Just getting started with Final Cut Pro 7 and for some reason the audio in the Viewer plays normally, but when I make a clip from it with In and Out points and move it to the timeline there is no audio with it. The video plays normally but there is no sound in the canvass or the timeline. I've spent hours trying to figure out what is wrong with it. It must be a setting that is incorrect. ANY help would be appreciated!!!!
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Help with Final Cut Pro 7 Audio
- Thread starter swguy30
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Can you tell us what formats the video and audio in question are in? Do the tracks for the audio visibly show up on the Timeline when you drag them down from the Browser?
The video is in MP4 format as is the audio with it. It was taken with a Flip HD Mimo video camera. The audio portion of the timeline appears in Green and there doesn't appear to be any audio in the bar (no wave form). There is wave form in the viewer, but not the timeline.
Either transcode the footage directly via Log & Transfer or use MPEG Streamclip. Use the .mov container/format and the Apple Intermediate Codec and Uncompressed sound, as the .mp4 format is not meant for editing and won't be similar to any sequence settings FCP offers. Take a look at the manual (FCP) and see what format and codecs it supports. Btw, MRoogle will give you some threads about this too.
Yes, keep in mind that MPEG-4 and H.264 formats are meant as delivery codecs and don't play natively on an FCP timeline without rendering. It's a good idea to read the section of FCP's manual that explains the render bars above the playhead and what each color means. Any media dropped into the timeline that FCP can't play natively without rendering (can be caused by non-native codecs and/or incorrect sequence settings) will cause the color of the render bars to change from gray to different colors, like orange (will play, but probably not in real-time) or red (will not play without rendering).
Seeing that you're using FCP 7, another good codec to use for Flip footage would be ProRes 422 LT and you can export to that with MPEG Streamclip. That would give you a good balance of image quality and disk space usage. Media files in that codec (among others, like the AIC codec that spinnerlys mentioned) can be edited natively by FCP.
Seeing that you're using FCP 7, another good codec to use for Flip footage would be ProRes 422 LT and you can export to that with MPEG Streamclip. That would give you a good balance of image quality and disk space usage. Media files in that codec (among others, like the AIC codec that spinnerlys mentioned) can be edited natively by FCP.
No, you would still want to transcode the video first. The problem with using non-native media on the timeline is that you would constantly be re-rendering every time you make adjustments (like changing in/out points) to the clips. It gets very annoying really fast. As far as audio is concerned, MP3s are very much the same way in that regard.
The second problem in your case would be that MP4 video really doesn't use editing-friendly codecs. There's too much interframe compression going on there, which can bog down performance during the edit.
So in closing, it's best to transcode the media to a proper codec like AIC or ProRes first (it's easy to do with free software like MPEG Streamclip) and then when you're ready to deliver the final product, you can encode back to MPEG-4, H.264, etc.
The second problem in your case would be that MP4 video really doesn't use editing-friendly codecs. There's too much interframe compression going on there, which can bog down performance during the edit.
So in closing, it's best to transcode the media to a proper codec like AIC or ProRes first (it's easy to do with free software like MPEG Streamclip) and then when you're ready to deliver the final product, you can encode back to MPEG-4, H.264, etc.
This is the norm with FCP and even Avid. You have to prep your files so that you can work on them in real time. In FCP we do this with ProRes and XDCAM on Avid.
Even the prosumers are crying for AVCHD to be native on FCP.
To date DV is the only native format that I know works smoothly in FCP.
"Did you check if the audio source tracks are un-locked in the sequence timeline?"
LOL...that's the first thing I thought
Definitely, transcode your footage FIRST, however...that's not a reason for no audio showing up in your timeline. Regardless of the footage, you should still see audio.
Make sure your source tracks/video tracks are linked and locked when you drop them in (There are little puzzle piece looking deals on the left of both vid and aud). Also, make sure you're transcoded to an edit friendly format...I certainly don't mean to discount the obvious first step.
ProRes LT as mentioned earlier is going to be your best choice, IMO.
Also, take a look at your timeline settings. Make sure you're not making the jump from some goofy 30fps to 12fps in the timeline. In this case, again, you'll have no audio. The best thing is to set up the "Easy Setup" from the FCP drop down menu (If you're already in the program). If you're in the states, Use Format: (All Format) and "Use": DV-NTSC. It will automatically adjust your timeline to the correct settings as soon as you drop your first transcoded clip in the timeline.
Also, from here...you can make sure both your Playback Outputs for Vid and Aud match up...IE/ Firewire DV, etc.
Good Luck!
J
LOL...that's the first thing I thought
Definitely, transcode your footage FIRST, however...that's not a reason for no audio showing up in your timeline. Regardless of the footage, you should still see audio.Make sure your source tracks/video tracks are linked and locked when you drop them in (There are little puzzle piece looking deals on the left of both vid and aud). Also, make sure you're transcoded to an edit friendly format...I certainly don't mean to discount the obvious first step.
ProRes LT as mentioned earlier is going to be your best choice, IMO.
Also, take a look at your timeline settings. Make sure you're not making the jump from some goofy 30fps to 12fps in the timeline. In this case, again, you'll have no audio. The best thing is to set up the "Easy Setup" from the FCP drop down menu (If you're already in the program). If you're in the states, Use Format: (All Format) and "Use": DV-NTSC. It will automatically adjust your timeline to the correct settings as soon as you drop your first transcoded clip in the timeline.
Also, from here...you can make sure both your Playback Outputs for Vid and Aud match up...IE/ Firewire DV, etc.
Good Luck!
J