PLEASE HELP!!! How do I only record 2 tracks of Audio?

M

moviemaykr

Active member
Is there a setting in HVX 200 that will limit the auio to only 2 tracks when I shoot in 720p? Im always getting 4 tracks of audio when I dump footage into FCP.

I always delete the bottom 2 but Im doing a project where I have to upload raw footage and dont have time to put it into FCP.
Can anyone help out?
 
Not that I know of, internally. But you can run into an audio mixer and connect that mixer to the Line 1 XLR inpt. That will give you just 2 channels of audio - line one and two in stereo. It still records all four tracks, though, is that problem.

Maybe with a little more info, I can give you a better solution. For example, have you considered outputting audio signal out of the Composite portsand into a recorder? Two-part recording! It was good enough for everyone who shot/shoots on film...
 
you can disable the extra audio tracks in the log and transfer window in fcp. but that wont solve your uploading raw footage issue...
 
Moviemaykr,

If you're just uploading raw footage, why does it matter how many audio tracks you have? Removing the audio isn't going to save you data space or time, just make sure that whoever is receiving it knows there's 4 tracks, and what's on each track.

I guess I just don't understand what difference it would make.
 
Because if you have worked with HVX audio you will notice that it gives you 4 tracks in FCP and 2 of them sound bad and the other two are clean from your wireless or hand mic or whatever.

When you do an event and need to put the footage up on a server that night it takes a long time and double the process to input it to FCP and delete the bad audio tracks then output the footage with clean audio and then upload over an hours straight worth of HD footage.

If you ever tried to do this you know the extra step in FCP adds a ton of time to the overall process.
 
But you're still missing the point. I'm not telling you to go through FCP, I'm telling you to tell whoever you're uploading the footage to make sure they delete tracks 3 and 4 when editing. Problem solved.

If you're uploading raw footage, why would it matter? If you were trying to upload uncut footage directly to youtube or some other video site, I could see your dilemma, but even if you were doing that, you'd have to use Final Cut Pro or some other program to compress the file.

The real question is: Who are you uploading the raw footage for and what are they going to do with it? If they're going to edit it, who cares, tell them to delete tracks 3 and 4.

And FYI, I've worked with HVX audio plenty, and having those 2 extra tracks can save your life at times.
 
you are dead in the water (as we used to say :happy:). From the Manual:

"When P2 cards and the DVCPRO HD or DVCPRO50 format are used: The recording mode is fixed at 4-channel recording."

You may however,

"When P2 cards and the DVCPRO25 or DV format are used: Either 2 or 4 channels can be selected ... "
 
The additional tracks come in handy for me, so I always want to preserve them during Log and Transfer (FCP 7).
But they do become a bit of a headache when editing. Does anyone have any tricks for dealing with this?

The best strategy I can think of is to preserve the 4-track audio in a backup copy of the footage (most likely the original MXF files), and import all the footage again via Log and Transfer with only the two primary audio tracks.
Then, when and if additional audio content is needed, import a new copy of the clip with all four tracks from the MXF masters.

Can anyone think of a cleaner strategy?
_Michael
 
SantaCruzMichael:

Why would you need to create two different copies in order to preserve all your recorded audio tracks?

Just because you recorded 4 tracks of audio does not mean that those audio tracks HAVE to be edited into your sequence. In FInal Cut Pro, this is called targeting your tracks.

To give an example: Let's say I shot a clip with my HVX200. I've got a lav mic in Track 1, shotgun mic in Track 2, and internal camera mic on tracks 3 and 4. Let's say I chose to include ALL of these tracks when Logging and Transferring, so that on my .mov clip, I have 1 track of video, and all 4 tracks of audio.

When I am in my NLE (for me it's FCP or Avid Media Composer), if I don't want tracks 3 or 4, all I need to do is disconnect the target for tracks 3 and 4, and when I lay the clip in my timeline/sequence, only tracks 1 and 2 will be edited in. I don't need to include any tracks in my edit that I don't want. It's not as if the video and audio are married together and can't be separated.

And honestly, targeting your tracks is one of the first things you learn when editing. And I apologize in advance if I'm missing something in the other posts that makes this problem more difficult, but I feel this is a no-brainer.
 
Right-o,
Targeting tracks, and option-clicking AutoSelect, helps a great deal. But the extra tracks still get in the way occasionally, particularly when I'm roughing out a cut with a producer sitting next to me and I want to do everything with the fewest keystrokes possible.

So basically: You're right.
And: I'm lazy.

Hahaha.
 
Plain and simple when you are sending files to a client...

Plain and simple when you are sending files to a client...

that needs them the next day to post without having to do any or little editing then its best not to send files with 4 tracks of audio where you force them to delete the 2 unusable track. Also we never use tracks 3 or 4 because in professional terms they are garbage and only should be use in the worst cases.

Our client needed footage at 6am to post up very quickly after they downloaded it. When you upload footage sometimes you have to make quick-times and when you do that it it autimatically blends all four tracks into 2 track thus you have 2 garbage tracks which make it not as professional as it could be.
I hope that explains more.
 
moviemaykr,

From the restrictions you have indicated this camera is not for you. Or at least not for this job. If this is a real issue for you than it would be best for you to use another camera that only has the ability to record two channels of audio. That's a hard pill to swallow if you already own an HVX200 but it's the reality of the situation.
Jim
 
again, this requires you do the log and transfer in FCP but you can do a select all in the log and transfer list. disable 3 and 4. then click the "apply to selection" at the bottom of the import settings window and it will prompt you that it will change the setting for all clips.
 
Yeah man, it sounds like you should have just used Final Cut Pro's Log and Transfer utility, and unselected tracks 3 and 4. Then when you upload your 'raw footage', it only has tracks 1 and 2.

Or, as others have said, you can record in DVCPRO25 or DV and then you only have 2 tracks of Audio.

Honestly, it still sounds like you guys were going about it a weird way that doesn't make a whole lot of sense. Oh well, you live and learn, right?
 
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