Audio organisation fcpx

This may be a simple problem but I'm a bit confused. I'm in the begining stages of organising a new large documentary project in FCPX, I have all the footage in the appropriate folders/keyword collections etc but as far as audio, a lot of the songs I'm using are already in my iTunes.

My question is would it be better to get the Audio files saved in folders on my hard drive and then bring them into the project, or would it be just the same as using the songs straight from iTunes?

Keep in mind that I want the project self contained onto the one hard drive so I can plug it into a different computer (with a different iTunes account) and have everything still in working order.

Thanks

I put all of my stock music into iTunes, and I give it the genre of Stock Music, and fill out the metadata about the company it's from, song title, composer, etc, all filled out. I also have a Playlist for Stock Music. This way I have things very easily organized.

Then I pull directly from iTunes to my Timeline as I need it. Remember that your Timelines have Default Events, so when you add a photo from iPhoto or Aperture, or music form iTunes or the FCP X/STP/Logic/Garagband/iLife library, it places a copy into that Event.

If it's music I composed to purchased specifically for that project, and I'll never use it for anything else, I simply import it directly into my Event folder.

So you're saying that if you dragged music straight from your iTunes account into the timeline, fcpx would automatically re-save the song onto your external drive into the event folder and place it into an event?

Thanks again.

Yes, when you drag from the Media Browser windows. Works for photos and music this way.

BenB wrote: Yes, when you drag from the Media Browser windows. Works for photos and music this way.

Hi Ben

So FCP will copy the music file to the event folder when dragged from the Media Browser directly into a Project (timeline) but it won't automatically import it into the Event Library, will it? At least it doesn't look to me like it's doing so. So if it doesn't add it to the Event Library, will it copy the song file with the event and project if you copy everything to another external drive for someone to take off site to work on?

Ron,

Like Ben said, it should import the song or photo to the event library when you add it to your timeline. Remember it only adds it to the event that is set to the default event for that project. Check and see what event is tied to your project. I found music files in odd events when I first started with FCPX, because I didn't realize that it imports to an event.

Now I haven't checked but your import settings may need to have the "copy to events" item checked in your preferences otherwise it may just import a referenced file.

Preference settings have no effect. Media browser imports, period. And yes, it will show up in the Event Browser. If you don't see it, verify which Event is set as the Timelines default.

Good Morning Mikey, what big eyes you have!

Yes, I understand it will import the song to the associated Final Cut Events/Original Media subfolder. I have been able to verify that action. However, what I am observing is that it doesn't add or import the song to the Event itself (i.e. the music file does not appear in the Event Browser of the associated event).

Scratch that. I now see that it is in fact adding it to both the original media subfolder as well as the event browser of the associated event. Very cool! Somehow I had overlooked that yesterday when I posted my question. Thanks for your response.

Also, I can verify that you do NOT need to have "copy to events" checked in your preferences, it will still copy the file. This is fantastic stuff here!

I'm assuming FCPX can handle mp3 files okay? I haven't found any reference to that fact anywhere, but if true, this means that In will no longer have to worry about transcoding an MP3 file AIF before importing it into a project, what a time savor!

You can use MP3 files, but be aware they are super compressed and by no ones standards are consider professional quality.

Okay. How about m4a files do I still need to worry about converting them to AIF files also?

Simply converting an audio file to AIFF does not improve its quality. Once it's super compressed, the thrown away fidelity info is gone for good. I've never worked with m4a audio files.

RonPriest wrote: Okay. How about m4a files do I still need to worry about converting them to AIF files also?

mp4 files are just as compressed as mp3 files.
It's always best to work with uncompressed if possible, ie. .aiif, .wav etc.

Funny thing is that FCP7 wouldn't even work with compressed files like mp3. If you wanted to work with them you always had to render the audio in order to hear it.

FCPX doesn't have this problem, which is great. And strangely enough wasn't talked about by anyone, as working with native h.264 files got all of the attention.

And just like it's the fact that it recommended to not work with h.264 files, but rather transcode them to Pro-Res or another i-frame codec.

It's best to not work with compressed audio files like .mp3 or .mp4. And you're more prone to having some slight problems here or there.

BenB wrote: Simply converting an audio file to AIFF does not improve its quality. Once it's super compressed, the thrown away fidelity info is gone for good. I've never worked with m4a audio files.

Okay then, I was not aware of this. It certainly makes sense now that you've brought it to my attention. So all this time I've been converting mp4 and m4a files to aif files before importing them into FCP 7 when in all actuality, it wasn't improving performance or quality in my productions. I suppose I might as well just not worry about converting them to aif files then. I mean, most music I get is either in mp3 or m4a formats. Now my recorded audio from my live events are in wav format, and I've always used them as they are in my projects.

So, how would I add a new dynamic source folder to my audio browser in X in addition to the current source media listed which is Final Cut Pro Sound Effects, iLife Sound Effects, then there is iTunes, and Apple loops for soundtrack pro. Please bear with me, I'm still in FCPX training. I just started using X about a week ago, but have the macPro Video X bundle that I'm going through as well as the Ripple Training (both excellent resources btw) just as fast as I can comprehend it.

For stock media I put it all in one place on my hard drive, folder hierarchy organization is important. Import from the root folder into a Stock Media Event, be sure in the Import window you have Assign Folds As Keywords checked.

Okay. I was watching a couple of your movies on this subject yesterday as a matter of fact. I'll watch them it again and take some notes. I understand then that I can create and organize a complete audio production event with my source/stock media that this would be far superior to simply having songs show up in the music and sound browser, still though ... I curious as how I can add stock audio to the music and sound browser. There's so much to learn but I'm finding that X really kicks it! I'm sure we'll see all of those deserters coming back to FCP real soon!

Thanks Ben!

There is (currently) not a way to add your stock music/sound fx to the media/sound browser other than through iTunes. If you add your media to iTunes you can then create playlists, genres and different meta data to help you organize it. Or you can simply keep whatever organization tool you use now and import to the event as needed. I use a lot of Digital Juice/Stock20 stock items, I simply pull the ones I need into each event/project.

mliebergot wrote:

RonPriest wrote: Okay. How about m4a files do I still need to worry about converting them to AIF files also?

mp4 files are just as compressed as mp3 files. It's always best to work with uncompressed if possible, ie. .aiif, .wav etc. ... It's best to not work with compressed audio files like .mp3 or .mp4. And you're more prone to having some slight problems here or there.

Okay, so I understand that it's best to not work with compressed files, and even though converting mp3 or mp4 files to aif files can't increase the quality (as Ben had mentioned) doesn't it convet them to a "less compressed" format therefore making them easier to work with in FCPX?

Mikeybouchereau wrote: There is (currently) not a way to add your stock music/sound fx to the media/sound browser other than through iTunes.

@Mikeybouchereau
You can actually copy your stock music to a directory level within the iTunes structure on your hard drive without having to import the music into iTunes. I just purchased some cinematic themes from Footage Firm and located the directory that contained the Final Cut Pro music and made a subdirectory for "Cinematic Stock Music" and it appears in the media browser just fine. Drags to the timeline no problem. These are all aiff files. The first few times I placed the folder it wasn't recognized, but if you locate the directory that contains the default music provided with FCPX (Detroit Chop Shop, etc.) or iLife music, etc. it works!

@dgwvideo where is that location? And do you know if simlinked folders would work?

Not sure about simlinked folders as I haven't tried them. I will be back in my studio later this evening and post the full path of where I placed my music.