Channels
Channels chooses which channels of a stereo file a clip plays. It’s the fix for a microphone recorded onto one side of a stereo file, which otherwise plays from one speaker only.
- Where
- Clip tab ▸ Sound ▸ Channels
- Agent tools
set_audio
Choose channels
Section titled “Choose channels”Open the Channels section and pick from Play. With several clips selected, the choice goes to all of them.
| Play | What you hear |
|---|---|
| Both | The file as it is. This is the default. |
| Left Only | The left channel, from both speakers. |
| Right Only | The right channel, from both speakers. |
| Swap Left and Right | The two channels exchanged. |
For a microphone on one channel, choose Left Only or Right Only. The voice then plays from both speakers at its own level. Mix to mono would also put it in both speakers, but averaging it with the silent channel halves its level.
The header of the section shows the current choice. Reset there puts it back to Both.
Two people on one stereo file
Section titled “Two people on one stereo file”A recorder or mixer can put one person on each side of a stereo file. To treat them as two microphones, give each side its own track.
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Line the file up with the cameras first, if you’re using Synchronize Audio.
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Hold ⌥ and drag the clip to another track, so a copy sits at the same time. See Duplicate clips.
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Set Play to Left Only on one clip and Right Only on the other.
Each person now has their own clip settings and track. Switch by Speaker reads a clip’s level after its Channels choice, so the two tracks work as two microphones.
Good to know
Section titled “Good to know”- A mono file has only one channel, so the choice has no effect on it.
- On a nest clip the choice has no effect. Set it on the clips inside.
- The Volume section’s Loudness readout counts the choice, and so does Normalize in Loudness mode. Normalize in Peak mode reads the file’s waveform and doesn’t.
- The choice comes after voice isolation and any voice effect, and before the EQ and Mix to mono. So on a stereo file with a voice effect, it picks from the sound after the effect.
- With an action selected, the choice is what the action changes to. It switches at the action’s end with no glide, and its row says “at end”.
With an agent
Section titled “With an agent”set_audio sets this with channels: both, left, right or swapped. See Tools: clip sound.