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Audio editing in X
Hi everyone. I want to know if this can be done.
I edit highlights for sporting events using FCP 7. I hook up my MBP running 7 in OB trucks. My source is usually World Feed with two channels of audio, Ch 1-Full mix with English commentary, Ch 2-International sound. I edit highlights on the fly as the footage comes in. My output has two audio tracks, again full mix and int’l. When I’m making the cuts, wherever I want to cut around the commentary, I cover the full mix track with the int’l sound from trk 2 to remove unwanted commentary around cuts.
Can I do the same in X? I still need both tracks in my output.
Thanks in advance. Hope I’ve explained myself clearly.Kannan Raghavan
The Big Toad Films Pte. Ltd. -
34 Replies
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[Kannan Raghavan] ” My source is … two channels of audio, Ch 1-Full mix with English commentary, Ch 2-International sound. … My output has two audio tracks, again full mix and int’l. When I’m making the cuts, wherever I want to cut around the commentary, I cover the full mix track with the int’l sound from trk 2 to remove unwanted commentary around cuts. “
Hi Kannan
Would like to hear others views but the best way I can figure this can be done is as follows:
1. Right click your clip and ‘create multi cam clip’
2. Open in Angle editor (double click multi cam clip) and rename angle to ‘FULL MIX’
3. Ensure audio is set to 1 stereo pair and at a good level with Mix->Left and Fx->Right
4. Click tiny triangle next to first angles name and ‘add angle’
5. Alt drag 1st angle into 2nd angle track.
6. Rename that 2nd Angle ‘FX ONLY’
7. Select 2nd angle clip – go to audio inspector – change to 2 Mono tracks and turn off track 1
8. Go to Effects Browser | Audio and add a ‘Gain’ effect to the 2nd angle – adjust to add +6dB gain (this compensates for the 6dB pan law that FCPx has).
9. Cut this multi cam into your sequence.
10. Where you want to lose commentary, blade 2 points and then select the section. In the audio inspector for that section, deselect ‘full mix’ and select ‘m&e’
Sounds v. complicated, and you can simplify by just doing the blading in the timeline on the master clip, but once you have your multi cam setup it is quicker in the timeline.
You will have to rethink if, as is almost always the case, you need to adjust the level of the M&E to match the Full Mix – as this will cause mismatched edits in your edited M&E.
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/45875183/2ch%20multicam.mov
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OK, easier version – all in the timeline
1. Drag 2 channel clip to sequence
2. Make this timeline clip 2 x mono
3. Disable both audio tracks for this primary timeline clip
4. Duplicate this clip below Primary – enable A1, pan left, +6dB Gain
5. Repeat – enable A2, pan right, +6dB Gain
6. You can now blade the ‘A1’ connected clip and enable A2 where you want M&E instead of Full Mix – without making edits on the A2 output, thus any level adjustments to match M&E and Full Mix will only affect the A1 output.
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/45875183/2%20ch%20sequence.mov
Be nice to be able to nest this but BEWARE – compounding this clip will NOT help you (try it and you’ll see why as soon as you try to swap audio tracks)
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Thanks a lot for taking the time to reply mate. Will try it out and report:)
Kannan Raghavan
The Big Toad Films Pte. Ltd. -
I would do it like Trevor’s second version, but instead of duplicating the entire clip I would simply detach the audio, then duplicate the audio. So the you have the image on the primary and two audio clips in the secondary.
“Always look on the bright side of life” – Monty Python
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Thanks Nikolas. Am trying it out first thing in the morning:)
Kannan Raghavan
The Big Toad Films Pte. Ltd. -
And before you export you would need to assign new custom roles to the audio clips, you can name them as you like. Then export a Quicktime with separate audio files and choose your custom roles.
And another tip: when cutting the audio its a good idea to turn it into a story line. Then using the Position Tool (p) delete the portions you don’t need. Whats left is the filler between the clips, that way you won’t move clips by accident and loose sync. Keep in mind that X won’t indicate if clips are out of sync.
Another way, instead of cutting, would be to use keyframes. Using the range tool, select the range you want to get rid of and pull the audio level down. then you get 4 keyframes. That way you can blend your audio and don’t need to worry about small pieces.
“Always look on the bright side of life” – Monty Python
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Sigh:( At least this was much easier in 7.
Kannan Raghavan
The Big Toad Films Pte. Ltd. -
If I am understanding this correctly, the output is one channel of English, one channel international.
The international is nearly the same as English, but at certain points, the English commentary is covered with international sound.
I would do it this way.
Add your clips dual mono as mentioned.
Add another instance of audio only English (ch1) underneath as a connected clip.
On ch1 of the original clip, assign a Role of “English”. Roles can only be assigned to individual audio components in the timeline.
On ch2 of the original clip assign the Role of “International”.
On ch1 of the connected clip assign the Role of “International”.
Do your edit and mix. You can mute Roles in the Timeline Index for better mixing.
At the end, do a dual mono export with one channel Role of English, one channel Role of International.
Or perhaps I’m not understanding you correctly?
Jeremy
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[Kannan Raghavan] “Sigh:( At least this was much easier in 7.”
How did you do it in 7? It’s possible you can just do the same thing…
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~ My FCPX Babbling blog ~
~”It is a poor craftsman who blames his tools.”~
~”The function you just attempted is not yet implemented”~ -
Kannan, you don’t have to use a storyline nor Keyframes. These are just tips. In your case you simply cut the clips, they won’t move if you blade and delete. When your done you can highlight the clips from one “track” and turn them into a storyline if you like, X will put filler in between.
Assigning roles will take the same amount of time as assigning tracks for export in 7.
This job is an example where X isn’t faster than 7, until you export. Unless you don’t use any effects and export a reference, then 7 is faster in this case.
The speed of X really becomes evident once you start working with effects. And one thing, which really improved with 10.1 is that you can edit during import, and with 10.1 you can even export during import, even clips that are still converting. At least it worked with DSLR footage the other day.
I still get hired for 7 or Avid most of the time. But after having mastered X, FCP 7 and Avid get on my nerves a lot, and now that I’m close to mastering Premiere CC, 7 is looking even crappier day by day.
“Always look on the bright side of life” – Monty Python
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