Audio editing in FCPX

[Bob Woodhead]

I find that grabbing them by the balls is the easiest way to wrestle ’em to the ground.

😛

[Mark Smith]

Its funny, I always felt like an idiot editing sound in FCP7 as it usually took me a few swings to get an edit right. When I started editing in X the first thing that jumped out at me was precision which with I could edit audio without much effort, and this was on my first project when I hardly knew WTF I was doing with the program.

[Charlie Austin]

[Mark Smith] …”was precision which with I could edit audio without much effort,”

Yep. I think what people have trouble with is managing connections. It’s totally do-able, even in projects with dozens of layered clips, but it does require a different approach than a tracked timeline. Not saying it couldn’t be improved, because it certainly could, but it’s pretty simple once you get your head around it. And way more precise.

————————————————————-

~ My FCPX Babbling blog ~
~”It is a poor craftsman who blames his tools.”~
~”The function you just attempted is not yet implemented”~

[Mark Smith]

Agreed about connection management. That was the stickiest thing for me to deal with in learning X. I jet watched my wife, who was one of those ” they will pry FCP7 from my cold dying hands” people transition to X. Managing connections was her biggest headache to learn, and unlearning stacking up tracks like she would do in 7 took a while unlearn.
She’s a far happier camper now that she knows how to move things around quickly and her time lines are much more simple than when she started out. I like that once you get the idea, X is a far better organizational system and the app sort of gets out of your way and lets you get on with what you are there to do, which is the creative work of editing.

[Franz Bieberkopf]

[Charlie Austin] “And way more precise.”

Charlie,

It’s unclear what you are talking about here. What is more precise than what, and how?

Franz.

[Charlie Austin]

[Franz Bieberkopf] “What is more precise than what, and how?”

For me, the ability to move and trim clips in subframe increments without changing “modes” is really nice. Also Compound Clips are nice, in that I can cut together dialog and then comp all the tiny syllables I’ve stitched together into a CC, either audio only, or with picture turning it back into a “normal” clip. If it’s got picture, I can then expand the A/V, trim the pix to length leaving an audio J or L cut, then close it up. I can break it apart in the timeline if I need to.

Also like the fact that I can do manual A/B crossfades on music in a single secondary, again using expanded A/V. The fact that secondaries can ripple independently of the primary is very useful. Being able to select a group of non-overlapping clips that are scattered anywhere in the timeline and pop them all into a secondary with a keystroke is really nice. Adding connected clips to an existing secondary in the same way is really nice too.

I know of no NLE in which I can search for audio clips in an index, select them, which selects them in the TL, and with a keystroke put them all on the same “track”, no matter where they were in the sequence.

One can (and probably will lol) argue that similar things can be accomplished in any NLE, but it’s just easier in X. For me.

————————————————————-

~ My FCPX Babbling blog ~
~”It is a poor craftsman who blames his tools.”~
~”The function you just attempted is not yet implemented”~

[Franz Bieberkopf]

Charlie,

Thanks, I didn’t understand how connection management made audio editing more precise, but I see you’re really just talking in terms of what you see as more flexibility.

Franz.

[Charlie Austin]

[Franz Bieberkopf] “Thanks, I didn’t understand how connection management made audio editing more precise, but I see you’re really just talking in terms of what you see as more flexibility.”

Yep… 🙂 I can do subframe trims/move in Pr using “Audio Units” mode. But why do I need to switch modes at all? Personally I find doing it in X easier and more flexible. And wrangling connections is a bear if you try to work in a “track” mindset. (see what I did there?). FCP X TL organization can definitely use improvement, but it’s not inherently more difficult, it’s just wildly different. The biggest complaints I hear are usually regarding MX beds. You cut it, and you don’t want it to move unexpectedly. So… either cut in a secondary(s), or comp it. If you need to move sections with the pix, just cut the secondary so the parts “stick” to their respect sections, move stuff, fine tune it, and then gather it all back into one secondary if you want. Or don’t. Easy.

Same with say, adding a title effects to cards throughout a cut. Just cut them connected, and then when your done, if you want them all to appear in a “track”, select ’em in the TL or with the index, CMD-G, done. If pinned to the head, your secondary acts like a track, but you can move it, cut it, add/subtract clips etc real really simply.

The other issue I had is the situation where an effect to something is timed to a clip, but maybe the effect ends before, or starts after, the primary clip it’s associated with. That drove me nuts. but then, d’oh!, just make it a secondary and add some pre/post gap to extend it and connect it to the proper clip. One and done, and it’ll stick there ’til you choose to break the connection.

Te aforementioned dialog cheat comping with the pix is awesome. Selecting all the dissolves in a cut using the index and changing duration, style, deleting ’em… awesome.

Like I said, you can do similar things in any NLE, and there are definitely things in X that need, uh… fine tuning 😉 But it’s not the monster some folks believe it is. I cut (and temp mix) really complex audio beds with no problem at all… YMMV 😉

————————————————————-

~ My FCPX Babbling blog ~
~”It is a poor craftsman who blames his tools.”~
~”The function you just attempted is not yet implemented”~

[Jeremy Garchow]

[Bob Woodhead] ” find that grabbing them by the balls is the easiest way to wrestle ’em to the ground. “

Unless, of course, you are a mythical beaver and bite them off and leave them for your pursuer.

https://bestiary.ca/beasts/beast152.htm

[Bill Davis]

“Unless, of course, you are a mythical beaver and bite them off and leave them for your pursuer.”

Mythical Beaver is, in my opinion, the next great alternative folk rock band name.

Mark my words.

Know someone who teaches video editing in elementary school, high school or college? Tell them to check out http://www.StartEditingNow.com – video editing curriculum complete with licensed practice content.