Audio sync issue, original fine

[sealilly]

3/4 through my wedding and I have sync issues. Original file is ok. I am wondering if there may be a "cache" to clear or reset? My timeline is fine up until this 3/4 mark. I tried bringing file in again but same issues.

[aljimenez]

Difficult to help you without more information: version of VS? Format of your video file? Filters you are using? What do you mean "original file is ok"?

[sealilly]

Sorry Al, your right.... Videostudiopro X8, editing an MP4 video file. No filters, typically I just add cross-fade transitions. The file is 3 hours long, at 2:27:15 is the the song "shout". If I play the file through WMP, video and audio is in sync. When I multi-edit, the audio and video is a few seconds off. I then dragged file back to timeline and simply split at 2:27:15 but same problem. I then copied file to different folder, renamed it, dragged it in, split at 2:27:15 and same issue. For kicks I am now trying on laptop....

[aljimenez]

First, realize that X9 made lots of improvements to handling of mp4 files which may be pertinent to this issue. You should consider getting X9 if you do lots of mp4 work.

Second, if you cut a section of this long video around the area where you are noticing the out of sync, does this cut piece alone in the timeline show the sync problem? If the answer is yes (I hope), then render/share this short video to see if the created mp4 file has this sync problem outside of VS. I suspect the out of sync may be playing the large video within VS and that after you render/Share to an mp4 file the problem may not be there.

Another experiment is to see if the sync problem goes away when the transitions are removed.

[canuck]

Sorry Al, your right.... Videostudiopro X8, editing an MP4 video file. No filters, typically I just add cross-fade transitions. The file is 3 hours long, at 2:27:15 is the the song "shout". If I play the file through WMP, video and audio is in sync. When I multi-edit, the audio and video is a few seconds off. I then dragged file back to timeline and simply split at 2:27:15 but same problem. I then copied file to different folder, renamed it, dragged it in, split at 2:27:15 and same issue. For kicks I am now trying on laptop....

What is your output format? Are you going to a DVD, BD or what?. It is unclear exactly what you are trying to do and how you are doing it. What file plays in WMP?

[sealilly]

Thanks everyone, I dont know what went wrong, but I did an experiment which worked. I rendered the 10 minutes worth of footage I needed with different software, dragged in and was able to chop it up, add transitions and all was fine. I suspect something with that particular file as projects before and after said file were fine. I will upgrade as well as I love VS Pro.

[sealilly]

NOT SO FAST... Well, issue not resolved. The burned DVD still has issues even though it plays normal in timeline...

[Ken Berry]

I assume the issue the DVD has is OOS audio...? But are there any other problems? Your project is extremely long so quality will be pretty poor if you are burning it to a single layer DVD... Or are you using a dual layer DVD? A single layer DVD holds only 4.3 GB of video. You can burn one hour of high quality video -- with a bitrate of 8000 kbps -- to it. A 90 minute project can be burnt to it, but you need to reduce the bitrate to 6000 kbps to achieve this. And reducing the bitrate also reduces quality. Two hours needs a bitrate of only 4000 kbps, and the quality is pretty ordinary -- no better than an old VHS tape. To fit three hours, the bitrate would need to be down around 2500 kbps, and the quality would be, frankly, awful.

In that case, I would -- if I were you -- give strong consideration to breaking your project in two and burning two DVDs. The end quality will be so much better.

I further assume that after you finished editing your video, you went to Share and chose to burn the DVD at that point? But can you confirm this is what you did?

If so, you could try something else. First divide your project into two parts at some suitable point around halfway through. When you finish editing each part, go to Share and instead of choosing DVD, instead go to the File options and choose mpeg-2. If each part is around 90 minutes, then edit the mpeg-2 properties to have a bitrate of 6000 kbps. Then produce a new DVD-compatible mpeg-2 for each part. You can check both clips at this point by playing them in a software media player to make sure there are no problems.

Then go back to Share and this time choose DVD. When the burning module opens, if there is anything in its timeline, delete it. Then go to the Project Settings icon in the bottom left of the burning screen and make sure the box beside "Do not convert compliant MPEG files" is ticked. Then go to the Add Media button in the top left of the burning screen and add one of your new mpeg-2 clips. Create a menu, then burn it. Do the same for the other part. Hopefully this time both DVDs will be of good quality and with no problems.

[sealilly]

Thanks Ken, I should have mentioned, I have edited the long file down to a 60 minute edited version. I am currently moving (this project) everything from one computer to another to try. Whats really throwing my head for a loop is that it plays fine in VS but when burned it gets out of sync.

[Ken Berry]

That's better news about the length of the project. But I suggest you still try my suggestion of producing a clean mpeg-2 (with 8000 kbps bitrate) after finishing editing, and before opening the burning module. That way you can test to see if there is OOS before burning another silver coaster. And if it is OK, then inserting that file in the burning module and making sure "Do not convert" is ticked, should produce a good quality DVD without OOS.

[sealilly]

Ok, I will try that for next project. As far as this project goes, I got lucky when I moved everything from computer 1 to computer 2, it burned a good DVD. I then did a full defrag and cleanup on computer 1 just in case I had a bad sector or something glitchy.