Audio Sync Problem

[Joseph Hung]

Hi Felix,
Make sure the audio that you are receiving are the same specs as the mp3. For instance, if you started your edit with the mp3, then your sequence settings should be exactly the same as the mp3, ie. 48khz 24bit. The new track, is it a wav or aiff? Make sure this file is exactly the same as well. The audio sync sliding out of sync by the end is a symptom of differing audio specs.
Also, don’t bother with Soundtrack Pro. You can sync it up just fine in FCP. The extra step into SP is unnecessary.

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[Felix Swensson]

I see now that the old file is 44.1 khz and 32 bit floating point MP3
the new one is 44.1khz and 16 bit WAV

I can’t see how the mp3 can be 32 bit. Any suggestions on how to fix this? I tried exporting the original mp3 as 16 bit from Final Cut but that puts it out of sync with the old file.

[Joseph Hung]

Which will happen when you change the specs. Maybe you can change the sequence settings and the WAV file will suddenly magically fall into place? Not sure if this would work.
I don’t know of any other workaround other than adjusting your edit to the WAV file, because ultimately, that is the file you will be using, correct?
I tend to avoid MP3’s if I can help it anyways. I always try to get the audio file in the specs I need, and then start the cutting.

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Twitter: @tulpapictures
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Mac 2.66 GHz Quad Intel Xeon
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FCS2
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ProAvio 8TB RAID 5 Dual Mini-SAS
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RocketRAID 4322 via dual MiniSAS
Panasonic Lumix GH2, Canon 5DMKII, 7D, Panasonic HVX200A, Panasonic DVX100A

[Felix Swensson]

Thanks for the help! I’ll see if I can figure it out. Will try to convert to WAV to 32 bit floating if that’s possible, then it should fit right in. In the worst case scenario I have to change my vide edit so that it matches my wav file which will take a lot of time and some re-rendering.

I’ll let you know what happens!

[Felix Swensson]

Converting the WAV file to 32-bit did not work unfortunately 🙁

So the problem is using mp3 files with Final Cut, correct?

[Joseph Hung]

No the problem is that the audio specs have not lined up from the beginning. Did you also change your sequence settings before you dropped in your WAV file?

http://www.tulpapictures.com
Twitter: @tulpapictures
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/tulpapictures

Mac 2.66 GHz Quad Intel Xeon
OSX 10.6.8
FCS2
CS5
8GB RAM
ProAvio 8TB RAID 5 Dual Mini-SAS
Blackmagic Intensity Pro
ATI Radeon X1900
RocketRAID 4322 via dual MiniSAS
Panasonic Lumix GH2, Canon 5DMKII, 7D, Panasonic HVX200A, Panasonic DVX100A

[Andrew Rendell]

Audio for video is always at 48kHz, not the CD standard of 44.1kHz so although you can edit with a 44.1kHz audio track at some point it will have to be converted to 48kHz if you want to play out to a video format.

I would advise converting your source track to a 48kHz 16 bit aiff using something like Compressor with the quality setting at the highest available. If the track is already at 24 bit, you can keep it at that, but there’s no advantage to increasing the bit rate unless you’re going to do more work on it.

[Felix Swensson]

Thanks for all your help!

No more mp3s at 44.1 khz!