X7 trial, some concerns about audio [audio problem solved]

[wormil]

I've been working with trial versions of Corel, Sony and Cyberlink software. I have about 9 hours into Corel and mostly love it but am concerned about a few issues.

1. Audio handling - I frequently speed up sections of my videos but I need the sound to match. Sony will handle this splendidly, when I speed up video the sound stays in sync and sounds like sped up audio. Corel fumbles, variable speed disables the audio entirely; speed/time lapse mangles the audio to a popping or warbling sound.

2. Stability - Day one I had a couple crashes. Day two I worked for 6 hours straight and no crashes. Day three I worked mostly on audio and it was crash city, about every 20-30 minutes. I'm no stranger to Corel products and can accept their inherent instabilities to a point but it seems Video Studio just does not handle audio well at all.

Otherwise I love the clean, modern, and intuitive interface; the large assortment of extras (transitions, effects, etc.) are a nice bonus. VS splendidly handles graphics and video. There is a lot to love but audio handling is letting me down.

[BrianCee]

before changing the video speed right click over the video block in the timeline and choose 'split audio' this will put the audio in to the audio track - now change the speed of your video.

Now change the speed of the audio by clicking on the block so it is highlighted - then hover over the right end yellow bar util the cursor changes to a double arrow then press and hold the left key and 'shift' together as you slide left to make the length of the block equal the length of the video - should give you what you want.

[wormil]

before changing the video speed right click over the video block in the timeline and choose 'split audio' this will put the audio in to the audio track - now change the speed of your video.

Now change the speed of the audio by clicking on the block so it is highlighted - then hover over the right end yellow bar util the cursor changes to a double arrow then press and hold the left key and 'shift' together as you slide left to make the length of the block equal the length of the video - should give you what you want.

Already tried it, the audio still ends up being a bunch of pops and warbling nonsense. These are clips of power tools running.

I really like Video Studio better but I can't buy it unless I can find a way to speed up the sound while keeping it recognizable.

[BrianCee]

Have you tried exporting a sound file (Share >> Computer >> Audio ) and then using a free sound editor like Audacity to speed up the sound and make any other adjustments - then put the sound file back into VideoStudio - your not going to be looking for any frame accurate syncing so should be very easy.

[wormil]

I've considered the idea but if I have to go external I'll probably just stick with a program that handles it internally. It's tempting but on this last project I had 30-some clips, each had to be edited for content and sometimes speed, that's a lot of extra work to go external. On that project I just muted the audio and introduced music but losing chunks of the original sound takes something away from the final product. I appreciate the suggestions but unfortunately it's looking like I will have to pass on this version of VS.

[wormil]

Here is a short test video showing the problem. There are two different clips, each at 100%, then 200%, then 200% with split audio. I've confirmed that Sony and Cyberlink both speed up the sound correctly. Hopefully this will inspire Corel to patch it or correct it in the next version.

http://youtu.be/9ggA01FtLQ0

Clip from Sony for comparison.
http://youtu.be/iJKJjD4X4OA

[lata]

Hi

I am a little confused as I had thought you were concerned with speech / lip sync.

Clearly the sound of the circular saw has to match the video, I guess that’s lip sync in a way.

So why split audio.

The second saw cut at 200% does sound poor with the pulsing levels

Can you provide a sample of the original saw cut video, how large is the file, if under 20Mb then you could e-mail?

[wormil]

I have a 4mb sample file, I'll gladly email it.

[lata]

Hi

Thanks for the sample, I eventually found your e-mail, sorry for that.

I have managed to create a good video clip at 200%, the audio sounds ok.
I will e-mail you the new clip.

This is what I did.
1 / First go to Settings – Preferences – Show Messages when ….. selected
2 / Start a new project
3 / add video to top track – select ok from popup window to match video properties.
The details of your file show as:-

MPEG-4 Files
24 bits, 1280 x 720, 23.976 fps
Frame-based
H.264 High Profile Video: 2933 Kbps, 16:9
8000 Hz, 16 Bit, Mono
MPEG AAC Audio: 16 Kbps

4 / Set 200% speed
5 / Share – Same as First Video Clip, should create a new file using the original properties.

Does that improve the audio quality?

Link to Video sample provided by wormil http://1drv.ms/1nF9X00

[wormil]

Thank you Trevor! I checked the sample and it is good. I will try and replicate it later this evening.

[wormil]

3 / add video to top track – select ok from popup window to match video properties.

I do not get this prompt, even after setting messages to "on".

But ... it works! So the problem was my project settings did not match the source. That explains why it worked in Sony because it prompts you by default to match settings to the source.

Thank you very much.

[lata]

Hi

Setting the project to match only works for the first clip added, so you have to do from a new project. I doubt if this is the culprit, just good practice and supposed to help with smart render.

You may have used one of the default templates and not Same as video Clip.
Your sample uses “mono audio” rendering to a different speed and stereo could cause problems, but I have not had time to run tests, it just seemed to work first time?