AUDIO TRACK LOSS

My problem only tanentially concerns FCP, but I'd be obliged for any help as I'm at a loss.

Here's the deal: I added to an old FCP (v.1.25...embarrassing, I know!) file with new footage shot recently. My goal was to copy the new file onto miniDV, then play the miniDV from my camera (Sony DSR-PDX10) into a DVR which burns DVDs. I've done this dozens of times with no problems.

This time, something odd is happening. When I play the miniDV from camera to DVR?while watching and listening to picture on my TV?everything seems fine. BUT, when I play the footage back from the DVR, I lose audio in two sections: the new footage I recently added, plus a title card with musc underneath.

I know I've transferred these in the past with no problems. I tried mixing down the audio tracks, but it didn't seem to help.

I'm totally flummoxed. Could it be a setting in my camera I'm not aware of? I certainly don't recall changing anything regarding VTR playback.

Anyhow, hope this is clear, at least. If not, I'm happy to field questions. I appreciate greatly any guidance you guys can offer.

Thanks in advance,

marlowe

Check the audio meters within FCP. If your levels were mixed too hot, you'd get dropouts like what you're describing.

I'd also look into using iDVD, Toast or DVD Studio Pro to burn a video DVD with a movie file exported from FCP, rather than the recorder option you're talking about. It will be a lot faster.


www.derekmok.com

The levels seem to be fine. As to your other suggestions, I have technical limitations. While my laptop is a current Powerbook, by desktop is an older G4/400 using OS9.2. That's where my FCP resides. So, I can't burn a DVD from that system.

As to it being faster, I can't say. The system I use now (miniDV to DVR) is terrifically simple, and has always worked flawlessly.

(By the way, I meant to write "tangentially" in my first post!)

Thanks for the input.

Since it works fine on the mini dv, the only thing I can think of is that the new audio is on, say , track 2, and the old audio is on track 1, and the DVD recorder does not have a stereo input for audio, so the track 2 stuff is going missing. Or one cable is loose, or broken.

Try selecting all the audio on your timeline and panning it to the centre. I can't remember where that is in FCP 1.25, but I'm going to take a punt and say Modify > Levels > pan centre. Then export a section around and including the problem area and doing a test burn to see if this helps.

BTW - 'tangentially' is now my word of the week. Nice one

Sorry - that might be - Modify > Audio > Levels > Pan centre.

Well, I'll try your suggestion, but the DVR does have stereo input.

I'm going from my camera from a single-pin composite (video, Audio1, Audio2) to 3 RCA's. The weirdest thing about this is that I had copied an earlier version of this video several months ago and everything (to my knowledge) worked fine. Then, when I went back to look at that video, the sound was dropped from those very two tracks.

It makes me think there's a settings problem somewhere, but I can't for the life of me figure out what it is.

Jude, you're awesome, dude!

I went back and looked at the audio. Sure enough, that one track was set to PAN RIGHT (to the extreme). I did several tests with the pan in various places. When it got to the clip with the pan right setting, the audio disappeared!!

I don't remember why I set it that way in the first place. It was either an error, or I thought since I was only using CH. 1, I thought it should be set that way.

In either case, I f**ked up. But, for the moment, anyhow, you've saved me!

Unless there's a gremlin in my system, I should be fine.

THANKS SO MUCH!!!

marlowe

Jude, make sure you read my posting above from 9:35 pm. I connected it to your earlier post and it ended up buried in the middle.

marlowe

> Jude, you're awesome, dude!

Hey, Marlowe, Jude is not a dude.

(Don't worry, we've all been there)


www.derekmok.com

I am so a dude. I'm just a female one.

BTW. What is the meaning of 'Dude Ranch'? I never got that. A ranch for cool people?

The guest ranch, also known as a dude ranch, is a type of ranch oriented towards visitors or tourism. It is a phenomenon of the romanticization of the American West after the official closing of the United States frontier in the late 19th century. The Western adventures of hardy aristocrats like Theodore Roosevelt were made available to paying guests from cities or the East, called "tenderfeet," "greenhorns," or "dudes" in the West. Some guest ranch visitors expected a somewhat edited version of the "cowboy life," while others were more tolerant of the odors and timetable of a working ranch.

Ask and you shall recieve...Via Wikipedia...