OK, GOT IT!
I've been having the same buggy, brain-wracking, hair-pulling problem!Major chunks of audio disappear when exporting a nested sequence to QuickTime for final clip to DVD. I was happy to see that I'm not alone, but sorry that others have been experiencing the same buggy hassles.
After weeks of tweaking and torubleshooting, I didn't fix the bug, but I finally hit on the work-around. Here's what you do:
1. Finish your nested sequence editing. When you're ready to export to Quicktime... DON'T.
Instead:
2. Export your finsihed sequence > audio to AIFF. This will create a stereo AIFF audio file that exactly matches your finished sequence, with NO DROPOUTS.
3. Now, DUPLICATE your nested final cut sequence.
4. Open the COPY of your sequence. Select ALL, and choose Command-L. This de-links all the audio tracks from your video clips.
5. Now select all the audio tracks in your sequence. DELETE them! (You are working on a backup copy, so not to worry.)
6. Import your new audio AIFF file that you exported.
7. Paste the new audio tracks into your sequence.
8. Now... EXPORT to Quicktime. No more dropouts!
This is going to save me a bunch of Tylenol and Tums, and now I can skip those all-nighters trouble-shooting BAD AUDIO whenever a project deadline approaches.
Until Apple de-bugs the nested sequence audio dropouts, this is my M.O. every time I do a final export to Quicktime.
Hope it helps you, too!
Kevin Norberg
Studio By The Pond
kevin@studiobythepond.com