10.3 - Exporting a Multi Track .mxf file

I'm not ready to upgrade to Sierra yet due to third party compatibility issues. I'm still on Yosemite. So, I've partioned my hard drive and installed El Capitan there so as I can have a look at FCPX 10.3 and keep all my current work and files safe on the other part of the hard drive.

One thing I am interested is the new .mxf multi track export feature using roles. I work in broadcast, so this could be very useful.

At the moment, I'm not using roles. When I've finished my edit, all sound is in dual mono mode. I'll pan dialogue (incl voiceover) to the left and effects, etc to the right and then export as a .mxf via a preset (HD 422 50mbps)

What I'm trying to establish is if I now use roles in 10.3 and assign them either on import or before starting to edit is how it'll work out on export.

In the Share, I can choose the .mxf multi track settings. So, if I put dialogue as mono on one audio track and effects as mono on a second audio track will it then be exported with the audio automatically panned left and right or do I still have to do that manually myself?

I'm trying to find some tips and help on this subject.

Thanks

Assigning each Role to an audio channels (tracks) in the resulting file is simply that, Tracks/Channels. Panning is done in the Timeline. That said, if you're assigning different channels (tracks) for each Role, there's no need for panning. All the pan did for you was to separate them to different channels.

Thanks. I did think that if I assigned dialogue and effects separately then I wouldn't have to pan as well, but I wanted to check first.
Interestingly, when you choose a mxf multi track for export, the default audio setting is mono.
But, if you choose a Quicktime multi track for export instead, the default audio setting is stereo.
Any reason for this?

I'm trying to get my head around Roles. Some of the online explanations are rather complex!

Roles are actually quite simple if you just think of them as tracks. You assign roles to clips based on which tracks you would patch your video and audio to in other NLEs. 10.3 will now let you see your roles separated like 'tracks' for a better view. On export, you simply choose which roles you want to go to which tracks on your final MXF export.

Actually 10.3 uses Lanes, which are not Tracks, cause they can do some things Tracks can't do. Tracks are set in stone, unmovable, zero flexibility. Lanes can do all sorts of circus tricks.

I am producing an educational show. One segment every week is an interview with a professional. The host is on Ch 1, the guest is on Ch 2. Sometimes it is the opposite, because the wireless lavs get plugged into one side or the other, and I don't care, I have Roles in post. So I have a Role called "Dialogue". In that I have two subroles called Guest and Host. I also have Music, and under the Effects role, I have a subrole called Ambient. Because we do a lot of artificial ambient background audio.

When I mix, I put it all in a Compound Clip. I turn on Audio Role Lanes, and all my Guest audio clips are in one lane. All my Host audio clips are on a different lane. And so forth. So I don't give a monkeys backside what channel, left or right, the lavs are plugged in to the camera. I don't care if we used a Zoom or Zaxcom to record. It all becomes Roles and subroles in my Project, and I have control.

Say we did an interview with Ms. Sally in a garden. It was a very long interview. We took breaks. Sometimes her lav was on Ch 1, sometimes Ch 2, sometimes Camera 2, sometimes Camera 1. I don't care one bit. Her audio clips will all be "Guest" subrole, under the parent Dialogue role, in post. Greatly simplifies things for very lazy producers like me.

It is a way to work with many independent audio clips, all together as one, single, long clip in your Project.

Why do they default to either mono or stereo in the Master File window? Don't know, don't care, I can make the whatever I want.

That's a very useful point you make and clearly shows the flexibility of roles.
What would be the best way to combine roles such as dialogue, effects, titles, music and voiceover into an exported .mxf multitrack file with just 2 channels?

Have a look at this article distributed by Apple:

Create a multi-channel MXF file with Final Cut Pro X

-paul.

Finbo wrote: That's a very useful point you make and clearly shows the flexibility of roles.
What would be the best way to combine roles such as dialogue, effects, titles, music and voiceover into an exported .mxf multitrack file with just 2 channels?

Well, depends on what your goal is. If you only have two channels for audio, are you doing a final mix down, or separating audio out? What are you delivering to that needs the separations?

Delivering to broadcast tv that generally wants dialogue and voiceover on channel 1 (left) and any effects and music, etc on channel 2 (right). So, they want it sent as two separate channels rather than mixed together.

Playing around with roles further, it looks as though it may be best at the end of an edit to re-assign some of the roles so there's only two channels when I export/share to the desktop. Though I don't know whether this would be the best workflow?

Two channels, then you're not talking about Roles, but about each clip's own channel configuration. Pan the channels left and right as needed. Roles won't pan for you.

I think if I reassign before export/share then I don't have to pan all the clips.
For example, it's quicker to reassign voiceover to dialogue and then have two channels (dialogue and effects) which are automatically panned if I use the .mxf multi track option.
This seems to me to be a swifter way of working?
Also, it avoids the potential problem of changing a clip at the last minute and then forgetting to pan it.

Try it, see how it works when you export. But I can assure you, with two channel export, you must pan them in the Inspector as you've been doing, or you will get the same sound on both channels of the export.

You can have 4 tracks in the export, and all 4 playing out of both the L and R channels. You only get access to the individual tracks after export, if you open the file in software that allows you access to a file's individual audio tracks. Assigning a role to a track, has NOTHING to do with how it is panned to the L or R channel for playback.

That's interesting and curious at the same time.

Yesterday, I was experimenting with this and then looking at the files after export to my desktop on Catalyst Browse to see if they were mixed.

Having 3 or 4 audio sources showed up in CB as 3 or 4 separate channels - definitely not mixed.
And if I then reassigned voiceover to dialogue and exported as 2 channels, CB sees the file as 2 separate channels - left plays vo and interviews and right plays effects, etc.

Just to confirm, I'm exporting the .mxf multi track file as mono tracks and not stereo. Therefore, that's why I thought there was no need to pan as before.
My tests, so far, are proving this to be correct...

Good tests to be doing! Thanks for sharing the info.