Audio Problems in FCP3 "the beeps"

[Mark Austin]

Every time I bring audio into FCP it has the "beeps" in it, I have a music video I am cutting together right now and I can use the audio as a guide for cutting but I sure can't use it for my final audio track. Any ideas? The audio is at 44.1khz and the video is at 48khz, could that be the problem? I have some footage I shot at a punk concert, and am cutting it to an album track of one of the bands.
Thanks!!!!
Mark

[Jeff Donald]

There are a couple of possibilities. You've exceeded your Real Time track limit, applied filters, or (the most likely) your capture settings and your timeline settings don't match. Depending on the version of FCP you used to be able to just drop 44.1kHz audio into the timeline and it would play. Since FCP3 you can no longer do this (at least I can't). You can render the audio, or use QuickTime to fix the audio before you import. Drop the audio into QT and export at 48kHz and then import it into FCP.

Jeff

[Mark Austin]

It's a real pain though because I use tons of stuff from CD's and I guess the means yet another step every time you need to import audio. :(
Mark

[Jeff Chandler]

I have the same beeping problem but mine is from 48k audio, with no filters or anything else added. But if I play it back to a deck through the firewire, i plays fine. Any ideas?

[Jeff Donald]

What hardware and OS are you running, Jeff? Under preferences, reduce the number of Real Time Audio Tracks. Try two and see if that fixes it. Post back your results, Please.

Jeff

[Jeff Donald]

The other possibility is the audio is not a perfect 48kHz. Use Command (Apple Key) 9 to bring up item properties. The audio needs to be a perfect 48kHz. If it is not ( might me something like 48.07kHz) then delete it from the time line and re-import.

Jeff

[Ken Tanaka]

Mark,
It sounds to me like a sampling rate problem. I've found that importing audio from a CD is best done through the QuickTime Pro player. Bring your track into QT then export it as an .aif file with a 48k sampling rate. In FCP import the .aif into your project and, voila, no more beeps. It's not really much of an inconvenience at all.

[Mark Austin]

I thought Quicktime Pro came with FCP3.0 but it's not on my system anywhere? I recently had to re-install OSX and it might have messed something up. I guess I may have to pony up some bones for the upgrade. To test the theory I have to use a PC with "Spin Dr." to grab the audio, post in on my server (Win2k) then load it into Protools on OS9, then export it as 48k AIFF, and I now need to reboot my system into OSX for the gazillionth time to see if it works. THE AUDIO TOOLS IN FCP SuK!!!!! Every other thing I need to do with audio is SO EASY, except trying to load it into FCP and have it work, it's no wonder audio is the black art of DV. Maybe FCP4 will include some "eMagic Logic" functionality, I HOPE!!!!!! Sorry to b!tch but as you can probably tell It's not been a happy time at the old edit bay today :(

[Ken Tanaka]

Mark,
QT Pro does come with FCP3 but your license would probably have to be reinstated after reinstalling OSX. (You might want to update to QuickTime Pro 6.02, the latest version. Yes, you'll have to "pony up" for the Pro license but it will bring you up to date.)

[Jeff Donald]

Mark,

Tell us a little about your system, hardware, software etc. It can make a big difference if your OS 9.xx or OS 10.2x etc.

Jeff

[Mark Austin]

My Mac is a Dual 1Ghz, I only have FCP3 installed on the OSX side, but I guess that will have to change. I had some problems when I first installed 10.2.2 so I had to go back to 10.2.0, I have since installed the xx.x.1 & xx.x.2 patch and everything seems okay. The other gotcha is that ProTools 5.3.1 (audio heaven) is only compatable with OS9 (OS9 is at the latest patch) until 6.0 comes out next year. I have been using the mini globes to monitor out of FCP then do a confidence check on the big system once everything is complete. One of the problems is that I can't record directly into FCP because I don't have a setup that allows that, even thought I have $2500 in ProTools software & hardware! I'm going to try hooking up my mixer output to the MA300 and try that, it's a hokey solution but hey if it works, it might be a short term fix.

[Jeff Donald]

I wouldn't get too worked up over it just yet. FCP 4 is due out soon and it wouldn't surprise me if audio import is made friendly again.

Jeff

[Ken Tanaka]

A bit off-thread-topic but noteworthy within this context. One of the kinks in Apple's OS-X migration parade has been audio tool vendors' foot-dragging in converting their products. Apple's October edict that no 2003-manufactured Macs will be bootable into OS9 was promptly met by howls from folks tied to these products.

Also, in my opinion, Apple hobbled standard audio input by eliminating the audio-in jack from their 2002 models. I use a Griffen iMic USB adapter for audio input (voice-overs, mainly) but why should such a basic facility on a premium-priced system be left to 3rd parties?

Of course this is all stuff that Mark already knows and apparently has to deal with each day. OK, getting off of my soapbox.

[Mark Austin]

Duh, I feel like such a dork! All I needed to do was render the audio and presto - no more beeps, so much for real time audio. I'm not sure if I'm slow or if this is some unique feature I'm being punished with. I actually imported the file at 48k and still had to render it. I still have to tame flying monkeys to get the audio in but hey, that's the easy part.
Thanks to all..I'll post the Punk Rock video clips in a few daze...(is has some cussin' in it, will it be okay to post?)

The ProTools crowd has been screaming pretty loud, but the first v6.0 updates will go to the HD systems ($9000 and up) then the Mix systems (a meer $6500 and above) then us cheapo users will get it :)

[Ken Tanaka]

Mark,
Don't break out the champagne quite yet. I should have pointed out that you could render the audio to (at least temporarily) get rid of the beeps. (This is a common problem for folks who try to import iMovie footage audio.) But if you manipulate the audio at all (ex: add fades, adjust levels, etc.) you'll have to re-render it all over again. This might not be a problem for you, in which you can case pop the cork now. But on most projects it will drive you nuts. Recapturing is the only solution in this case.