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Audio in FCP sounds fine, but bad on DVD.
Hey there. I’ve been an Avid editor for 10 years, and am currently finishing up my first project on FCP. There’s been a bit of a learning curve, but for the most part, things have gone pretty smoothly. However, I’m having issues with the audio. My client is requiring standard def DVDs (the project was shot and edited 720p60).
Before I get into the specifics of my problem, here’s what I’ve done to get this program to DVD:
I’ve had some success with Compressor, but have noticed that it doesn’t always work the way I expect when I use the “send to” function (stills tend to lose their aspect ratio). So I exported a self-contained ProRes QT, and compressed from that. I made an MPEG-4 for posting/approval, and also made MPEG-2 files (m2v and ac3 Dolby 2.0) for authoring the DVD. I authored and burned in DVD Studio Pro.
I tested the DVD in three different places. For the most part, it sounds exactly as it does in FCP (which I’m monitoring using a pair of Yamaha MS101 IIs). But on the DVD, there’s one guy whose audio sounds like garbage. He sounded fine in Final Cut, and also on the .mp4 compression that I made. But on the DVD, he sounds tinny and phasey, and sometimes seems to pan (?!!). I cannot figure out what the the problem is. I never touched anything but his levels – no adjustments to panning at all.
I made two more test versions of the DVD, replacing the audio each time. One was made with a Final Cut “mixdown” (Sequence–>Render Only–> Mixdown), but I’m not even sure that that method even changed anything – the mixdown function that I’m used to (in Avid) is different — it creates a new track with your mixdown on it. The FCP mixdown seemed to leave everything where it was without making a new track. But anyway, the other test DVD was made using an exported .wav file). On both versions, the same guy still sounds bad.
Anyone have a clue as to what’s going on? This thing is going out for replication tomorrow. Thanks in advance.
-A
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8 Replies
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[Aaron Duprey] “The FCP mixdown seemed to leave everything where it was without making a new track.”
The track FCP makes using the mixdown command is invisible and probably won’t make a difference to your audio because you’re exporting the audio for a DVD. The mixdown command DOES make a difference if you’re exporting to tape and you’re dropping frames during the export. The mixdown command consolidates all your timeline audio tracks into a stereo L & R. If you make any audio changes at all after using the mixdown command the invisible track is deleted and you’ll have to use the mixdown command again. In order for the mixdown to work there has to be nothing selected/highlighted in your sequence.
When encoding to AC3 audio in Compressor make sure that you use the 192 kbps data rate if you’re doing a stereo file. Dialog Normalization should be set to -31 so the playback volume isn’t altered. The only other thing you need to change is in the preprocessing tab: change from the default “Standard Film Compression” to “none.” Change nothing else and you’re ready to encode.
Using the above method I’ve never had a part of my audio change for the worse and other parts remain the same. I’m thinking it has to be something that was done in FCP before export or something DVDSP is doing during the build and format process. Have you listened to your offending audio within DVDSP after the encoding process but before you build and burn the DVD?
There has to be a point where the audio sounds good and then doesn’t sound good during the workflow after a certain task is complete. It’s just a case of narrowing it down.
– Don
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“The track FCP makes using the mixdown command is invisible and probably won’t make a difference to your audio because you’re exporting the audio for a DVD. The mixdown command DOES make a difference if you’re exporting to tape and you’re dropping frames during the export.”
No so. It will effect the audio whether exporting or outputting to tape.
All the best,
Tom
Class on Demand DVDs “Complete Training for FCP6,” “Basic Training for FCS2” and “Final Cut Express Made Easy”
Author: “Final Cut Pro 5 Editing Essentials” and “Final Cut Express 3.5 HD Editing Workshop” -
Thanks for the reply —
I made the adjustments in Compressor, and the guy still sounds funky on the DVD. I went back and checked my original exported source QT, and it sounded fine. Brought the newly-compressed audio into DVDSP, and it sounded fine. Burned it. Checked it on a TV/DVD combo, and it’s not right.
So I took the disc and checked it on the MacPro that I’ve been using to edit/author. It sounds fine. ?!!!
So — it would seem that the speakers I’m using are somehow masking this problem? I can’t hear any problems until I check the disc on other players. Outside of sending this thing out for a mix, I’m sort of at a loss as to what to do…
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[Aaron Duprey] “On both versions, the same guy still sounds bad.”
Just a shot-
Do you have his audio on a SINGLE audio track or on TWO audio tracks?
Make sure his audio is only on one audio track. panned to center (make the changes on the timeline.)
That will eliminate any phase problems that might come in if he was recorded in “stereo” incorrectly. -
Yeah, I’ve got two tracks. In the future, I’ll definitely use just one — let me give you this update:
The DVDs that I checked last night — the ones that sound bad in three different places — all sound fine when I put them in the MacPro on which I’ve been editing and authoring. So it would appear that I’ve been monitoring this thing incorrectly the entire time.
Anyway, my client has decided to send it to an audio facility for audio post. I’m exporting an OMF as we speak. Thanks for the speedy replies, everyone.
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That’s why in an audio suite there is a mono button on the monitoring bus to check for phase cancelling errors on stereo.
Dialog should always be panned to centre but I find many editors leave combo tracks like a radio mic & boom panned L&R. Glad it is going to audio post. I am sure they will discover and fix a whole lot of other issues for you.
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Yeah, you know, in Avid, I usually find the lav track, center the pan, and delete the boom. But sometimes, if it sounds OK, I’ll just leave everything alone. That’s what I did this time, and it bit me (due to both my relative inexperience in FCP and to my monitoring issues).
But all’s well that ends well, I suppose. The mix came back sounding WORLDS better, and my client just happily walked out the door with her master.
Actually, while the mix was being done, I was able to fix a couple of very minor video issues, as well as run a couple of tests with Compressor, so it all worked out.
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Best to leave the boom track. Please don’t delete this track as it is the mixers friend. Just pull down the level. When audio post imports an OMFi those levels are ignored and the clip is available. In sound post I often mix boom back in.
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