Using Merge Clip Separates The Stereo Audio Track Into Two Mono Tracks

[BuckEstes]

Syncing using Merge Clip is taking my one externally recoreded STEREO audio track and splitting it into 2 MONO tracks. 

1. Why does it does this? 

2. Will this become a problem for my sound editor later in the post process?

[R Neil Haugen]

 You control this in the Preferences ... how PrPro will handle audio. So go to the Preferences and set your default audio channel practices as you want them.

Currently, apparently yours is set for taking stereo to mono.

Neil

[BuckEstes]

Hey Neal. Thanks for replying.  Can you show me in a screenshot what you mean?  

I tried doing the following in this screenshot but it didn't work...

[R Neil Haugen]

Go down to the Timeline tab in the Preferences dialog ... Default Audio Tracks section. I just make sure mine is set for "Use File" for all the options.

Note, this will only change things for sequence created after you change the preference.

There's always multiple places anything could be, yea it's a pain.

Neil

[BuckEstes]

I just checked, they were already set up for "use file".

[Ann Bens]

I just checked, they were already set up for "use file".

By @BuckEstes

Try setting it to stereo.

[R Neil Haugen]

Huh, normally it's pretty decent about sorting what is dual mono and what is stereo. I wonder if the Merge Clip operation is the problem ... that is problematic in PrPro.

Which is part of the reason for most work syncing a clip with separate audio via the Multicam process actually is a lot better. Very handy. You can even batch a bin.

Say you've got ten clips, each with separate audio ... select all, right click/create multicam and it will give you ten multicam 'sequences' that you simply treat as a clip.

Neil

[BuckEstes]

Okay. I may need to do that next. Thanks Neil.

[robzaz]

Buck, did you ever find a solution? I'm having the same issue. My research indicates it's a Ppro flaw in how it handels merged clips.  I'm considering just deleting the 2nd mono track for each clip of dialogue and then trust that the first mono track is actually stereo. But curious what you found.

[BuckEstes]

I never found a solution. I ended up just doing it using Multi-clip. I would reccomend that. There are lots of tutorials out there.

[R Neil Haugen]

Documentation says that the main tool to sync video/audio for most purposes is the Multicam process. Not just for actual Multicam work. See the Long Form and Episodic Workflow Guide for more info.

And merge clips has a lot of limitations.

Mod note: edited for content.

[robzaz]

Thanks R Neil! I will definitely take both your and Buck's advice next time. But for now, i think i'm past the point of no return. Our feature film is close to being locked for picture and i'm about to embark on color and audio mixes. I don't think there's a way to reverse engineer my entire edit to fix my merged clip mistake. So what can i do now? 

To be clear: every clip of dialogue in every scene has two mirrored tracks of audio. For example, A1 and A2 are identical. You can see in the audio meter that they are 'twins', always striking the same level precisely. Because each only has one waveform, each track appears to be Mono.

Can i safely delete A2 throughout? I've been doing digging/experimenting and the pros and cons of that:

Pros:

-when i right click on either clip, it says that the clip is Stereo. 

-The levels reflect that as well. When i delete the clip on A2, clip A1 still shows a left and right level in the audio monitor/audio levels. 

Cons:

-when i delete A2, you can hear a reduction in loudness and see about a 6db drop in the levels.

While I'm concerned that i'd be "losing" audio volume or fullness, i ran a test of duplicating a random audio track and placing it on the tracks below it. Each time you add a track, the sound and levels increase. 

That makes me wonder if my audio has been artifically loud this entire time? So although it seems i'm losing volume by deleting A2, it was never supposed to be that loud in the first place. And therefore, just the one A1 track alone is the proper representation of what was recorded on set and i should be confident in losing its 'twin' A2. 

Thoughts/insights?

Thank you!!

-Rob 

[R Neil Haugen]

I think @Warren Heaton might be the best helper for this if he's around ...

Neil

[robzaz]

Okay, Thanks Buck!