Making a music DVD in FCP X - audio issues

R

RW60

Member
Still new to Final Cut Pro X so my issues might seem silly to some.

filmed a multi-group music fest and want to put about 10 songs on a DVD.

used two Sony FS 100s, kit mics. Have a fully-loaded 2013 iMAC ( but now question my move away from Windows and Vegas).

anyway, results were quite good. kit mics delivered beyond my expectations.

Fun editing...until I test drove my project on YouTube and a DVD. Just one five-minute song was used for the test.

youtube compressed the heck out of the audio; the roaring rock of my project file sounds like something recorded in a coffee can. I should delete that sucker, rankles my nerves.

(Share to) DVD...disappointing. Crash cymbal shimmers fade out as if someone sharply turned down the volume on them.

I added Compressor, but after the process is done...what to do? I don't have iDVD or Studio...is that a key missing link?

a fellow who made great instructional vids on FCPX suggests I try Adobe...says he no longer uses FCPX!

Totally frustrated. I still like discs to give to friends, band members...as keepsakes.

not ready to be a Vimeo or YouTube guy.

how do I get that nice bottom-end sound of the bands on to DVD? ( and maybe eventually Blu-ray so my HD cams can shine thru).

Help!!!

Ron
 
Last edited:
Paul,

Not sure how to do that.

was hoping a solution could be identified thru suggestions to improving workflow or maybe adding studio, something like that.

in Vegas, before going to Architect for DVD, I had all kinds of control over audio files. Compressor gives me that but I guess I thought I would be able to take the compressor version and just Share to DVD, but nope.

when I first got FCPX, I took some footage and put a Pink Floyd tune from a CD in, for the soundtrack.

awesome result, audio-wise. Now it seems I'm going backwards, and it's probably because I am missing The Obvious.
 
RW60 said:
(Share to) DVD...disappointing. Crash cymbal shimmers fade out as if someone sharply turned down the volume on them.
Click to expand...

At least this one thing is not so much a production issue but a playback issue. What's happening is that the cymbal crash is louder than the rest of the audio and is triggering an audio normalizer to prevent the speakers from getting blown out. Apple DVD player has a preference setting called "Dolby Dynamic Range Compression" and it's turned on by default. Turn this off and voila! the audio won't dip down after each loud noise. A lot of DVD and BD players, and even TVs will have some version of this.
Now the hard part...making a mix that retains those highs without triggering the compression.
I'm also guessing that you're using Compressor or some other automatic encoder and that you're getting an .ac3 file for audio? There's a lot of possible settings there that could be changing your audio in ways you don't like. Keeping the audio as a 48khz .aiff will take up a lot of space on the DVD, but it will sound exactly like it does on your edit timeline.
 
Andrius, thanks.

maybe if I take the project/raw audio down a bit, take the peaks-in-the-red out (there are only a very few) this would help (?)

-Ron
 
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