X

447Final Cut Pro User Guide
Assign audio roles during import in Final Cut Pro
By default, when you import media clips (video, audio, or still images), Final Cut Pro
analyzes existing clip metadata to assign one of five default roles to the video and
audio components of each clip: Video, Titles, Dialogue, Music, or Effects. (Specifically,
Final Cut Pro assigns a subrole of one of the default roles to each video or audio
component.)
You can adjust the assignment of audio roles on import in two ways: by setting the role
assignment manually or by having Final Cut Pro create custom roles automatically while
importing media files with iXML metadata.
Override automatic role assignment for audio files during import
For any given import session, you can override the automatic role assignment process so
that every imported audio component is assigned a role of your choosing. You can specify
one of the three default audio roles or a custom role that you create. When you import with
this setting enabled, Final Cut Pro assigns a unique subrole (from the role you specify) to
every component in each clip.
For example, imagine that you’ve recorded several hundred natural sound files for use as
Foley sound effects in your video project. By default, Final Cut Pro assigns the Dialogue
role to natural sound recordings (with no additional metadata). Instead, you could assign
the more appropriate Effects role to every clip in the import session.
1. To open the Import pane of Final Cut Pro preferences, choose Final Cut Pro >
Preferences (or press Command-Comma), then click Import.
2. In the Audio Roles section, click the Assign Role pop-up menu and choose a role.
Note: The Assign Role pop-up menu also appears in the Audio Roles section on the right
side of the Media Import window. All default and custom audio roles appear in this pop-
up menu. For information about creating custom roles and subroles, see Create custom
roles in Final Cut Pro.
3. Import the files.
The role you chose is assigned to the imported clips. (More precisely, components in
the imported clips are assigned subroles of the role you chose.)
You can change this and any other import preferences using the settings in the Media
Import window or the Import pane of Final Cut Pro preferences. To revert to the default
setting, so that roles are assigned automatically when you import clips, click the Assign
Role pop-up menu and choose Automatically.