Converting 12 bit Audio to 16 bit

Hi:

I recently (and mistakenly) shot a bunch of footage with my audio set at 12 bit/33 kHz. I now need to convert it to 16 bit/48 kHz. I understand how to convert CDs, etc., using QT conversion, but I don't know how to convert audio that's attached to video.

Does anyone out there know how to do this quickly and easily?

THANKS!

Nicolle

Well once you bring it into an FCP timeline, the non-native audio format will import just fine as is and you can work with it. You might need to render that audio, but it'll drop into the timeline without a problem and you can start working. Any reason you need to manually convert it?

Marco Solorio | OneRiver Media | ORM Blog | Twitter | Facebook | Media Batch

Well, that's a relief to hear. In the FCP User Manuals it says it is really important to not record in 12 bit, though it doesn't say why. The only problem I see thus far is when I preview the footage in FC, there are bleeps and blips in the sound and some weird artifacting action going on with the video.

So, you're saying that it will convert to 16 bit automatically when I bring it into the timeline and then I just have to render it out to make it all match up? The bleeps and the blips, etc., will go away at that point?

Thanks for responding.

I disagree with Marco on this one. You're more likely to have issues if you bring the 12-bit audio into FCP and render than if you use QuickTime Player, Compressor or other application to convert the file before importing into FCP. Different bit rates and sample rates can mess with the audio rendering.


www.derekmok.com

Well, I can say that I've never had conversion issues on my end on import to a 48k timeline, whether the audio was 44.1k or 32k, but then again, it's pretty rare that I don't get a clip that's 48k. Good points, Derek. The only time I do a manual conversion are on MP3 files, but that's due to the inherent codec format of MP3s and not so much because of the frequency rate or bit-depth.

But yeah, good advice... if you want to make sure nothing goes screwy, then do manual conversions. Just never been an issue for me except for said MP3 files.

Marco Solorio | OneRiver Media | ORM Blog | Twitter | Facebook | Media Batch

44.1kHz files usually (not always) behave in a 48kHz timeline. 32kHz can be wonky. That's what I gather from reading posts in here. For four years, I've always convert to 48kHz before importing into FCP.


www.derekmok.com

I thought it sounded too good to be true!

So, how do I go about doing a manual conversion before bringing it into FCP? What the best approach?

Nicolle

Well, I would at least try it first by bringing in a clip on your 48k timeline to see what happens.

But if nothing else, you can convert it in QuickTime Player Pro (just open it and Export). Or use Compressor to do a batch conversion.

Marco Solorio | OneRiver Media | ORM Blog | Twitter | Facebook | Media Batch