Soundbed in FCP X

[Steve Mullen]

I just watched a couple of FCP training videos and they started with editing video-only or video+audio clips into the timeline. What I do too.

But, what's the simplest way to lay audio-only clips into the timeline at specific times and have them stick to their times?

[David Dixon]

Put the audio clips in the primary storyline and attach all the video clips to that.

[Steve Mullen]

Just as clips connect to other clips I was trying to connect an audio clip to a Time on the timeline:

Set an I on a timeline and then 3-point edit a clip to this point and have the clip stay at this point?

Alternately, set an O on a timeline and then 3-point backtime edit a clip to this point and have the clip stay at this point?

If one could do this a storyline could be sparse and over time the natural gaps filled in. One could literally edit a sequence from the end.

If this can't be done it seems seems one long "slug" would need to dropped into the timeline from beginning to end and clips connected to it. Not something I do, but music videos are built from the ground-up and I noticed none of the instructional videos ever touched on how this could be done.



Can one place a clip at a specific time and lock it there? It seems every clip

[William Hohauser]

Or place a section of black in the primary timeline and connect all the audio clips in the proper places. I use this technique when making documentaries that mainly use narration. If I want extend or reduce and space between lines, it's easy to break the primary black clip and drag one edge in the direction I want. This utilizes the benefits of the magnetic timeline.

You can create a compound clip of the final audio placement if you want to make sure the audio doesn't accidentally get moved.

[Steve Mullen]

Yes, that's what I was thinking would work.

Laying in black matte works fine. One can 3-point edit A or V onto it. Everything is now non-ripple.

But, even with the matte disabled, Append places the clip at the end of the matte! Seems with the matte disabled fcp should not consider it as part of the timeline and so drop V at the end of the last V and A at the end of the last A.

Even after Creating a Story -- which gets one back to clips with ripple -- Append still goes to the end of the matte.

Any way to make the matte appear in the "small bar mode?"

Thank you.

[Pete Cofrancesco]

I find it challenging working with audio based movies that involve timing, multiple tracks, that transition into each other. I've learned to stay away from cross dissolve filters for audio because adjusting the position of one audio clip effects the other clip.

If you're used to how a traditional timeline works it takes a long time to get comfortable with the way fcpx works.

[Steve Mullen]

Maybe that's why the instructional videos I watched didn't talk about this topic. But I now know how to do it.

[David Dixon]

If you have something selected in the browser...

e adds it to the end of the primary storyline
w inserts it into the primary storyline at the playhead location
q adds it not to the primary storyline, but as a connected clip - at the playhead location

So would q help in these situations?

[William Hohauser]

As soon as a clip is connected, not set on the primary timeline with append, it is treated as a connected clip. Successively connecting clips should drop over the primary track one after the other down the timeline.

"Lift from Storyline" is one of the most useful functions when working on the timeline.

[Steve Mullen]

Originally Posted by David Dixon

If you have something selected in the browser...

e adds it to the end of the primary storyline
w inserts it into the primary storyline at the playhead location
q adds it not to the primary storyline, but as a connected clip - at the playhead location

So would q help in these situations?

That might work -- will try.