Final Cut Pro / Audio Editing Notes

On the Audio Meter -

You’ll see a yellow light and a red light.

The yellow light is the Peak indicator - it will hang at the loudest moment of your recorded sound.

The red light is the Clip indicator – it will let you know when your sound has reached or exceed 0db.

Basic Rules:

- Never let your Clip indicator light up
- Dialogue should fall between -3db to -12db
- Middle Ground Sound or Sound FX between -12db to -18db
- Background Sound or Music around -18db

Why go so low? Because when you have a music track combined with an FX track, the audio levels will rise. So you need to leave some headroom.

The final mix of Foreground, Middleground, and Background tracks together should peak no higher than -3db.
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1. Below are three types of audio that can exist in Final Cut Pro:

STEREO

Both channels have been captured as a stereo pair. Stereo pairs are always linked - so anything applied to 1 Track applies to both. Waveforms for both channels appear in a single audio tab.

MONO 1/2 or CH. 1 / CH. 2

Both channels have been captured, but are distinct + can be adjusted independently of each other.

MONO

The audio consists of a single audio channel.

-To convert 2 audio clips to Stereo Pair -
Select the clips in the Timeline, Choose MODIFY ^ Stereo Pair + the viewer will then show them as a Stereo Pair screened together in the window.

To Adjust or Edit Audio:

1. Double click the Audio Track(s) of a clip in the Timeline to bring them up in the Viewer … or double click a clip in the Browser to bring it into the Viewer, and select the Audio Tab(s) in the Viewer.

2. Next, listen to your sound and look at the Audio Meter, which you can move around. You don’t ever want your audio to clip. This is indicated by the red lights or Clip indicator at the top of the meter. When the audio clips, it means the sound you recorded is overmodulated or recorded too high.

3. After I monitor my sound with the Audio Meter, I may decide that the levels are too high or low. By using the Level Slider in the Audio Tab of the Viewer, I can adjust the sound levels by moving them higher or lower in decibels. Then I will play my sound again, watching the Audio Meter to see if the change is any better.

4. Remember that you can use the pen tool (keyboard shortcut P) to create keyframes along the level bar in the Audio Tab of the Viewer or directly on an Audio Track in the Timeline. You can use keyframes to create fades in or out, as well as to dip out a glitch in recorded sound.

5. Generally speaking, your audio should begin before your image appears. Remember to overlap audio, creating crossfades between new sounds. You don’t want have audio tracks that cut out suddenly without a smooth transition to the next audio track or sound. The quickest way to accomplish this would be to use Automatic crossfades. Go to the Effects Tab in the Browser, and select the Audio Transitions bin. Then highlight and grab Crossfade +3db icon and drag and drop it on the beginning or end of the Audio Track you want to fade in or out.

Audio Filters

AUgraphicEQ:

To access a good equalization filter, go to the Effects Tab in the Browser. Click on the Audio Filters bin, and open it up. Scroll to the Apple Filters bin, and select AUgraphicEQ. To apply it to an audio clip in the Timeline, highlight and grab the filter’s icon and drag and drop it over the Audio Track you want to filter.

This filter divides the audio spectrum into 31 frequency bands, ranging from 20 Hz to 20,000 Hz. You can set the frequency for each band. This filter is especially versatile because it applies equalization in 31 bands of your clip simultaneously, rather than requiring you to apply multiple filters. This emulates the EQ controls that most mixers provide.

The best way to pinpoint the frequency of a problem sound in your audio is go through each of the 31 frequency bands individually. If you go through each frequency band and boost the gain, you can find the most noticeable sound problem(s). Then lower the gain until the sound is best. If you have excess hiss in your audio clip, try focusing on the higher frequencies. If you have booming or excess bass to remove, focus on the lower frequencies.

Filters in the Final Cut Pro bin (within the Audio Filters bin):

Hum Remover - A notch filter that allows you to compensate for various types of hum interference by screening out a specific frequency.

Vocal DeEsser- dampens the “S” or hiss sounds in speech or other sounds.

Vocal DePopper- takes the “P” out of potatoes, or eliminates popping sound in speech.

*If you want to apply the same filter settings to multiple clips or to the rest of your sequence, highlight the clip with the filter settings you’ve already set, then hit Apple C on the keyboard. Then select or highlight any other clips you want to inherit these same filter settings. Next, hit Option V on your keyboard. A Paste Attributes box will open and allow you to select Audio Filters. Do this and hit OK, and all of the audio clips selected will be filtered identically.