My non-profit is considering buying the Canon XA10 which records audio to a 2 channel Dolby Digital AC3 format. I need to know if Final Cut 7 will import that format to its timeline, and if so if there are any potential issues I should be aware of.

Thanks,

David

AC3 needs to be converted to AIFF for editing. Unless Canon makes a plugin for FCP's Log and Transfer, you'll need to do this with MPEG Streamclip.

Cool thanks. I read you can also do this with the Compressor program. Do you have any opinion as to which would be better?

Thanks.

I didn't know you could do it in Compressor. I just tested it, and it works pretty well. I'd recommend you do your own tests to see if you can tell the difference. If you can't tell the difference, then just use whichever you prefer.