FCPX not importing audio track from DV files.

Question

Level 1

10 points

FCPX not importing audio track from DV files.

Not sure what's going on here. I used iMovie 11 with my camcorder to import from minDV tape 6 months ago. The files created were .dv 720x480 using iMovie's codec called "dvsl" - (as shown using VLC player information menu.) iMovie imported the audio tracks with "s16l" codec 2 channels at 32khz. I spend 299 on FCPX and another 98 for the compression and motion apps hoping to use FCPX to finish my imovie project. I'm thinking I cant. I imported about 25 1-hr tapes and I can't hear the audio - the audio track shows NO MOVEMENT on these clips.

Ironically the few clips I recorded with my iPhone 4 are fine - audio and video imported just fine - but the dv imports are video only audio silent.

I did an OSX software update after installing FCPX and motion/compressor and downloaded more stuff - but that didn't fix the prob.

Anyone out there have a clue? I'm lost - no idea what's going on here. Did i make a mistake buying FCPX? I don't plan on making any silent movies with FCPX and would like it to play the audio tracks from my dv files. There's got to be a way. We're talking 25 hours or so of clips.....

Final Cut Pro X-OTHER, Mac OS X (10.6.7)

Posted on Jun 22, 2011 5:41 AM

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Answer 1

Jun 22, 2011 9:19 AM in response to umbasa

I'm having the same issue. Your post is the first I've seen on this. I have older footage shot with a Canon GL2 that seems fine on the audio, but the stuff I shot with my Canon Elura is silent in FCP X. Interestingly though, everything was fine when I imported into iMovie last year and audio is still audible in iMovie now, or in the actual DV clips in Quicklook mode.

Annoying.

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Answer 2

mrstep

Level 1

0 points

Jun 22, 2011 9:48 AM in response to umbasa

Ditto - the video is all fine in iMovie, and after letting FCPX import my iMovie library, FCPX has the same video - minus any audio. The video is all from my old Sony TRV-103(??? or something along those lines - haven't pulled it out of the closet in quite a while). Very annoying - my hope was that FCPX would make the editing less painful and maybe finally let me finish some of my movie projects.

Hmmm, I know my parents old Super8 movies had no audio, but this is ridiculous. Or maybe we're supposed to use the 'old movie' look filter and pretend these were Super8 too? I know I've seen comments all over from people upset about not being able to pull their FCP 7 projects in, but I figured it wouldn't be an issue since my projects were in iMovie. Turns out we can all be winners! 😉

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Answer 3

umbasa Author

Level 1

10 points

Jun 22, 2011 4:28 PM in response to mrstep

I figured it out! It's not that bad either, a bit of a hassle but you'll be fine. Me too.

1> purchase compressor app on the apple app store if you haven't yet. it's $50.

2> start it up.

3> menu> Settings (or cmd-3). Scroll down to the custom folder and click the little plus/down arrow on top right of the settings window and select "H.264 for apple devices".

4> Double click the new custom setting you created called "untitled..."

5> Here's where you decide based on the actual pixel shape of your source .dv file videos. In my case, it was 720x480, so I selected "Apple TV SD (anamorphic)" as the "device", and the "aspect ratio" as "4:3". You pick the setting based on whatever your DV files are. If you don't know, use quicktime pro "Inspector" window to discover, or download VLC from videolan and use that. They both play and show you the pixels, etc of your .dv file. Whatever the shape, make sure the aspect ratio you choose in the setting is the same as the original source.

6> Select Audio setting 256 kbps

7> Name the setting something short (trust me) - name is on top

8> click "save" button on bottom of window

9> in the window that shows "drag a file to create a job", drag a folder full of .dv files

10> MAKE SURE YOU HAVE ENOUGH SPACE ON THE HD OF THE SOURCE MATERIAL FOR 15% MORE SPACE OF FILES

11> click submit button below list of videos in job

12> go to the folder of the source .dv files and you'll see new files you created

13> In FCPX - choose to import these new files and you'll hear their audio in FCPX - and you'll see the quality of the video is the same.

snapshot of the settings I used to import my old .dv files:

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Answer 4

mrstep

Level 1

0 points

Jun 22, 2011 5:09 PM in response to umbasa

Thanks for the tip, it's definitely a work-around, but I was really hoping to keep them in their original format since I know I'll have at least the 1 re-compression pass when creating a movie; 2 passes sounds like something I'd rather avoid.

Fortunately I'm not in an extreme hurry and it seems next to impossible that this doesn't get fixed in a point release in fairly short order. It's a bit disappointing that they didn't test this, considering they do an iMovie import and that iMovie handles these files just fine. (Put another way, I rather assumed FCP X would handle a super-set of what iMovie can...)

I also realized earlier that I hadn't installed the extra codecs , but installing them (at least after-the-fact) didn't change anything.

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Answer 5

Jun 22, 2011 5:25 PM in response to mrstep

Good point, Mr. Step, about the fact that iMovie did fine with these imports. And thank you Umbasa for figuring this out as a workaround. The file size was one-tenth after using Compressor (which I already had from FCP studio so saved the $50) and it looked like quality holds up.

Hopefully Apple will add this issue to their punchlist. I've been playing around with the software today with more recent footage shot on DSLR and I think FCP X has great potential. I have faith they will make it right.

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Answer 6

umbasa Author

Level 1

10 points

Jun 22, 2011 7:08 PM in response to genericpizza

Eventually this prob will go away I'm sure in subsequent releases. I wonder if this fix will sync with the ability for FXPX to allow import from a DV tape using my camcorder...? hmmm... If so, for me, I'm not holding my breath. I'll do the batch conversions, delete the original .dv files and use the new source files to reimport the iMovie events into FCPX

Also I think I get another benefit. If the source files are smaller I presume FCPX will be more responsive in workflow and background rendering overall. My hunch tells me yes.

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Answer 7

Rosco188

Level 1

40 points

Jun 22, 2011 7:14 PM in response to umbasa

wow. sounds like a lot of work for a basic function.

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Answer 8

crh24

Level 3

930 points

Jun 22, 2011 7:31 PM in response to Rosco188

I have some old .dv files I imported from a Panasonic GS-400 a few years ago. I copied them from the camera using scenealyzer back in my windows/Vegas Video days. The clips are 16:9. I may be able to find some much older 4:3 .dv file extracted in the same manner from a Sony TR-240 in the 90's but I think I converted them all to .mov files. I'll check them out, too, if I can find one.

The .dv files are imported into FCPX without problems. I examined one of them with Media Inspector and here is that info:

* * * Media Inspector 0.7.441 file analysis report.

* * * MediaInfoLib by Jerome Martinez - http://mediainfo.sourceforge.net

Created on: Jun 22, 2011 7:25:02 PM PDT

Report for file: clip-2007-06-23 23;42;15.dv

General / Container Stream #1

Total Video Streams for this File.................1

Total Audio Streams for this File.................1

Video Codecs Used.................................DV

Audio Codecs Used.................................PCM

File Format.......................................DV

Play Time.........................................38s 405ms

Total File Size...................................132 MiB

Total Stream BitRate..............................28.8 Mbps

Video Stream #1

Codec (Human Name)................................DV

Frame Width.......................................720 pixels

Frame Height......................................480 pixels

Frame Rate........................................29.970 fps

Total Frames......................................1151

Display Aspect Ratio..............................16:9

Video Standard....................................NTSC

Scan Type.........................................Interlaced

QF (like Gordian Knot)............................2.357

Video Stream Length...............................38s 405ms

Video Stream BitRate..............................24.4 Mbps

Video Stream BitRate Mode.........................CBR

Bit Depth.........................................8 bits

Video Stream Size.................................112 MiB (85%)

Video Encoder (Settings)..........................ae mode=full automatic / wb mode=automatic / white balance= / fcm=manual focus

Audio Stream #1

Codec.............................................PCM

Audio Stream Length...............................38s 405ms

Audio Stream BitRate..............................1 536 Kbps

Audio Stream BitRate Mode.........................CBR

Number of Audio Channels..........................2

Sampling Rate.....................................48.0 KHz

Bit Depth.........................................16 bits

Audio Stream Delay................................36mn 52s

Audio Stream Size.................................7.03 MiB (5%)

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Answer 9

crh24

Level 3

930 points

Jun 22, 2011 7:46 PM in response to crh24

The 4:3 files do NOT import correctly--the audio is missing. Below is the Media Inspector report for one of them. The major difference is the additional audio stream in the one that did not import. If I remember correctly the Sony had a mode where one could record two sets of audio and I must have used that setting. It looks as if FCPX doesn't like that .dv format.

* * * Media Inspector 0.7.441 file analysis report.

* * * MediaInfoLib by Jerome Martinez - http://mediainfo.sourceforge.net

Created on: Jun 22, 2011 7:41:55 PM PDT

Report for file: clip-2002-07-30 14;52;09.dv

General / Container Stream #1

Total Video Streams for this File.................1

Total Audio Streams for this File.................2

Video Codecs Used.................................DV

Audio Codecs Used.................................PCM / PCM

File Format.......................................DV

Play Time.........................................14s 214ms

Total File Size...................................48.8 MiB

Total Stream BitRate..............................28.8 Mbps

Video Stream #1

Codec (Human Name)................................DV

Frame Width.......................................720 pixels

Frame Height......................................480 pixels

Frame Rate........................................29.970 fps

Total Frames......................................426

Display Aspect Ratio..............................4:3

Video Standard....................................NTSC

Scan Type.........................................Interlaced

QF (like Gordian Knot)............................2.357

Video Stream Length...............................14s 214ms

Video Stream BitRate..............................24.4 Mbps

Video Stream BitRate Mode.........................CBR

Bit Depth.........................................8 bits

Video Stream Size.................................41.4 MiB (85%)

Video Encoder (Settings)..........................ae mode=full automatic / wb mode=automatic / white balance= / fcm=manual focus

Audio Stream #1

Codec.............................................PCM

Audio Stream Length...............................14s 214ms

Audio Stream BitRate..............................768 Kbps

Audio Stream BitRate Mode.........................CBR

Number of Audio Channels..........................2

Sampling Rate.....................................32.0 KHz

Bit Depth.........................................12 bits

Audio Stream Delay................................66ms

Audio Stream Size.................................1.30 MiB (3%)

Audio Stream #2

Codec.............................................PCM

Audio Stream Length...............................14s 214ms

Audio Stream BitRate..............................768 Kbps

Audio Stream BitRate Mode.........................CBR

Number of Audio Channels..........................2

Sampling Rate.....................................32.0 KHz

Bit Depth.........................................12 bits

Audio Stream Delay................................66ms

Audio Stream Size.................................1.30 MiB (3%)

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Answer 10

Jun 22, 2011 7:48 PM in response to umbasa

FWIW, the .dv format is how iMovie works with the DV format. A .DV Stream is muxed (multiplexed audio and video). FCE and (old) FCP have never worked with the DVStream format natively. Instead, they used the QuickTime DV codec which is not muxed, but rather contained in a QuickTime movie container (aka QuickTime DV/DVCPro). Also note that FCE and (old) FCP generally like the audio to be AIFF format at 48khz, 16 bit.

However, I do not know how FCP X will work with either of the two DV codecs. I would think it be worth a try to convert the .DV file into QuickTime DV rather that the highly compressed h.264 (Apple TV) codec.

-DH

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Answer 11

crh24

Level 3

930 points

Jun 22, 2011 7:58 PM in response to crh24

I've verified that the problem is in the audio encoding. I found a .dv that was recorded by the same camera using a single audio stream and it imports and plays fine.

I can also run the 'bad' .dv files through Handbrake and the resulting .m4v file imports without problem.

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Answer 12

mrstep

Level 1

0 points

Jun 22, 2011 8:21 PM in response to crh24

You're 100% right - I just grabbed that tool and looked at my DV files, and I also have 2 audio streams. So... anyone know of a way to filter one stream off? crh24, any idea of they were just duplicate streams?

Or is there a chance Apple will fix this despite DV being an old format. (I know I can speak for myself and friends of mine who have fair amounts of DV of our kids - there's bound to be a demographic of early-to-mid 40's with disposable income that they can appease. 😉 )

But yeah, I had a Sony camera as well, though I don't ever recall seeing a 'record a second audio stream' menu item, though there must have been one. The video, FWIW, is fine whether I had 4:3 or 16:9 mode on, it's just the audio that's a problem.

Grumble.

* * * Media Inspector 0.7.441 file analysis report.

* * * MediaInfoLib by Jerome Martinez - http://mediainfo.sourceforge.net

Created on: Jun 22, 2011 11:12:30 PM EDT

Report for file: clip-2000-02-15 18;42;22.dv

General / Container Stream #1

Total Video Streams for this File.................1

Total Audio Streams for this File.................2

Video Codecs Used.................................DV

Audio Codecs Used.................................PCM / PCM

File Format.......................................DV

Play Time.........................................21s 555ms

Total File Size...................................73.9 MiB

Total Stream BitRate..............................28.8 Mbps

Video Stream #1

Codec (Human Name)................................DV

Frame Width.......................................720 pixels

Frame Height......................................480 pixels

Frame Rate........................................29.970 fps

Total Frames......................................646

Display Aspect Ratio..............................4:3

Video Standard....................................NTSC

Scan Type.........................................Interlaced

QF (like Gordian Knot)............................2.357

Video Stream Length...............................21s 555ms

Video Stream BitRate..............................24.4 Mbps

Video Stream BitRate Mode.........................CBR

Bit Depth.........................................8 bits

Video Stream Size.................................62.7 MiB (85%)

Video Encoder (Settings)..........................ae mode=full automatic / wb mode=automatic / white balance= / fcm=manual focus

Audio Stream #1

Codec.............................................PCM

Audio Stream Length...............................21s 555ms

Audio Stream BitRate..............................768 Kbps

Audio Stream BitRate Mode.........................CBR

Number of Audio Channels..........................2

Sampling Rate.....................................32.0 KHz

Bit Depth.........................................12 bits

Audio Stream Delay................................6mn 25s

Audio Stream Size.................................1.97 MiB (3%)

Audio Stream #2

Codec.............................................PCM

Audio Stream Length...............................21s 555ms

Audio Stream BitRate..............................768 Kbps

Audio Stream BitRate Mode.........................CBR

Number of Audio Channels..........................2

Sampling Rate.....................................32.0 KHz

Bit Depth.........................................12 bits

Audio Stream Delay................................6mn 25s

Audio Stream Size.................................1.97 MiB (3%)

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Answer 13

mrstep

Level 1

0 points

Jun 22, 2011 8:22 PM in response to crh24

Does Handbrake re-encode the video too, or can it just pull off 1 audio stream? (Or can Apple just fix it since non-Pro iMovie works fine?)

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Answer 14

crh24

Level 3

930 points

Jun 22, 2011 8:38 PM in response to mrstep

Yes, Handbrake does re-encode the video.

I suspect it is just an oversight on Apple's part--or not. If it is fixed...if not...

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Answer 15

crh24

Level 3

930 points

Jun 23, 2011 2:17 AM in response to mrstep

mrstep wrote:

Does Handbrake re-encode the video too, or can it just pull off 1 audio stream? (Or can Apple just fix it since non-Pro iMovie works fine?)

I gave MPEG Streamclip a try and it worked fine to re-encode the audio. The resultant clips are imported into FCEPX with the audio intact so this intermediate step might be a simpler work-around for some with .dv files that fail to import the audio.

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