Audio out of sync with video-anyone have that problem?

[Gerry]

Has anyone had the problem where the audio is consistently about 6 frames behind the video?

I'm trying to figure out if it's my camera (doesn't appear to be in the playback on the camera), Prel 11, or something else. It appears in-sync when I do a playback out of Prel 11, but when I make an mp4 or m2t file, it's very apparent.

I'm shooting HD 1920x1040i 30fps, but haven't tried shooting anything in SD yet -- that's first on my list to try.

It's easy enough to fix in Prel 11 by shifting all the audio, but that turns into a bit of a pain when I've layered 2 or 3 additional audio tracks (i.e. voice over or SFX) over the camera audio.

[Chris B]

Video/Audio out of sync does seem to be one of those issues with video work. I don't have direct experience of Prel11 but I would suggest you try playing the files back in a different player (you don't say what you're using to play back the video). It may be that the video and audio are just fine - but you player's not coping. You could also try re-importing the rendered file back into Prel and checking if it is synchronised or not there.

[Steve Grisetti]

At what point is the audio and video out of sync, Gerry? During playback on the timeline? When you play the captured/downloaded video on an external player? After you output your finished movie?

You seem to say that it's not a problem until you output your movie. If so, what player are you using to play your output video? Have you tried Quicktime at 50% size? (Sometimes trying to view it at 100% can cause a playback lag.)

Is this an AVCHD camcorder?

What tool are you using to get the video from the camcorder to your computer?

[Gerry]

Sorry... should've supplied more details.

The most noticeable video/audio sync problem seems to be on my iPad. I rendered the movie with the HD Widescreen-High Quality iPad setting. I haven't watched the movie directly from a disc (either DVD or Blu-Ray) yet because I'm still in the midst of editing. When I render for HD 1920x1080i (resultant movie is an m2t) and play that back on the computer, I'm pretty sure it looks fine (but I need to re-check to be sure).

Also, it looks fine on the timeline when played back as I'm editing.

The camera (an Olympus OM-D) natively shoots .MOV files (that's Quicktime, right?) at 1920x1080.

[Steve Grisetti]

The issue is most likely the format you're editing, Gerry.

According to this spec sheet (http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/olympusem5/2) the camera shoots in MJPEG and AVCHD -- though it's not clear when it's shooting AVCHD (which Premiere Elements can edit) and when it's shooting MJPEG (which Premiere Elements has trouble with) and Olympus's site offers no help.

When you open one of the videos it's shot in a program like G Spot or Media Info, what codec does it show?

When you go to your Premiere Elements Edit menu and select Project Settings, what does it show?

Also, try this. Open a new Premiere Elements 11 project. Before you add one of your videos, change its suffix to M2T, then import it and place it on your timeline. Then go to Edit/Project Settings and see which project settings it lists. (MOV is such a general category, that it's possible Premiere Elements is misinterpreting it when it sets up your project.)

[Gerry]

...the camera shoots in MJPEG and AVCHD -- though it's not clear when it's shooting AVCHD (which Premiere Elements can edit) and when it's shooting MJPEG (which Premiere Elements has trouble with) and Olympus's site offers no help.

That's right -- I forgot about that. But I ruled out MJPEG immediately because I wanted the highest quality video possible. So I have the camera set to AVCHD.

When you open one of the videos it's shot in a program like G Spot or Media Info, what codec does it show?

When I open the mp4 saved with the HD Widescreen-High iPad settings in Gspot, it shows a codec of avc1, H.264/MPEG-4AVC, status undetermined.

(Weird) When I open the m2t in GSpot, it shows no codec or name at all. The Container says "File type: MPEG-2 Transport Stream, Mime Type: video/mp2t.

When you go to your Premiere Elements Edit menu and select Project Settings, what does it show?

Shows frame size of 1920x1080, 30fps Drop-Frame timecode. Realtime playback using Desktop Audio.

Also, try this. Open a new Premiere Elements 11 project. Before you add one of your videos, change its suffix to M2T, then import it and place it on your timeline. Then go to Edit/Project Settings and see which project settings it lists. (MOV is such a general category, that it's possible Premiere Elements is misinterpreting it when it sets up your project.)

Ok, the project settings show the same thing: 1920x1080, 30fps Drop-Frame timecode, desktop audio.

Here's what I noticed: playing back the m2t on this computer (specs at bottom), everything is sync'd. On this computer, playing back the mp4 that was saved for iPad, there's a noticeable audio delay.

Using my netbook to play back an mp4 NOT made for iPad, but made using NTSC Widescreen, plays back just fine. And for the life of me, I can't get the ipad mp4 to play back at all in QuickTime on the netbook (not much ram, and Win XP).

[Steve Grisetti]

Are you saying the camera can output video in either MP4 or M2T format? And the M2T edits in Premiere Elements but MP4 does not?

[Gerry]

Are you saying the camera can output video in either MP4 or M2T format? And the M2T edits in Premiere Elements but MP4 does not?

Yes and no.

The camera gives me the option to output in either MPEG-4 AVC/H.264 (Full HD Fine and Normal at 1920x1080, or HD Fine and Normal at 1280x720), or Motion JPEG (1280x720 or 640x480). (this, taken from the manual)

The M2T edits in Premiere Elements, but I don't know if the MP4 does or doesn't because I've never tried it. I've only ever shot 1080 HD on it.

When I go to output the 1920x1080 movie, I'll choose either MPEG2 1920x1080 30fps (which plays back fine on this computer), NTSC DVD Wide Screen (which plays back fine on this computer and my netbook), or, under "Mobile Phones and Devices," Apple ipad Widescreen High Quality" and that's the one apparently has the sync problem because it won't playback in audio/video sync on the iPad, the netbook, or this computer.

[Steve Grisetti]

I'm sorry if I'm still not getting it, Gerry. But when you say "The camera gives me the option to output in either MPEG-4 AVC/H.264 (Full HD Fine and Normal at 1920x1080, or HD Fine and Normal at 1280x720), or Motion JPEG (1280x720 or 640x480). The M2T edits in Premiere Elements, but I don't know if the MP4 does or doesn't because I've never tried it. I've only ever shot 1080 HD on it."

Do you mean that the AVC output gives you an M2T file? I'm just not clear what kind of file you're finding in Premiere Elements when you use Add Media/From Flip or Camera to open the Video Importer and download the video from your camera?

[Gerry]

I'm sorry if I'm still not getting it, Gerry. But when you say "The camera gives me the option to output in either MPEG-4 AVC/H.264 (Full HD Fine and Normal at 1920x1080, or HD Fine and Normal at 1280x720), or Motion JPEG (1280x720 or 640x480). The M2T edits in Premiere Elements, but I don't know if the MP4 does or doesn't because I've never tried it. I've only ever shot 1080 HD on it."

Do you mean that the AVC output gives you an M2T file? I'm just not clear what kind of file you're finding in Premiere Elements when you use Add Media/From Flip or Camera to open the Video Importer and download the video from your camera?

Ok, I'm sorry. I wasn't understanding the question, I guess.

I don't import the files directly from the camera. I put the camera's SD card into the computer and move my movie files to the desktop, then use the "Add Media/Files & folders" to bring the movies into Prel. On the SD card, they're all named XXXXXX.MOV , and that's what they're called in my Prel assets after I import.

You asked me to rename one of the MOV files to M2T, which I did, and it also imported just fine. (So does that mean the MOV files are actually M2T files under an "MOV" name?)

Again, the camera gives me the option (in the master menu) of whether I want to shoot Motion JPEG or HD AVC, and I have it permanently set to the latter. So I've never shot nor tried to import or edit a Motion JPG.

[Steve Grisetti]

That makes sense, Gerry.

MOV is a pretty general name for a file, so it's possible Premiere Elements is having trouble recognizing it and matching the project specs to the file's format unless you change it to M2T.

In fact, if, instead of copying files off the SD card, you just plugged the camera into your USB and used Premiere Elements' Video Importer to get the files, the program may even make the suffix change for you. This is why I always recommend using the Video Importer tool rather than merely copying the files from an SD card manually.

Can you see if using the Video Importer makes a difference?

[Gerry]

Can you see if using the Video Importer makes a difference?

Thanks, Steve! I'll give it a shot tomorrow night and report back.

But again, it only seems to happen when I "share" it using the iPad setting. I tried Apple TV and the iPod settings, and the same thing happens.

MOMENTS LATER:

I tried it right away. The "Videos from Flip or Cameras" imports it as an .MOV. And when I "share" it under the HD High Quality Wide Screen settings, same thing: the audio and video don't sync. I tested this by tapping a pen on a hard surface and rolling the camcorder. It's noticeably off. Yet the m2t generated when I share as MPEG-2 1920x1080 looks good.

[Steve Grisetti]

Strange. But oh well -- I hope we were at least able to provide you a suitable workaround!

[Gerry]

Strange. But oh well -- I hope we were at least able to provide you a suitable workaround!

Well...uhm...

What do or can I do about the fact that the iPad mp4's audio isn't in sync? Other than unlinking audio and video from all the clips and sliding them 6 frames downstream?

[Steve Grisetti]

I'm sorry. I have no solution, other than modifying the original source files.

Maybe someone else has an idea.