[This article was first published in the August,
2004, edition of "Larry's FCP Newsletter.” Updated 3/8/05,
1/15/06 and 3/17/06.]
Some people are fans of sports teams. Me? I'm a fan of software.
(Well, OK, software and the Green Bay Packers, but that's more a religion
than a sports franchise... Still, I digress.)
One of the applications I'm a huge fan of is ProTools LE. It's just
the best for mixing video soundtracks and I've been using it for years.
Now, Final Cut made great strides in improving its audio mixing capability
in version 4, however, that was because it had such a long way to go.
I will happily produce a six track mix in Final Cut, because the
audio mixer makes that easily doable. However, if I have more than
six tracks, or I need serious compression/limiting or noise reduction
or smoother EQ or, well, golly, just about any professional audio tool,
I'll move the audio out of FCP into ProTools.
The great part is that Final Cut and ProTools (and, for that matter,
Bias Inc.'s Deck) all work together to make swapping audio files painless.
And its done using an interchange format called, "OMF," to
get it out of Final Cut, then exporting a stereo AIFF out of ProTools
to get it back into FCP.
Here's how this works:
- Create your sequence. Spot all your audio and effects and make
sure everything is in the right position and sync. In other words,
use Final Cut to accurately locate all your audio clips, but don't
worry about levels or transitions.
- Now, export your audio mix using File > Export > Audio
to OMF.
- In general, the default settings of 48k, 16-bit are acceptable
for all DV and Betacam audio. (By the way, for you audiophiles,
Final Cut HD can handle 8-bit to 16-bit audio in a sequence. FCP
5 handles up to 24-bit audio.)
- Audio engineers like handles the way video editors like handles.
So, give them some, in this case, 5 seconds.
- Save the file.
OMF has an internal limit of 2 GB. This translates into ROUGHLY 6 tracks
of mono, 16-bit audio, each one-hour long. (A 16-bit mono audio clip
is roughly 5 MB per minute.)
Update: Ken Stone brought this next point to my
attention recently. If you try to export only part of a sequence
to an OMF file, setting In's and Out's won't work. Using OMF always
exports the entire sequence, regardless of how the In's and Out's
are set.
Consequently, if your OMF file threatens to be larger than 2
GB, turn off some of the Track Visibility lights on the far left
of your Timeline. Only tracks who's visibility lights are lit (glowing
green) will be exported. Then, export in sections, where each OMF
file is, say, tracks 1 thru 6 and the second section is tracks 7
thru 12.
Now, in order to open an OMF file in ProTools, you'll need the DV
Toolkit, an extra cost option for ProTools LE. If you only do one or
two mixes a year, you will probably be better served getting Bias Inc.'s "Deck," which
opens OMF files without extra cost options.
However, as I already own DV Toolkit, I'll continue this illustration
using ProTools.
- Open ProTools and select, Open Session
- Select the OMF file you just created and click Open. ProTools
will ask you to name the session.
- On the next dialog box, change the default file format to AIF.
Although WAVs are supported by Final Cut, and they are the default
audio file format on Windows, I've never had a compatibility problem
using AIFs
Then, the big OMF import screen appears. Most of the defaults in the
OMF screen are OK. However, there are three I want to call to your
attention:
- All tracks in your FCP sequence are output into the OMF, unless
they are empty. If there is a track you don't want to import into
ProTools, change the pop-up menu from Import
as New Track to Do
not import.
- In the lower left corner are check-boxes indicating that ProTools
should ignore clip-based gain. This means that ProTools will ignore
any audio gain or pan adjustments you made in Final Cut. As Final
Cut doesn't export this data into the OMF, you can leave these
off.
- Notice at the top of the screen, ProTools has already read the
format of your files, so none of your audio needs to be converted
into a new format
9) Click OK, at the bottom of the OMF dialog.
10) Poof! All your clips open, as individual clips, inside a new
ProTools session; ready to mix.
When you are done working your audio magic, it's time to get your
audio out of ProTools and into Final Cut.
- Go to File > Bounce to Disk.
- Set the parameters to AIFF, 48K, 16-bit, to match the format
of your original FCP sequence.
- Give it a name and location , and click, Save.
ProTools will mix your project and save it to your hard disk as a
stereo AIFF file.
Open Final Cut and import this file as you would any other audio
file.
Edit it to the Timeline so it starts at the beginning of your sequence,
or the In, depending upon whether you exported the entire sequence
or just a portion.
Because all files are "all digital all the time," frame
sync will be maintained throughout the entire process. As long as you
don't add, delete or change the speed of an audio clip within ProTools,
which would alter sync, all audio will come back perfectly synced with
video. In all the years I've been using process, I've never had a sync
problem.
And, now that you know how to do it, you can use this to improve
your audio as well.
Note: After this was first published, the following
two comments were received.
Eric Peacock:
OMF audio export [also] works
nicely in Digital Performer, which does multi-channel mixes up to
10.1 and pretty much everything ProTools or any other audio app does.
This is what I use for my music, which is usually 20 or more tracks
with lots of MIDI layered in so it's a vital part of my workflow.
It also works well to export a low rez video clip of the project
and load that into Digital Performer so I can align precise effects
with key events and get visual feedback.
I figure it's pretty much a given that any OMF supporting app
will work as you detailed with ProTools, but it's nice to know that more
economical software packages like Digital Performer can be used
in the same workflow.
Larry replies: Thanks, Eric. For creating low-rez
video for mixing, I will most often create a small (160 x 120) QuickTime
movie using the Video codec.
This displays fine in ProTools (and, I suspect, Digital Performer),
doesn't take up much screen space, and decompresses using
very little CPU overhead, which is perfect for audio mixing.
David Morgan:I too use Pro tools. I find myself wishing
that there was a fluid in and out to Pro Tools like AVID is advertising
with their Xpress Pro application.
However, considering the situation where OMF only
goes one way, out of FCP into Pro Tools, I find myself wondering
what's the
use? It would seem that exporting
AIFF out and in would be just as good without laying out $1,000
for DV Toolkit, simply to get OMF support into ProTools.
Larry replies: The difference between AIF and OMF is that using
OMF allows you to retain each clip as an individual entity
retaining handles and the ability
to move that clip separately from other clips on the same track.. Exporting
as an AIF means that all clips on that track are merged into
one long clip with
no handles.
OMF is more flexible. Whether that flexibility is worth $1,000
depends upon how much you intend to move files between the
two applications.
Judy Korin: One little detail that we've discovered
that you might want to add: Your FCP sequence name, project name
and omf file
name need to be short (i.e. under 10 characters and with no funky
characters) or else ProTools will not be able to open/read the
file!
Just one of those little things that can really trip you up.
Larry replies: Cool. I didn't know that.
This article is from the August, 2004, issue of "Larry's
FCP Newsletter," a very cool FREE monthly Final Cut Pro
newsletter -- subscribe at Larry's web site: www.larryjordan.biz.
Larry Jordan is a post-production consultant and an
Apple-Certified Trainer in Digital Media with over 25 years experience
as producer,
director and editor with network, local and corporate credits.
Based in Los Angeles, he's a member of both the Directors Guild and
Producers
Guild.
Text copyright 2004 by Larry Jordan. All rights reserved.
