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426 Part VI Rough Editing
Besides making clean-sounding cuts, there are other reasons to edit the audio in your
sequence separately from the video. You can edit mistakes in dialogue, adjust the sync
of off-camera or rerecorded dialogue, or even replace the entire audio of a clip with
another take of the same audio.
For more information, see “Split Edits” on page 415.
Make sure that your video and audio clips are in sync.
As you edit your audio, you may sometimes find it necessary to adjust the sync
relationship between video and audio clip items. Audiences are quick to notice when
audio is out of sync with the picture, so you need to be extra cautious when you’re
editing. Here’s a good rule of thumb: If you’re finding an audio-video sync issue
distracting, your audience probably will too. In this case, you should make adjustments.
Final Cut Express HD keeps track of the sync between video and audio clip items when
they come from the same source media file, or when they have been intentionally
linked together. Red out-of-sync indicators on clip items show you exactly how far the
items are out of sync. You can establish new sync relationships by selecting the clip
items and choosing Modify > Mark in Sync.
For more information about establishing sync between video and audio clip items, see
Chapter 29, “Linking and Editing Video and Audio in Sync,” on page 397.
Minimize differences in tone and quality between audio clips in the same scene.
All audio has some kind of background noise, often referred to as ambience or room
tone. Sometimes you’ll find that the audio from the different shots you’re using in the
same sequence has differences in the background ambience. For example, if you shoot
a conversation in a city park, and the shoot lasts all day, you may notice that some
shots have more traffic noise in the background because of rush hour. Assuming you
don’t want to rerecord the dialogue for the whole scene, you’ll need to edit more “rush
hour” background noise into the clips that don’t have any so that all the clips sound
the same within the same two-minute scene. Otherwise, the traffic noise in the
background will pop in and out from one shot to the next, which will call attention to
your edits and distract the viewer. Usually, the shot with the highest ambient
background noise level dictates the ambient noise level for the entire scene.