-
Compressed audio format that doesn’t require rendering?
Hi:
We have a bunch of Quicktimes of our motion graphics and 3D animations which we save to build our demo reels, and I’m trying to find the best compromise between between file size and quality. I’m in the process of archiving the Quicktime video with the ProRes codec (transcoding from Uncompressed, the Animation codec, Motion JPEG-A, Photo JPEG), but I’m having trouble with the various compressed audio options. When I drop a clip that uses IMA, Apple lossless or AAC compression into a sequence I get a red render bar, and the audio won’t play back unless I render it, even when it’s the only clip on the timeline. The only audio type I can get to play without rendering is Linear PCM.
In the grand scheme of things the larger Quicktime file size due to the uncompressed audio won’t kill me, but I’d like to know if I’m doing something wrong regarding these compressed audio formats. I don’t understand why FCP wants to render them when I’m using only two audio tracks.
I’m currently using FCP 6.0.5 on a dual 3 Ghz Quad Core Mac Pro, OS 10.5.5, 10GB RAM.
Thanks.
Shawn Marshall
Marshall Arts Motion Graphics -
7 Replies
-
[Shawn Marshall] ” The only audio type I can get to play without rendering is Linear PCM. “
PCM is the native FC audio format. All the audio that you drop in a FC sequence is converted to PCM. Whenever you export a QT movie from FC your audio will be PCM. If you want a different kind of audio, you must go through QT Conversion or Compressor.
You may also export from Fc without audio (graphics?). Just uncheck Audio in the FC export window.
rafael -
Hi:
Thanks for the reply.
I’m not so much worried about output from FCP; I want a compressed audio format that works well upon import into FCP.
What I’m doing is opening up these old animations in Quicktime Pro player (or Compressor) and exporting them to the ProRes codec. I’d like to use a compressed audio format to save space, but none of the compressed formats I listed above will play in FCP without rendering. That seems weird. FCP can play all sorts of video codecs real time without rendering, but it can’t play AAC or IMA audio without rendering?
I still think I’m doing something wrong.
Shawn Marshall
Marshall Arts Motion Graphics -
Audio is small data so there is no point in compressing it. Apart from degrading the audio, it will always need to be rendered back to PCM 48khz in FCP so export with that setting, preserve the quality and don’t worry about the small increase in file size.
-
Okee-dokey.
The bummer is I’ve saved a lot of these animations with these compressed audio formats over the last year. All in all it probably won’t be that big a deal since we edit our reels to music, so I don’t really need to edit in the original audio.
Thanks for the replies.
Shawn Marshall
Marshall Arts Motion Graphics -
if is to get smaller files, you can always export 8b/32 Khz.
it would reduce the audio size to some 30% or so.
rafael -
[Rafael Amador] “if is to get smaller files, you can always export 8b/32 Khz.”
That would be horrid! AAC would yield a better result. 8 bit reduces the dynamic range drastically. 32khz isn’t such a big deal but for this application it would still need to be rendered in FCP.
-
I absolutely agree with you Michael,; the audio would be real crap.
But for what i understand Shawn is just looking for some kind of reference audio that he can export right from the time-line.
rafael
Reply to this Discussion! Login or Sign Up