Stereo captured as mono.....and now audio is no longer stereo

Question

Hi,
I recently came across the following problem:
I captured from tape, video and audio. The 2 audio channels were accidentally captured as mono. And so I linked them in the timeline again. Edited the show to tape (Stereo outputs), and sent the tape off.
Then I get a call from the broadcaster. The audio is not stereo. They sent me the tape back, and sure enough, it really ISN'T.
I called another editor and was told that you have to capture stereo as stereo, otherwise ....long technical explanation here..... and so I had to recapture the source material. I checked the recorder, everything set up properly as far as I could tell.
Now, can that be true? I always assumed that even if you captured stereo as mono by accident, that you could link the audio channels later on and it would be true stereo, since the left and right channels held different information.
I simply cannot (and don't want to believe) that FCP modifies audio while capturing....
Anyone know anything about this? Does it make sense? Do I make sense? Aw, hang on, don't answer the last question.....
Cheers,
Colin

Answer 1

Technically, stereo is two tracks with one track sent only to the right channel and the other track sent only to the left channel. In FCP this is termed PANNED left or right. In a mix designed for a stereo image, the placement of various elements in the sound field is done by using mono tracks and panning them differently or by using a true stereo microphone.
The only difference between capturing something dual mono or stereo is how the tracks are panned within FCP. There is no bleed from one track to the other until you export.
So, if the material was originally stereo but happened to capture them as dual mono, if you make them a 'stereo pair' (as David tells you how to do), you'll have stereo.
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