IT'S A WRAP – OR IS IT?

by Diana Weynand

The editing's done and you're ready to wrap up your project. But before you do, don't skip over the most important steps––checking and correcting your audio and video levels. If your program will be broadcast, these steps are crucial. Even if you're show won't go to air, it's still a good idea to double-check these levels to ensure your project looks and sounds its best.


AUDIO You don't have to watch the Audio Meters as you play your sequence to find where the audio peaks too loud. Let FCP do it for you! Deselect all the clips in the Timeline, and choose Mark > Audio Peaks > Mark. FCP will scan the entire sequence and place an Audio Peak marker wherever the audio exceeds 0dB. You can now move to each marker and correct that audio level. To change a group of clips at one time, select the clips and choose Modify > Levels. In the dB field, enter the change amount.



VIDEO Likewise with video, it's unreasonable to keep your eyes on a video scope all the time. So choose View > Range Check > Luma. FCP will display a green check if the luma is below 90%,





a check plus if it's between 90-100%,

and a yield sign if it's over 100%.

The zebra stripes show you the problem areas.

If you have a guilty clip, apply a Broadcast Safe filter to it from the Color Correction set of filters.

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