Final Cut (and other editing apps) will accept many kinds and formats of audio for import into the Browser or Timeline.

However, just because they will, doesn’t mean you should!

If you import compressed audio, for example, in MP3 or AAC codecs, or audio in a different bit or sample rate than your Timeline (such as 44.1 KHz, 32 KHz or 12-bit), you will often hear clicks, pops, and audio dropouts while editing, which is distracting for your creative process, and in many cases your audio will require rendering before you can even hear it, which sounds like “beep-beep-beep-beep” and wastes a lot of your time.

Our solution is to batch convert all audio to 48KHz, uncompressed, stereo or mono for editing before importing.

We use DV Kitchen for this, it comes with a preset already designed for this.

Have you ever found yourself changing the file names of a whole folder of clips, graphic or other files on your hard drive one by one? Here is a Warp Speed Workflow showing how to change hundred of files names in one click.

Click here to ask a question about Final Cut Pro workflows.

For more info, check out:

Final Cut Pro Foundations

Final Cut Express Foundations

1. Download iTunes from Apple
2. Double click iTunes Setup.exe to install
3. Launch iTunes
4. Go to the Edit Menu > then click Preferences
5. Click on the Advanced tab
6. Then click on the Importing tab
7. Now, in the “Import Using” dialog box, choose .WAV Encoder.
8. Then in the “Setting” dialog box, choose “Custom”
9. For “Sample Rate” choose 48 kHz.
10. For “Sample Size” choose 16-bit.
11. For “Channels” choose Stereo.
12. Then click OK.
13. Then OK again, to close the Preferences Box.Now your preferences are set up to convert audio files to an uncompressed file that will play smoothly in your editing software.
14. Now, insert a CD, or drop MP3s, AACs or files in many other kinds of audio formats into iTunes
15. Highlight all the items you want to convert, right-click, and choose “Convert Selection to WAV” from the popup menu.
16. Locate the items in your Music folder and put them in your project folder.

If you’d like to batch convert audio files on OSX, click here!

Wikipedia Commons

http://www.archive.org/details/audio

http://ccmixter.org/

http://www.icompositions.com/tools/category.php?cid=9

www.stock20.com

www.musicbakery.com

www.studiocutz.com

www.smartsound.com

If you’re thinking about using copyrighted music in a video or film project, this article has tips and guidelines for D-I-Y music clearance: click here More info on getting music clearance here.