Apple Final Cut Pro 5 - Manual (Page 883)

96 Part I Media and Project Management
Modifying Recorded Keyframes
After you’ve recorded keyframes for a series of clips on a particular track, the level and
pan keyframes for clips on that track appear in the Timeline with the audio level
keyframes you’ve set. There are two ways you can make modifications to the levels
you’ve set with the Audio Mixer: by using the Audio Mixer or by modifying keyframes
in the Viewer or Timeline.
Tips for Working With Stereo
Unlike setting audio levels, adjusting stereo pan is largely an aesthetic decision. You
should resist the temptation to create too many directional sound effects. Many
viewers may hear your movie in mono, so they won’t be able to hear the stereo
effects. (This is especially true of video that’s compressed for Internet playback and
some television playback.) This doesn’t mean you should avoid stereo. Using stereo
can be a great way to enhance the audience’s experience of your movie, but it’s
important to take the listening environment into consideration.
Even if your intended audience can hear stereo effects (with theatrical or DVD
distribution, for example), excessive use of stereo can be tedious. You can use stereo
pan, but don’t use it so much that viewers are distracted. This is especially true for
dialogue. Even in feature films released on DVD with 5:1 surround sound, most
dialogue is placed in the center channel. In a stereo mix in Final Cut Pro, you can
center a track by setting the pan value to 0. Avoid positioning dialogue exclusively on
the left or right channels.
Music and ambient effects can be positioned in stereo with fewer distractions. For
this reason, it’s always a good idea to preserve the original stereo image of any music
clips you capture or import, so that you can use this quality in your mix.