[Doug Metz]

Hey Roger,

If you hover your mouse over the right-hand side of each of those sections, you’ll get a ‘Show / Hide’ mini menu.

[Doug Metz]

I’d be wary of exporting with original clip names, just because you’ve already got files with those names on the drive. Should you ever need to relink, it’ll cause confusion and trouble. Better to add a prefix or suffix to differentiate.

You can batch rename inside FCP (Modify -> Apply Custom Name -> New… ) by creating a custom naming preset. Super flexible, and you could use it on your Smart collection prior to export.

EDIT: I’ve also written a bunch of AppleScripts to bulk rename files after the fact (find/replace and add prefix/suffix get the most use)

[Doug Metz]

Yeah, when they “upgraded” the forum software years ago, usability took a massive hit and hasn’t recovered.

The people are nice and I like to help, but I don’t hang out here nearly as much as I used to because efficiency is so bad. Can’t scroll the window behind the modal reply box, can’t move the reply box, can’t tell which threads you’ve seen vs. not, sooooo much wasted white space means you can only see a few threads per page, extra scrolling and clicking… just nuisances at every turn. It’s genuinely hostile. But again, I love the community. The software blows.

/rant

[Doug Metz]

Yes. Since you’re looking at the properties of an individual clip, FC shows you available options based on what’s in the file, as opposed to your projects where you get to determine the output (whether you have the channel coverage or not).

You can import surround / multi-channel audio files (many of the included SFX are surround files).

Edited because the Cow’s reply box totally hogs the screen and won’t let me review the message I’m replying to while I type.

[Doug Metz]

Awesome – glad I could help!

[Doug Metz]

What you’re describing sounds like phase cancellation, maybe due to misinterpretation by FCP as to what’s actually in the file.

The reason I mention those two apps is that they give far more detailed information about the contents of your media files. Invisor is only $5, and will be more useful than you think.

In any event, this section of the user guide details how to change the channel configuration, and when/why you might need to:

https://support.apple.com/guide/final-cut-pro/configure-audio-channels-verc1fab5f6/mac

support.apple.com

Configure audio channels in Final Cut Pro for Mac

In Final Cut Pro for Mac, change the audio channel configuration, view and listen to audio components, and enable or disable audio components.

[Doug Metz]

“I’ve brought a few pieces of sound from GarageBand into FCP 10.7.1 and they are being mercilessly modified. The files sound fine in every other player: Finder; Audacity; VLC; Quicktime.“

Hey Kent,

Can you clarify what ‘mercilessly modified’ entails?

Do you have a copy of Media Info or Invisor?

[Doug Metz]

As a general rule, always reformat new drives before use.

Start with GUID partition map. If you’re using an SSD, format APFS. If it’s a mechanical drive, use HFS+.

macOS and FCP utilize many of the features of APFS, and that file system was designed to take advantage of SSDs. While Apple says you can use APFS on a mechanical drive, my experience says don’t do it. Things will be measurably slower, constant seeking/thrashing, it’s just a bad deal (even if it does technically work).

It should also be noted that FCP can behave unpredictably if you’re working off an ExFAT drive, due primarily to the lack of certain file system features/journaling. Again, do not work off an ExFAT drive with FCP. You will lose work at some point.

[Doug Metz]

Hey Frank,

Have you tried to set the Viewer’s quality setting to prioritize performance? It might help.

I’ve not tried multiple magnetic masks on a single clip… what hardware are you running?

[Doug Metz]

Hey Brian,

That’s the new default panel in 11, but you can set it to whichever one you prefer:

Settings -> General -> Color Correction