Greetings,
I've seen lots of people talk about 5.1 surround in FCP & STP, but I need some practical input. We have four Final Cut edit suites on an XSan. I have been charged with "upgrading" the edit suites so we can start producing our shows in 5.1 surround for broadcast (and DVDs after the fact). The DVDs I'm not worried about. All that can happen between FCP/STP/Compressor/and DVDSP. I understand that Final Cut isn't really designed to do a 5.1 mix, but I have some real world problems that I need help/input with.
I really don't want to add 5.1 speakers to each edit suite if those speakers can't be shared between FCP and STP. The way it works now is that FCP sends Audio/Video over Firewire to the AJA IoHD which has multiple outputs. We monitor audio from the unbalanced RCA "Monitor Out" on the AJA box. I'm thinking I could add a dolby encoder that would take 6 channels of AES out of the IoHD and create a 5.1 signal that could go into a prosumer amp, but is that going to give me the best options?
I hear a lot of people are using something like a M-Audio card for monitoring audio in STP while doing 5.1 mixes, but you have to send Audio with Video in FCP or you get lots-o-headaches so I can't/don't want to have the 5.1 speakers hooked up to an M-Audio card and my normal stereo speakers hooked up to the AJA/Amp.
Another issue is in FCP we could edit a stereo pair like normal, and then create a 5.1 mix in STP that could be exported for playout on our Omneon for air, but then I wonder about how do we roll off a master to DVCPRO HD or even SD? Should I roll off an 8 channel master tape? The first two channels for stereo and the last six for a 5.1?
I guess I just need to know how are people dealing with this in the real world. Any input would be welcome, and thanks for your time (in advance)