Apple Final Cut Pro 7 - Manual (Page 304)

6 Click the Stereo/Mono control next to any pair of audio channels that you want to capture
as a stereo pair, so it’s darkened.
Stereo/Mono control
is enabled.
Stereo/Mono control
is disabled. Audio
inputs can be selected
independently.
Dual Mono Versus Stereo Audio
If you’re using a DV camcorder, you typically record two channels of audio during
production. By default, DV camcorders use a built-in stereo microphone, with the left
side recorded on audio channel 1 and the right side recorded on audio channel 2 of the
tape. This is a stereo grouping, where channel 1 represents the sounds on the left side
and channel 2 represents sounds on the right side.
Throughout the editing process, you edit both the left and right sides of a stereo sound
at the same time. In this case, channels 1 and 2 are grouped together as a single stereo
pair.
However, if you use separate microphones to record independent sounds, such as dialogue
from two actors, you can capture each audio track so that it is independent (discrete) from
the other. These are called dual mono tracks.
How Multichannel Audio Files Are Stored on Disk
Final Cut Pro stores multichannel audio media as QuickTime media files. Each audio
channel captured is stored in its own track within a single QuickTime media file:
• Mono grouping: Each mono channel is captured to its own track in the QuickTime media
file.
• Stereo grouping: Each stereo channel is captured to a single interleaved track in the
QuickTime media file. A stereo interleaved audio track contains both left and right
audio samples.
For example, suppose you are capturing from an eight-channel audio device. The way
the audio is stored in QuickTime tracks depends on which channels you group as mono
or stereo. Here is just one example of a track layout within a multichannel QuickTime
media file:
304 Chapter 19 Capturing Audio from Tape