Cannot get X2Pro to see subroles in multiclips

Yes, that's part of the issue. However, I think I had gone in and manually changed some of the original files when I realized that the subrole names were incorrect. Basically, I just messed it all up. Thank goodness it was just a :30 spot.

My goal on all future projects cut in X is to make absolutely sure all the subroles are properly set up before I start syncing or logging. That's job #1 in my book.

Problem is, FCP doesn't properly send the information for an 8-channel WAV file to the FCPXML. So, Sync-N-Link sees it as a 4-channel stereo file. This happens even if I change the channel configuration inside FCP X in the inspector.

Check it out from this event XML:

<clip name="Agility_Z_AUDIO_309_1" duration="8806356/48000s" start="2028346320/48000s" format="r3" tcFormat="NDF">
<audio offset="2028346320/48000s" ref="r4" name="FR8809== 309 t 1==PN - audio" duration="8806356/48000s" start="2028346320/48000s" role="dialogue" srcCh="1, 2">
<audio lane="-3" offset="2028346320/48000s" ref="r4" name="FR8809== 309 t 1==PN - audio" duration="8806356/48000s" start="2028346320/48000s" role="dialogue" srcCh="7, 8"/>
<audio lane="-2" offset="2028346320/48000s" ref="r4" name="FR8809== 309 t 1==PN - audio" duration="8806356/48000s" start="2028346320/48000s" role="dialogue" srcCh="5, 6"/>
<audio lane="-1" offset="2028346320/48000s" ref="r4" name="FR8809== 309 t 1==PN - audio" duration="8806356/48000s" start="2028346320/48000s" role="dialogue" srcCh="3, 4"/>
</audio>

This was an 8-channel WAV with logged iXML info. When imported into FCP X, it sees it as 4 stereo. I change the setting in the inspector to 8 Mono. There's another line in the XML that properly designates the file as 8 channels.

I tried something else in FCP - I exported an 8-channel multi-track audio-only QT file. Then reimported it. FCP saw the 8-channels. So, it is possible. However, QT encoded the channels as 8-separate tracks. I think that's the key to getting FCP to see the 8-channels as mono and not 4 stereo.

As it stands now, I have no idea how to make this work correctly with multi-channel WAVs.

I can see how that would be a frustrating workaround, especially if you had a large project with many clips.

I have read some of the documentation on Sync-N-Link X (specifically the section about using iXML information from WAV files) and I think I understand how you got multiple audio roles on your clips.

Did you use the option to "Use Track Names from audio for Subrole Names" in Sync-N-Link X? If so, did some of the synced audio clips have different "Track Names" in the iXML?

I think it has to do with the way FCP deals with 4-channel audio and also because I had used Sync-N-Link to merge the BWFs and RED files. My solution was to break apart each clip and then reassign the roles. That worked (but wasn't the way I would have liked to have done it).

Michael,

In both the FCPXMLs that you have sent attached, there is more than two roles assigned to a lot of the clips. See the attached picture for one example from your recent fcpxml.

I know it's possible to assign two roles to a clip (one for the video, one for the audio), but in your project you have more than one role assigned to the audio (in the picture there are 4 audio roles assigned). When I select the clip in the screen grab and I go to the inspector panel, the "Roles:" combo box shows "Video, Boom, Camera, dialog..." (at least 3 audio roles assigned), but when I open the combo box, it only has a tick by "Video" and "Camera" (camera is a sub-role of dialogue) and if I click on "Camera" (which I would expect to make no difference because it's already checked), the roles change to "Video, Camera" on both the timeline and the inspector panel (just one audio role).

I think the fact that you have more than two audio roles assigned to some clips is confusing both FCP X and X2Pro. How are you assigning more than one audio role to a clip?

Graeme -

Here's an FCPXML from an different project. RED video with 4-channel audio synced using Sync-N-Link. The clips all seem to export ok, however, the subrole designations are all off. For some reason, it won't separate out the Music and VO role.

I checked the XML and those roles are in the document.

Hi Graeme -

Thanks for looking into this. Well, some good news for you. It seems that the issue might be with FCPX. Here's what's going on.

I had two sets of timelines. The first had footage with multiclips with synced audio placed on a 3rd angle. These timelines allowed for proper tagging of subroles. The FCPXML carried all the subrole info.

The other timeline had multiclips with footage synced with Sync-N-Link. In this scenario, when tagging the multiclips with subroles, the FCPXML does not contain those subroles. The workaround/fix was to open up each of the multiclips, then open up each clip individually, expand the components and tag then subroles.

For some reason, going down the rabbit hole to the original clip is what allowed me to get the subroles to export to the FCPXML.

On another note, I have been getting requests to send FCP Projects out to AAF files for Avid. Any chance of AAFs being supported with embedded video in the future?

Hi Michael,

I'm not sure that I fully understand what you are saying.

When I load your fcpxml into X2Pro 2.1.9, and click on the "Roles..." button, I can see the following roles:
- music
- dialogue
- VO
- dialogue.Boom
- dialogue.John
- dialogue.MixLeft
- dialogue.MixRight
and when I convert the project to an AAF and open it in Pro Tools I get tracks with all those roles listed.

There is an option to "Merge sub-roles into parent" in the X2Pro preferences, and if this is chosen, then I only get music, dialog, and VO roles in Pro Tools. Perhaps this is what is happening for you?

If that is not the problem, perhaps you could give me a few more details like a timecode where a clip doesn't have a role that you would expect, and what you are expecting the role to be?

Hi,

I am working from a timeline that uses mostly multiclips. The multiclips in use have 8-channel audio attached to them.

In the timeline, I have set up subroles for each of the talent's name on all of the audio components. I am using the audio from Angle A throughout the entire timeline.

Once I export the FCPXML, X2Pro does not see the subroles I have created. No matter what I do I cannot get it to see them. It will only see the Dialogue master role.

On another timeline, I was able to do this successfully. The difference was that the audio within the multiclip was on it's own angle and not attached to picture.

I'm just stuck until I can figure out a way around this. Thanks.