FCP’s poor handling of mp3 files

[Ron James]

Wow, my clients would rather me be on a “high horse” than waste their money using mp3 files in their show. Yikes.

I don’t care what anyone says, I trust my own ears, and my own ears tell me MP3 sucks, plain and simple. If anything, use Apple’s AAC. It sounds better.

Who cares if anyone uses mp3 anyway (I certainly don’t care), just stop whining that a pro app doesn’t support it. I’d much rather Apple concentrate on the important features than making sure a crappy sounding consumer format is supported.

Either way you go, it sure ain’t hard to convert your file(s), is it? Create a droplet and keep working…

G5 Dual 2.7 GHz
2 GB RAM
OS 10.4.6
FCP 5.0.4
QT 7.0.4

[Walter Biscardi]

[Tom Adams] “open your minds and realize that there are plenty of instances when mp3s could be and should be “usable’ within a fcp editing situation..”

I’ll stay up here on the horse where the sound is clean and clear. Mp3’s are usable as offline quality only. My clients would not accept, nor do I accept the poor quality of audio from MP3’s. It’s not a pro audio format, thus a pro format NLE such as Final Cut Pro doesn’t support it and frankly it doesn’t affect me at all.

If you want to work wiht mp3’s natively, iMovie is supplied free with your Mac.

Walter Biscardi, Jr.
https://www.biscardicreative.com

Director, “The Rough Cut”
https://www.theroughcutmovie.com

Now Posting “Good Eats” in HD for the Food Network

“I reject your reality and substitute my own!” – Adam Savage, Mythbusters

[Walter Biscardi]

[Matt G] “I have enjoyed reading the various opinions on the use of mp3 files.

I am interested to know what the same people think (for and against the quality issue) about video compression.”

two completely different things and not relevant to this topic on audio.

Walter Biscardi, Jr.
https://www.biscardicreative.com

Director, “The Rough Cut”
https://www.theroughcutmovie.com

Now Posting “Good Eats” in HD for the Food Network

“I reject your reality and substitute my own!” – Adam Savage, Mythbusters

[Tom Adams]

Walter (and all the other high riders),

You’ve all mentioned that mp3s should ONLY be used as offline quality. I agree. That’s why I originally brought up the whole discussion…I would like to use crappy mp3s in an offline edit. Nowhere did I ever say that I love the crappy quality of mp3s.

I never stated that mp3s are awesome quality and everyone should love them. I just think fcp should support mp3s so I could cut an offline-edit with the OFFLINE quality mp3s that the sound studio sends me for cutting the OFFLINE versions…

yowza…a lot of assuming going on her. I know people like to tout their dedication to the finest this or the finest that…but that doesn’t allow for the most efficient or martest workflow … in the reel-world…

This wasn’t supposed to be a discussion about the virtues of uncompressed audio vs. crappy mp3s… is twas supposed to address (my original question:) “why FCP hasn’t figured out how to properly render/import mp3 files”

I would expect a little more “big picture” thinking from the fine, accomplished professionals in this forum.

ride on, ride…

Regards,

Tom Adams – Director/Owner
Reelife Documentary Productions
“cool digital video stuff…not boring or dumb”
info@reelifeproductions.com http://www.reelifeproductions.com
Williamsburg, MA, USA

1.4Ghz DP mirrordoor G4
OS10.4.3, FCP 5.0.3
Panasonic DVX100a & EZ1

[Tom Wolsky]

MP3 is a highly compressed format. For playback it has to be decompressed on the fly while playing multiple tracks of video and audio. The performance degradation is too great, and it’s better if you convert the material.

Yes, other applications support this format, this one doesn’t. How high is on the food chain of things that need to be fixed or get improved? That’s any one’s guess, but I suspect not very high.

All the best,

Tom

Author: “Final Cut Pro 5 Editing Essentials” and “Final Cut Express 2 Editing Workshop” Class on Demand “Complete Training for FCP5” DVD

[Ben Oliver]

exactly, i hate having to convert files that i KNOW i am going to dump, i am a PIX editor, not a sound editor. I want to use mp3 files in my timeline, so i can do TEMP audio, and not spend any of my time, rendering mp3 files to aiff, or buying cds that i already have, or having PRODUCTION buy an cd’s. it saves time and money, if the produciton in the sound edit wants to buy a song, its up to them. they have my temp tracks, thats enough for me.

its annoying, and there is no reason for it not to work. it also angers me that apple doesnt let you use there itunes downloads in the timeline. if im working with a director that wants to try out a song that i dont have, or dont have time to drive to the local cd store, we “could” just simply download it and throw it in, and give it a whirl all for a dollar. (then of course if he likes it, he can go through the rigamaroll of getting the rights)

by the way, most people that i have encountered, can’t tell the difference between aiff audio, or an mp3. the head of NBC when he okay’d the pilot for out of context, a. couldnt hear that i ripped the music and effects from kill bill, or b. couldnt tell that i ripped them tom mp3 193khz, lol.

[Tom Adams]

Ben,

now that’s what I’m talkin about! I think you summed it up: “its annoying, and there is no reason for it not to work.”

thank you for presenting more real-world examples of why FCP SHOULD fully support the use of mp3s in the timeline. sheesh.

Regards,

Tom Adams – Director/Owner
Reelife Documentary Productions
“cool digital video stuff…not boring or dumb”
info@reelifeproductions.com http://www.reelifeproductions.com
Williamsburg, MA, USA

1.4Ghz DP mirrordoor G4
OS10.4.3, FCP 5.0.3
Panasonic DVX100a & EZ1

[Tom Wolsky]

The iTunes music store issue is in the licensing agreement. It’s not something Final Cut can do anything about. That’s the deal that was cut with the record industry. It’s only allowed in their bundled software like the iLife apps.

All the best,

Tom

Author: “Final Cut Pro 5 Editing Essentials” and “Final Cut Express 2 Editing Workshop” Class on Demand “Complete Training for FCP5” DVD

[Andy Mees]

[Tom Adams] “now that’s what I’m talkin about! I think you summed it up: “its annoying, and there is no reason for it not to work.””

all Ben summed up was his post was his inabilty to process the information given to him (that decompressing the MPEG audio and converting to aiff in realtime whilst simultaneously handling everything else that FCP does would over tax the processors)

you can complain all you want about the status quo, but this is the way that FCP works, using a single native sequence codec for both video and audio.

as for fcp’s ability to do this strictly for an offline / rough cut … it already can. yes, youll get a few pops and crackles but this is just to test the track with the edit, right? and if it fits and you want to use it then you can get the high quality source (or if you can’t tell the difference, and therfore assume that no one else can either, then you can just convert the mp3 to aiff using the many methods already proposed)

FCP is not AVID and its not Vegas nor Edius nor any other NLE that supports mixed formats in the timeline … for the time being, it is what it is.

[Ben Oliver]

i agree that it is not currently supported, no kidding.

but as a user that switched to FCP, mostly cause of apple computers, not the software, i enjoyed using the ability to seamlessly use mps files in my timelines. its faster, and drag and drop.

these forums are monitored by apple, so the more i make my opinion understood, the more likely, or at least the more likely the idea will develop in the future.

i work part time at harvard university. i can’t tell you the number of times clients/professors/students have asked me to convert realmedia files to dvds, quicktime web video to dvds, dvd to vhs, and yes, put mp2’s in the timeline for there dvd projects.

fcp needs this usability. fear not, the world of editing will not fall apart, and when your watching the sopranos, you won’t hear pops. its a bit of usability that would be fantastic.

vegas video required that you use .wav 16bit uncompressed audio, however it allowed you to use the file in the timeline, without rendering, and being annoying. AHHh, this debate is getting silly. lol