[Gary Adcock]

[Paul Harb] “Here is something that has been brought to my attention today. The audio playback that was used for the band to lip sync to was a 44.1k file 16bit. We ran that camera at 23.98fps. Is there no way that this is the issue?”

Nope that should not be an issue, that is standard CD quality.

and Stop thinking that changing the timeline will do anything for this issue.

MIXDOWN THE AUDIO within FCP- if that does not show promise- then something else is screwed up.

gary adcock
Studio37
HD & Film Consultation
Post and Production Workflows for the Digitally Inclined
Chicago, IL

https://blogs.creativecow.net/24640

[Gary Adcock]

[Paul Harb] “So I did what you said and exported the audio file at 24bit 48k and brought it back in”

I have never said you needed export your audio timeline as 24bit.

“still out of sync AND if I lay that MASTER audio down that I will be cutting to,”
if it was out of sync when you exported it will still be out of sync, changing to 24 bit will not fix that.

NOTE that FCP / Media Mangler / Compressor all do really lousy Audio Conversions — do this in STP or better yet Protools to have this handled properly.

You need to fix the issue in the timeline FIRST before trying an export. -did you try an audio mixdown inside of FCP?

Does your ALL of your audio match the timeline settings? that would mean EVERY piece of Music, VO’s, SOT and Foley audio.

Where did you get the audio and how was it converted to Aiff?

gary adcock
Studio37
HD & Film Consultation
Post and Production Workflows for the Digitally Inclined
Chicago, IL

https://blogs.creativecow.net/24640

[Gary Adcock]

[Phil Bucci] “yes the DB is built. reversed the clips from cinema tools then brought those clips into final cut. “

FYI for your amusement- there have been a number of people that have asked that question without ever having built the DB- its the “Miracle Happens”syndrome.

Have you kept the link to CT to maintain the Keycode?

you will need walk thru your workflow if you want assistance.

gary adcock
Studio37
HD & Film Consultation
Post and Production Workflows for the Digitally Inclined
Chicago, IL

https://blogs.creativecow.net/24640

[Gary Adcock]

[Mark Spano] “A note of clarification: FCP can handle 32kHz, 44.1kHz, 48kHz, 88.2kHz, 96kHz audio at 8, 16, or 24 bits – both as imported files and as sequence settings.”

FCP claims it can handle HDV, AVC Intra and R3D files, but they will not play at all if the timeline settings are not correct. That is the problem here, a settings mismatch that is only affecting the audio

What FCP can do and what it does are often 2 different things.

I got $20 USD that Mixing Audio bit rates is the cause.

gary adcock
Studio37
HD & Film Consultation
Post and Production Workflows for the Digitally Inclined
Chicago, IL

https://blogs.creativecow.net/24640

[Gary Adcock]

[Sam Tollitt] “I have just loaded a ton of sequence presets in fcp 7 as I was a bit worried & they all read 16bit 48Khz as expected, if it is the case that I am wrong could somebody please explain why? “

Ok this issue has been in FCP since it was KeyGrip, it is a rendering mismatch.

While FCP can and does read mixed frame and audio rates there is a catch- the master audio and your timeline settings need to match bit depth.

If you digitize into FCP using hardware all of the defaults go with 24bit audio.
If you use the default easy setup presets for ProRes it wants to SEE 24bit audio.

If you load something else in that timeline, like files with 16bit audio, the RT extreme engine keeps on rendering that audio content whether there is content in the timeline or not – because you chose a 24bit audio setting in the preset and you are using 16bit audio that was converted from something else.

So every time you hit a gap the renderer jumps ahead to the next clip to render, even though you are not to that point in the timeline yet.

if you Mixdown your audio or if you set the SAFE RT you should not be seeing these issues.

Try rendering out the file completely to a self contained QT with a Audio Mixdown- this should all go away.

gary adcock
Studio37
HD & Film Consultation
Post and Production Workflows for the Digitally Inclined
Chicago, IL

https://blogs.creativecow.net/24640

[Gary Adcock]

[phil Bucci] “I noticed doing a test edl that no keycode information is coming out.”

did you build a database with KeyCode for each file?

Or are you magically expecting it to appear in your clips without loading that info in somewhere?

gary adcock
Studio37
HD & Film Consultation
Post and Production Workflows for the Digitally Inclined
Chicago, IL

https://blogs.creativecow.net/24640

[Gary Adcock]

[Gary Nelson] “All of our work is NTSC Apple Prores 422 (29.97)
and our audio is at 48k 16 bit (and perhaps 24bit, don’t know if that matters…) “

Audio at 16bit is most likely the cause of your issue, FCP wants 48K 24bit audio.

Try a Mixdown of your audio and you will find that it should clear things up.

( this is my 6th post about audio errors when using 16bit audio in the last couple of days- it is the issue)

gary adcock
Studio37
HD & Film Consultation
Post and Production Workflows for the Digitally Inclined
Chicago, IL

https://blogs.creativecow.net/24640

[Gary Adcock]

[jason levy] “There are exactly 24 frames for every time the second digit ticks over regardless of whether the framerate is 24 or 23.98. That is why when when you go to the timecode menu I mentioned there is no way to select 23.98… just 24”

Since recording and playback mechanisms are physically slowed down to achieve 23.98 one needs to be careful when making assumption.

24.0 materials playback differently than 23.98 material does.

I was making the point that Cinema Tools sees and understands both as individual frame rates , while FCP does understand 23.98, it has extreme issues with 24.0 fps, it is a small distinction to you, but a big one to those that work at integer frame rates.
Final Cut is not the “end all” solution for these types of issues.

gary adcock
Studio37
HD & Film Consultation
Post and Production Workflows for the Digitally Inclined
Chicago, IL

https://blogs.creativecow.net/24640

[Gary Adcock]

[jason levy] “Changed the timecode to 24 (there is no option for 23.98 of course) and it’s normal.
“

WHOA….

There is a BIG difference between 23.98 and 24.0

you did not have that option in FCP because you have not ever opened Cinema Tools.
Open CT and conform to 23.98 or you will have MASSIVE problems later.

if you set the TC right in Cinema tools FIRST, it will be correct in FCP.

gary adcock
Studio37
HD & Film Consultation
Post and Production Workflows for the Digitally Inclined
Chicago, IL

https://blogs.creativecow.net/24640

[Gary Adcock]

[Bob Zelin] ” I have the utmost respect for you, for going thru everything, and finally figuring out what the real problem was – a stupid little switch. “

Note too the fact that she would take the time to post that information also, something not many of the “professionals” here do when it was “a stupid little switch”

gary adcock
Studio37
HD & Film Consultation
Post and Production Workflows for the Digitally Inclined
Chicago, IL

https://blogs.creativecow.net/24640