Apple Final Cut Pro X 10.1.2 User Guide

							 Chapter 8    Edit audio 181
Adjust surround sound using the Surround Panner
In the Audio inspector, you can use the Surround Panner to change the surround sound field or 
make advanced adjustments using sliders.
Using the Surround Panner, you can change the panning levels by moving a control 
that represents where the sound would appear to originate in an actual surround sound 
speaker setup.
 1 Choose a surround preset from the Pan Mode pop-up menu.
 2 To open the Surround Panner, click the disclosure triangle next to Surround Panner in the 
Volume and Pan section of the Audio inspector.
Click to display the 
Surround Panner.
 3 Do any of the following:
 •To make adjustments in the Surround Panner: Drag the control within the surround field to pan 
toward or away from any of the surround channels (left, center, right, left surround, or right 
surround) represented by the speaker icons. Click a speaker icon to turn it on or off.
Drag to move the 
sound source.
To move the control back to the center position, double-click it.
 •To make advanced adjustments: Click the Advanced disclosure triangle below the Surround 
Panner, and drag the sliders left or right for any of the following parameters:
 •Original/Decoded: Adjusts the balance between the original and decoded signals. The slider 
can be adjusted from –100 (original signal only) to 100 (decoded center and surround signals 
only). At 0, the signal is balanced evenly between the original and decoded signals.
 •Ambient/Direct: Adjusts the balance between decoded surround and center signals. The 
slider can be adjusted from –100 (surround signal only) to 100 (center signal only). At 0, the 
signal is balanced evenly between the center and surround signals.
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 •Surround Width: Specifies how much separation (in dB) is between the decoded surround 
signals. At 0 dB, there is complete separation between the center and surround signals, but 
each surround signal is mono. To increase the stereo effect in the left and right surround 
channels, you can increase the parameter value. This also results in some signal being 
diverted from the center channel to the surround channels.
 •LFE Balance: Adjusts the low-frequency effects (subwoofer) signal from –1 (no signal sent to 
the LFE channel) to 1 (all signal sent to the LFE channel). When the slider is centered at 0, the 
signal is distributed evenly among the five channels and the LFE channel.
 •Rotation: Rotates all surround signals to the left or right in a circular manner. When the slider 
is at the extreme left or right (–180 degrees or 180 degrees, respectively), the surround signal 
is rotated to the center channel and the center signal is rotated to the surround channels. At 
0 degrees (the center of the slider), there is no rotation.
 •Stereo Spread: Adjusts the amount of stereo effect from the left and right channels to the 
center and surround speakers.
 •Attenuate/Collapse: Adjusts the way the panning effect is implemented. At 0, the source 
signals are attenuated (meaning that the original channel signals get louder and softer 
but are not actually diverted to other channels). At 100, the source signals are collapsed 
(meaning that the original channel signals aren’t changed in volume, but instead are moved 
to other channels in the panning direction).
 •Center Balance: Adjusts the balance between the center and surround signals. The slider can 
be adjusted from –100 (all center signal sent to the surround channels) to 100 (all surround 
signals sent to the center channel). At 0, the signal is balanced evenly between the center 
and surround channels.
When you make adjustments to advanced parameters, the Pan Mode indicates that it has 
been edited.
Reset pan adjustments
 m To reset an edited pan mode: Choose another preset from the Pan Mode pop-up menu. The Pan 
Amount slider is not affected.
 mTo reset adjustments to the Surround Panner only: Click the Reset button  in the Surround Panner 
section of the Audio inspector.
 mTo reset all adjustments: Click the Reset button  at the top of the Volume and Pan section of the 
Audio inspector.
You can monitor stereo and surround sound channel levels using the Audio meters.
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Multichannel audio editing examples
Below are examples of some multichannel audio editing workflows in Final Cut Pro.
Example: Remove unwanted noise from a specific audio component
Note:  To skim audio for an individual audio component, make sure both clip skimming and 
audio skimming are turned on. For more information, see Skim media
 on page 80.
 1 Select a clip in the Timeline, and choose Clip > Expand Audio Components (or press 
Control-Option-S).
Audio components
 2 Skim or play back the audio component to find the specific place where the noise occurs.
 3 Drag within the component to select the range where the noise occurs.
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							 Chapter 8    Edit audio 18 4
 4 Do one of the following:
 •To disable the portion of the component where the noise occurs: Press the V key (or press the 
Delete key).
Disabling a selected range mutes all sound within the range. To unmute (enable) the range, 
press the V key (or press Command-Z).
Note:  When you disable a range in an audio component, fade handles become available on 
either side of the disabled range. For more information on fade handles, see Fade audio in or 
out
 on page 17 6 .
 •To adjust the volume within the range: Drag the horizontal control up or down.
Keyframes are automatically created along the adjustment points within the range.
 5 Play back the clip to listen to your adjustments.
 6 To collapse the audio components after you complete your adjustments, choose Clip > Collapse 
Audio Components (or press Control-Option-S).
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Example: Trim audio within an audio component 
 1 Select a clip in the Timeline, and choose Clip > Expand Audio Components (or press 
Control-Option-S).
Audio components
 2 Position the pointer at the edge of the audio component you want to trim.
The pointer changes to the Trim tool icon .
 3 Drag to trim that section.
The trimmed section is disabled (muting all sound in that section) and appears dimmed in 
the Timeline.
To undo your trim, press Command-Z.
 4 Play back the clip to listen to your adjustments.
 5 To collapse the audio components after you complete your adjustments, choose Clip > Collapse 
Audio Components (or press Control-Option-S).
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Example: Make a roll edit to all audio components
 1 Select a clip in the Timeline, and choose Clip > Expand Audio Components (or press 
Control-Option-S).
Audio components
 2 Position the pointer at the edge of the audio portion of the clip you want to roll.
The pointer changes to the Trim tool icon .
 3 Hold down the Shift key and drag to roll back the edit point for the audio portion of the clip.
The edit point is rolled to the new location, cutting the audio at the end of the clip. The video 
portion of the clip is not affected.
To undo your edit, press Command-Z.
 4 Play back the clip to listen to your adjustments.
 5 To collapse the audio components after you complete your adjustments, choose Clip > Collapse 
Audio Components (or press Control-Option-S).
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Example: Add or remove audio components in a multicam clip
When you create a multicam clip that contains multiple audio components, you can use the 
Angle Viewer or the Audio inspector to add audio components from inactive angles to the active 
angle. This makes it easy to add audio from different source clips in your multicam clip while 
maintaining the active video angle. You can also remove audio components from the active 
angle to eliminate unwanted or unused audio.
Before you start, you can make adjustments to the channel configuration of audio components 
in your source clips in the Browser using the Audio inspector. For more information, see 
Configure audio channels
 on page 171.
 1 Drag a multicam clip from the Browser to the Timeline.
 2 To open the Angle Viewer, do one of the following:
 •Choose Window > Viewer Display > Show Angles (or press Shift-Command-7).
 •Choose Show Angles from the Viewer Options pop-up menu in the top-right corner of 
the Viewer.
The active angle appears highlighted in yellow.
Active angle in the Angle Viewer
 3 To enable audio-only switching in the Angle Viewer, click the right switch mode button in the 
upper-left corner.
Click to enable audio-only switching.
 4 To open the Audio inspector, do one of the following:
 •Choose Window > Show Inspector (or press Command-4), and click the Audio button at the 
top of the Inspector pane.
 •Click the Inspector button in the toolbar (shown below), and click the Audio button at the top 
of the Inspector pane.
The audio corresponding to the active angle in the Angle Viewer appears highlighted in the 
Channel Configuration section of the Audio inspector.
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 5 To reveal the audio components for the active angle, click the disclosure triangle next to the 
active angle’s source clip name. 
Click to reveal audio components 
for the active angle.
 6 To add audio components from inactive angles, do one of the following:
 •In the Angle Viewer: Hold down the Command and Option keys and click an inactive angle 
or angles.
 •In the Audio inspector: Select the checkbox next to each audio component you want to add.
In this example, the angle whose audio you added is highlighted in green in the Angle Viewer, 
and the audio components you added are highlighted in the Audio inspector.
Audio components added to the active angle
Audio components 
added to the active angle
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The added audio components also appear in the multicam clip’s component arrangement in the 
Timeline. ( To show expanded audio components, choose Clip > Expand Audio Components, or 
press Control-Option-S.)
Audio components 
added to the Timeline
 7 To remove an audio component from the active angle, do one of the following:
 •In the Angle Viewer: Hold down the Command and Option keys and click the angle (highlighted 
in green) whose audio you want to remove.
 •In the Audio inspector: Deselect the checkbox next to the audio component you want 
to remove.
When a component is removed, it appears dimmed in the Audio inspector and the angle is 
no longer highlighted in green in the Angle Viewer. The component also disappears from the 
multicam clip’s component arrangement in the Timeline.
Use roles to organize clips and export audio files
Final Cut Pro assigns an audio role (Dialogue, Music, or Effects) to the audio portion of all clips 
on import.
Role assignments make it easy to organize clips by audio type, but their most powerful benefit 
is the ease with which you can export separate files (called media stems
) from Final Cut Pro for 
all dialogue, music, or effects clips. This process is often used when delivering stems to match 
broadcast specifications or when handing off stems for mixing or post-production.
You can use roles for the following workflows:
 •Reassign roles: You can view and reassign clip roles in the Timeline Index, the Browser, the Info 
inspector, or the Modify menu. You can also view and reassign a role for an audio component 
in the Info inspector (or by using the Modify menu when the clip that contains the audio 
component is in the Timeline). See 
View and reassign roles on page 318 . You can also create 
custom roles and subroles to further organize your clips. 
 •View and organize clips by role: In the Timeline Index, you can organize clips by role, turn roles 
on or off, and highlight or minimize clips for viewing in the Timeline. For example, you could 
easily identify all your dialogue clips and play them back in isolation from other audio clips. 
See  View clips by role in the Timeline
 on page 324.
 •Export media stems: You can export roles as media stems in a combined, multitrack QuickTime 
file, or as separate audio or video files. During the export process you can assign mono, stereo, 
or surround output for your audio channels. See Sharing projects overview
 on page 399.
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Add and adjust audio effects
Add audio effects
In addition to the built-in audio enhancement features of Final Cut Pro, you can take advantage 
of 64-bit OS X built-in and third-party Audio Units (AU) effects for your audio processing tasks.
Final Cut Pro also comes with an extensive range of custom audio effects and professional Logic 
Effects, which are digital signal processing (DSP) effects and processors that are used to color or 
tonally shape existing audio recordings and audio sources—in real time.
Some of the most common processing options include noise reduction, pitch correction, 
EQs, dynamic processors, and reverbs. Further advanced features include delays, modulations, 
distortions, bass enhancement, and time-altering processors and utilities. Some custom effects 
included with Final Cut Pro combine multiple effects to create a particular sound environment, 
such as a cathedral.
You can add effects to individual clips or to a compound clip. Once you add an effect, you can 
adjust its settings using the Audio inspector.
Add audio effects to a clip
 1 Click the Effects button in the toolbar.
 2 In the Effects Browser, select an audio effect, and do any of the following to help you make the 
selection:
 •To preview what the effect sounds like using the audio from the currently selected Timeline clip: 
Move the pointer over the audio effect thumbnails.
 •To preview changing the effect’s primary control: Hold down the Option key while moving the 
pointer over an audio effect thumbnail.
 •To filter the list of effects that appear: Type text in the Effects Browser search field.
 3 Do one of the following:
 •Drag the effect to an audio clip (or a video clip with audio) in the Timeline.
 •Double-click the effect icon to apply it to the selected clip.
The effect appears in the Effects section of the Audio inspector and in the Audio Animation 
Editor. You can now adjust the effect.
Turn off a clip effect
After you apply an audio effect to a clip, you can turn off the effect (but retain its settings) in the 
Audio inspector or the Audio Animation Editor.
 1 Select the clip with the effect in the Timeline.
 2 Do one of the following:
 •In the Effects section of the Audio inspector, select the effect and click its blue checkbox.
 •In the Audio Animation Editor, select the effect and click its green checkbox.
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