[Matt Lyon]

Good point Michael. I assumed the opposite, that the files were separate AIFF from the beginning 🙂

So yes, my advice would only work if the AIFFs were separate files. But I don’t think it would matter whether or not they have timecode. When doing a “dumb” relink in the manner I describe, I’m pretty sure that FCP just lines up the start frames and goes from there. I recently relinked a bunch of files in this manner that were all 1 hr offset in TC and FCP didn’t complain or mess up the timing of my edits.

Matt Lyon
Editor
Toronto

[Matt Lyon]

If the files are EXACTLY the same length, name, format and number of channels, you should be able to swap them out on the hard disk and have FCP relink automatically.

Make sure to fully quit FCP. Put the old files in a different location on the hard drive for safekeeping. Put the new files in the same folder where the original audio used to live. Make sure the file names are exactly the same. Now open FCP, and now any clips that reference that media should link to them. Double check the “source file” info in the item properties to be sure.

Of course, there is potential to screw things up. So I’d recommend testing this with one clip before you do the whole batch. Probably you’ll want to make a new version of your project too before you attempt this.

If things don’t work as planned, you’ll still have the original audio on hand. Just quit FCP, move the audio back to its old home and open the old project file.

hth,

Matt Lyon
Editor
Toronto

[Matt Lyon]

Christopher, your points are all well taken, but I think everyone has different needs and it is important to get this information out there so everyone can decide the right course of action for their situation. I don’t see a problem setting your monitors to 1.8, as long as you understand the ramifications it has on other programs. And, as I mentioned in a previous post, it is possible to have multiple profiles calibrated for different situations.

We’d all love to work with calibrated broadcast monitors all the time, but that isn’t realistic. My current gig is all monitored via “digital desktop preview.” So I can’t just leave my computer monitors at 2.2 and have everything look dark all the time. The director and producer would not really abide by that. Eventually, the material will be handed off to another facility for grading in a proper, calibrated environment. But for the time being, things need to look “good enough” to at least not be distracting so we can focus on the story.

Of course, everyone’s mileage may vary…

Matt Lyon
Editor
Toronto

[Matt Lyon]

Hey Adrian,

Your post made me curious because I may have to do this as well in the near future. I was able to arrive at a solution with a quick test. You may be able to arrive at the same result with a different set of steps, but this is what worked in my project:

1. Duplicate your locked timeline. Delete all video layers
2. Select all you audio clips and select “make independent.”
3. Media manage this sequence. Select “use existing media,” and “duplicate and put in new project.” (also uncheck “include master clips outside selection”).
4. Once your new project opens, select all items in the FCP browser. Then select “MODIFY>RENAME>CLIP TO MATCH FILE.”

now your clips in your timeline should be renamed to match the audio file names.

hth,

Matt Lyon
Editor
Toronto

[Matt Lyon]

Liam, this issue gets posted about very frequently. Follow the second half of my tutorial to import your audio the correct way and avoid this problem.

https://library.creativecow.net/lyon_matt/fixing-fcp-assets/1

Changing the speed of your clips may work, but you are really just treating the symptoms instead of solving the root problem.
hth,

Matt Lyon
Editor
Toronto

[Matt Lyon]

Sounds like you didn’t switch the sequence settings to ProRes HQ. Open your sequence, press command-0 and change the compressor to the proper setting. I’m guessing you just manually pointed the sequence at new media files? If that’s the case, then FCP won’t automatically update the sequence settings. Once you make the change, you should redo all your renders to make sure they are done at HQ quality.

hth,

Matt Lyon
Editor
Toronto

[Matt Lyon]

Hey Steve,

Glad it worked out and I’ll happily accept a beer if you ever make it out here 🙂

The timestamping thing seemed to originate as a way to “help” the user by automagically doing audio pulldown for telecine’d film material. Given the headaches it has caused for so many users, I imagine Apple might have implemented this feature differently had they known. My speculation is that cameras like the 7D have increased the amount of people doing double system sound, which has probably caused a spike in users experiencing this problem.

Just out of curiosity, is there any reason in particular you are moving projects via XML, as opposed to plain old FCP project files? You probably already know this, but you could just copy and paste the relevant timeline into a new project and the file size will be pretty small.

Matt Lyon
Editor
Toronto

[Matt Lyon]

Hey Stephen, you found me!

I’ll try to help but I’m not sure how much I can add. A 15 sec jump is more then I’ve ever encountered.

Do you still have access to the original machine and the original project files? Does the audio have the green bars on those projects? (on the original machine and original media drives)

If so, you’ll probably want to fix the problem before you export and move to a new machine. I don’t remember if I ever tested doing the XML while simultaneously moving a project to a new machine. I could see how that might blow FCP’s mind though…

Also, if you are changing the NTSC TRUE flag to FALSE, but it is getting changed back to TRUE by FCP, then something is obviously happening to make those changes not stick. Since you are also getting those XML errors, you might want to scrutinize your XMLs and make sure you got the syntax EXACTLY right. Even a missing space could mess things up. And make sure you fully quit FCP and start with a new, empty project each time before you load your XML.

Another way to troubleshoot this might be (I’m just tossing out ideas here):

Let’s assume the original audio was imported incorrectly at the very start of your show. In other words, the “DV NTSC 29.97” sequence preset was selected when the files were originally imported. (I’m probably getting the exact name wrong, sorry). You’ll know this is true if you can open the files on the original machine and verify if the green bars are there.

So as an experiment, try reverting your FCP sequence default to “DV NTSC” on your road machine. Now open the project file (not your “fixed” xml).

Check the audio in and outs. Are they okay? If they are, and you have the green bars, you could now attempt my XML audio fix.

Anyway, hope this all makes sense … it’s late at night here 🙂 Good luck!

Matt Lyon
Editor
Toronto

[Matt Lyon]

The audio should sync fine, as long as you set up FCP to properly import your audio without the timestamping issue that plagues so many people. Follow the second half of my tutorial and it should fix everything:

https://library.creativecow.net/lyon_matt/fixing-fcp-assets/1

hth,
Matt

Matt Lyon
Editor
Toronto

[Matt Lyon]

I don’t disagree with anything Neil says, but my personal preference is to never change the names of any items in the browser. You can use the “description” or “comments” fields instead. I also make a custom column layout so these fields are right next to the clip name.
The reason being: sometimes FCP can totally forget the absolute pathname of an item. If this happens, your only guide for relinking a clip is its item name. If you’ve changed it to something other then the filename, then you’re probably going to have to start digging through old versions of the project, or auto-saves to figure out what the original media was.
This kind of problem happens rarely (although more often with shared projects, in my experience) but I’ve been burned by it enough to decide to never change an item name.

Matt Lyon
Editor
Toronto