Why can't I make this audio clip dual mono / mono / stereo?

[Rhodri_1]

What am I doing wrong here? 

Many thanks,

Rhod

[Richard M Knight]

It looks like the clip is 4 channel is that the case?

Also any alterations to the Audio Channels has to be done before you add the audio to the timeline.

[Phillip JH]

Yep - this.

And just to add for OP, you make that change within the Project Panel by right clicking, going to Modify > Audio Channels. Same screen you'll get in the Timeline but it will be editable. And emphasizing from Richard's note: It has gotten a little bit better about it I think, but particularly for changes that involve a new track configuration you'll need to re-insert the media back into the timeline. It won't automatically update the media that's already there.

[Rhodri_1]

Okay so I've modified the the clips in the project panel to be dual mono but when I go to Opt+drag on the clip to replace it's shifting the audio out of sync with the video..? is there a way to replace  with amended audio clip?

Also that seems crazy that Premiere doesn't just auto update all the clips, why is this the case?

[Phillip JH · Accepted solution]

Premiere is a bit rigid in how it handles audio in these situations, and I think as a general rule it doesn't automatically do things that would have the potential to screw up the work that you already have in the timeline. If you are going from one track to multiple tracks it's not going to overwrite or automatically create new tracks and insert them. Could it? And would that sometimes be helpful? Sure. Would there also be people complaining about how it screwed up there work? Yes. So it's just one of those things you get used to doing how it likes. (Overall, though, I do wish it was more flexible in certain audio situations.)

To replace the media on the timeline what I will usually do is first prep the timeline to receive the new configuration. Like from my example above are you going from something like stereo to dual mono? Well you'll need to add in another track where you want the second audio track from the clip to go. With your clip selected you can press `F` for Match Frame. It'll bring up a new instance of that clip in the Source Monitor. Make sure that the Source Patching in the Timeline is set how you want it, so that the channels are all toggled on, and if you're going to be using keyboard shortcuts (which you should if you have a lot of these to replace) you'll want to make sure the media is patching into the right tracks. Then you can drag the new instance of the clip out and overwrite the original one in the Timeline.

If you are using keyboard shortcuts you'd want to make sure that your playhead is set at the first frame of the clip you want to overwrite. To replace a lot of clips in the Timeline in short order this way, you can turn on Selection Follows Playhead in the Sequence top menu. Then you basically press F (match frame) and . (overwrite) all the way down the timeline. F . F . F . F . F . F . 

[Byron Cortez]

Hay procedimientos que es recomendable no saltarse, este es el caso de uno de ellos.