Will non-locked audio cause me grief in FCP?
 

Hi all,

I have just learned that the XL2 does not record locked audio.

Will this be a problem for me using FCP 4.5? Is it likely I will get audio sync problems using this cam and this editor?

I couldn't think of anything worse than having to re-sync audio after capturing and editing.

Thanks

David

I use a Sony camera that is capable of recording DVCAM which has locked audio. However each act of our performances are generally longer than the 40 minutes that one can get on a DVCAM mini-DV cassette. So I almost always record DV SP which means no locked audio.

Once I experienced a dropped frame at the end of a 45 minute capture in FCP which caused the capture to stop with a warning message. When I opened the discarded capture file the audio was way out of sync. So ever since then I've broken my captures into smaller segments (maybe 15 to 20 minutes each) and have never seen a problem. I don't know that locked audio would have made any difference with that problem anyway, since it was rooted in a dropped frame during a capture to an external firewire drive.

Now I should note that I'm still on FCP 3 however. I have seen some people talk about audio problems on FCP HD, and am not sure how they were resolved. You might want to browse through the FCP forum for some insights.

DVCAM's audio is technically locked, yes. However, this does not mean that the DV standard's audio isn't synced up to the video. It is. I would do a quick search online for the discussion of how the two formats differ. Shooting with a decent DV camera (like the XL1, VX2000, etc.), and capturing with an external deck, you shouldn't encounter any issues. I've had to re-sync some DV footage that was shot with a cheap handy cam and the tapes had been ejected, reinserted, and the time code was a mess. Thats when it can be a problem. But if you treat it all nicely, you should be fine.

Oliver