Video/Audio issue in Dorico

Dorico
#1

I am working on a project that includes existing audio. Since Dorico doesn’t support importing audio, I converted the audio into a video file with one still frame repeated throughout.

At first I couldn’t get it to work, but after trying various methods of conversion and various file types, I did manage to get it to work. But, alas, for only a few days…today when I opened the Dorico file, the video was there (showing the still frame) but the audio from the video wouldn’t play (the playback is fine otherwise). I tried detaching and reattaching, checked out all the videos about audio issues in Dorico but I can’t figure out why this is happening.

Can anyone suggest what could be causing this issue? Also, is there any way to synchronize Dorico with another program? I realize that there’s no rewire, but is there any other way to do this?

I am on a Mac and using Noteperformer 3 for the midi stuff.

Many thanks!
Avner

#2

When this happens, it’s normally because the sample rate chosen in Edit > Device Setup has changed; the soundtrack of the video is extracted when you first attach the video, and saved to a PCM audio file at the sample rate chosen in Device Setup. If you subsequently change the sample rate Dorico is using, the audio file won’t play. So review your sample rate settings in Edit > Device Setup.

#3

Thank you Daniel for the quick response!

Unfortunately, I still can’t get it to work (I’ve tried all the sample rates).

Any other suggestions would be much appreciated. I made the video file in DaVinci Resolve - so I can choose quite a few different audio options there. What I find puzzling is that it did work initially and then stopped.

#4

Give the procedure described by Paul here a try.

#5

Thank you Daniel.

I tried to follow that procedure - with the exception of the final stage since I am on a Mac and I don’t know where that TEMP folder is.

At this point, I am experiencing quite unpredictable behavior from Dorico in regards to the audio of the video file. At first the audio came back after shutting down and turning the computer back on (but not after a regular restart). Then it went away again and wouldn’t return. Then I finally opened the file in Dorico 3 (as opposed to 3.5) and that works - so now I am keeping Dorico 3 running and hoping the audio continues to work.

One of the odd things I did notice is that when things go south a strange mismatch happens between my internal audio driver and the “headphones” option. One of them gets stuck on 48000 and I think that might be another symptom of the same issue. I attached a png of what that looks like. I don’t know if this is an error or not, but when I shutdown and turn it on they are always the same.

Just FYI - I never change the audio settings intentionally inside Dorico - these issues always arise (I think) when I am using another program that accesses the audio driver. I think some conflict arises that throws Dorico off.

If you have any other suggestions about troubleshooting this on a Mac I would really appreciate them. I also wonder if there’s an internal way for the program to check such seemingly contradictory settings for the same device and allow the user to override them.
Screen Shot 2020-10-27 at 8.49.46 PM.png

#6

It won’t be fun, but we can find the place where the audio file extracted from the video you attach is cached. First, quit Dorico. Next, in Terminal, type:

getconf DARWIN_USER_TEMP_DIR

This will produce some output like this:

/var/folders/z6/y0zdjg5d3r3f6dqq_czgy7c00000gn/T/

Copy whatever you see on your own system, which will be different from what is shown above, to the clipboard. Type cd followed by a space, then paste the copied path with Command-V, and hit Return.

You should see no error output when you execute this command. Now type:

rm -rf "Dorico 3.5"

which will delete all of the temporary files associated with running Dorico. Now run the program again, and hopefully it will re-extract the soundtrack from the video at the current sample rate, and it’ll play back correctly.

#7

Dear Daniel,

Thanks for these suggestions (I am perfectly comfortable working in the terminal - so no worries about that :slight_smile: )

So far I have not needed to use it since things have continued to work and I think I may have found the culprit! I can’t say for sure, but it seems that if I make sure Zoom (ugh) is completely closed before launching Dorico everything is ok. Perhaps that’s something other people can confirm as an issue.

If I do run into problems again I’ll try the terminal route.

Thank you again for all your help!!!

All the best,
Avner

#8

I don’t recall whether Zoom presents any options for the sample rate it chooses, but if it does, it would be worth making sure it’s set to the value that agrees with Dorico.

#9

It appears that Zoom uses 48000 - https://www.mixonline.com/blog/mix-blog-live-zooming-higher-quality-audio:

The problem with Zoom is that there’s no way of changing its default sample rate of 48 kHz —which is fine if your session happens to be at 48 kHz and sucks if it’s not.

This article does suggest a way around it - but I guess for my purposes the best options are either change my project to 48K and reimport the video or make sure zoom is not running.

Thanks again for all your help!

#10

It appears that Zoom uses 48000 - https://www.mixonline.com/blog/mix-blog-live-zooming-higher-quality-audio:

The problem with Zoom is that there’s no way of changing its default sample rate of 48 kHz —which is fine if your session happens to be at 48 kHz and sucks if it’s not.

This article does suggest a way around it - but I guess for my purposes the best options are either change my project to 48K and reimport the video or make sure zoom is not running.

Thanks again for all your help!