Syncing audio in Final Cut Pro by making "Merged Clips"

by Susanne Kraft

Originally Published: Mon, Feb 14, 2005
Last Modified: Mon, Feb 14, 2005

(See FCP help pages 285-290 for more info)

Creating Merged Clips in the Browser

Before actually merging two or more clips, you first need to synchronize them.

To synchronize video and audio clips using In or Out points:

Open the video clip you want to synchronize into the Viewer.

Scrub through the beginning or end of the clip and find the frame where the clapper on top of the slate first closes.

Set an In point if the "clap" sound appears at the beginning of your clip, or an Out point if at the end.

Open each audio clip you want to merge into the Viewer, and repeat steps 1 through 3, identifying instead the frame of audio where you first hear the clap.

To create a merged clip from two or more clips in the Browser:

In the Browser, select all the synchronized clips you want to merge.

Note: You can merge up to one video clip and 24 audio clips.

Choose Modify>Merge Clips.

In the New Merged Clip dialog that appears, select a method with which to synchronize the clips: In points, Out points, Timecode, Aux Timecode 1, or Aux Timecode 2.

Click OK.  A new merged clip appears in the Browser. Merged clips are named after the video clip.  Merged clips with no video item are named after the topmost selected audio clip. In both cases, the word "Merged" is added at the end.

Send Comments, Suggestions, or Changes to Susanne Kraft(skraft@mail.utexas.edu)