Audio Sync Issues

Nuendo
1

AHHHHH! I’m going nuts!

I’ve been asked to add an audio description file to a show. I’ve been sent the original audio/video in mkv format and the audio description in WAV 44.1 16bit. The audio gradually goes out of sync with the video.

I extracted the original audio and compared it with the WAV file. I noticed the audio description file was about 20 seconds shorter than the original. Here’s the media info of both files I’m working with.

In Cubase I tried to time stretch the shorter wav file using the settings samples, seconds and BPM of the original video audio file. This didn’t work.

General
Count : 308
Count of stream of this kind : 1
Kind of stream : General
Kind of stream : General
Stream identifier : 0
Count of audio streams : 1
Audio_Format_List : PCM
Audio_Format_WithHint_List : PCM
Audio codecs : PCM
File extension : wav
Format : Wave
Format : Wave
Format/Extensions usually used : wav
Commercial name : Wave
Internet media type : audio/vnd.wave
Codec : Wave
Codec : Wave
Codec/Extensions usually used : wav
File size : 648866100
File size : 619 MiB
File size : 619 MiB
File size : 619 MiB
File size : 619 MiB
File size : 618.8 MiB
Duration : 3678354
Duration : 1h 1mn
Duration : 1h 1mn 18s 354ms
Duration : 1h 1mn
Duration : 01:01:18.354
Duration : 01:01:18.354
Overall bit rate mode : CBR
Overall bit rate mode : Constant
Overall bit rate : 1411210
Overall bit rate : 1 411 Kbps
Stream size : 4404
Stream size : 4.30 KiB (0%)
Stream size : 4 KiB
Stream size : 4.3 KiB
Stream size : 4.30 KiB
Stream size : 4.301 KiB
Stream size : 4.30 KiB (0%)
Proportion of this stream : 0.00001
File creation date : UTC 2015-08-26 07:53:14.752
File creation date (local) : 2015-08-26 08:53:14.752
File last modification date : UTC 2015-08-26 08:31:23.819
File last modification date (local) : 2015-08-26 09:31:23.819

Audio
Count : 254
Count of stream of this kind : 1
Kind of stream : Audio
Kind of stream : Audio
Stream identifier : 0
Format : PCM
Commercial name : PCM
Format settings : Little / Signed
Format settings, Endianness : Little
Format settings, Sign : Signed
Codec ID : 1
Codec ID/Url : http://www.microsoft.com/windows/
Codec : PCM
Codec : PCM
Codec/Family : PCM
Codec/Info : Microsoft PCM
Codec/Url : http://www.microsoft.com/windows/
Codec/CC : 1
Codec settings : Little / Signed
Codec settings, Endianness : Little
Codec settings, Sign : Signed
Duration : 3678354
Duration : 1h 1mn
Duration : 1h 1mn 18s 354ms
Duration : 1h 1mn
Duration : 01:01:18.354
Duration : 01:01:18.354
Bit rate mode : CBR
Bit rate mode : Constant
Bit rate : 1411200
Bit rate : 1 411.2 Kbps
Channel(s) : 2
Channel(s) : 2 channels
Sampling rate : 44100
Sampling rate : 44.1 KHz
Samples count : 162215411
Resolution : 16
Resolution : 16 bits
Bit depth : 16
Bit depth : 16 bits
Stream size : 648861696
Stream size : 619 MiB (100%)
Stream size : 619 MiB
Stream size : 619 MiB
Stream size : 619 MiB
Stream size : 618.8 MiB
Stream size : 619 MiB (100%)
Proportion of this stream : 0.99999



And here’s the movie:

eneral
Count : 308
Count of stream of this kind : 1
Kind of stream : General
Kind of stream : General
Stream identifier : 0
Unique ID : 228853987305061047261726722861461571683
Unique ID : 228853987305061047261726722861461571683 (0xAC2BACB96C2B375C8855E8FBA4E68863)
Count of video streams : 1
Count of audio streams : 1
Video_Format_List : AVC
Video_Format_WithHint_List : AVC
Codecs Video : AVC
Video_Language_List : English
Audio_Format_List : AC-3
Audio_Format_WithHint_List : AC-3
Audio codecs : AC3
Audio_Language_List : English
File extension : mkv
Format : Matroska
Format : Matroska
Format/Url : http://packs.matroska.org/
Format/Extensions usually used : mkv mk3d mka mks
Commercial name : Matroska
Format version : Version 4 / Version 2
Codec : Matroska
Codec : Matroska
Codec/Url : http://packs.matroska.org/
Codec/Extensions usually used : mkv mk3d mka mks
File size : 1616924951
File size : 1.51 GiB
File size : 2 GiB
File size : 1.5 GiB
File size : 1.51 GiB
File size : 1.506 GiB
Duration : 3699077
Duration : 1h 1mn
Duration : 1h 1mn 39s 77ms
Duration : 1h 1mn
Duration : 01:01:39.077
Duration : 01:01:39:02
Duration : 01:01:39.077 (01:01:39:02)
Overall bit rate : 3496926
Overall bit rate : 3 497 Kbps
Frame rate : 25.000
Frame rate : 25.000 fps
Frame count : 92477
Stream size : 32175796
Stream size : 30.7 MiB (2%)
Stream size : 31 MiB
Stream size : 31 MiB
Stream size : 30.7 MiB
Stream size : 30.69 MiB
Stream size : 30.7 MiB (2%)
Proportion of this stream : 0.01990
Encoded date : UTC 2015-08-03 02:46:35
File creation date : UTC 2015-08-26 07:53:07.854
File creation date (local) : 2015-08-26 08:53:07.854
File last modification date : UTC 2015-08-26 09:09:02.650
File last modification date (local) : 2015-08-26 10:09:02.650
Writing application : mkvmerge v6.5.0 (‘Isn’t she lovely’) built on Oct 20 2013 12:50:05
Writing application : mkvmerge v6.5.0 (‘Isn’t she lovely’) built on Oct 20 2013 12:50:05
Writing library : libebml v1.3.0 + libmatroska v1.4.1
Writing library : libebml v1.3.0 + libmatroska v1.4.1

Video
Count : 311
Count of stream of this kind : 1
Kind of stream : Video
Kind of stream : Video
Stream identifier : 0
StreamOrder : 0
ID : 1
ID : 1
Unique ID : 8211232543580874389
Format : AVC
Format/Info : Advanced Video Codec
Format/Url : http://developers.videolan.org/x264.html
Commercial name : AVC
Format profile : High@L4.1
Format settings : CABAC / 4 Ref Frames
Format settings, CABAC : Yes
Format settings, CABAC : Yes
Format settings, ReFrames : 4
Format settings, ReFrames : 4 frames
Internet media type : video/H264
Codec ID : V_MPEG4/ISO/AVC
Codec ID/Url : http://ffdshow-tryout.sourceforge.net/
Codec : V_MPEG4/ISO/AVC
Codec : AVC
Codec/Family : AVC
Codec/Info : Advanced Video Codec
Codec/Url : http://ffdshow-tryout.sourceforge.net/
Codec profile : High@L4.1
Codec settings : CABAC / 4 Ref Frames
Codec settings, CABAC : Yes
Codec_Settings_RefFrames : 4
Duration : 3699080
Duration : 1h 1mn
Duration : 1h 1mn 39s 80ms
Duration : 1h 1mn
Duration : 01:01:39.080
Duration : 01:01:39:02
Duration : 01:01:39.080 (01:01:39:02)
Bit rate : 3111000
Bit rate : 3 111 Kbps
Width : 1280
Width : 1 280 pixels
Height : 720
Height : 720 pixels
Pixel aspect ratio : 1.000
Display aspect ratio : 1.778
Display aspect ratio : 16:9
Frame rate mode : CFR
Frame rate mode : Constant
Frame rate : 25.000
Frame rate : 25.000 fps
Frame count : 92477
Resolution : 8
Resolution : 8 bits
Colorimetry : 4:2:0
Color space : YUV
Chroma subsampling : 4:2:0
Bit depth : 8
Bit depth : 8 bits
Scan type : Progressive
Scan type : Progressive
Interlacement : PPF
Interlacement : Progressive
Bits/(Pixel*Frame) : 0.135
Delay : 0
Delay : 00:00:00.000
Delay, origin : Container
Delay, origin : Container
Stream size : 1407193459
Stream size : 1.31 GiB (87%)
Stream size : 1 GiB
Stream size : 1.3 GiB
Stream size : 1.31 GiB
Stream size : 1.311 GiB
Stream size : 1.31 GiB (87%)
Proportion of this stream : 0.87029
Writing library : x264 - core 133 r2334 a3ac64b
Writing library : x264 core 133 r2334 a3ac64b
Encoded_Library_Name : x264
Encoded_Library_Version : core 133 r2334 a3ac64b
Encoding settings : cabac=1 / ref=1 / deblock=1:-1:-1 / analyse=0x3:0x3 / me=dia / subme=1 / psy=1 / psy_rd=1.00:0.15 / mixed_ref=0 / me_range=16 / chroma_me=1 / trellis=0 / 8x8dct=1 / cqm=0 / deadzone=21,11 / fast_pskip=1 / chroma_qp_offset=0 / threads=12 / lookahead_threads=2 / sliced_threads=0 / nr=0 / decimate=1 / interlaced=0 / bluray_compat=0 / constrained_intra=0 / bframes=3 / b_pyramid=2 / b_adapt=1 / b_bias=0 / direct=1 / weightb=1 / open_gop=0 / weightp=1 / keyint=250 / keyint_min=25 / scenecut=40 / intra_refresh=0 / rc=2pass / mbtree=0 / bitrate=3111 / ratetol=1.0 / qcomp=0.60 / qpmin=0 / qpmax=69 / qpstep=4 / cplxblur=20.0 / qblur=0.5 / ip_ratio=1.40 / pb_ratio=1.30 / aq=1:1.00
Default : Yes
Default : Yes
Forced : No
Forced : No

Audio
Count : 285
Count of stream of this kind : 1
Kind of stream : Audio
Kind of stream : Audio
Stream identifier : 0
StreamOrder : 1
ID : 2
ID : 2
Unique ID : 14207230019655741622
Format : AC-3
Format/Info : Audio Coding 3
Commercial name : AC-3
Mode extension : CM (complete main)
Format settings, Endianness : Big
Codec ID : A_AC3
Codec : AC3
Codec : AC3
Codec/Family : AC3
Codec/Info : Dolby AC3
Duration : 3699077
Duration : 1h 1mn
Duration : 1h 1mn 39s 77ms
Duration : 1h 1mn
Duration : 01:01:39.077
Duration : 01:01:39.077
Bit rate mode : CBR
Bit rate mode : Constant
Bit rate : 384000
Bit rate : 384 Kbps
Channel(s) : 2
Channel(s) : 2 channels
Channel positions : Front: L R
Channel positions : 2/0/0
ChannelLayout : L R
Sampling rate : 48000
Sampling rate : 48.0 KHz
Samples count : 177555696
Compression mode : Lossy
Compression mode : Lossy
Delay : 133
Delay : 133ms
Delay : 133ms
Delay : 133ms
Delay : 00:00:00.133
Delay, origin : Container
Delay, origin : Container
Delay relative to video : 133
Delay relative to video : 133ms
Delay relative to video : 133ms
Delay relative to video : 133ms
Delay relative to video : 00:00:00.133
Video0 delay : 133
Video0 delay : 133ms
Video0 delay : 133ms
Video0 delay : 133ms
Video0 delay : 00:00:00.133
Stream size : 177555696
Stream size : 169 MiB (11%)
Stream size : 169 MiB
Stream size : 169 MiB
Stream size : 169 MiB
Stream size : 169.3 MiB
Stream size : 169 MiB (11%)
Proportion of this stream : 0.10981
Default : Yes
Default : Yes
Forced : No
Forced : No
bsid : 6
dialnorm : -27
dialnorm/String : -27 dB
compr : 5.46
compr/String : 5.46 dB
dynrng : 5.31
dynrng/String : 5.31 dB
dsurmod : 0
acmod : 2
lfeon : 0
dialnorm_Average : -27
dialnorm_Average/String : -27 dB
dialnorm_Minimum : -27
dialnorm_Minimum/String : -27 dB
dialnorm_Maximum : -27
dialnorm_Maximum/String : -27 dB
dialnorm_Count : 2
compr_Average : 5.46
compr_Average/String : 5.46 dB
compr_Minimum : 5.46
compr_Minimum/String : 5.46 dB
compr_Maximum : 5.46
compr_Maximum/String : 5.46 dB
compr_Count : 2
dynrng_Average : 5.46
dynrng_Average/String : 5.46 dB
dynrng_Minimum : 5.31
dynrng_Minimum/String : 5.31 dB
dynrng_Maximum : 5.60
dynrng_Maximum/String : 5.60 dB
dynrng_Count : 2

2

Looks like a sample rate issue to me…

3

That’s what I thought. However I can’t seem to work out what sample rate I need to be in. I know the video is at 48 and the wav file is at 44.1. I’ve exported the wav file to 48 and that made no difference. I also tried importing the wav file to a 48 project without converting it. Then I exported it to 48.

Hmm

4

Update:

I tried the standard sample rates that the file could be. I’ve had similar issues where a file header has the wrong sample rate than that the file was currently in. The way I solved that before was some combination of importing the file into a project with a given sample rate without allowing Cubase to convert the file. Then Changing the project sample rate and allowing Cubase to convert it, which treats the file as the current project sample rate. Very confusing but that normally works.

This time that solution doesn’t seem to work. I think the likely answer is to use the ‘process>re sample’ option with the correct % value. I worked out the % difference in length of the two audio files. This produced a closer match to the original, however it still went out of sync. But… (it may be my imagination) it seemed to take longer before the sync issue became apparent.

My question is now… How could I go about working out a closer % for the re-sampling? I’ve uploaded the two audio files as this may make it easier for you to understand. You can download the WAV files here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B4kl1vEOrG7lZXNfVmEyb205VXM/view?usp=sharing

Thanks for you patience everyone!

P.S. Things I know: Video is at 25fps with audio 48k, Additional WAV is at 44.1. I believe both audio are in 16bit.
marc11657
New Member

Posts: 9
Joined: Wed Mar 05, 2014 5:01 pm
Has thanked: 0 time
Been thanked: 0 time

5

Haven’t read your post in detail but …

-Right click on the audio file.
-Process
-Resample

Set to 48000
-Resample.

If this turns out to be incorrect, then you are dealing with another issue.

Fredo