Having trouble getting sound with animation software

Can you tell us a little more about the sound you are using? Are you recording your own sounds or importing sounds? If importing, can you tell us the file format (WAV, AIFF, MP3 or M4A formats are supported)?

So if I understand, you import the mp3 into Anime Studio and export as what...(.mov, mp4, etc...)???

Does the finished export play locally without problems in QuickTime X?

What does your Get Info say about the video and audio codecs used?

Do you have a public link on YouTube to provide an example.

Is it the anime software or are we doing something wrong with quicktime?

This is very difficult to say since you have not really explained your entire workflow. It could be the fault of all four apps—Anime Studio Debut, GarageBand, QT X, and YouTube. YouTube is notorious for mishandling uploads containing multiple audio tracks. Therefore, if your Anime export file contains an audio track—even an empty one—and your Garageband output audio file contains one track of audio or the anime file contains no audio but the GarageBand export contains multiple audio tracks or your QT X merge contains multiple audio segments, you could have a problem using QT X to "mux" your GarageBand-Itunes audio. Basically, QT X doesn't "flatten" multiple audio (and/or multiple video) tracks until the data is exported or the merged files are save during the closing pf the QT X app. And if you upload content with multiple audio tracks to YouTube without first flattening the data tracks, all non-primary tracks will be ignored. This is probably the number one explanation of missing audio (or video) segments in YouTube uploads.

Since you haven't really described what your sound problem is in any detail, I am only making a guess here based on your indication that YouTube is the target for your projects. There is, of course, an easy way to test this issue. Simply export your project from QT X (if that is what you are actually using to merge and upload content to YouTube) BEFORE uploading. Then open your file in QT X, check it, upload it to YouTube, and check the YouTube file to see if it now correctly contains all of your audio.

We export as a .mov, the video exports and plays on quicktime, but does not have any sound at this point.I am not sure where to look for Get Info for video and audio codecs. Could you explain?

In QuickTime Player, you go to the Window menu and choose "Show Movie Inspector". We are interested in the Format information. Please copy all this info and post back to the forum.

We published it on Obtuseworld on youtube. The title is "froglovers."

I don't find a channel on YouTube named "Obtuseworld". I don't find a video titled "froglovers".

I was able to download your file from YouTube. Opened in QuickTime Player 7 and extracted the sound track. Exported as .aiff file and opened in Audacity. Zero amplitude. There is a sound track in your movie but it has zero amplitude. This is where things get more interesting.

Prior to exporting from Anime Studio, can you preview your animation with sound in Anime Studio? When you export from Anime, choosing H.264 and AAC you are saying you do not hear sound in QuickTime Player X or 7?

I'm running out of troubleshooting steps. It doesn't appear that YouTube is the cause if you can't hear sound on your export from Anime Studio. Did you preview your sound after export from GarageBand to iTunes? I might be grasping at straws but you could also just choose "Export to Disk" from GarageBand instead of iTunes. Just go with an AAC version and use this to import to Anime Studio. Make sure you preview your audio file before bringing it to Anime Studio.

we are exporting the animation as a .mov. It loads up, but does not play sound.

Lets talk about this file. Is it the MOV file exported from the Anime Studio Debut app and, if so, does it contain an audio track? Or is this an MOV file created by your 'We recorded in garageband, then put it on iTunes and attached it to the animation as a mp3.' and if so, how did you 'attach' it to the file. Basically, in either case, if your QT player can't play it the audio before you upload the file, it is highly unlikely that the sound will play when uploaded to and posted by YouTube.

I tried uploading it from the animation software directly to youtube and also by exporting it into quicktime as a .mov, and then uploading it via youtube. I get the same issue of having no sound.

Same results for the same reasons. If the audio won't play on your system it probably won't play on YouTube no matter how you upload it. It's like sending someone a check and forgetting to sign it. Not matter how many times or how many ways you send it, it still arrives unsigned.

I tired your suggestion of exporting it from quicktime before trying to upload, and I don't get anything different. It saves the file with a (converted) comment next to the name. That is all I get.

Normal "Rule of Thumb" if an app can't play the audio, it can't convert or edit it either—although, I suspect you may be able to truncate it. But half of nothing is still nothing.

We are using Quicktime Version 10.4 (833.6)

Thanks. It is always important to know which specific player you are referring to when you mention QT since this often determines how we expect that player to operate under "normal" conditions with reference to specific compression formats in specific file containers.

apologies if I am still not giving enough info, I am new to this game. I appreciate your patience and suggestions.

It's how we learn new things... In an effort to learn a few more things myself about your workflow, can you post a copy of your MP3 audio file if it plays on your system and if was actually a part of the workflow you used to "attach" audio to your original Anime Studio Debut export. Also, does your original Anime Studio Debut project export contain any audio track whatsoever? Basically, I want to try some alternative workflows which depend on these two things, as well as, try duplication what I assumed was your workflow to try and discover how the audio was lost. I.e., I also downloaded a copy of your file but used GarageBand to check on audio deflections. This is what I saw:

As Raymond has already indicated, GarageBand also does not show any audio deflection waveforms indicating a normally recorded audio track despite the QT 7 "Property" window insistance there is nearly 290 KBs of recorded audio data:

Since I also considered this a bit high for such an "empty" track, I ran three QT X audio recording tests averaging 18 secs and confirmed that the track originally must have had a valid input source but not how your audio was lost or ignored in your workflow... Which is why I wanted to see (listen to) your MP3 file which I assume you could hear in iTunes or you would not have "attached" it to your MOV file.

Based on your "We recorded in garageband, then put it on iTunes and attached it to the animation as a mp3." statement, I had originally assumed you used the Anime Studio Debut app to generate a simple video only clip which you then loaded into a GarageBand app in order to create and sync one or more voice and/or sound effect tracks of audio. I then assumed you were sharing the GarageBand project to iTunes for conversion to MP3 and "muxing" with your MOV video track using QT X. If other, please advise. At this point, it looks most likely that at some point in your work flow the audio file or track is being "mishandled" in that the audio is being muted or otherwise ignored by some app in your workflow and I'd like to see if I can either find the problem (which may be very difficult) or take a shortcut that avoids the problem completely and I'd like to try and do this using a version of your own audio. The MP3 file seemed like the best choice if playable.

The Anime allowed us to import the mp3 into the animation. It is a vector program and the audio comes up as a layer. We can hear the sound just fine when we play the animation in Anime.

Then this, I suspect, is where the problem lies. Not sure if you are doing anything "wrong" or if the app is performing in a manner other than it should. Still, the simplest way to test this theory would be to by-pass this phase of your workflow by manually replacing your current "froglovers" video with another having an audio track known to be playback compatible with other apps like the QT X player under your current operating system. And, since I neither have nor want a YouTube account, I assumed you would be willing to run this test yourself as a direct upload/replacement to your YouTube area.

I am confused now as I now cannot seem to import any .mp3 files into Anime. Everything I can now find comes up as .m4a. We did upgrade to OX Yosemite since we started this animation. I have also been playing around a lot trying options and I hope I didn't do anything wrong.

This may or may not be of any importance depending on how the Anime Studio Debut app is programmed to interface with QT structures embedded in the Mac OS or its compatibility with a particular Mac OS. (I.e., I notice the v11 is compatible with Yosemite but have no knowledge regarding your current older version.) Most Mac users would probably add audio to their video clip using the AAC compression format (the default MPEG-4 audio format for a Mac) as I did for the sample file I created.

I attached the file as a .m4a at this point because I am not sure what else to do.

So did I. Only in my case, I simply "dragged 'n dropped" one of Apple's iPhoto M4A "Theme" audio tracks to the H.264 video clip downloaded from your YouTube area while it was opened in the QT X player and saved the result as an H.264/AAC MOV file which I then uploaded for you to test as an alternative to your Anime Studio Debut workflow since I don't know how this app "attaches" the audio.

on a side note, this audio does have some profanity, so I apologize. We encourage our son's creativity. I think it's funny though.

Am only here to solve a problem that has become intellectually challenging and, therefore, of increased interest. Am also interested in evaluating the results of your synchronization efforts and determine if the Anime Studio Debut app would be worth testing for possible purchase. (Am afraid that my wife and son have all of the graphic and musical talents in the family but this app might still allow me to generate short, amusing animations using "characters" included with the app and/or downloaded from the site.) Assume your answer and the lack of a URL pointing to an uploaded audio file means that you declined to provide the audio track which was originally targeted for this video. Have, therefore, as already mentioned, generated a test file using sample audio provided by Apple. Here is the URL:

http://downloads.walker4.me/Temporary_files/froglovers_test.mov

You can download this file on a Mac by Option-Clicking the link above or using the "Context" menu's "Download the Linked File" option. Please, use it to directly (i.e., don't open this file in Anime Studio Debut) replace your current YouTube "froglovers" file and see if the audio remains in tact this time. If it does, then the problem is in the Anime "muxing" portion of your workflow which you can bypass as a "workaround" in the future as an interim measure until the actual issue is determined and solved.