Better Audio Ducking in Final Cut Pro

[@mdturnerinoz]

Thanks! Wow, was this ever timely for a project I am currently immersed in! Thanks again!

[@JasonParkerMagic]

Very useful! Thanks for sharing this alternative to the range selection method. (Seems like with that older way I always have to end up tweaking the generated keyframes)

[@fabimesizae]

You are simply the best

[@mototripperuk]

Thank you, this has saved me a lot of time, i'm a newbie at FCP & was thinking of going back to Filmora, this has prevented me, videos are far better, watching your channel for more tuts....A+++++

[@mtamech535]

It's amazing how simple your timeline looks. I do project videos and have at least 200 cuts with my voice. I don't even know how to contain them all to create a group.

[@benoitlaporta9530]

Excellent workaround for audio ducking ! There are no magic plugins to do this anymore since the only one that really worked was Audified SpeakUp but it's no longer supported by M1 macs, and sometimes was a reason for FCPX to crash even with earlier versions. I mean real audio ducking like the ones you could make using Protools or any DAW : using sidechain compression with a key channel which is, for now, not possible in FCPX. I really wish they'll include the ability to use roles or subroles as an input key to start compression on another role. However, if I may recommend something more to your audio workflow : save an EQ parameter setting with a gap on voice frequencies (ie from 512hz to 2khz) that you can drop on all the music clips behind the voiceovers, it'll gave more space for the voice. Thank you for all your tutorials, Steve :)

[@DanielLeightonArt]

So many great tips in such a short clip. Thank you!

[@dqstudios]

This is a great tip! I've been manually creating keyframes and adjusting the volume per gap, but the second method you share is gooooold. Thank you!

[@kontikonsumi2028]

Thanks for staying on this an giving new insights. I always thought about multicam clips regarding this too. Than I could switch instantly between silence, quiet and loud music by changing "angles". However I will lose transition audio with this. If you have any tricks regarding this let us know!

[@desertexplorations]

Once again I’m floored at the quality of instruction here. Great tips and thanks for all your efforts. You got me started with FCP and the journey so far has been great fun.

[@Rekotek]

Great idea! Thank you for sharing it!

[@IainAnderson]

Nice! I used to use this "blade and fade" technique in classic FCP, and it does make moving edits much easier, because you can just roll the transition. Unfortunately it does make adding effects to the audio more difficult if you don't make the audio into a compound clip first.

[@gyamtsoprod2245]

Thanks for this great tips 👍 I used to manage this kind of process with the Range Tool then adjust de key frame but I will sure try your methods

[@rickclise6883]

Excellent tutorial and perfect timing as I'm just starting an audio ducking process for a short video I made. Thank you!

[@rippleguys]

thanks Rick -

[@chilecayenne]

Wow...this is REALLY helpful!! In the past, in lieu of ducking, I'd found a KZbin video (need to find again), where you used the really great audio filters from Logic included with FCPX, and basically EQ'ed the music and lowered/removed the frequencies the human voice uses. By doing this, I could freely speak in voiceovers and it was quite clear in the mix with the music behind me. I started with the generic human voice frequency range and tweaked it to more match mine. The combination of that AND your methods here might really work perfectly together...to keep from the perception of the background music dropping as much. I'll see if I can find the old video and I"ll post the link here if I find it. Thank you!! CC

[@icypictures]

Great tip ... thanks, Steve!

[@patbradley9817]

Very helpful. I wish FCP would allow me to use my Trackspacer plugin to do this automatically.

[@thoradamtixotrop9682]

Not what I was looking for at the moment, but very interesting to know. will save me a lot of time in the near future. thatnks for that.

[@rubiotv]

Killer tip Steve! will be using this setup today for sure.

[@KitLaughlin]

Steve: that is a brilliant set of techniques, and I will use this. I am sure that in FCP, at least, every editor has struggled with ducking at some point. As you may know, we only do instructional videos these days, and for our own channel-and your method can be used for VO over actual audio, and this will save a LOT of time. A general comment: personally, I do not think that music adds any value to instructional or review videos (like your example above). Obviously, you feel differently, but I wonder if it would be worth trying a version without the music, and using underwater FX (like the bubbles I heard) at a low level using the same technique? The other point about music is that no matter what you choose, some people will like it and others not. What I like about atmos audio is that no one dislikes it, and for me that means that the instruction (or review) takes centre stage. Thanks again for a brilliant video.

[@TimelyAdventure]

Thank you for this!

[@SPProps]

Another great tip, Steve! Thanks! This is going to save me SO much time! 🙏

[@openskymedia]

Brilliant Stuff Steve!

[@rmfeld]

Thanks for this very helpful and well made video!

[@__-yp5bx]

That is amazing!! So cool and useful

[@curtbailey]

Very cool tip, Steve. Thanks bunches!

[@ahaviahbessemer9844]

for anyone who has some 3rd party audio plug-ins you can also lightly sidechain your background music to the clip audio so that you won't need to create so many manual fades.

[@DenisCalligraphy]

Thank you Steve. Have you tried the noise gate plugin in FCPX to automate this? I must admit I also instead tend to adjust manually as you do. It's not only the audio levels, to let the narration be clear, but also the appropriate positioning of speech after rhythmic musical elements are allowed to complete their musical statement. Some of your shortcut keystrokes are new to me. Thank you!

[@aaronkaiser]

Thanks for the cool tip! I’ve definitely done the key frame method before and it’s annoying when you have to adjust it.

[@guntermoser5879]

Thanks for the tip, it'll be very helpful for my workflow!

[@videotipsandtricks]

Це неймовірно!!! Дякую вам за це відео!

[@Donwun]

Amazing - very very useful - many many thanks

[@fyl_k]

Great tips! Thank you!

[@simomonster]

Thank you Martin

[@elinbirgis]

Lifesaver❤

[@fanshen]

Very helpful. Thank you!

[@GameSack]

Unfortunately there's a bug with audio transitions that can make FCP ignore them, just like it did in your video at 5:33 and again at 5:36 where the audio doesn't actually fade in or out. This happened because you previously used the Option-T. Putting a transition after that can make FCP ignore the transition. I think it's because FCP didn't put back the handles it created when doing Option-T. Deleting the transitions and re-applying them usually works. Or, just not doing the Option-T beforehand. :P

[@rippleguys]

I'm going to test this later - I'll get back to you.

[@fritsdebeerfilm]

What i do for ducking is somewhat complex but works super. The high frequenties get is the way of the voice. So i have two music tracks. 1 is normal for the gaps were i need the music. 1 is for the ducking part were the sound is just a little softer and does not get in the way. Takes a little more time but does not changes the volume that much, just gets the frequenties out of the way.

[@rippleguys]

Like this video? kzbin.info/www/bejne/jXOQZZuFh7mfeNk

[@fritsdebeerfilm]

@@rippleguys Yes. ;-) Works like a charm. :)

[@luisdavidrodriguez8159]

Works well!! DANKEEE

[@micheltheodorou1110]

Thanks a lot.

[@BaronStVon]

What final output decibel level are you aiming for with a typical video like this, -12 to -6db? Thanks for the tutorial

[@RonaldKasper]

That’s a very nice and helpful tip! Thanks!

[@orelbitan]

Love your tips!

[@TheInvisible_Explorer]

Hi I am not able to use audio cross fade. It says not enough space to create. Am using Macbook pro M1. Is there any solution to it?

[@rippleguys]

The issue is you don't have enough handle media on one or both sides of the cut. You need to trim on or both sides of the edit

[@Lets-Take-Pictures]

I guess you could also just export the voiceover and music as two audio clips, send them to a dedicated audio app, and use sidechaining to automatically duck the music exactly when you’re speaking. Probably would have to do it as a last step once everything else was finished, which would make it a pain if you found you had more edits you needed to do afterwards… it’s a shame sends don’t seem to work in FCP

[@rippleguys]

Side-chaining is better used for music when you want to automatically compress a kick-drum during a guitar solo. It's terrible to use on dialogue because it's like a sledgehammer. We really need is an auto-ducking tool -

[@Lets-Take-Pictures]

@@rippleguys agreed, auto-ducking would be terrific. I was looking at a video with somebody suggesting a plug-in that seemed to do that, but as far as I can tell it’s no longer available. Audified Speakup: it’s not on their site, and I don’t see any other free or paid alternatives

[@GRYHND]

Just use a Compressor in the music clip and sidechain it to Your voice clip.

[@rippleguys]

You can sidechain in Logic not FCP

[@GRYHND]

@@rippleguys Right. Forgot to mention this. I do my complete fcpx sound tweaking via Logic. XML is the key here. But there are 3rd party plugins like Audified Speaker i.e. which solve this issue. I'm pretty sure there are free one as well... anyway using side chain compressing saves so much time nobody should mind investing a few bucks here 😉 but that's my opinion... have a good day and keep on with these great vids. CU

[@tarquin8270]

Come on developers! Put side chain comp for auto ducking in fcpx, just pay me a million dollars I’ll do it tomorrow

[@JohannBauermeister]

8'th degree Black Belt FCP Instruction... I need to be careful my head doesn't explode...

[@lackokalman]

or you can use the Noise Gate plugin in Ducker mode to duck the signal automatically :D

[@rippleguys]

I am not aware the FCP's noise gate has a "ducker mode"

[@dbwatch]

👌

[@dnpixels]

OPT-T doesn't work for me? it doesn't do anything.

[@rippleguys]

It's not option-T - it's Command-T - kzbin.info/www/bejne/qXuaf4Kbir5rmpo

[@andyisposi]

It's pretty wild that we don't have the Premiere Pro abilities of Auto-Ducking against dialogue.

[@rippleguys]

Even iMovie has it - totally 💯

[@osblog9501]

👍

[@RS-Amsterdam]

At 1:49 you state the problem of "to many clicks" How ever, your new method (which is okay) including the preparation, involves much more clicks, therefor this is a non argument.

[@rippleguys]

I guess it's a matter of perspective

[@RS-Amsterdam]

@@rippleguys No , simple counting hehehehehe

[@JasonParkerMagic]

Another benefit of this new method... you could select all those "non-talking moment" music clips.... and change their volume as a group. Whereas with keyframes this would be a lot more difficult. Separately: it seems like using the range tool to do audio ducking almost always ends up with me pushing the generating keyframes forward or back... having to play around with it. I think this method of cutting the audio and doing the 1 second crossfade looks like it would provide better results with less effort. Just my 2 cents! 🤷‍♂

[@TimelyAdventure]

@@JasonParkerMagic Agreed, just make the cuts, select the storyline and apply the fades or transitions and seems like the work is done versus ranging and fiddling with keyframes

[@travelly1]

good method, but still a lot of steps involved to get it right.

[@neurallore]

it's kinda silly that in 2023 you can't "auto-duck" in FCPX

[@ClassicCyclingCC]

I don’t understand why you can automate audio ducking in iMovie but not FCP. It is the only feature of iMovie that I still miss EVERYTIME I use FCP. Such a waste of time to do it manually.

[@rippleguys]

Agreed - even LumaFusion for iOS has it and it’s executed very nicely

[@TimelyAdventure]

Dang, hopefully FCP brings this in an update soon 🤞

[@GorlovTimofey]

дед, заканчивай монтировать, тебе еще жизнь прожить нужно, а не такой фигней страдать, проща автоматически было сделать