FCPX AUDIO  

Audio for Non-fiction Do not do your final mix in headphones. Reserve a FCP suite. Priority #1: make sure every word of your dialog is audible and clear in the mix. Editing Dialog 1. A-roll dialog is the primary storyline. Edit this first. 2. Adjust levels for the dialog. Use the audio meters as a visual aid to

make sure audio levels are correct. Typically the dialog will be the loudest. For digital delivery keep levels at max -6dB to -3dB.

3. When editing, consider the natural, organic flow of the dialog (breaths, pauses, natural tone/nuance). Strive for grammatical clarity and sentence structure in the dialog.

4. Listen to transitions - beginnings and ends of clips. 5. It’s ok to cut close to the beginnings and endings of important dialog.

Most of the time it's okay to cut out "ums" and "ahs". Honor the rhythm of the language. Insert room tone or location sound for sterile silent gaps.

6. Last resort for a must have interview or shot -- use subtitles if the dialog can't be heard.

Signal to noise Noisy backgrounds can make your life difficult in post, but if your audience can understand the dialog (and the material is compelling), your audience will forgive a good deal of noise. This is especially true in non-fiction -- we are conditioned to expect a certain amount of "organic" noise. In fact it might sound sterile without it. (If you use a lavalier for your interview you probably won't have a lot of problems.)

FCPX AUDIO  

After the dialog edit is established, add secondary elements: B-roll Sound design Location sound Sound effects

1. The absence of location sound can make your footage feel sterile. 2. Use b-roll sound as another vital supporting sound element. 3. Consider sound design as the overall sound composition -- creative

use of space, texture and tone to create the most moving soundtrack you can make.

Music

1. Warning: headphones will not give you correct results when mixing music to dialog.

2. Keep music much lower in the mix (start with -24dB below dialog). 3. Range selector to "duck" around dialog. 4. Tip: EQ can be used to "carve out" (notch) frequencies where the

human voice is present (use the analyzer feature). 5. Do not allow vocal music to overlap vocals in dialog. 6. Your audience will consider diagetic music the same way it considers

other music -- as part of the whole composition. Mastering

1. Make a duplicate of the project (for safety). 2. Detach all audio (make audio tracks green). 3. Combine all audio into a Compound Clip. Call it "Master". 4. Add mastering effects to the Compound Clip.

FCPX uses Logic Pro effects. Typical mastering effects: Compression, Limiting, Logic Linear Phase EQ (same as Channel EQ, but made for mastering), Logic Multimeter.

EQ Make a rich, full soundtrack with low lows and high highs, no harsh tones, all in the right places.

FCPX AUDIO  

Working with Audio in FCPX Monitor and adjust levels per clip, in the inspector, preserving relative levels using a compound clip. Apply fades and crossfades with fade handles or by adding transitions (cmd-t). Correct audio problems with Audio Enhancements Keyframe audio using option click on levels and using animation menu. Add sound effects and music using the music browser. Record audio in FCP for example, voiceover. Use auditions for multiple takes.

Audio waveform display Shows volume of clip, "ghost" audio, fade handles. Green audio track means it is separate audio or has been detached from the audio clip.

FCPX AUDIO  

Audio meters button in transport

Distortion flags in meters -- clipping could be two reasons, how it was recorded or from summing tracks.

Audio scrubbing Located next to Video Scrubbing

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Option-s: solo track

Audio Inspector pane: volume slider, precise input, reset button.

FCPX AUDIO  

Double click on audio portion of clip to expand. Extend audio from one clip to see audio next to it yield right of way (FCP magnetic timeline feature). Otherwise known as a split edit.

Fade handles -- right click for on handle fade types. Tip: fades at beginnings and ends of clips soften entrances/exits. A note on proper levels from Ripple Training: For digital delivery, 0 dB is never the optimal peak value. Instead: -6dB peak -12dB average (average = perceived level)

FCPX AUDIO  

Audio keyframes

Menu in the upper left corner allows:

Command-t will add the default 1 sec audio transition. Drag the ends to change length. Remember – there must be enough footage to include the fade. If it is too close to the end of a clip, the transition cannot be added. Same for video dissolves. Default duration can be changed in the preferences.

FCPX AUDIO  

To adjust levels for multiple clips in timeline, use the Inspector. To keep relative levels, create a compound clip (option-g or right click menu as shown here).

Range Selector (r key) Using the Range Selector tool to adjust volume for a selection. Audio fades are created automatically:

FCPX AUDIO  

Audio Enhancements In the inspector, clicking here brings up the audio enhancements menu:

FCPX AUDIO  

FCPX AUDIO  

Analyzing Audio On import: from http://www.larryjordan.biz/fcpx-enhance-audio/ “Unlike the settings for video import, you can check all three audio import

settings. This is because: 1. Turning these on does not significantly increase the amount of

background processing time needed to import your files. 2. Any corrections can be easily turned off in the Inspector, should you

decide you don’t want to apply them. 3. The default settings FCP X applies to repair clips are pretty good –

especially for editors who are not particularly comfortable manipulating audio effects.”

To analyze after import, select clip in browser, right click:

For example, with HPX-170 footage which always shoots with four

FCPX AUDIO  

channels of audio, you can select "Remove silent channels":

With silent channels removed:

FCPX AUDIO  

Audio effects

FCP utilizes Logic GUI menus. The Channel EQ, for example, has the analyzer display:

FCPX AUDIO  

Adding Music and Sound Effects

Music Browser Music added to the timeline will be added to the event. Loops, Garageband, iTunes (playlists and metadata like artist, genre) Recording Audio Audio can be recorded directly into an event.

FCPX AUDIO  

Retiming audio FCPX can timestretch audio.

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Auditions (advanced feature) Dragging audio from the event browser onto a clip in the timeline brings up this menu:

Which creates the Auditions icon, allowing multiple takes in the same timeline location:

FCPX AUDIO  

View menu > Collapse All Clips Copy/Paste Effects (Edit menu) to paste levels from one clip to another. n key: snapping m key: marker ctrl-a: show hide audio animation More resources: Some good basic audio tips as well: http://www.fcproxuniversity.com/FCPro_X_University/Extra_Credit/Entries/2011/9/22_Working_With_Audio_In_Final_Cut_Pro_X.0.1_2_%28and_some_recording_tricks%29.html Michael Wohl Advanced Audio http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QskPCj-Yj4s Roundtripping to GarageBand http://fcp.co/forum/4-final-cut-pro-x-fcpx/4289-round-tripping-audio-to-garageband