FCP Audio Playback Problem at DVinfo.net

Steve LaClair · June 29th, 2004, 05:48 AM

So I import my .mp3's in and play them in the source monitor fine but then when I drag them to my timeline all you hear is "beep beep beep beep" But I can still hear the audio tracks linked with the video. And even when you scrub with the timeline marker you can hear the song, but just not when you go to preview.

Whats the deal with this?

Thanks,
Steve

Jeff Donald · June 29th, 2004, 06:46 AM

The latest version, FCP HD, seems to have less issues with Mp3's than older versions. The beeps indicate the audio needs to be rendered. If the problem persists you may want to convert your Mp3's to AIFF's before importing into FCP.

Steve LaClair · June 29th, 2004, 12:36 PM

That seems like the craziest thing ever to me. But I believe you. Any recomended programs to do the conversion?

EDIT: Ok I laid the .mp3 down first and go to sequence>render selection and it writes it to a folder and yadda ya. Now it plays the song but it hesitates like its almost skipping almost.

And I'm not sure if its my machine because of its sub-par amount of ram at 512k running final cut 4.5. But I expected so much more out of a dual processor G5 and FCP

Ray Echevers · June 29th, 2004, 12:55 PM

Convert the files to AIFF. In a FCP book i was reading, it recommended converting the files to AIFF or possibly AAC (i think that's how you spell the default iTunes format)
And you should easily be able to do it in iTunes.
I personally use that AAC format in iTunes when importing cd's, better quality supposedly and I import a 160.
I'm pretty sure once you convert the mp3, it should be dandy.

Jeff Donald · June 29th, 2004, 01:02 PM

iTunes will do the conversion as well as QuickTime Pro. I think you are having memory issues as well. Processor speed and ram are two different issues. I would recommend a minimum of 1Gb of ram for any editing on FCP.

Steve LaClair · June 29th, 2004, 01:21 PM

Well this is a huge dissapointment that I just left a setup behind that worked and blew a couple thousand on something that doesn't.

Ray Echevers · June 29th, 2004, 01:32 PM

<<<-- Originally posted by Steve LaClair : Well this is a huge dissapointment that I just left a setup behind that worked and blew a couple thousand on something that doesn't. -->>>

I got a dual 1.8Ghz G5, but i got 1.5GB of memory, and it works flawlessly.
Granted i haven't done any intense editing yet, but all the basic stuff i've done, i've no problem, slow down, nothing, it's worked perfect.
Gotta realize that program probably eats a lot of memory, and you should probably have at least double what the minimum is they state.
Don't know if you are strapped for cash, but you can find 2 512mb for about $200 and under these day, just don't buy supergeneric ram.
Some people use the Crucial ram, good stuff and cheap.

Jeff Donald · June 29th, 2004, 01:37 PM

Steve, I've a G4 dual 450 (over 4 years old), with 1.5Gb of ram and it works flawlessly with FCP HD. The G5's at the school I teach at work flawlessly and have 1Gb if ram. Do you see a trend here? I'm not meaning to be a smart *ss, but ram is the key here, 512Mb is a minimum.

Steve LaClair · June 29th, 2004, 01:42 PM

So are you suggesting that playback hesitation problems that happen after rendering could be memory related. I mean it struck me as being possible also. I'm at least glad I had it upgraded to 512k when I ordered it, I'd really like to figure out this audio solution even if it means file conversion for now because it's playing back my dv files fine in the canvas window, it's mind blowing that a .mp3 would screw things up.

Jeff Donald · June 29th, 2004, 01:47 PM

It's converting it on the fly. The processor is fast enough, but no memory resources are available so they have to be paged out to the hard drive.

Steve LaClair · June 29th, 2004, 02:09 PM

Well next payday I'll throw 2 more 512k sticks in there, after that do you suggest that it'll beable to play rendered .mp3's properly?

Ray Echevers · June 29th, 2004, 02:40 PM

<<<-- Originally posted by Steve LaClair : Well next payday I'll throw 2 more 512k sticks in there, after that do you suggest that it'll beable to play rendered .mp3's properly? -->>>

It should since you will have 1.5GB of memory(like me), but you should just convert the mp3. It's real easy, and all it really does is make a "copy" of the mp3 in the aiff or aac format.
But you should be blazing through when you get the ram upgrade.

You got a 1.8 dual G5, i assume?

Here ya go.

http://www.crucial.com/store/MPartspecs.Asp?mtbpoid=3CC55085A5CA7304&WSMD=Power+Mac+G5+%28Dual+1%2E8GHz+DDR%29&WSPN=CT352879

Just remember, on the G5's you gotta install the memory in pairs, so if you want a gig more of memory, you need 2 512's.
Use the user's manual to show you how to install the ram properly and in the correct sequence.

Good luck!

Steve LaClair · June 29th, 2004, 07:03 PM

Ray, which program do you use to convert to aiff. I've been looking and really haven't found anything. I saw in iTunes where to convert to .aac but it doesn't do anything, and the file still stays as an .mp3.

And yeah I have the Dual 1.8

Btw, you're name sounds extremely familiar. Were you ever involved with skating?

EDIT: I found a excellent program and it works fine even without rendering the audio track. thanks guys. heres the link to the program
http://www.hitsquad.com/smm/programs/MACAST_Converter/

Mike Hanlon · June 29th, 2004, 07:29 PM

To get iTunes to do the conversion you need to go into iTunes preferences and change the Import settings:

1) Launch iTunes
2) Under the iTunes menu choose Preferences
3) Click on the orange "Importing" button on the left.
4) From the popup menu named "Import Using" choose "AIFF Encoder"
5) Click OK
6) Select the mp3 song(s) you want to convert from the iTunes library
7) Under the "Advanced" menu select "Convert Selection to AIFF"

The result is a duplicately named song in the library, but in the AIFF format. If you look under the "Kind" column you will see the original copy as "MPEG audio file" and the converted one as "AIFF audio file". Note that this Import Using setting determines the format for all the music you "rip" from CDs when you import.

Hope this helps.

June 29th, 2004, 05:48 AM	#1
Steve LaClair Regular Crew Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Fayetteville, North Carolina/ Upstate NY Posts: 40	FCP Audio Playback Problem So I import my .mp3's in and play them in the source monitor fine but then when I drag them to my timeline all you hear is "beep beep beep beep" But I can still hear the audio tracks linked with the video. And even when you scrub with the timeline marker you can hear the song, but just not when you go to preview. Whats the deal with this? Thanks, Steve

June 29th, 2004, 06:46 AM	#2
Jeff Donald Warden Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Clearwater, FL Posts: 8,287	The latest version, FCP HD, seems to have less issues with Mp3's than older versions. The beeps indicate the audio needs to be rendered. If the problem persists you may want to convert your Mp3's to AIFF's before importing into FCP. __________________ Jeff Donald Carpe Diem Search DVinfo.net for quick answers \| Where to Buy? From the best in the business: DVinfo.net sponsors

June 29th, 2004, 12:55 PM	#4
Ray Echevers Regular Crew Join Date: May 2004 Location: Somerville, MA Posts: 148	Convert the files to AIFF. In a FCP book i was reading, it recommended converting the files to AIFF or possibly AAC (i think that's how you spell the default iTunes format) And you should easily be able to do it in iTunes. I personally use that AAC format in iTunes when importing cd's, better quality supposedly and I import a 160. I'm pretty sure once you convert the mp3, it should be dandy. __________________ Sony VX-1000 G5 1.8 dual 91 Turbo MR2

June 29th, 2004, 01:02 PM	#5
Jeff Donald Warden Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Clearwater, FL Posts: 8,287	iTunes will do the conversion as well as QuickTime Pro. I think you are having memory issues as well. Processor speed and ram are two different issues. I would recommend a minimum of 1Gb of ram for any editing on FCP. __________________ Jeff Donald Carpe Diem Search DVinfo.net for quick answers \| Where to Buy? From the best in the business: DVinfo.net sponsors

June 29th, 2004, 01:32 PM	#7
Ray Echevers Regular Crew Join Date: May 2004 Location: Somerville, MA Posts: 148	<<<-- Originally posted by Steve LaClair : Well this is a huge dissapointment that I just left a setup behind that worked and blew a couple thousand on something that doesn't. -->>> I got a dual 1.8Ghz G5, but i got 1.5GB of memory, and it works flawlessly. Granted i haven't done any intense editing yet, but all the basic stuff i've done, i've no problem, slow down, nothing, it's worked perfect. Gotta realize that program probably eats a lot of memory, and you should probably have at least double what the minimum is they state. Don't know if you are strapped for cash, but you can find 2 512mb for about $200 and under these day, just don't buy supergeneric ram. Some people use the Crucial ram, good stuff and cheap. __________________ Sony VX-1000 G5 1.8 dual 91 Turbo MR2

June 29th, 2004, 12:36 PM	#3
Steve LaClair Regular Crew Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Fayetteville, North Carolina/ Upstate NY Posts: 40	That seems like the craziest thing ever to me. But I believe you. Any recomended programs to do the conversion? EDIT: Ok I laid the .mp3 down first and go to sequence>render selection and it writes it to a folder and yadda ya. Now it plays the song but it hesitates like its almost skipping almost. And I'm not sure if its my machine because of its sub-par amount of ram at 512k running final cut 4.5. But I expected so much more out of a dual processor G5 and FCP

June 29th, 2004, 01:21 PM	#6
Steve LaClair Regular Crew Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Fayetteville, North Carolina/ Upstate NY Posts: 40	Well this is a huge dissapointment that I just left a setup behind that worked and blew a couple thousand on something that doesn't.

June 29th, 2004, 01:37 PM	#8
Jeff Donald Warden Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Clearwater, FL Posts: 8,287	Steve, I've a G4 dual 450 (over 4 years old), with 1.5Gb of ram and it works flawlessly with FCP HD. The G5's at the school I teach at work flawlessly and have 1Gb if ram. Do you see a trend here? I'm not meaning to be a smart ss, but ram is the key here, 512Mb is a minimum. __________________ Jeff Donald Carpe Diem* Search DVinfo.net for quick answers \| Where to Buy? From the best in the business: DVinfo.net sponsors

June 29th, 2004, 01:42 PM	#9
Steve LaClair Regular Crew Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Fayetteville, North Carolina/ Upstate NY Posts: 40	So are you suggesting that playback hesitation problems that happen after rendering could be memory related. I mean it struck me as being possible also. I'm at least glad I had it upgraded to 512k when I ordered it, I'd really like to figure out this audio solution even if it means file conversion for now because it's playing back my dv files fine in the canvas window, it's mind blowing that a .mp3 would screw things up.

June 29th, 2004, 01:47 PM	#10
Jeff Donald Warden Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Clearwater, FL Posts: 8,287	It's converting it on the fly. The processor is fast enough, but no memory resources are available so they have to be paged out to the hard drive. __________________ Jeff Donald Carpe Diem Search DVinfo.net for quick answers \| Where to Buy? From the best in the business: DVinfo.net sponsors

June 29th, 2004, 02:09 PM	#11
Steve LaClair Regular Crew Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Fayetteville, North Carolina/ Upstate NY Posts: 40	Well next payday I'll throw 2 more 512k sticks in there, after that do you suggest that it'll beable to play rendered .mp3's properly?

June 29th, 2004, 02:40 PM	#12
Ray Echevers Regular Crew Join Date: May 2004 Location: Somerville, MA Posts: 148	<<<-- Originally posted by Steve LaClair : Well next payday I'll throw 2 more 512k sticks in there, after that do you suggest that it'll beable to play rendered .mp3's properly? -->>> It should since you will have 1.5GB of memory(like me), but you should just convert the mp3. It's real easy, and all it really does is make a "copy" of the mp3 in the aiff or aac format. But you should be blazing through when you get the ram upgrade. You got a 1.8 dual G5, i assume? Here ya go. http://www.crucial.com/store/MPartspecs.Asp?mtbpoid=3CC55085A5CA7304&WSMD=Power+Mac+G5+%28Dual+1%2E8GHz+DDR%29&WSPN=CT352879 Just remember, on the G5's you gotta install the memory in pairs, so if you want a gig more of memory, you need 2 512's. Use the user's manual to show you how to install the ram properly and in the correct sequence. Good luck! __________________ Sony VX-1000 G5 1.8 dual 91 Turbo MR2

June 29th, 2004, 07:03 PM	#13
Steve LaClair Regular Crew Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Fayetteville, North Carolina/ Upstate NY Posts: 40	Ray, which program do you use to convert to aiff. I've been looking and really haven't found anything. I saw in iTunes where to convert to .aac but it doesn't do anything, and the file still stays as an .mp3. And yeah I have the Dual 1.8 Btw, you're name sounds extremely familiar. Were you ever involved with skating? EDIT: I found a excellent program and it works fine even without rendering the audio track. thanks guys. heres the link to the program http://www.hitsquad.com/smm/programs/MACAST_Converter/

June 29th, 2004, 07:29 PM	#14
Mike Hanlon Regular Crew Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: San Jose, CA Posts: 180	To get iTunes to do the conversion you need to go into iTunes preferences and change the Import settings: 1) Launch iTunes 2) Under the iTunes menu choose Preferences 3) Click on the orange "Importing" button on the left. 4) From the popup menu named "Import Using" choose "AIFF Encoder" 5) Click OK 6) Select the mp3 song(s) you want to convert from the iTunes library 7) Under the "Advanced" menu select "Convert Selection to AIFF" The result is a duplicately named song in the library, but in the AIFF format. If you look under the "Kind" column you will see the original copy as "MPEG audio file" and the converted one as "AIFF audio file". Note that this Import Using setting determines the format for all the music you "rip" from CDs when you import. Hope this helps.