HELP PLEASE - Crazy audio capture

Just returned from Africa with 50 hours of a doc to digitize but my audio has a mind of its own.

I recorded separate mono channels (1 lav and 1 boom) which I can play back in my DVCPro deck and monitor through Cinewave balanced analog OUTS but when I capture each clip using Ch1 & Ch2 settings FCP reports them as 2 separate mono channels but actually makes each channel a mono mix of the two. In the Browser it still logs them as Ch1 & Ch2 and NOT as mono mix.

Driving myself nuts re-setting my prefs and all settings but to no avail.

Can anyone help?

Running G4 dual 1.25 Ghz; OS X 10.3.6; 1.25 Gb RAM; FCP HD 4.5; Cinewave 4.7

> In the Browser it still logs them as Ch1 & Ch2 and NOT as mono mix.

"Ch1+Ch2" in your Browser doesn't mean it's not dual mono. The Browser column that determines stereo vs. mono is the "Audio" column, and even then, capturing "Stereo" in the Browser simply means the two channels are linked; FCP would not mix the channels together on its own.

Disable external playback and change the Audio Playback device in Audio/Video Settings to Built-In Audio -- your computer speakers. Take one of the audio clips, cut it into a timeline, split it (OPTION-L), delete one side, then listen to it. Are you hearing only one channel of what you recorded, or is it a mix of both channels?

Knowing what your capture device is would help as well.

no need to re-set your monitoring

simply put the clip in a timeline, and turn off one track (green visibility button, far left of timeline)
then the other
to determine if it really is dual mono.

i'd be surprised if you were getting a mono mix if capturing over FW.
are you using the Cinewave to capture?
there may be some settings, or even patching issues going on there.


nick

Thanks guys. You've been a great help. Things are working but I'm still puzzled.

I'm capturing using a TARGA Cine codec.

I have a DVCPro deck outputting to my Cinewave analog BOB.

The outputs from the BOB go to my Mackie 1202 mixer which then has master outs to a pair of Behringer Truth monitors.

When I preview in log and capture I hear two distinctly different channels.

When I capture I don't.

When I load the clip in the browser it shows two audio tabs Mono (a1) and Mono (a2) but plays back a mix of the two. If I turn on and off the separate channels on the Mackie I still hear a mono mix through the speakers!

In the sequence I discover that I have in fact captured separate channels by turning each audio track on and off. Whoopee! But why can't I determine that in the browser so that I know which track(s) I want in the timeline ?

I then discovered that if I create and set a Dual Mono default in the audio output of my sequence settings I can hear distinct channels in the Browser by using the Mixer. Great. But why?

Whoops: when I said "load them in the browser" I meant "viewer"

"But why can't I determine that in the viewer so that I know which track(s) I want in the timeline ?"

that's a good question.
it's pretty frustrating that you cant solo a track, or monitor just one side of your clip in the viewer.
the viewer is, after all, where you preview your media, and make decisions about what you cut into the timeline.

you can to go to one side, Ch1, say and pull the volume down, and monitor the Ch2.
then re-set the levels,
go to Ch2, pull it's level down and monitor Ch1.

but that's ridiculous.

anyway,
good to hear it wasn't some mess-up with your patching and you don't have to re-capture.

cheers,
nick

<<<When I capture I don't.>>>

You mean *after* you capture, right? It's supposed to be silent *during* the capture.

Koz