Apple Final Cut Pro 5 User Manual
Page 902
Chapter 7
Mixing Audio in the Timeline and Viewer
115
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Whether or not the audio item in the Viewer is a stereo pair also affects how volume
and pan levels are set. Clips can have up to 24 tracks of audio, and each item can be
mono or part of a stereo pair.
 If you opened mono items, each channel is in its own tab in the Viewer, and is mixed
separately from all others.
 If you opened a stereo pair, both waveforms appear in the same tab, named Stereo.
Adjusting the levels of one channel adjusts the levels of the other.
As you adjust the volume and pan levels of clips in Final Cut Pro, your changes can be
played back immediately. Final Cut Pro mixes the audio levels in real time, so you don’t
need to render your audio as long as your computer can handle the number of tracks
you’re working on. Real-time audio processing is covered in more detail in “
∏
Tip: Using effects like cross fades and filters requires processing power, which reduces
the total number of tracks you can mix in real time. If you exceed the number of tracks
your computer can handle, you’ll need to render your tracks. Audio usually renders
much faster than video, however, so it shouldn’t take too long.
When you edit a new clip into a sequence, its level is set to 0 decibels (dB) by default.
You can change the level to be any value you like, up to +12 dB. You can use three
controls to adjust the audio level of a clip. Each of these controls is mirrored by the
other controls as you make adjustments. If no keyframes are set in the clip in the
Viewer, using these controls adjusts the level of the entire clip.
To adjust the volume using the Level slider:
m
Drag the Level slider to the left or right.
To adjust the volume by entering a numeric value:
1
Enter a value in the Level field.
To enter a negative value, type – (the minus sign) and the number.
2
Press the Return key to apply this value to your clip.
Enter a new value
in this field.