racb

Q: drifting audio with aiff file and video audio

Hello

 

i have some issues with drifing or not syncing audio in Final cut pro 7 Now I have read the Article from Matt Lyon but that does not fit my issue as I do not have an signes (the top green bar) that the audio has diffrent time rate also exported the XML file and everthing is the same with frame rate and audio rate. So here are the steps I did . I recorded a wedding dance on a Sony NXCAM Camera which records AVCHD files those files I then convert  in Final cut pro to apple pro ress 422 files as the music audio is a bit soft I wanted to unterplay the soundtrack with the orignal music which was a mp3 files and that file I convert in Quicktime 7 to an aiff file matching the same audio rate then the video 48Hz 16 bit Now when I put the aiff file on the timeline and sync them up in the begining of the song after just a few frames the audio is alrady out of sync it seems that the audio from the video is faster then the aiff file but both sound ok .

 

tried drop frame or non drop frame but nothing happens tried matt lyon options but it is the same even tried to edit in Premiere and there is the same issue

 

anybody has some idea what could be the problem as someone asked me to shoot a music video and if that is the case i might ave serious issue after the shoot

 

thanks

 

bernd

MacBook Pro with Retina display, OS X Mavericks (10.9), 16GB RAM and Solid state hard drive

Posted on Mar 10, 2014 8:44 AM

Close

Q: drifting audio with aiff file and video audio

  • All replies
  • Helpful answers

  • by Michael Grenadier,

    Michael Grenadier Michael Grenadier Mar 10, 2014 9:06 AM in response to racb
    Level 7 (20,362 points)
    Mac OS X
    Mar 10, 2014 9:06 AM in response to racb

    Make sure your easy setup frame rate matches your video source frame rate BEFORE you import the audio.  The way to check that the frame rate of your audio clip matches is to look at the timecode display for the audio file in fcp and if your target frame rate is 29.97 fps, make sure the timecode ascends to 29 before going back to 0.  If your target frame rate is 24p (23.976) make sure the timecode ascends to 23 before going back to 0. 

     

    I've sometimes had to create a new project with the easy setup with the correct frame rate and import the audio file into the new project and then copy the clip to your existing fcp project.    Post back if any of this isn't clear. 

  • by racb,

    racb racb Mar 10, 2014 10:21 AM in response to Michael Grenadier
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Mar 10, 2014 10:21 AM in response to Michael Grenadier

    Hi Michael

     

    thanks for getting back to me were can i find the timecode display for the audio when I go to item properties under tC it says source I have attached the easy setup and the  sequence to see if there is anything wrong

     

    bernd Sequence setup.pngEasy Setup.png

  • by Meg The Dog,Solvedanswer

    Meg The Dog Meg The Dog Mar 10, 2014 10:54 AM in response to racb
    Level 6 (11,118 points)
    Video
    Mar 10, 2014 10:54 AM in response to racb

    I believe your problem is that the player that was used to play the music at the event you shot was not playing the audio at the correct speed.

     

    One solution is to place your new imported audio file on the timeline and sync it at the head of the camera recorded audio. Then control-click on the  audio clip you imported and adjust the speed of the clip until the duration and waveform of the file you imported matches at both the begriming and end of the song.

    It may take a bt of trial and error to find the matching speed.

     

    Final Cut ProScreenSnapz001.png

     

    MtD

  • by racb,

    racb racb Mar 10, 2014 11:01 AM in response to Meg The Dog
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Mar 10, 2014 11:01 AM in response to Meg The Dog

    thanks

     

    I was thinking of that as well I need to check with the DJ if that is case as said as both final cut and premier have the same issue

     

    I will shoot a clip with a song from the ipod and then try to do the same thing again just to see that this was case and i am not getting made

     

    regards

     

    bernd

     

    thanks both of you for all your help

  • by Meg The Dog,

    Meg The Dog Meg The Dog Mar 10, 2014 11:11 AM in response to racb
    Level 6 (11,118 points)
    Video
    Mar 10, 2014 11:11 AM in response to racb

    Just to clarify - it is not reasonable to expect consumer equipment - like an iPod - to play at a locked, stable speed; stable enough to be used as synchronous sound over a long period of time. While this speed difference may not be perceptibly audible during playback, they will drift out of sync (and the longer the clip, the more out of sync) when compared to a video recording which is speed locked.

     

    This is why, when this is done for production of music videos, movies, etc. the playback on the set is done from devices that are locked to a video signal reference - so the audio playback is locked in sync to the video recording.

     

     

     

    MtD

  • by racb,

    racb racb Mar 10, 2014 12:01 PM in response to Meg The Dog
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Mar 10, 2014 12:01 PM in response to Meg The Dog

    hi

     

    i under stand that there might be a diffrence in syncing. I just tested it and had the ipod play the song and recorded it and then used the same aiff file to see how weill the ysync and i have to to say they sync pretty good, not like the first clip where after 1 sec the two clips are laready completly out of sync and by the end of hte 3 min song they are out of sync for more  then 30 sec (or even more)

     

    so thanks for your help

  • by Michael Grenadier,

    Michael Grenadier Michael Grenadier Mar 11, 2014 5:55 AM in response to Michael Grenadier
    Level 7 (20,362 points)
    Mac OS X
    Mar 11, 2014 5:55 AM in response to Michael Grenadier

    simply load the audio clip in the viewer and step thru it frame by frame and look at the timecode reader at the top right of the viewer.