Importing a .wav into Final Cut
 

Hello, sorry if this has been addressed elsewhere. I'm trying to import a .wav file into Final Cut, but I keep getting the error message: "File Error: 1 File recognized, 0 access denied, 1 unknown". It seems to be just his particular file, as I imported a different .wav file into the same project no problem - any advice? Thanks.

Ok, so I am very new to FC, and am definitely not qualified to be giving help. But I've been reading, and watching a lot of tutorials lately. I saw one, on lynda.com, that said FCP prefered AIFF files, for audio, and it showed how to use compressor to convert wav, mp3, and cd music, to AIFF files. I did this with some cd music I was going to need for a project I'm working on.

What he said. Obviously, make sure you convert it to 48kHz AIFF for video (CD audio is typically 44.1kHz) and you'll be all set. You can easily use iTunes to do it too, not just Compressor. Takes seconds to do.

It sounds to me like your WAV file has been compressed with a codec that FCP doesn't recognize. Typically, you can import WAVs directly into FCP and render them on the timeline, but in this instance you'll have to try another piece of software to transcode the file or get an uncompressed version.

One of the most common issues in file formats is mistaking an actual FILE FORMAT for it's CONTAINER FORMAT.

WAV files, (like Quicktime and AIFF and many others) is NOT an actual specific codec. Rather, it's a set of container (sometimes called the "wrapper) specifications that can contain many specific data streams.

That's why it's PERFECTLY possible to have a system play one WAV file but fail to play another.

Under the wrapper one is encoded in a standard that the computer can parse and play - and the other is not.

Hope this helps.

Thank you all for your replys -points well taken. I converted the file to .aiff in iTunes and it dropped in like a charm. Thank you again for the help and advice.