on-camera mic, other from boom or lav) in which I sometimes mix the two if the camera mic reverb enhances the sound, usually in wide shots, or just do with the boom/lav otherwise. No export of audio for any other enhancements, and no hardware mixer, just rubber-banding tracks with keyframes and output, usually Export Master File.
Doug D
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[Oliver Peters] “what’s causing the crackle”
Wow, There’s a lot of weeds to wade through to find a cause: hardware drivers on the audio i/o, maybe (idk)?
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[Jeremy Garchow] “So it plays back OK in real time but exports with noise?
Or are you hearing the noise through a capture card but not soundflower?”Audio is being monitored via built-in Mac output to a mixer. Sounds fine there. Also sounds fine when captured via Soundflower. This is not a little crackle. It’s a second or more of full-on digital distortion in the right channel.
– Oliver
Oliver Peters Post Production Services, LLC
Orlando, FL
http://www.oliverpeters.com -
Which FCPX version are you using?
Steve Connor
There’s nothing we can’t argue about on the FCPX COW Forum
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[Simon Ubsdell] “Are all the music cues WAVs as well?”
Nope. Music came as MP3. I converted to 24/48 AIFFs in QT before bringing into FCP X.
FWIW – this project was originally started in FCP 7. I synced the WAVs with two cameras for interviews there, because I needed to give the client a review copy with burn-ins. When time came to edit, I XML’ed the selects sequence to X. I could not get the WAV audio to come up right in X. So I re-imported the WAVs fresh into X and re-synced the audio for the interviews. Since I’ve never had this problem before in X, it’s possible that something was munged under-the-hood thanks to the XML. That doesn’t make things better, but it is an additional variable.
(rant on) Going on 3 years (almost) and Apple still can’t deliver a product that successfully replaces FCP 7 for complex work, I’m sorry to say. Not to mention that the timeline with all the freaking connected clips for audio and video is a complete embarrassment!!!!!!!!!!! (rant off)
– Oliver
Oliver Peters Post Production Services, LLC
Orlando, FL
http://www.oliverpeters.com -
[Steve Connor] “Which FCPX version are you using?”
10.1.1.
– Oliver
Oliver Peters Post Production Services, LLC
Orlando, FL
http://www.oliverpeters.com -
wow that is strange. I have not seen/heard anything like this on any of the systems here. hmmmm….
Scott Witthaus
Senior Editor/Post Production Supervisor
1708 Inc./Editorial
Professor, VCU Brandcenter -
[Oliver Peters] “[Steve Connor] “Which FCPX version are you using?”
10.1.1.
“The only time I’ve seen any issues with digital distortion like you are describing is in 10.1, I haven’t seen it at all since the recent update.
Steve Connor
There’s nothing we can’t argue about on the FCPX COW Forum
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