Neo4K Audio Sync Problem in CS4 at DVinfo.net

Matt Vanecek · September 3rd, 2010, 07:44 PM

Something is always changing, with Cineform. It's very frustrating.

I'm editing a dance recital captured in HDV 24p from a Sony V1U. I converted the M2Ts to Cineform, 1920x1080, remove pulldown, high quality.

When I put the AVI into a Premiere Pro timeline, the audio is all unsynchronized and the video is off, it appears.

I've edited the audio in Audition, to synch it with my external recording, and the audio is fine in Audition. I've opened the AVI in Soundbooth, and the audio is fine. I imported the M2T and put the M2T in an HDV 1080p24 timeline, and plopped in my Audition mixdown, and everything syncs up beautifully.

The Cineform AVI, however, is completely screwed up inside of Premiere Pro only. The AVI plays just fine in Windows Media Player, and in VirtualDub. So I'm thinking the problem is with Cineform's PPro plugin. Additionally, file durations are being reported incorrectly. E.g., one of my files is about 45 minutes long, plays great in Windows Media Play and VirtualDub, but in Premiere Pro is only reports as 3 minutes. What? I've verified in/out points are set to the beginning/end of the clip.

I've reconverted the file several times in HDLink, both with the pulldown removal selected and (in desperation) at 29.97.

My sequence settings are Cineform Editing mode in 23.976 Timebase (although, again in desperation, I've tried 29.97), display format 24fps Timecode, Maximum Bit Depth.

I'm fixing to kick of yet another reconvert M2T-->AVI with the beta HDLink to see if that makes a difference, but really, if the file plays fine in two other players, and ALSO in First Light, I'm not sure that will help.

This used to work just fine, back in June/July, and the only changes made as this started occurring have been constantly upgrading Neo4K. Unfortunately I've had a disk failure where all my old copies of Neo4K were, so can't go back. :( If I could, I'd like to go back to whatever was current in May.

This is with the last 4 versions of Neo4K, including the beta that David just posted today.

Thanks,
Matt

Matt Vanecek · September 4th, 2010, 08:48 AM

I went back and re-converted some projects that I had worked earlier this year, and observed the same behavior. It seems no matter where the cursor is in the timeline, the audio begins playing from the beginning.

At the time I did the projects, everything was working fine, of course. Perhaps the Cineform RT Playback engine is at fault?

David Newman · September 4th, 2010, 10:35 AM

While I'm not seeing sync issues, I am seeing long file truncation under CS4 -- not CS3, or CS5. We will get on to that. Frustrating for us also, as we weren't change components in CS3 or CS4, why it is failing now is baffling. Good to know this isn't related to the developer tool change (only last two versions), those issues are behind us. Can you tell me which version the CS4 importer broke (the expected component)? A work around is to remove it. Within any CS4 folders in C:\Program Files\Adobe delete CFHD_AVI_Importer.prm

Matt Vanecek · September 4th, 2010, 12:18 PM

Unfortunately I had a disk error where my download files are and lost my older Neo4K files (not backed up because, well, I can re-download, right? need more disk drives for backup...:( ). So I'm not real sure which version broke it, but it was after June 15 at least.

I worked a project in June that worked just fine, probably using 5.0.1. That was a 30p project, however, which may or may not matter. A late May/early June project also 30p worked fine. I'll try re-converting the transport streams from one of those and see what happens--not sure 30p vs. 24p should make a difference, since it's native and not wrapped, right? Be worth a look-see, though...

I think sync issue is probably the wrong term--more like, the audio always starts playing at the beginning regardless where in the timeline I start playing the timeline.

Thanks,
Matt

Matt Vanecek · September 18th, 2010, 12:16 PM

Dave,
It appears that 5.1.3 b272 has corrected this issue. Without re-encoding the AVI file, I opened a couple of projects, and the AVI clips played correctly, and the audio was all synced up correctly, between my external audio and the clip audio. More importantly, I could *see* that the audio was synced up. :)

Thanks,
Matt

September 3rd, 2010, 07:44 PM	#1
Matt Vanecek Major Player Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: Denton, TX Posts: 334	Neo4K Audio Sync Problem in CS4 Something is always changing, with Cineform. It's very frustrating. I'm editing a dance recital captured in HDV 24p from a Sony V1U. I converted the M2Ts to Cineform, 1920x1080, remove pulldown, high quality. When I put the AVI into a Premiere Pro timeline, the audio is all unsynchronized and the video is off, it appears. I've edited the audio in Audition, to synch it with my external recording, and the audio is fine in Audition. I've opened the AVI in Soundbooth, and the audio is fine. I imported the M2T and put the M2T in an HDV 1080p24 timeline, and plopped in my Audition mixdown, and everything syncs up beautifully. The Cineform AVI, however, is completely screwed up inside of Premiere Pro only. The AVI plays just fine in Windows Media Player, and in VirtualDub. So I'm thinking the problem is with Cineform's PPro plugin. Additionally, file durations are being reported incorrectly. E.g., one of my files is about 45 minutes long, plays great in Windows Media Play and VirtualDub, but in Premiere Pro is only reports as 3 minutes. What? I've verified in/out points are set to the beginning/end of the clip. I've reconverted the file several times in HDLink, both with the pulldown removal selected and (in desperation) at 29.97. My sequence settings are Cineform Editing mode in 23.976 Timebase (although, again in desperation, I've tried 29.97), display format 24fps Timecode, Maximum Bit Depth. I'm fixing to kick of yet another reconvert M2T-->AVI with the beta HDLink to see if that makes a difference, but really, if the file plays fine in two other players, and ALSO in First Light, I'm not sure that will help. This used to work just fine, back in June/July, and the only changes made as this started occurring have been constantly upgrading Neo4K. Unfortunately I've had a disk failure where all my old copies of Neo4K were, so can't go back. :( If I could, I'd like to go back to whatever was current in May. This is with the last 4 versions of Neo4K, including the beta that David just posted today. Thanks, Matt

September 4th, 2010, 10:35 AM	#3
David Newman CTO, CineForm Inc. Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: Cardiff-by-the-Sea, California Posts: 8,095	While I'm not seeing sync issues, I am seeing long file truncation under CS4 -- not CS3, or CS5. We will get on to that. Frustrating for us also, as we weren't change components in CS3 or CS4, why it is failing now is baffling. Good to know this isn't related to the developer tool change (only last two versions), those issues are behind us. Can you tell me which version the CS4 importer broke (the expected component)? A work around is to remove it. Within any CS4 folders in C:\Program Files\Adobe delete CFHD_AVI_Importer.prm __________________ David Newman -- web: www.gopro.com blog: cineform.blogspot.com -- twitter: twitter.com/David_Newman

September 18th, 2010, 12:16 PM	#5
Matt Vanecek Major Player Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: Denton, TX Posts: 334	5.1.3 b272 Dave, It appears that 5.1.3 b272 has corrected this issue. Without re-encoding the AVI file, I opened a couple of projects, and the AVI clips played correctly, and the audio was all synced up correctly, between my external audio and the clip audio. More importantly, I could see that the audio was synced up. :) Thanks, Matt

September 4th, 2010, 08:48 AM	#2
Matt Vanecek Major Player Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: Denton, TX Posts: 334	I went back and re-converted some projects that I had worked earlier this year, and observed the same behavior. It seems no matter where the cursor is in the timeline, the audio begins playing from the beginning. At the time I did the projects, everything was working fine, of course. Perhaps the Cineform RT Playback engine is at fault?

September 4th, 2010, 12:18 PM	#4
Matt Vanecek Major Player Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: Denton, TX Posts: 334	Unfortunately I had a disk error where my download files are and lost my older Neo4K files (not backed up because, well, I can re-download, right? need more disk drives for backup...:( ). So I'm not real sure which version broke it, but it was after June 15 at least. I worked a project in June that worked just fine, probably using 5.0.1. That was a 30p project, however, which may or may not matter. A late May/early June project also 30p worked fine. I'll try re-converting the transport streams from one of those and see what happens--not sure 30p vs. 24p should make a difference, since it's native and not wrapped, right? Be worth a look-see, though... I think sync issue is probably the wrong term--more like, the audio always starts playing at the beginning regardless where in the timeline I start playing the timeline. Thanks, Matt