[John Pale]

[Bret Williams] ” really can’t understand why people are using quicktime and itunes any more up rez their audio files. It is an extra step.”

If you are exporting an OMF, you cant have mixed sample rates, even if its rendered. Pro Tools will not accept it.

[John Pale]

As Captain Mench said….it has to fall on an I frame.

If you really, really need them to be frame accurate…you can force an I frame in FCP by making the marker a compression marker in additon to being a chapter marker (there is a button for that in the window)

This is not a limitation of the program…its a limitation of MPEG encoding…not every frame really exists…only I frames are real frames…everything else is interpolated.

[John Pale]

Recapture the low quality version. Find a specific point in the interview (when someone starts talking might be the easiest)
On a deck with a timecode display, find the same exact spot and note the timecode.

In FCP, load the low quality clip in the viewer and put the playhead on the specific spot. Go to Modify/Timecode and type in the timecode from the high quality tape. Take the low quality clip offline using the make offline clip. Recapture using the high quality tape.

[John Pale]

Ugh…I wrote that backwards.

-20 db tone in FCP = 0 VU on your UVW 1800 meters

I’ll shut up now.

[John Pale]

You need to change the settings when encoding your AC3 file. The default settings are WRONG.

Use these settings for stereo.

Audio Pane:
Audio Coding Mode: 2/0 (L, R)
Sample Rate; 48k
Data Rate: 192kbs
Bit Stream: Complete Main
Dialog Normalization: -31 NOT the default -27

Pre-Processing Pane
Compression Preset: NONE (NOT the default FILM STANDARD COMPRESSION, which is for MOVIE THEATER SOUND SYSTEMS)
Turn of the Low Pass and DC filters.

[John Pale]

[rsk3527] “Should the peaks on the UVW-1800 be hitting around zero?”

You are confusing VU and Db. They can and should peak higher than that. Remember, -20 VU in FCP = 0 db on the 1800. Consult the network you are delivering to for what they want. They usually have this info in a printed document., You will get different answers from different people about what is “correct”.

For most shows you will have too much dynamic range. To keep everything sounding good, and within the narrow area which TV broadcast specs demand, its kinda advised to use compression filters. You can do that within FCP, Soundtrack Pro, or ideally export to Pro Tools and have an audio expert do it.

[John Pale]

For most of the network stuff I have done, tone was required to be at -20 not -12.

[John Pale]

[janegrove] ” 7-8 bit rate, 2 pass VBR”

This is too high a bit rate if you are using DVD-R (you have more leeway with replicated discs). Its likely the player is choking on the I frames which are spiking above 8.
On top of that, you are using VBR incorrectly. You should have a pretty wide spread between the low end and the high. 3.5-7 would be reasonable. The whole point of VBR is to save space by using a low bit rate for areas of your program that are not complex. Unless your project is lengthy (2hrs.), you dont need or want to use VBR.

You should use CBR (constant bit rate–single pass). Set the bit rate to 6.5. You should see an improvement. Keep in mind that DV is not the best codec to be working in, since it is compressed heavily to begin with and is then being compressed additionally by the MPEG encoder.

Also, be sure to compress your audio to AC3.

[John Pale]

[MissDivaGirl] “Still showing offline media icon on the timeline but playing back fine”

Does this clip have any rendered effects on it. If so, the media is playing from the RENDER FILE. If the clip becomes unrendered for any reason (you make an adjustment), the clip would then be really offline.

[John Pale]

You dont get any printed manuals with the 5.1 upgrade. It’s assumed you will use your manuals from 5.0, as it is not functionally very different.

FCP 5 is far ahead of FCP 3…too many items to list here. Just go to the Apple website and take the tour.