Does FCP convert WAVs to AIFs?

[Steve Eisen]

FCP does not convert. Convert your wav files with iTunes or QuickTime Pro.

Steve Eisen
Eisen Video Productions
Board of Directors
Chicago Final Cut Pro Users Group

[Katie Van]

After you convert in i-Tunes and import you should also make sure the sample rate matches your sequences. Usually (at least in my experience) CD’s are 41 kHz and your sequences and media are 48.

[Adam Taylor]

not quite…commercial cd’s are 44.1khz 16bit, and most digital audio media is 48khz, the bit rate can differ depending on the source.

Adam Taylor
Video Editor/Audio Mixer/ Compositor/Motion GFX/Barista
Character Options Ltd
Oldham, UK

[Katie Van]

oops sorry, point is convert to match your sequence.

[Bret Williams]

It hasn’t been neccessary to convert the sample rate for 4 or 5 years. Just drop it in the timeline and do an item level render. The conversion is done in the timeline and still links back to the original file. You can move it around, add other audio layers, add filters, or adjust volume and it won’t come “unconverted.” Its a wonderful little feature that often gets forgotten or is misunderstood.

[Katie Van]

Thanks. The manuals still recommend you convert but I’m glad to know you don’t have to. And it won’t mess you up in DVD Studio Pro either if you have different sample rates?

[Bret Williams]

The manual for v4 didn’t. Thats when they added the feature. But its doing the conversion for you. Item level render simply converts the rate just like qt or iTunes. From there on out it references the new converted file. So its not like a normal render where changes unrender it.

It won’t affect dvdsp. Mixing rates would never affect exporting anyway since even a reference file export renders down the audio. And from there compressor then further compresses it to a particular rate. Now if you’re talking about placing a 44.1 aiff directly from cd into dvdsp, I’m not sure. Ive
never had a reason to do that.

Truth is, fcp has pretty much always been able to handle 44.1 in a 48 seq. But it eats away at the amount of realtime audio layers and video effects you can do. But with todays systems, its hardly a blip. With CDs, I just copy the file off the disc to the hard drive, then drop it in the timeline. Sometimes I do an item level render, sometimes I dont bother.

Give it a try. Works for me. I haven’t converted a aiff in years.

[Nayeli Garci-crespo]

Oops, I should have specified that I wasn’t talking about WAVs at 44.1 vs AIFs at 48. In my case both are at 48. The format is independent of the sample rate.

I got this answered in a different forum–someone said that FCP will just point to the original file without altering it (as usual). It doesn’t do a real-time conversion by putting in a the file in a sequence either, though. WAVs stay WAVs and AIFs stay AIFs. That makes sense to me, but the sound guy swears FCP will read the WAVS but convert them on ingest for use in sequences. I guess he’s talking about a sort of real-time conversion, but until I get evidence to the contrary, I don’t believe it.

-Nayeli

[Rafael Amador]

Hi Nayeli,
As has been pointed here, forget about the conversion.
WAV and AIFF are PCM formats (Pulse Code Modulation). Is the same information packaged in two different ways.

Mac OX 10.5.2-FC 6.02-QT 7.4.1
G5 2x2Gh 4GbRAM-BlackMagic Extreme
PMBP 17″Core2Duo 4GbRAM-AJA ioHD
JVC DTV-17″
SONY EX-1 . SONY PD170
..and always a big mess on top of the table.

[Steven Ludlow]

I think iTunes is a cumbersome way to convert files…particularly in how you designate where the converted files will go.

There is a great little freebie out there called “Max”, found at http://www.sbooth.org that is extremely fast at batch converting wav files to aif. Great tool.

Steven