Exporting 3-channel WAV audio as part of RED transcode to ProResHQ

Report · Feb 10, 2023

I've been hand-synching RED imports with .wav files- that part is semi-automated with Synchronize which works very well with jammed timecode. The part of the clip export that runs aground is the 3-channel .wav audio. In the resulting ProResHQ Quicktime- it always comes out 2-channel stereo, no matter what I configure in the Export workspace. Only two audio tracks are ID'd in Quicktime's Get Info window.

Premiere's handling of RED's r3d files is pretty damn good. If you import the RAW through Media Browser as opposed to the Project window, Premiere has the smarts to trigger Media Encoder ingest and stitch mutiple 4GB segments for each take into a coherent shot, ready for synching, and deposits a batch import into the Project panel, ready for organzing bins. Bravo.

The double-system WAV files are 32-bit floaing point. I drag each file to its corresponding pix file- and they always come in as 3-channel audio in the clip timeline where I synch and save to a "clip Sequence" bin from which I batch-export to Media Encoder, which cranks them out.

I need all three of those channels: channel 1 for actor #1 lavalier, channel 2 for actor #2, and channel 3 for the open boom mike. The recordist was a pro who was consistent throughout the shoot.

When I try to configure 3 channels in the Premiere> Export> Audio settings, I can add 1 track to the existing mono track, and that's it. Comes out as a stereo pair when I import that into an editing timeline.

Quicktime can handle multiple audio tracks, can't it?

Is there a special setting somewhere? Is there an elegant way?

Best as always,
Loren

Report · Feb 13, 2023

they always come in as 3-channel audio in the clip timeline where I synch and save to a "clip Sequence" bin

What are the sequence settings of the 'synced' sequence?

If it has this icon then the sequence is Stereo. If you have 3 tracks, they will still be mapped to the 2 channels of the sequence. Have you tried creating a 'Multichannel' sequence in the New Sequence dialogue?