Audio problem -- A1 prob? or FCP prob? at DVinfo.net

Jeff Nelson · January 6th, 2009, 12:16 AM

Since getting my camera back from Canon after servicing, I'm having a problem which I don't know whether it's a Final Cut Pro or A1 problem.

When I am capturing HDV from the camera, I am only getting one track.

When I have the Log and Capture window open in FCP, and I click on Clip Settings, I select both Channel 1 and Channel 2 and select Mono.

When playing or capturing, I hear stereo through my speakers. That is, I hear Mic 1 through the left speaker, and Mic 2 (a different person) through the right speaker.

But when I capture, I only get the Channel 1, the left speaker, and it doesn't pick up Channel 2.

I only get one track, "Mono (a1)" and no "Mono (a2)" track.

If I turn off Channel 1 (and have Channel 2 on) while playing the camera through the log 7 capture menu, I hear no sound. Nada, even though on my camera I can see that channel 2 has sound on it. And when I capture, I get no audio, not even a blank channel 2.

If I turn off Channel 2, I still hear both channels playing through my speakers (but only Channel 1 is captured).

What the -- any ideas?

Battle Vaughan · January 6th, 2009, 10:00 AM

Assuming Canon didn't bollox the repair (and we just got an XHA1 back from them that wouldn't focus when it came back, being in worse shape than when we sent it!) there are several settings that could cause loss of a channel:

1. the ch-1 ch2 selector, if in ch1 will record only one channel if you only have one mike plugged in. (in ch1+ch2 it records ch1 to both channels)

2. If you are using phantom powered mikes, maybe one channel has the power off.

3. Maybe you have the xlr attenuator switched on one channel by accident? / Battle Vaughan/miamiherald.com video team

Jeff Nelson · January 6th, 2009, 11:11 AM

Thanks, will try these tonight . . . off to jury duty right now. Ugh.

Oh and the problem I sent the A1 in for in the first place was -- it wouldn't focus!

Travis Cossel · January 6th, 2009, 04:06 PM

I don't know if this is helpful or not, but I recently sent one of my A1's in for repair. The record button on the handle would stick when pressed. Anyways, after having it back for a month I'm realizing that it is recording channel 1 hotter than channel 2, even with the audio switch set to "automatic". You can actually see that the levels are different on the display. It wasn't doing this before I sent it in for repair. So for what it's worth ...

Also, since switching from SD capture (from GL2's) to HDV capture (from A1's) I notice than all captured audio has the "pan" setting set to "-1". It's not a huge deal, but it's a real pain to have to change for all the HDV clips. Have you noticed that issue?

Jeff Nelson · January 6th, 2009, 09:22 PM

Problem seems to be Final Cut Pro and not the camera, because it's doing the same thing with 2 different cameras. I opened a project I captured back in August and still had on my computer. There it had captured both channels of sound. I loaded in the same tape into the same camera (different one than the A1) and captured the exact same part...and only Channel A1 was picked up by FCP. So it has nothing to do with the camera, but must have to do with FCP. I can hear both channels playing through my computer when capturing, but it's only capturing the left channel.

Off to the FCP board to pose some questions. Thanks for the input. Appreciate it.

Bill Busby · January 8th, 2009, 03:23 PM

Hey Jeff. I was just wondering why you would want to capture audio as mono to begin with. I don't cut with FCP, but in FCP can't you just pan both tracks centered to get mono? If for whatever reason you needed more control for one channel or the other, you wouldn't be able to do this if both channels were captured as mono... or am I missing something here altogether?

Jeff Nelson · January 8th, 2009, 03:26 PM

I have one mic on Channel 1, a separate mic on Channel 2. I want to capture both channels, and capture preserving them on separate tracks, so I can go between the two. For example, I am shooting a room while someone is speaking on Channel 2 on a wireless. Channel 1 is a mic on the camera. I need to be able to capture Channel 2 so that I can get the voice. I keep them separate for mixing purposes. Once I capture them I don't keep them left/right, but pan for center.

Bill Busby · January 8th, 2009, 05:52 PM

Well I can certainly understand that (& was what I mentioned previously) & can't find any reason to not do it that way, but I was just referring to your original post, where you say you select "mono" in FCP's log & capture window (below)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jeff Nelson

When I have the Log and Capture window open in FCP, and I click on Clip Settings, I select both Channel 1 and Channel 2 and select Mono.

It's always been my understanding that if capturing from firewire, there's no way of altering the signal anyway, and changing a stereo track to mono in my mind would be altering it. Maybe FCP can do this, but Avid can't & it shouldn't :) Perhaps that capture setting is your problem?

Steve House · January 9th, 2009, 07:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jeff Nelson

I have one mic on Channel 1, a separate mic on Channel 2. I want to capture both channels, and capture preserving them on separate tracks, so I can go between the two. For example, I am shooting a room while someone is speaking on Channel 2 on a wireless. Channel 1 is a mic on the camera. I need to be able to capture Channel 2 so that I can get the voice. I keep them separate for mixing purposes. Once I capture them I don't keep them left/right, but pan for center.

I don't use or know FCP so I'm just guessing but I think you want to capture as stereo, not mono. What you are capturing, as far as the software is concerned, is a stereo recording. The fact that you used each channel for a different purpose than a normal stereo L and R pair doesn't influence the software at all. Importing it as mono means only one channel has signal - it would normally the left - and that's all you want to use. Once the two channels are in your editor as a "stereo" track you can do with it whatever you want - if what you want is two mono tracks, you should be able to split it in two in FCP.

Battle Vaughan · January 9th, 2009, 03:26 PM

In FCP, the only difference in logging and capturing stereo vs logging and capturing mono is that in stereo, the two tracks show up on the timeline as a linked stereo pair, whereas in a mono capture, both tracks show up just the same except they are not linked together. They can be made/unmade a stereo pair in modify> stereo pair in the menu bar so it's just a setting, not a physical part of the capture.

But if you have two audio sources on your tape you should have two audio tracks with data in them on your timeline unless:
one of the default audio tracks is switched off (the a1 or a2 key is separated from the a1 or a2 track label)

or there's something wrong with the camera

or one of the tracks is muted (in which case the data would be there and the track darkened)

Battle Vaughan /miamiherald.com video team

January 6th, 2009, 12:16 AM	#1
Jeff Nelson Regular Crew Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Los Angeles, CA Posts: 194	Audio problem -- A1 prob? or FCP prob? Since getting my camera back from Canon after servicing, I'm having a problem which I don't know whether it's a Final Cut Pro or A1 problem. When I am capturing HDV from the camera, I am only getting one track. When I have the Log and Capture window open in FCP, and I click on Clip Settings, I select both Channel 1 and Channel 2 and select Mono. When playing or capturing, I hear stereo through my speakers. That is, I hear Mic 1 through the left speaker, and Mic 2 (a different person) through the right speaker. But when I capture, I only get the Channel 1, the left speaker, and it doesn't pick up Channel 2. I only get one track, "Mono (a1)" and no "Mono (a2)" track. If I turn off Channel 1 (and have Channel 2 on) while playing the camera through the log 7 capture menu, I hear no sound. Nada, even though on my camera I can see that channel 2 has sound on it. And when I capture, I get no audio, not even a blank channel 2. If I turn off Channel 2, I still hear both channels playing through my speakers (but only Channel 1 is captured). What the -- any ideas?

January 6th, 2009, 04:06 PM	#4
Travis Cossel Inner Circle Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Miami, FL Posts: 2,933	I don't know if this is helpful or not, but I recently sent one of my A1's in for repair. The record button on the handle would stick when pressed. Anyways, after having it back for a month I'm realizing that it is recording channel 1 hotter than channel 2, even with the audio switch set to "automatic". You can actually see that the levels are different on the display. It wasn't doing this before I sent it in for repair. So for what it's worth ... Also, since switching from SD capture (from GL2's) to HDV capture (from A1's) I notice than all captured audio has the "pan" setting set to "-1". It's not a huge deal, but it's a real pain to have to change for all the HDV clips. Have you noticed that issue? __________________ Black Label Films www.blacklabelweddingfilms.com

January 6th, 2009, 10:00 AM	#2
Battle Vaughan Trustee Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: Miami, FL USA Posts: 1,505	Assuming Canon didn't bollox the repair (and we just got an XHA1 back from them that wouldn't focus when it came back, being in worse shape than when we sent it!) there are several settings that could cause loss of a channel: 1. the ch-1 ch2 selector, if in ch1 will record only one channel if you only have one mike plugged in. (in ch1+ch2 it records ch1 to both channels) 2. If you are using phantom powered mikes, maybe one channel has the power off. 3. Maybe you have the xlr attenuator switched on one channel by accident? / Battle Vaughan/miamiherald.com video team

January 6th, 2009, 11:11 AM	#3
Jeff Nelson Regular Crew Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Los Angeles, CA Posts: 194	Thanks, will try these tonight . . . off to jury duty right now. Ugh. Oh and the problem I sent the A1 in for in the first place was -- it wouldn't focus!

January 6th, 2009, 09:22 PM	#5
Jeff Nelson Regular Crew Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Los Angeles, CA Posts: 194	Problem seems to be Final Cut Pro and not the camera, because it's doing the same thing with 2 different cameras. I opened a project I captured back in August and still had on my computer. There it had captured both channels of sound. I loaded in the same tape into the same camera (different one than the A1) and captured the exact same part...and only Channel A1 was picked up by FCP. So it has nothing to do with the camera, but must have to do with FCP. I can hear both channels playing through my computer when capturing, but it's only capturing the left channel. Off to the FCP board to pose some questions. Thanks for the input. Appreciate it.

January 8th, 2009, 03:23 PM	#6
Bill Busby Major Player Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Los Angeles, CA Posts: 959	Hey Jeff. I was just wondering why you would want to capture audio as mono to begin with. I don't cut with FCP, but in FCP can't you just pan both tracks centered to get mono? If for whatever reason you needed more control for one channel or the other, you wouldn't be able to do this if both channels were captured as mono... or am I missing something here altogether?

January 8th, 2009, 03:26 PM	#7
Jeff Nelson Regular Crew Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Los Angeles, CA Posts: 194	I have one mic on Channel 1, a separate mic on Channel 2. I want to capture both channels, and capture preserving them on separate tracks, so I can go between the two. For example, I am shooting a room while someone is speaking on Channel 2 on a wireless. Channel 1 is a mic on the camera. I need to be able to capture Channel 2 so that I can get the voice. I keep them separate for mixing purposes. Once I capture them I don't keep them left/right, but pan for center.

January 9th, 2009, 03:26 PM	#10
Battle Vaughan Trustee Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: Miami, FL USA Posts: 1,505	In FCP, the only difference in logging and capturing stereo vs logging and capturing mono is that in stereo, the two tracks show up on the timeline as a linked stereo pair, whereas in a mono capture, both tracks show up just the same except they are not linked together. They can be made/unmade a stereo pair in modify> stereo pair in the menu bar so it's just a setting, not a physical part of the capture. But if you have two audio sources on your tape you should have two audio tracks with data in them on your timeline unless: one of the default audio tracks is switched off (the a1 or a2 key is separated from the a1 or a2 track label) or there's something wrong with the camera or one of the tracks is muted (in which case the data would be there and the track darkened) Battle Vaughan /miamiherald.com video team