There are many ways the audio in your project can affect your viewer. Having the right royalty free music can help produce the perfect mood. If you want to fine-tune, distort, or simply make the audio in your Final Cut Pro project stand out even more, there are many filters that can be used to do this. In this tutorial we are going to look at the basics of adding and controlling audio filters in Final Cut Pro.
The first thing to do is locate the folder where the filters are kept. If you click on the Effects tab of your Browser window you will see the folders containing effects that can be applied to the media in your Final Cut Pro project. Locate the folder called Audio Filters.
(the audio filters folder)
Open that folder and you will find the folders containing the filters available to you. Mine has one called Apple, and one called Final Cut Pro HD. While this is the version that this tutorial was written for, there are many similarities with earlier versions.
(the filters available)
Now we need to apply one of the filters to some media. Bring up an audio track in your Viewer Window by double clicking on it in your main timeline. The waveforms for the audio will appear in Your Viewer Window when you do this. Next select the filter you would like to apply, and from the Browser Window click and drag that filter over to your Viewer Window and simply release directly onto the waveforms. I chose one called AUDelay. If you do not have this filter donÕt worry, the filters all have pretty similar controls. This filter and any adjustments you make to it in your Viewer Window will be applied to the media on your timeline. To view how this filter can control the media it is applied to, you will need to click on the Filters tab in your Viewer Window. This tab is where you can access or adjust any filters applied to a piece of media. It will show you only the filters applied to the piece of media double clicked on in the main timeline.
(the controls for the audio filter)
When you click on the filters tab you will see the controls available for the filters applied. Each filter has certain effects that make it function. The slider controls you see adjust the amount each filter effect will alter the media. You can also type numbers into the numbers box to the right of the sliders. Make some adjustments and play the audio through to see how it will affect your audio. If you find that you arenÕt happy with the results you can press the Reset Button at the top to set all of the sliders back to their default positions.
(reset button)
You can add as many filters as you like by dragging them over to your Viewer Window. If you decide you donÕt want the filter there you can just select it from the list of filters under the filters tab and press the delete key to delete it. If you want to turn one of them off but not delete it simply uncheck the blue box next to the filter title.
(add multiple filters)
Once you have added filters you will need to render the audio on your main timeline. You can tell when it is not rendered because you will see a red line across the top of your timeline, and you will hear a beeping sound instead of your audio.
(render your audio)
To render the audio go to Sequence > Render Selection > and select Both. This will render both the audio and any un-rendered video.
As you make adjustments to your filter by dragging the control sliders you may notice that there are green lines to the right of the filter controls that move up or down when you move the sliders right or left.
(control intensity)
This space to the right of the controls represents your main timeline, which is why there is timecode and a playhead. If you move this playhead you will see the playhead on your main timeline move in sync. You will also notice that there is a section that is lighter gray in this timeline.
(your media in relation to the main timeline)
This lighter gray section is showing you the length of the specific media you brought into your Viewer Window, in relation to the rest of the timeline. The green lines represent the intensity of each filter effect over time.
Why is this important? Well as you travel down the timeline you can alter how intense each of the filter effects are. This means that you can have an effect get more intense or less intense as your movie plays. To do this we need to insert what are called Keyframes. These Keyframes basically drop an anchor point that locks down the values youÕve set for a filter effect at the place where you are in the timeline. Then as you move down the timeline you can insert a new Keyframe that can lock down a whole new set of values at a different place. Between these two Keyframes the computer will calculate the transition in values and change the intensity of the filter effect accordingly.
With your playhead in the lighter gray section of your timeline set a Keyframe by clicking on the Insert/delete Keyframe button next to one of the control sliders. This will lock down the settings youÕve set with that slider control.
(the Insert / Delete Keyframe button)
You will notice a control point appear on the green line, this is your Keyframe. The blue dot that appears across the top of the timeline just tells you that there is a Keyframe at that place in the timeline, no matter which control you add the Keyframe to.
(insert a Keyframe)
Now move down the timeline and set another Keyframe. While on this Keyframe adjust the control slider for that green line. This will change the values for that Keyframe. As you get better at this you will find that you can also use your Pen Tool to create and adjust Keyframes directly on the green line.
(insert a second Keyframe with different values)
Whenever your Playhead is on a Keyframe the diamond in the center of the Insert / Delete Keyframe button will be green.
(playhead is on a Keyframe)
To navigate between Keyframes you can simply click the arrows on either side of the Insert / Delete Keyframe button, and you can jump from Keyframe to Keyframe. You will know there is a Keyframe to the left or right of your playhead when the arrows to the left or right of the Insert / Delete Keyframe button are dark.
If you play your audio through you should hear the intensity of the filter shift from the first set of values set by the first Keyframe to the second set of values set by the second Keyframe. You can add as many Keyframes as you like and adjust them in anyway you prefer. If you would like to delete a Keyframe simply place your playhead directly onto the Keyframe and click the Insert/Delete Keyframe button again. Now you will not only be able to add filters to your Final Cut Pro project, but you can control how they affect your media.
This tutorial is © Award Winning Music 2013
