FCP preferred audio dynamic range
 

I just finished my first short film which I intended mainly for web viewing. But I also printed to tape and played it on a TV monitor...and I noticed there were definitely some audio problems. I obviously made the dynamic range to wide.

I tried to keep things between -18 and -12 but some things, like an explosion sound for instance, needed to be noticeably louder, so I set those at about -2 or -3 (but always below 0). On a TV monitor, the explosion sounds pop and crackle a bit...so they're too high, I guess. Also, some low, bass sounds disappear altogether.

Any suggestions on this? To make playback better on a TV, what would be the preferred output for short, loud segments like gunshots and explosions? And how about dialogue? And background music?

John remember that the average TV is only capable of a frequency responce range of between about 100hz to about 10khz. Pretty limited in all but Rob's home theatre. You might try compressing the explosions and reducing the high end eq. This should stop the high end distortion but still allow you to keep the higher level.

Unfortunately, this is an inherant problem with DV. The rough edges you are seeing is alaizing(can't remember how to spell that one, it's too late at night). Did you do the titling in FCP, or Photoshop?

er...what?

Sorry, Adrian...I'm an absolute beginner when it comes to manipulating audio. Really, I was just wondering what settings others use (especially FCP people who set the volume levels for each clip based on a 0 to -60 range) for peaks and lows (peaks meaning explosions and gunshots). If you take them down too far, they sound like cap guns and bursting balloons.

I did it in FCP. I've done it in Photoshop before and it does look better. But there has to be a way to make FCP text look better.

Did you use the Calligraphy 3-D plug-in? It is vector-based and gives better results than the normal FCP text. Also, make sure you provide a slight edge blur. Smaller fonts are more prone to this. Maybe a different font?

John,
You won't like this answer but AfterEffects "rules" when it comes to all text treatments. FCP's free BorisFX plug-in ("3D Text") works well for static text. But for any movement or other effects AE is the way to go. It just does a much nicer, smoother job.

Vic and Ken,

I knew I must have been overlooking something...I just used the standard text generator. Didn't know about Calligraphy 3-D or BorisFX to be honest.

Ken...you're right. "After Effects" looks like it's a must-have. I was hoping that I could get by with FCP awhile longer. Man! There goes another big wad of cash and a few weeks of intensive study. Never ends, does it?

John--

Another (considerably less) alternative is to try out the CHV text plug-in. It is also vector-based, and allows you to mix fonts, margins, gutters, etc. all within the same fx. There's a good review over at :

http://www.kenstone.net/fcp_homepage/review_chv_text.html

I got the text plug-in and like it a lot.

Yeah, after I hit the lottery, I gonna have to get AE, as well....

John,

Since AE was brought up you might want to take a look here http://www.creativecow.net/articles/...let/index.html This also works into your 16:9 or 4:3 post. I don't usually like to link to COW and 2-pop, but this article is so well done.

Jeff

If you go to this website and read all the way down, it claims that FCP will read the files:

http://www.abcdv.com/article/articleview/5/1/48/

How does the unit work with Canon's Lanc? Any ideas for mounting it on an XL1, taking extra battery into consideration?

I would want to see it work on a Mac before I purchased one. If you read further down the article they couldn't get it to work by drop and drag. They had to capture off of it. I would also want to see a comparison of the codec used by Sony. It may not be as good as the Quicktime codec.

Jeff

Discreet Cleaner 6 review
 

I've been a big fan of Cleaner 5 for a while, using it to multiplex all my DVD's. Thank the stars I don't do too many long programs. Cleaner 5 was just so sloooooow. Well, good news, Cleaner 6 is out and very stable on OS10.2.2 I'm very pleased with it's performance on the 6 DVD's I've done for clients in the past month (except for an occasional crash on 10.2.1). My times have been averaging 2 to 3 times faster than Cleaner 5. A complete review is at Creative Mac http://www.creativemac.com/2002/11_n...ner6021112.htm Their testing is similar to my results. Discreet has a great offer available until the end of the year. Cleaner 6 and Combustion 2 can be purchased for $1,497. A year ago that combination would have been $6,000 and not been near as fast.

Jeff

Jeff,

On Friday my upgrade came. I have not had a chance to work with it, but glad to hear that the speed has been improved.

I would have given up on it if the speed improvement was not on the magnitude it is. I don't really do enough to justify a hardware accelerator. But Cleaner 5 was a torture to use. If you haven't upgraded to 10.2.2 you may have a program crash now and then.

Jeff