[mbuhmann]

I did a search for AC-3 and Dolby Digital 5.1 and didn't get much in the way of my question so if I'm treading on old ground my apologies.

Come June I will be buying my first Mac with the release of Final Cut Pro 4 in anticipation for a feature I'm shooting later this fall. I'm also going to be getting DVD Studio 2 and plan on putting together a very professional version of the film and that means doing a AC-3 encoding for audio which I know DVD Studio 2 will be able to do. Unfortunately I can't find any discussion on HOW to create/edit AC-3 audio. Is it possible to do with a G4 system either with FCP4 or some other program or not? Thanks for any input on this subject.

[Mark E]

what do you mean "how to create AC3 audio"?

all you do is take your raw AIFF files and encode them to AC3, just like with AIFF to MP3.. the program you need to do this is called A. Pack, and it's supplied with DVD studio pro.

as for editing - it can't be done, to my knowledge. just keep your original AIFF, edit as necessary, and re-encode to AC3.