Circumventing FCP's audio shortcommings
FCP may be a great visual editor but its got some major short-comings when it comes to audio. The Mixer is clumbsy and often inaccurate, there's no real-time fx adjustment, there's no surround sound, doesnt properly handle mixed sample rates, no VST support, no bus-to-bus routing, no track-level effects and so on and so on. Where once these where the domain of dedicated DAW's they are now standard on virtually all other NLE's. Apple have some serious catching up to do in the audio department but the most glaring and most absurd of all is that FCP is the only editing system on the market that needs to Render MP3 files before you can hear them or play them back on the timeline
!
FCP is, in many ways, a rather old-fashioned editing system. By virtue of it having copious options for visual arrangement and a scarcity of functional audio tools, it saids that the designers of FCP still see the role of the Editor as one focused on the visual rather than a combined and more flexible approach that involves both visual and aural elements. FCP's audio is designed to be able to prep audio for production outside of FCP (soundtrack, proTools etc) All other NLE's on the amrket have moved to a more integrated approach as a 'finishing system' whereby full audio options are availible right on the timeline. You can still move outside to a DAW if you want, but you can also complete full mix in the NLE. Vegas and Premiere for example are both DAW's as much as NLE's. FCP is still in the traditional, seperatist aporoach. Most of the rest of the NLE market is moving the other way.
The other element that may be the reason FCP cannot work with Mp3 files, is that Mp3, as a compressed audio format, isnt traditionally considered a proper format for production. Its almost like FCP is declaring to you that you shouldnt be using mp3?. (a very snobbish attitude i reckon)
Mp3 is indeed a compressed and lossy audio format but its a very good and clever one. It discards aural information that human ear cannot hear anyway so most of the data mp3 throws away has no effect on the quality at all. Of course the more the mp3 is compressed the more the quality loss does become noticeable.
This is where bitrate comes into play. Mp3 audio is measured in a bitrate expressed in Kilo Bits Per Second:
64kbps is considered FM Radio quality
128kbps is considered CD quality
192kbps+ is considered aurally Lossless
256kbps is considered to be Transparent. (ie has a bitrate so high that it is impossible to tell the difference)
So FCPs approach that all MP3 is BAD is simply old-fashioned and stupid. (hopefully something Apple will rectify sooner rather than later) MP3 is a very viable production audio format at high bitrates, indeed all the major field recording units such as those from Marantz can record in both Uncompressed WAV or high Bitrate Mp3. A 192kbps or 256kbps MP3 will still be considerably smaller in file size than the WAV with longer record times but the same quality.
When using online sound resources such a the FreeSoundProject you will also often come across MP3 files (and other formats) that youll need to use in FCP. To avoid the pain of rendering everytime you make an edit its best to convert (aka TRANSCODE) these MP3s to Uncompressed WAV or AIFF files.
The simpliest way to convert an MP3 to a WAV or AIFF file is to use Quicktime.
Open the Mp3 file in Quicktime and select FILE > EXPORT. Then where its says Export: and has a drop down list select SOUND TO WAV (or SOUND TO AIFF, they are both the same) Then click the OPTIONS button choose LINEAR PCM as the format and 48.000khz as the Rate. The Sample Size should be 16 BITS.
This will make a professional standard 48k, 16bit Uncompressed audio file from your Mp3, ready for render-free editing in FCP. A simple solution but really Apple, why should be have to double handle to use a common mp3? What in your core engine of FCP is so inefficient that it cant playback mp3; soemthign all other NLE's can do....?
Posted at 12:00AM May 05, 2008
by Mike Jones in audio |
