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Activity Forums Apple Final Cut Pro Legacy 5.1 mix outputting to tape, how do preset audio level outputs work

  • 5.1 mix outputting to tape, how do preset audio level outputs work

    Posted by Ben Scott on October 22, 2010 at 9:35 am

    trying to figure out if someone is supplying 5.1 mixed audio for myself to playout to HDCAM SR what would be the standard audio outputs in final cut pro be set to

    there seems to be level changes going on along with stereo grouping in the audio outputs and unsure how this is set as a default if the audio is mixed elsewhere

    surely the mix is set to lower volumes or is this set as a standard configuration on the 5.1 audio monitor speakers setup and mixed flat to then be output lower when going to tape so that consumer surround has the negative levels baked in?

    also wondering where is a good place to get blitz tone as an AIFF or WAV

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    Michael Gissing replied 15 years, 9 months ago 3 Members · 4 Replies
  • 4 Replies
  • Mark Spano

    October 22, 2010 at 4:01 pm

    In the Audio Outputs section of your sequence settings, check that you have six outputs enabled. I usually set these to dual mono. I believe there is a preset in FCP called 5.1 monitoring that will get you there. Then make sure that each of your tracks is going out the correct output. Right-click on the audio track panel for each track and set the channel output that corresponds to the track. Standard output is as follows: A1=L, A2=R, A3=C, A4=LFE, A5=Ls, A6=Rs.

    Surround mixes are often mixed to take advantage of the full dynamic range and may be perceived as lower. Not sure what you’re referring to by ‘blitz tone’…

  • Ben Scott

    October 22, 2010 at 6:41 pm

    I know how to assign but was wondering why the defaults set to -3 and paired?
    This is for the 5.1 audio outputs in fcp

    Does this take into consideration how it was mixed and those levels

    Blitz tone is like 6 channel step tone a type of pulse tone for line up

  • Mark Spano

    October 22, 2010 at 7:48 pm

    Final Cut always thinks by default that your monitoring setup is a pair of speakers. So in the 5.1 setup, the downmixing options are set up by default to sound close to right when heard in stereo. The downmixing options have little to do with what comes out of a professional video interface such as a KONA. That is determined by two factors: number of outputs assigned in Sequence Settings/Audio Outputs and track bus assignments (track panel output choices as discussed earlier). If you’re monitoring the output of the card (HD-SDI or AES) then the downmix options don’t matter. They have nothing to do with anything except how the mix will be heard downmixed to stereo. These options don’t affect track levels going out real outputs. Try setting all of them to crazy numbers and monitor the real outputs – you’ll see they don’t change *unless* you turn downmixing ON. Hope that’s helpful…

  • Michael Gissing

    October 22, 2010 at 8:52 pm

    Stereo tracks have the -3db trim because of equal energy panning. The trim is so that stereo when panned to the center as mono sounds the same volume. So if you use stereo outputs and have the left track panned hard left, there is should be no trim of output level. The trim happens with the pan to center.

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