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Audio Mixing in FCP7
I’m trying to figure out a way to speed up my audio mixing in FCP7. The majority of videos I cut are in the How-To category so it’s not like a feature where you’d want quiet whispering in one scene and really loud explosions in the next, I pretty much want all dialogue to be in the -12dB to -3dB range. Most of the talent we work with tend to be all over the place with their levels – saying certain words much louder than others, starting sentences loud and then getting quiet, etc…
What slows me down the most right now is having to adjust the dialogue tracks via keyframes so that there’s very little dynamic range. I’ve tried slicing up the audio and adjusting the resulting clips (no keyframing) but that also takes a long time and makes a very messy timeline. I’ve tried using the Compressor/Limiter and that does a great job of getting the levels where I want them but it also seems to also add bass and a slight echo.
Maybe I’m using the Compressor/Limiter wrong, right now I have it set at:
Threshold: -12dB
Ratio: 6
Attack Time: 1
Release Time: 100If anyone requires similar results as me and knows of a faster way of achieving them, please let me know. Thanks!
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2 Replies
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FCP is not a good audio tool. Sound Track Pro may be a lot quicker for what you want as it can add track or bus based EQ, de-ess & compression and let you ride levels dynamically. This is a much better way in combination with some clip gain to get an overall sound fast and the plugins in STP are vastly better than FCP. Doing compression clip by clip is hopeless.
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Yeah, I was trying to avoid having to round trip because my projects are never done, I’m always having to go back in and create a new version for something, so without ever having picture lock I feel like jumping between the programs will create a lot of problems. Thanks Michael
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