iMovieHD sound question

[Sal C. Martin]

I recorded a sit down interview with my 2 channel camera. I'd like to have the sound play on both channels (left and right) when I burn the DVD. How does iMovie handle this?

In the past I have used a stereo microphone on a consumer video cam. Now that I've stepped up to a pro camera, the sound is only one side.

How do I make it mono essentially?

Thanks

[Jonathan Jones]

Originally Posted by Sal C. Martin

I recorded a sit down interview with my 2 channel camera. I'd like to have the sound play on both channels (left and right) when I burn the DVD. How does iMovie handle this?

In the past I have used a stereo microphone on a consumer video cam. Now that I've stepped up to a pro camera, the sound is only one side.

How do I make it mono essentially?

Thanks

Sal,
I don't know if iMovieHD can handle this. I know that they added some audio controls to iMovieHD 6 that were not present in version 5 (and then they removed them again for version 7 (from iLife 08) but I haven't used any of the last 2 versions so I can't give you an answer for that. I would have to guess that it does not give you that level of control.

But you can do this yourself quite easily. You can export your project or interview tracks as audio AIFF files. Under 'export' or 'share' select Expert Settings. Scroll through your options to select the AIFF option (I can't remember exactly what it is called but it is pretty obviously an AIFF.

The resulting exported file will be a quicktime audio file containing only the audio from your project timeline.

Now, if you have Quicktime Pro, you can simply access the audio settings and set the tracks to mono - but QT Pro is a $30 investment and if you don't have it, don't bother buying it just for this.

A free option would be to download Audacity. It should be pretty simple to open the file with Audacity, identify your audio tracks, and set the field slider to center/mono for each track.

Now, you can once again export your Audacity file back out as a new AIFF and drop that into your iMovie project.

Make sure you audio track is properly synced up - disable the audio tracks from your original audio, and that should do the trick.

Hope this helps.

-Jon

[Sal C. Martin]

Jon:

I suppose FCP has an option to handle this, correct? Because iMovie is just my introduction to editing. I plan to upgrade to FCP after I understand the basics of editing.

Thanks!

[Jonathan Jones]

Originally Posted by Sal C. Martin

Jon:

I suppose FCP has an option to handle this, correct?

Correct. FCP is an extremely robust and capable application that gives you tons of options for control over your A/V content.

The only caveat is using iMovie as a stepping stone for potential upgrade to FCP.

Having used iMovie for a few years and having a lot of fun trying to push it to the extremes of what one can do with it, I have to add that, in my opinion, the only real context of preparation for a higher end app like FCP that iMovie can offer is that video editing takes a great deal of time, and hard drive space.

That being said, there is virtually nothing of similarity in interface, options, and perhaps even workflow between iMovie and FCP. You may still take a while to wrap your mind around the complexities of what FCP can offer, but don't give up - it is completely worth it.

Final Cut Express,on the other hand, is a good starting point in real preparation for potential transition into FCP. FCE doesn't offer ALL the options of FCP, nor does it include the full suite of other apps that Final Cut Studio contains, but it does use virtually an identical interface to FCP, so learning on FCE can give you a great perspective on what will be involved in your workflow if you choose later to sink a boat load of cash on the full Studio suite. And at a $199 price point for FCE, it offers great bang for your buck.

-Jon