Apple Final Cut Pro 5 - Manual (Page 807)

20 Part I Media and Project Management
Determining the Number of Output Channels/Speakers
Early audio systems were monophonic, capable of recording and playing back a single
channel of audio. However, soon after sound was introduced to movies, filmmakers
began exploring the creative possibilities of mixing multiple audio channels together
to create a monophonic mix, and later two (stereo) or more (surround) speakers.
Before you begin your final mix, you need to know how many speakers you are mixing
for. The most common configurations are:
 Mono: A single speaker. This is typical on older radios, televisions, and film projectors.
 Stereo: A two-channel system with speakers on the left and right, corresponding to
each ear. Today, almost all forms of media support stereo audio.
 Surround: Several surround sound standards exist today. The most common standard
is a 5.1-channel system (often referred to as Dolby Digital), which has left, right,
center, back (or surround) left, and back (or surround) right speakers. Other
multichannel audio systems exist, such as LCRS (left, center, right, and surround), and
6.1-channel, 7.1-channel, and 10.2-channel systems.
Note: The so-called “.1” channel is used exclusively for low-frequency effects (LFE),
such as explosions and rolling thunder. This LFE channel is normally sent to a
subwoofer speaker capable of producing very low frequencies (3–120 Hz).
Once you know how many speakers you are mixing for, you can set up Final Cut Pro
with an audio interface, a corresponding audio output preset, and the appropriate
number of speakers for monitoring. For more information, see “
About Audio Output
Presets ” on page 61.
Note: For true surround sound panning, you should export each of your audio tracks
discretely to use in a surround sound–capable audio application. If you decide to mix in
an audio application other than Final Cut Pro, you can export each track as a discrete
audio file, or the entire sequence and its media as an OMF file. You can also output
each track discretely to a multitrack tape format such as Alesis ADAT, Tascam DA-88 or
DA-98, or to a digital audio workstation (DAW). For more information, see Volume IV,
Chapter 11, “Exporting Audio for Mixing in Other Applications.” You can also see
Volume IV, Chapter 12, “Importing and Exporting Final Cut Pro XML.”