4 Channel output on DB

Hi guys,

Here the problem, my client wants the master digibeta to have 4 tracks of audio (VO, dialog, music, sfx). the audio post house gave me the tracks and im ready to output. so here's the problem the place im doing the output can only output 2 channels of audio and there isn't anywhere else in malaysia to do the transfer for a decent price.

i know i can output the video and first 2 audio tracks (channels 1 & 2) to the DB recorder and then switch the audio output cables to channel 3 & 4 and do an auto sync/dub and not destroy my first 2 channels or the video (i've done it long ago on an old SGI machine). Now can FCP 5 do this? i mean can fcp output only channel 3 & 4 of audio without doing some crazy mix down or anything like that? im a little afraid of trying with FCP without getting somme expert opinions first cause i can't have the client busting my chops over audio output.

cheers
james gervais

malaysia? cool! are you from KL? I'm planning to move abroad soon, and KL could be one of the first working spots for me...

2 outputs? what capture card are you on? If you're outputting by SDI, SDI comes embedded with up to 8 tracks of uncompressed pcm audio at 48khz/16bits. And you'll set that in your mastering sequence, specifying 4 audio tracks, switch your output to SDI.

I usually do a mixdown to aiff files before outputting (there seems to be a new nesting behaviour in final cut 6, which i don't really trust so much now).

yeap im in kl....been here about 13 yrs now. malaysia's a cool place but a little strange when you first move here (at least it was for a 22 year old kid from montana when i first came over).

the card that FINAS (that's the government sponsored production and post house that im using for the transfer) only have a blackmagic card with 2 audio out and 2 audio in. i still need to know if FCP5 can output the video and channels 1 & 2 to DB and then just output channels 3 & 4 without messing up the first lay down.

cheers
james

sounds cool. i'll drop you a pm on that.

Hmm.. blackmagic? Which card is it? I'm on a (not so) pretty prehistoric card- that's the decklink sp and it comes with an sdi signal with embedded audio tracks.

Without it, you're going to have to output the tracks individually. Here are the steps i'll take: 1, mixdown the audio and export them as aiff into the individual tracks i'll need on the digital beta (eg. 1&2 stereo mix, then track 3, voice overs and narration, track 4, music, etc..)

Then i'll duplicate that timeline, delete all audio tracks, and import my audio tracks onto that timeline. Double check for sync (aiff preserves amazing accuracy). Then, export first time for visuals and first 2 tracks (track 3 and 4 disabled), then export the 2nd time, with the visuals and the first 2 audio tracks disabled on the digital beta deck, and the first 2 audio tracks disabled on my timeline, repatch then lay to tape.

It's quite a hassle, and you got to make sure you don't miss any steps, when you're patching/configuring the digital beta, as you're going to spend another hour or so laying off to tape.

I like to keep everything neat on my mastering sequence, so I can take one look and know that i have everything- black, tone, 4 tracks of audio, 1 programme, end video black, etc...