audio from quicktime not synching up...

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roccoc
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audio from quicktime not synching up...

Post by roccoc »

I am scoring a short, i imported the audio from the quicktime. Next i set up a seperate chunk that has the chunk start at exactly the same time as the picture frame start. NExt i imported the audio to that chunk and stamped it...WHy is it not lining up with the audio in the movie? Do you think that quicktime is introdciing some output latency? thanks in advance
Powerbook 1.67Ghz 1.5GB RAM, a few waves plugs, Digital Performer 4.61, Logic Pro 7.1.1, Kontakt 1.5, Garritan Personal Orchestra, Reason 3.X, MOTU 828 mkII
roccoc
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Post by roccoc »

also when i manually nudge the audio and feel it is synched up when i press play a few times it shifts over? I ahve the nudge set to 1 millisecond. WHy is the audio moving without me telling it to...How can i protect the track and make it not move for good!?
Powerbook 1.67Ghz 1.5GB RAM, a few waves plugs, Digital Performer 4.61, Logic Pro 7.1.1, Kontakt 1.5, Garritan Personal Orchestra, Reason 3.X, MOTU 828 mkII
Silicon Beach Studio
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Re: audio from quicktime not synching up...

Post by Silicon Beach Studio »

roccoc wrote:I am scoring a short, i imported the audio from the quicktime. Next i set up a seperate chunk that has the chunk start at exactly the same time as the picture frame start. NExt i imported the audio to that chunk and stamped it...WHy is it not lining up with the audio in the movie? Do you think that quicktime is introdciing some output latency? thanks in advance
Apparently when you play a QT movie in DP with QT7, the movie audio is out of sync with the pix ... but if you extract the audio track of the QT movie then the resulting DP audio track is in sync.

there's a tech article somewhere on the MOTU site about this.
chrispick
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Re: audio from quicktime not synching up...

Post by chrispick »

Silicon Beach Studio wrote:Apparently when you play a QT movie in DP with QT7, the movie audio is out of sync with the pix ... but if you extract the audio track of the QT movie then the resulting DP audio track is in sync.

there's a tech article somewhere on the MOTU site about this.
Yep, this is correct.
roccoc
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Post by roccoc »

hey thanks a toN! I based some of my tempos around a sound effect that was n the movie after i extracted the audio.. SO i thought for a little whiile all of my tempos were going to be a little early...But ill trust the DP time stamp feature!!!! thanks...
Powerbook 1.67Ghz 1.5GB RAM, a few waves plugs, Digital Performer 4.61, Logic Pro 7.1.1, Kontakt 1.5, Garritan Personal Orchestra, Reason 3.X, MOTU 828 mkII
vaultcomplex
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Re: audio from quicktime not synching up...

Post by vaultcomplex »

Silicon Beach Studio wrote:
Apparently when you play a QT movie in DP with QT7, the movie audio is out of sync with the pix ... but if you extract the audio track of the QT movie then the resulting DP audio track is in sync.

there's a tech article somewhere on the MOTU site about this.
Any word on when MOTU plans to address this?
Silicon Beach Studio
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Post by Silicon Beach Studio »

"Any word on when MOTU plans to address this?"

I seem to remember that the MOTU article about this blamed changes in the way QT7 plays it's audio track ... and then offered the extract audio method as a work around (no mention of fixing it) ... which is what I've been doing - it's a bit of a drag, but not what I'd call a terminal bug ...

perhaps they're going to fix it in DP5 ... (?)

care to step in here and enlighten us further Mr MagicDave ?
vaultcomplex
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Post by vaultcomplex »

Silicon Beach Studio wrote:"Any word on when MOTU plans to address this?"

I seem to remember that the MOTU article about this blamed changes in the way QT7 plays it's audio track ... and then offered the extract audio method as a work around (no mention of fixing it) ... which is what I've been doing - it's a bit of a drag, but not what I'd call a terminal bug ...

perhaps they're going to fix it in DP5 ... (?)

care to step in here and enlighten us further Mr MagicDave ?
I can understand MOTU getting annoyed at Apple changing the way their programs work (a frequent occurance), but it is MOTU that decided to use quicktime as the means to sync video with their program. And seeing that DP is a "Professional" program for the industry, then it is their job to fix it.

Importing the audio into each chunk (there are usually 15 cues or more) on a weekly TV show is cumbersome and very time consuming. I'd rather live with the delayed audio. (Well, I'd rather not have to live with either).
Silicon Beach Studio
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Post by Silicon Beach Studio »

yes i agree - quite right, it's down to MOTU to fix it ... surely it's fixed in DP5 ?!

it's a stupid waste of time having to extract the audio track, and personally i can't live with watching clips of people about 5 frames out of lip sync - it winds me up and then i can't compose anything !
roccoc
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Post by roccoc »

i actually think that extracting the audio is a better way to go...it helps not cover up the dialouge and effects ect...i was just concerened that i was out of Sync...
laters
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rpmusic
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Post by rpmusic »

Actually the "having to extract" audio has been a blessing in disguise for me. After I extract, I have made a little custom console that resides in the top part of my window that let's me quickly adjust the volume or mute/unmute the track when I'm scoring. I hope that if DP fixes the sync issue in future updates that they'll put some sort of quick mute/unmute button available (and not the option click on the QT volume slider) because this has become an invaluable feature for me!

Hope this helps anyone eles!
Rob Pottorf
Rob Pottorf Music, Inc.
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rsherm
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Big Bug

Post by rsherm »

I just updated from a G4 to a G5 today, and in doing so, changed from OS 9.2 to 10.4, and also went from DP 3.? to 4.6, and of course, from QT 6.? to QT 7. I never had the sync problems before. I had heard so many positive things about DP 4.6, yet I am amazed that I never heard any warnings about this QT audio sync problem. I do national TV spots (ditech.com). For some spots, the audio in my DP project was imported from an OMF file supplied by the video editor of the spot. Now, when I open some older spots on my new computer, THAT audio is out of sync, and the only solution I have found is that I have to off set the start time of the QT movie by about 5 frames earlier. As a media professional, I see this as a MAJOR problem in 4.6. I am going to ask MOTU if this bug is going to be fixed in DP 5.
rsherm
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Post by rsherm »

One thing I meant to respond to regarding this sync problem. It is one question whether we as composers can live with a "work around", or just accept the out of sync audio ("gee, it's ONLY 5 frames"), but it is another question entirely when the client is right there, looking over your shoulder, and he's paying big bucks for you to work on his spot, and he hits the ceiling whenever his masterpiece suddenly looks like a badly dubbed foreign movie. Maybe I'm paranoid, but I find myself wondering if Logic users are having the same problem; and if not, could this change in the way QT 7 handles audio be an intentional Apple curve ball thrown at MOTU? By the way, in the tech note posted by MOTU on their web site regarding this problem, they DID say that this bug would be addressed in future DP updates (but they did not specify DP 5). I wll post MOTU's answer, when I get it, as to whether the sync problem will be fixed in DP 5 (unless someone else can post the answer before I hear back from MOTU).
c0mp0ser
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Post by c0mp0ser »

There is a temporary workaround that I feel people don't know about:

Simply select the "click and countoff"button and make sure it is set to "0 bars".

That, for some reason, corrects the sync issue.

MOTU, in their next patch, say that they will correct this issue.

-MP
Michael Patti
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rsherm
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QT 7 Sync Issue

Post by rsherm »

[quote="c0mp0ser"]There is a temporary workaround that I feel people don't know about:

Simply select the "click and countoff"button and make sure it is set to "0 bars".

That, for some reason, corrects the sync issue.

MOTU, in their next patch, say that they will correct this issue.

-MP[/quote]
********************
From what I saw today on the MOTU web site, they did not specify when this issue will be fixed. What they did say, and I quote, is "This QuickTime 7 compatibility issue will be addressed in a future release of DP." However, that could mean they will fix it in DP 8. Since I am a MOTU supporter, I do believe we will not have to wait that long for the fix.

I did try setting the click and countoff to 0 bars. This seemed to change the offset for the better: rather than being 5 to 7 frames out of sync, it then becomes only about 2 frames out of sync, INITIALLY. I say initially, because if you start and stop playback at various points in a sequence, the amount of offset starts to vary, sometimes worse, and sometimes better. For some reason, it seemed that having the "Wait" button active, which means you have to hit "play" twice to go into playback, also seemed to help lessen the offset. The consistent method of eliminating the offset after setting the click and countoff to 0 bars, was 1) make sure you have one empty measure at the beginning of the sequence, before any audio starts, and 2) start playback from the beginning of the sequence. Obviously, this second part is not workable when you're wanting to start playback from more than a couple of bars into the sequence. Again, the bottom line seems to be 1) copy the audio from the QT movie into DP, and, preferably 2) MOTU should fix the problem, hopefully in 5.0. I am waiting on a tech response from MOTU on my query as to when this will be fixed.
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