Converting 32 kHz clip to multiple 48 kHz clips using Batch Export

FCP will write the audio out as 48khz but it will not
be a happy translation.

Can you be more specific? How will it be unhappy? I inquired about converting 32kHz audio to 48kHz audio in the FCE forum and the answer I was given involved the procedure I cited above, using the timeline and converting from within FCE. The thread is here:

http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=339703&tstart=0

Your assistance is appreciated.

FCP is not a sophisticated audio application.
Resampling is a significant computational endeavor
and requires an application focused on audio stuff.

Is that to say, then, that FCP might make errors, or somehow a lesser quality result, when it resamples? It sounds like you're saying, if you compare the 48kHz audio created using QuickTime Pro bit for bit with the 48kHz audio created from within FCP, there would be a difference because FCP is not a sophisticated audio application. I'm just trying to understand how converting audio external to FCP would be more accurate or superior to doing so within FCP.

Not having resampled using QuickTime Pro in the past, I wonder if that would also be faster than doing the conversion within FCP. I don't have Peak, so it would have to be QuickTime Pro.

Thanks for taking the time to explain this too me. I believe you; I just want to learn why (specifically) this is the case.

Okay, I'm trying to accomplish my original objective using an external audio converter, Quicktime Pro. First, let me ask if the export settings I'm using in Quicktime Pro to resample the audio from 32 kHz to 48 kHz are the best choices:

Format: Linear PCM
Channels: Stereo (L R)
Rate: 48 kHz
Sample Rate Converter Settings: Quality: Best
Linear PCM Settings: Sample size: 16 bits

Are these settings the best choices?

Assuming I've correctly figured out how to convert the audio file into 48kHz using Quicktime Pro, I then imported the audio file back into FCE (I don't have FCP yet). But at this point, I'm stuck.

Originally, using Mark>DV Start/Stop Detect, I marked up the original 1-hour long clip (with the 32 kHz audio). Then I selected all the marked segments (appearing under the clip in the Browser), and chose Modify>Make Subclip. That made all the segments into subclips. I could then use Batch Export (in FCP) to export all those subclips as individual clips. But those clips would have 32 kHz audio, and I want 48 kHz audio.

I'm not sure how to accomplish the same thing, with the 48 kHz audio that I've just created. If I put the original 1-hour long clip into a sequence, delete the 32 kHz audio tracks, and lay down the 48 kHz audio in its place, I get the whole 1-hour long sequence. But I can't figure out how to split this sequence up into subclips like I did with the original clip. The markers are still there (on the video clip). But what do I make into subclips? There are no segments in the browser that correspond to the sequence, only the segments under the original clip with the 32 kHz audio. It seems like I need to replace the audio of the original clip with the new audio, but I'm not sure how to do that in FCE or FCP.

I hope someone can help!

Message was edited by: Anthony M Kassir MD

As this is to be a regular procedure for you, whats
preventing recording 48K audio to tape in the first
place?

When I first started recording video 6 years ago, I was just learning how to use a DV camcorder, which came from the factory with a 32 kHz audio preset. After reading a bit about videotaping, I came to realize 48 kHz is preferred and changed the camcorder's settings as soon as I realized this, but not before I had recorded 10 hours of the first few months of our first born child.

Someone (on this list I think) pointed out
that if you capture into a 48kHz project, Final Cut
does the sample rate conversion and you end up with
48kHz clips. It does work - not sure how it compares
to doing the conversion in QT though.

I thought I had to capture into a 32 kHz project (using Easy Setup) because my source tape was 32 kHz. My original plan was to create a new 48 kHz project in the timeline and convert to 48 kHz that way (within FCE or FCP), as described in the first post in this thread. I don't understand yet why doing the conversion in Quicktime is superior than doing it in FCP, but that's what I'm told earlier in this thread.

I would really appreciate some help with this... I'm still stuck.

GrapeGraphics: Why not capture with an Easy Setup preset already set to 48 kHz, as Roger Shufflebottom suggests? Or is that what you're suggesting? This seems at odds with your other thread at http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=1869438#1869438 , where I think you said you were capturing with a custom preset at 32 kHz but wanted to upsample after the capture.

Why don't you try my suggestion - capture with a 48
kHz preset. It does work.

My first resource when climbing the FCE learning curve has been the Visual Quickstart Guide by Lisa Brenneis. In that book, when talking about Capture presets, she writes: "If you're capturing DV with 12-bit, 32-kHz audio, you'll need to switch to an Easy Setup with the same settings." Also, she writes, "Check any source tapes you're capturing and be aware that if your camera is set at 32 kHz, choosing the default Easy Setup [my note: 48 kHz] will result in a settings mismatch."

What is not clear in the book is what negative repercussions, if any, would result from a "settings mismatch." When I first read this, I interpreted her guidance to indicate that the Easy Setup capture preset MUST match the format of the tape. I'm thinking now that I was reading too much into this.

So, is it really okay to import 32 kHz audio into a 48 kHz project?

Message was edited by: Anthony M Kassir MD