m4a vs aif??

Question

Level 1

0 points

m4a vs aif??

Hi there,

a friend of mine makes his own music, which I use for short videos and such. I've never had a problem importing his music from his CD to my iMac to FCP for editing. Now I'm having this problem with his music because its reading it as m4a files. I can't import any of the music into FCP because it doesn't recognize the m4a files. Anyone know why or how to fix this problem? Thank you.

iMac, Mac OS X (10.4.10), refurbished

Posted on Nov 14, 2007 9:37 PM

Reply

Answer 1

Shane Ross

Level 8

43,110 points

Nov 14, 2007 9:54 PM in response to AriaMoz

FCP only likes AIFF files...48khz, 16 bit stereo...period. You can convert the audio he sends (maybe, m4a sounds like the format used in AAC iTunes purchases) with iTunes into the AIFF format. It is in the ADVANCED options in the preferences. Switch your Importer to AIFF, then use the Advanced menu to CONVERT TO AIFF.

Shane

Reply

Answer 2

Nov 15, 2007 9:17 AM in response to AriaMoz

Or use compressor and setup a batch.

Reply

Answer 3

AriaMoz Author

Level 1

0 points

Nov 15, 2007 9:32 AM in response to Shane Ross

Thank you Shane. At first there wasn't any option to "Convert to Aiff", however, after checking the help menu in Itunes, I figured it out:

To convert an MP3 or AAC file1 to AIFF using iTunes, follow these steps:

1. Open iTunes.
2. From the iTunes menu, choose Preferences.
3. Click the Advanced icon at the top of the Preferences.
4. Click the Importing tab.
5. From the Import Using pop-up menu, choose AIFF Encoder instead of MP3 or AAC encoders.

The only other issue that occurred is that once the conversion was completed, the new AIFF file was 44.7 MB vs my 4MB from the AAC file. It's not a huge problem or anything, it just takes up more space than I thought it would.

Thanks again for your time Shane.

Reply