importing mp3's

when I import an mp3 into final cut I get a cracking sound during play back. If I convert the file to AIFF the file size is very large. What is the best way to add audio to a project?

They need to be AIFF:

#5 Imported music from CD or iTunes

Shane's Stock Answer #5:

To get music into FCP, it needs to be an AIFF file at 48khz, 16 bit stereo. So if you want a song from a CD, you go into the iTunes Preferences and set this up under the IMPORTING tab:

File > preferences > importing > import using - AIFF encoder > Setting - Custom
Sample Rate - 48.000 kHz
Sample size - 16 bit
Channels - Stereo

If you have an mp3 that you want to use, then you can convert it thru iTunes as well.

If the piece of music you want to use is something you purchased thru iTunes, I'm afraid I can't help you there. There are copywrite issues that prevent files from being converted into the format that FCP can recognize.

> If I convert the file to AIFF the file size is very large.

Trust me, they're nothing compared to the file sizes of your video files. AIFFs are the way to go. Even better, try to get the music and convert the AIFFs off CDs, not MP3s.

MP3 is a compression process. Not the only one, but it's the most popular. The whole idea is to make a "normal" sound file much smaller by playing tricks with the ear as well as other standard compression tools.

Another one is AAC. You may have heard of iTunes?

They'e all destructive. Once you compress, that's the quality you're going to have from that time on, no matter how you decompress or what file structure you use. You can take it too far. If you listen to WDPR (Dayton, OH) on line, that faintly gargling sound to the voices is compression that's too high. It can get pretty annoying.

Yes, when you turn one of those back into a "normal" sound file, it's going to be very much bigger (but not higher quality). It's also going to become very friendly to Final Cut.

Koz

Never good practice to use MP3 AT ALL. Use the original AIFF file. And make sure you have the rights to use it legally.



Kevin Monahan
Social Support Lead, DV Products
Adobe
Adobe After Effects
Adobe Premiere Pro
Adobe After Effects and Premiere Pro Community Blog
Follow Me on Twitter!

Just came off a large corporate presentation project, one of our editors used mp3s in his final output. The clicking and popping from the compression was very audible ? played back through huge speakers in a big room full of our clients.

SO not cool. Don't ever use MP3s in the final output.