Can't import Android video in WaveLab 12

rickpaul · September 13, 2024, 4:46pm

I’m new to WaveLab 12 (using the trial version for the moment, but likely to purchase before the loyalty offer expires), and just learned of the ability to edit audio for video yesterday via a Groove3 course.

The problem is, when I try to import a video according to the steps shown (for WaveLab 11 in the video, but WaveLab 12 seems to be the same there), nothing happens. In particular, I set the audio sample rate for a new Montage to 48 kHz, then do File/Import/Video, select the MP4 file I want to work on, and click Import. Here is a screen shot to show the location and file:

However, when it returns to the Edit window, nothing has happened. It does that quickly, so I’m guessing it didn’t even try for some reason. The video plays just fine in the Windows 10 media player, the older Windows Media Player, and VLC, and I’ve had no problem editing these videos in DaVinci Resolve (18 or 19) or Vegas Pro 14. Here is the codec information VLC shows:

Any ideas on why this would not be importing and any potential workarounds? (These videos are live performances in non-optimal environments, so I really like the idea of potentially cleaning up and enhancing the audio in WaveLab before doing video editing. I have tried a similar thing with RX 11 in the past, and it has no problem importing the audio, but it can’t put it back in a video, nor are RX or Resolve as flexible as WaveLab on the processing front, and I can always use the RX editor inside WaveLab if needed on the cleanup front.)

Side note: For troubleshooting purposes, I just tried doing a similar thing with a video rendered from DaVinci Resolve (which also had the same original type of source, though it would have been rendered with different settings), and it brings up the dialog box to configure the new audio montage. The key difference I see in the codec information is the frame rate (24 fps versus the stock Android rate):

PG1 · September 13, 2024, 7:49pm

WaveLab is not compatible with all video formats. Android video is currently not supported. Sorry.

rickpaul · September 13, 2024, 9:35pm

That is disappointing in that I’d guess it is one of the two most-popular formats for videos coming directly from “cameras” these days, but thanks for the clarification.

For anyone else who may find this thread looking for a solution, I have at least found a workaround that is similar, but not identical, to what I’ve had to use for converting some iPhone videos whose audio did not come across into Windows video editors, or where video got badly out of sync with audio for some MP4 videos (e.g. downloaded from Facebook livestreams).

In particular, I used Handbrake to convert the original Android MP4 file, using the following settings for video:

The 24 fps may not have been necessary, but I was concerned that the 29.761330 was not among the frame rates listed in WaveLab’s time code list, and the video I’ll eventually render in Resolve will use 24 fps, so picked that instead of closer alternatives.

I suspect the Constant Framerate may have been key since the Steinberg information suggests variable frame rates are not supported. (Perhaps that was why the Android video wasn’t working despite having a supported Codec? I should note, though, that I’ve never changed that setting for other cases when I’ve needed to do a Handbrake video conversion, even for the case of audio and video getting out of sync.)

And here are the audio settings:

I probably could have left the default of 44.1 that I’ve used in other cases, but I’d noted my original video was at 48 kHz, so I was thinking that might provide better quality for any interim processing in WaveLab. (The other settings are as I’ve used in previous scenarios.)

This generates a .M4V file, but simply changing the name to use .MP4 instead has always worked in the other scenarios, and WaveLab was now able to import the video. Now on to actually trying this feature.