[ This article was first published in the May, 2009, issue of
Larry's Final Cut Pro Newsletter. Click here to subscribe. ]

Andy Wilson, from Scotland, asks:

I have an audio problem which I can't easily get round and I'd be pleased if you could help. To end an edited clip of a door-slam for example say I need a large plate reverb fading to inf. As there's no timeline space after the cut for the reverb to die out, how can I add reverb only to this door-slam in FCP/Soundtrack?

Larry replies: Andy, reverb needs to apply to a clip after it ends. This can't be done by applying the filter to a clip. Instead you need to apply the filter to something that CONTAINS the clip. The only way to do this is to either manipulate the clip in Soundtrack Pro or create a nest in FCP.

Here's how:

1. In Final Cut Pro you can edit the clip into a new sequence. Add black after the clip that is at least as long as the reverb tail you want to create. Then, edit the sequence that contains the clip you want to add reverb to into your project.

Apply the reverb filter to the nested sequence (the one that has your clip) and the reverb will ring out over the black at the end of the clip.

2. Or, send the clip to Soundtrack Pro as part of your mix. Create a reverb submix and apply the filter to the submix track, rather than the track that contains the clip. The reverb will then ring out as long after the clip ends as you want.

Reverb is almost always applied to a submix track for exactly this reason.

UPDATE - May 19, 2009

Charlie Wilson writes:

One comment on the person wondering about reverb and nothing left after the clip, here is something I've done for several years that helps with opening the timeline for shuttling clips around for later use when building a scratch sequence and general editing.

When I edied on both AVID and FCP, I noticed that FCP's timeline is not all open like in AVID. So to fix this, I have a template sequence with a Valid8 bars for 1 minute, then slate and countdown. That's pretty standard, but what i add is about 10 minutes down (since I edit news features that rarily go any longer) I put a another 3 second clip of bars. This makes the last thing in the timeline NOT freeze at the end or almost fade out. Also I can put alternate possible sound bites or broll down stream and grab them later for use.

Once I showed this to the other editors here at the BBC they all love it and it is standard practice. Also that means I have "best rendering" set in the Sequence Settings that is defualt to Normal.

Larry replies: Thanks!

Larry Jordan is a post-production consultant and an Apple-Certified Trainer in Digital Media with over 25 years experience as producer, director and editor with network, local and corporate credits. Based in Los Angeles, he's a member of both the Directors Guild of America and the Producers Guild of America.

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