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In this Quicktip, learn how to clean up audio files using some of the noise reduction tools found in Soundtrack Pro 2, in addition to the various ways to manage the workflow from Final Cut Pro into Soundtrack Pro.

When you go back to Final Cut Pro to listen to the audio that you've recently recorded, it is common to find disruptions to your sound quality in the form of "clicks" and "pops". These glitches may occur regardless of whether your files have been sent from Final Cut Pro to Soundtrack Pro or if your files have been imported from somewhere else. If you're unable to catch them by ear, they can be easily identified just by viewing the wave form.

To send your file to Soundtrack Pro, just right click on the wave displayed on the screen, go to Send to and then Soundtrack Pro Audio Project. The Save As screen will immediately pop up with "(sent)" attached to the end of the file name, which proves to be a convenient automation because it allows you to compare the original audio file from the one being sent to Soundtrack Pro. Once the file has been saved, navigate to Soundtrack Pro 2. The file being sent to the program should open as a .stap project. (Also, newly available to Soundtrack Pro 2 is the ability to only send a portion of the clip with which you're working, for the instances wherein you, let's say, only need to work with a couple of minutes out of a 45 minute clip. You can do this simply by clicking Send only referenced media on the Save screen and by typing in the range of time you want to send to Soundtrack Pro.)

There are a few things to note once Soundtrack Pro has opened. First, in the Project tab located in the left pane, you can view the path where your project is living. Also, the Analysis and Action tabs, which are frequently used when working with audio file projects, are located further down on the same pane. Lastly, the waveform in Soundtrack Pro 2 displays the actual audio file from the Final Cut Pro sequence, once again with the clip's problem areas plain to see.

Select the problem areas on the wave, where the "clicks" in your particular clip are located. Follow this by going to the aforementioned Analysis tab and selecting the Clicks and Pops option. After clicking on the disclosure triangle, you'll find that you are able to set a threshold in terms of where the program should look for the problem areas in the clip just by adjusting the parameters. To make yourself more comfortable with the audio file, you may also choose to change the scale by which the audio is gauged simply by right-clicking on the pane where the scale is located and switching it to Decibels.

After these things have been done, click on the Analyze button under the Analysis tab, so that Soundtrack Pro can isolate where the problems are in the audio file. Then, click the Fix All button located further done on the left pane, because it will assure that the "clicks" in the audio are finally removed. (If you save the clean version of the file here, it should also be made available in Final Cut Pro. Plus, by clicking on the Action tab, you can view the audio file with the "pops", as well see the conclusive fix.)

As long as the work is saved as a .stap file, then it is completely non-destructive and re-accessible. After saving the file, you can Command-Tab back to Final Cut Pro to see that the "(sent)" version of the project is now available and your audio file has been updated. Any time you want to make a change in the future, just right-click on the file and select Open in Editor, which will open up the .stap project again in Soundtrack Pro.

Back in Soundtrack Pro, use Command-Plus so that you can zoom in to the sample level to see any further glitches that may be present in the clip, after moving your playhead to the specified problem area. By choosing the Sample Edit tool, available in the top left corner underneath the primary toolbar, you can pull down each of the samples in the audio file, which will then be recorded as actions, so that you can go in to clean up the samples that are not aligned with the zero crossing. By clicking Shift-Z, the wave becomes viewable again so that you can see if further adjustments are necessary. With this program you will be able to transform a noise-flecked project into clear and focused audio.