Sync my video with my audio, please.

I spent several hours syncing audio sources from a lav mic and a shotgun mic. The lav was already synced to the video, but the shotgun mic was wired to a separate device. I toggled into the Fairlight mode to sync the audio. After finally getting the audio synced, I was dismayed to see that somehow, the video footage moved away from the audio footage when I toggled into edit mode. I have no idea how to bring them together. Nor do I know why the video footage moved away from the audio footage when I did not uncheck the 'link clips' option. It is strange, if I move the audio or video, the two are (off)synced (or locked rather), in the wrong way. The clips are linked. I see a small red box on the "synced" audio/video to show that the time codes are off. Very good, I could have told you that the time codes are off. Now how do I get them to sync. Someone please tell me there is a simple way to get the time codes to properly go where they are supposed to or I will never, ever use DaVinci Resolve ever again, nor any Black Magic Product. I have been trying to what should be a very simple task, but DaVinci Resolve finds new and creative ways to confound me each time, whether crashing, locking, or having a surprise for me when I toggle in to the edit mode. Well done. Now sync it!

I spent several hours syncing audio sources from a lav mic and a shotgun mic. The lav was already synced to the video, but the shotgun mic was wired to a separate device. I toggled into the Fairlight mode to sync the audio.

Hi Bryn

Why did you sync in Fairlight? there are enough ways to sync in edit room and I suspect this is the cause for the mess. You can also modify clip attributes such as TC if needed. Read Chapter 10 in manual (page 212)

Someone please tell me there is a simple way to get the time codes to properly go where they are supposed to or I will never, ever use DaVinci Resolve ever again, nor any Black Magic Product. I have been trying to what should be a very simple task, but DaVinci Resolve finds new and creative ways to confound me each time, whether crashing, locking, or having a surprise for me when I toggle in to the edit mode. Well done. Now sync it!

This is bit useless, you could just ask the question...

Also page 348 in the manual.

Hello Hector,

The other part is useless because you did not waste your time, I did. You don't have to answer clients, I do.

There are three tracks here. There is a video track, synced with an audio track (lav). Then I added another stereo track with the audio from the other source (shotgun). The audio from lav and shotgun do not touch one another, they are on separate tracks. I imported my footage in 'Media' mode and then roughly arranged in 'edit mode'. Then to fine sync the audio, I did this in 'Fairlight' mode. It took a while, but I did it. The wave forms look a little different because the audio source is different.

When I toggled into edit mode, I saw that the audio sources may be synced, but the video decided to F**** off somewhere else. I have used A LOT of different video editing software, nothing this bad happened before. So I am looking for a way to GET THE VIDEO BACK EXACTLY WHERE IT IS SUPPOSED TO. There is a red box in the video footage with a timecode in it that indicates, 'yes, I am not supposed to be here, but I was designed to frustrate you, you see? Just doing my job.' I just looked up the manual section about clicking on the red time code section. The problem is that I have a lot of footage and some of the video footage is not even there. So the audio may be synced, but there is too much video footage out of sync and some decided to go for a pack of cigarettes and not come back (disappeared entirely). This is great.

At no time did I unlink the audio video. The manual does not seem to cover something this bad; about a total hour's worth of audio/video footage, with the video now out of sync or simply gone. This indicates to me that DaVinci Resolve is not a something made for editing. But I may now be Resolved to use something completely different.

Impossible to guess at what exactly you did on the Fairlight page, but if you moved the original camera audio while syncing with the shotgun audio (instead of *only* moving the externally recorded audio) then you'd go out of sync with the video. "Link" doesn't function on the Fairlight page. That's an Edit page feature. Fairlight doesn't engage the video, at all. That's for the Edit page.

So, first of all, try moving only the non-camera audio, if you must sync up on the Fairlight page.

Right-clicking the sync indicator on the Edit page may not be a satisfactory approach to restoring original video sync at this point, because of subframe movements undertaken on the Fairlight page. As for disappearing video clips -- you must have done something else.

Anyway, you can limit the damage by syncing up on the edit page, using a combination of moving the shotgun track and slipping its audio. They'll you see immediately if you're breaking sync with video.

Hi John,

Thanks, you confirmed that I lost my work. Lesson learned. This is now behind me. Good luck guys.

You could probably restore the video sync fairly easily, with the "matchframe" function (using the original camera audio). Takes a few seconds per clip. Check the manual.

Also it would probably be a good idea to test a new workflow before starting a project on an unfamiliar software.

@Tero

If you look at my profile, you will see that I tested Resolve way more than I should have. Or rather, Resolve tested me. This is just bad software design. There is no way video should move, especially if audio/video is linked. I can forgive crashes, things may be out of the developers' control, but not bad design. It is madness to continue.

Hello Hector,

The other part is useless because you did not waste your time, I did. You don't have to answer clients, I do.

I obviously did waste it a little since I stopped my work to help yours.

There's no need to get so aggravated,
Its a bit like complaining to a soap company that eating their soap gave you stomach ache.
You're not using it right...

And less use of ALL CAPS, threats and ultimatums towards people who are trying to help you isn't a bad idea too. Good karma goes a long way

Hector,

I did not eat the soap, I tried to use the soap to get clean. However, if you are saying, through implication, that DaVinci Resolve is not software you use to sync multiple audio sources (something other video editors do), then that explains a lot of things.

Also, I have not threatened anyone nor issued any ultimatum. I have said that if there is no way to restore the video to it's proper place with the audio, especially since they are linked, I would no longer use the software. That is not a threat or an ultimatum, it is a logical outcome of using a poor tool.

Also, you are not helping, especially by fabricating claims of threats and ultimatums. You may want to look those words in the dictionary.

Hector,

I did not eat the soap, I tried to use the soap to get clean. However, if you are saying, through implication, that DaVinci Resolve is not software you use to sync multiple audio sources (something other video editors do), then that explains a lot of things.

Hey Bryn

For the sake of clarity. I Did not mean to imply that you threatened anyone.. but that you threatened to stop using the software ... like here

Someone please tell me there is a simple way to get the time codes to properly go where they are supposed to or I will never, ever use DaVinci Resolve ever again,

And the soap example was about syncing in Fairlight rather than in the edit room as the manual suggests.

I'm sorry if it wasn't understood.

Well, at least we have some clarity. Fairlight is not there for audio. It is just there to aggravate users. Got it.

Wish there was a button or option to check that says, 'restore all video footage to where it belongs, synced with corresponding audio'. Sadly...

So what is the issue? You want to blame the software for syncing the audio in the wrong page, even though the user manual details the correct way to sync wild footage?

Also "If you look at my profile, you will see that I tested Resolve way more than I should have."
Well we can't see your profile but we can see that you probably did not test enough before going about it the wrong way.

Yes it can be frustrating, but doing it the wrong way in ANY application will lead to frustration. I don't think you should be quite so hard on other users though. Maybe reserve the vitriol for BMD?

... if you are saying, through implication, that DaVinci Resolve is not software you use to sync multiple audio sources (something other video editors do), then that explains a lot of things.
...

Bryn, are you saying that you tried to sync sound using the methodology in the manual and it's not working for you? Are you using waveforms or timecode and did you choose to append new tracks or replace existing audio tracks?

@Peter Cave,

The issue is that I have three tracks; video, audio 1 and audio 2. Video and audio 1 are recorded in sync. However, I went to add a second piece of audio to the first, sourced from a different microphone. This is not a complicated task and it should be easy to do and there should be no negative repercussions. I have done this on other video editing software and only on DaVinci Resolve does the video go out of sync when I try to sync two audio sources. The video should not be touched at all. I am only adding a source. Do you understand? Now, if I uncheck the audio/video link, fine, audio and video can be out of sync. But low and behold the check mark is there. I did not uncheck it.


Peter, I am sorry you do not understand why this is a problem. Maybe you do music videos or silent, Charlie Chaplin style films where syncing is not important. But for me, it is.

Because of that, I cannot trust DaVinci Resolve. I have used this program for months (I recently got a second mic to get better audio quality) and endured bugs, crashes, glitches and a host of other issues. But this one, I cannot abide by. This is really bad. If I put time into something and it comes out this horrid, I have every right to be frustrated. Good luck with your films.

Fathom, it also may be that I am a very experienced editor & colourist that has worked on every conceivable style of production for over 35 years.

Your explanation of your process is not very clear and you have ignored questions from other forum users.
I understand what you are trying to do, but not the method you are using. Good luck with other software.

@Peter Cave,

The issue is that I have three tracks; video, audio 1 and audio 2. Video and audio 1 are recorded in sync. However, I went to add a second piece of audio to the first, sourced from a different microphone. This is not a complicated task and it should be easy to do and there should be no negative repercussions. I have done this on other video editing software and only on DaVinci Resolve does the video go out of sync when I try to sync two audio sources. The video should not be touched at all. I am only adding a source. Do you understand? Now, if I uncheck the audio/video link, fine, audio and video can be out of sync. But low and behold the check mark is there. I did not uncheck it...

I'm not Peter Cave, but I have to say that I sync sound quite a bit in Resolve and I've never had adding a source throw the existing sync off.

I asked about the methodology that you are using in my post above b/c I'm thinking that maybe you are doing something different than what I'm doing (I essentially follow what the manual says). Or there are some other circumstances surrounding what you are doing that I haven't been confronted with. But I can assure you that sound from an external can by synced to a video file which also contains audio without breaking its video/audio sync.

Hi Peter,

I seem to be doing something really complicated here that is not covered in your 35 years of experience. So let me try to explain.

Okay, so I recorded some footage of an interview. I used a camera hooked up to a lav mic. The audio/video in sync. I have a shotgun mic also trained on my subject, hooked up to another recording device. I imported the footage on to a hard drive. I fired up DaVinci Resolve and imported the footage onto the timeline. You got your video, you got your audio track. You put the playhead on the footage, hit play and the interviewee speaks, audio/video in sync. So far so good.

Now I have this audio recording of the interview as well. I want to add that to the audio I already have. Deep concept, I know. Sometimes there is interference with the lav mic, sometimes there is rustling, so it generally helps to have another audio source, y'know? Not really? Okay, I get that. Just try to trust me then. It's useful to have another audio source. All I wanted to do was sync (match) that shotgun mic footage with the lav mic footage. Line them up. The theory is that once I do that, I can go to the mixer and boost one signal or the other, depending on the quality of playback, toggle between sources, capeesh? Not really? Go watch 'The Conversation' starring Gene Hackman. It's a great film and you may (start to) get what I am talking about.

Anyway, so I managed to sync the two audio sources. I used the editor and FairLight, a panel in Resolve. I got the two sources synced. I had a lot of footage, so it took a while. Then back to the editor mode and well, you see, the video moved from the lav and shotgun mic footage. Add to that, a third of the video footage dissappeared. Some (not all) of the footage even had a red box indicating how much the footage was off. This is not supposed to happen. You can make this happen if you want, but the program cannot autonomously do this for you. It really is a no-no.

Now you were saying, 'good luck trying other software'. You see, there is no luck. I have tried to do this technique on other programs and succeeded, many times. Heck, I have done this in DAW's and that worked too. So, you ask, 'What are you doing using Resolve?'. Good question. I used Resolve on some small projects with single sourced audio and things turned out okay. There were glitches, mind you, but the results were close enough. I figured the software would get better and the kinks would be worked out. Plus, I love the color grading options. Especially 'power windows', I mean, that is pretty darn cool.

My problem is I tried to use Resolve on bigger projects, beyond color grading and that is where the problems are. But you know what? Other programs have color grading applications, some of them are actually catching up to Resolve...so...

Still don't get what I am saying. No worries. The Conversation is still an awesome film. I had a lousy experience and lost time, but I know where to go now. Maybe Resolve will become more reliable. I know this, look at the forum, I am not alone and saying that Resolve, as an editor, is still darn buggy.

Bryn, read it all and got it. Essentially, you are not syncing sound with the methodology that Resolve uses. People have respectfully cited pages in the manual that spell out how to do this.

It also sounds like you *may* be a bit vague on clip linking and how track selectors are used to enable/disable tracks for trimming.

There is no shame in any of that, as no one born understanding how to use a tool. And there very well could be a bug. I kind of doubt it but can't say for certain.

If you look at my profile, you will see that I tested Resolve way more than I should have. Or rather, Resolve tested me. This is just bad software design.

I know you may think this is simplistic advice, but I'd advise two things:

1) read the entire manual cover-to-cover (and go through the tutorials out there)

2) do a workflow test with a short sequence -- perhaps a couple of minutes -- and see if the method you've chosen will work in the real world.

I think this is a far better way to work than to just dive in and try things experimentally. The section on Syncing Dailies in the manual (pages 219-228) was revised in the last year or so, so things have changed a bit in 14. There's a point where you have to say, "since I can't force the program to work the way I want, I'm going to have to alter my work habits to go with the way the software works."

Syncing dailies is a tiresome and drudgerous chore, but like a lot of stuff in Resolve, it's necessary. One possible cure is to hire an assistant to come in and do it for you prior to your editing work, preferably an assistant with a lot of Resolve experience. This will leave you free to concentrate on the purely creative aspects of editing and color.

Hey Marc,

So if I am to understand, one does not simply drag a secondary audio source, on completely different track, until the two are in sync. Rather there is another method that Resolve has to sync audio. If you try to move secondary audio on a separate track, the video will move unless you engage in the Resolve method.

Well, I guess things would have gone really sideways if I started to add things like sound effects and soundtrack music!

It was such a temptation, I mean, the DAW (Fairlight) was right there. I foolishly thought, 'man, instead of using another DAW, just use the one Resolve gave you and hone the audio that way.' Alas, this is not the Resolve way. Yeah, I did look at the manual. But i guess I have to look more or read in between the lines.

It was such a temptation, I mean, the DAW (Fairlight) was right there. I foolishly thought, 'man, instead of using another DAW, just use the one Resolve gave you and hone the audio that way.' Alas, this is not the Resolve way. Yeah, I did look at the manual. But i guess I have to look more or read in between the lines.

Expecting an application to work the way you think it should is flawed logic. You learn how an application works, and then you decide if you want to work in that manner.

You're right. Using an application that plays dice with my footage is not really for me.

I was just hoping someone would just comment, 'Dude, don't stress. Select your footage, right click, do option this and toggle to that, and watch your audio and video come together like Voltron. Your unified self, yo.'

You're right. Using an application that plays dice with my footage is not really for me.

I was just hoping someone would just comment, 'Dude, don't stress. Select your footage, right click, do option this and toggle to that, and watch your audio and video come together like Voltron. Your unified self, yo.'

Most high end applications aren't designed to save users from themselves!

I am in total awe at the patience you guys show! This must be one of the most tolerant forums on the net.

Bryn, Resolve is a great piece of software used by professionals at all levels for many years. I doubt that would be the case if it's as useless as you claim. It's also being developed rapidly by a highly competent team. If you think Resolve is buggy, take a look at the Adobe forums!

EDIT: rest of this post removed as it's not worth the hassle.

Look, if someone does not like what I have to say, they don't have to engage. I have used Resolve for a while, successfully even. The other night I had a bad, buggy session. I outlined the problem and no one has an answer apart from, 'you don't use Resolve for what you describe' and 'RTFM'. The latter I consider trolling and respond in kind. If you don't have an answer for the problem, don't engage. This should be a simple fix, but apparrently it is not. This is good to know.

For color grading, Resolve is excellent. The other aspects (editing) are new in Resolve and audio mixing/editing (are newer), hence why there are problems. The fault is mine for using something still in beta.

Look, if someone does not like what I have to say, they don't have to engage.

Listen "Yo", that's not how the world works!

I have used Resolve for a while, successfully even. The other night I had a bad, buggy session. I outlined the problem and no one has an answer apart from, 'you don't use Resolve for what you describe' and 'RTFM'.

What exactly did you expect? You joined a forum dedicated to a production grade application, that's populated with a highly skilled & knowledgeable professionals & prosumers, and then complained like a child that the application didn't work the way you think it should.

Then when people pointed you to the most robust way of doing what you are trying to do, you responded like a little punk, for example.

The other part is useless because you did not waste your time, I did. You don't have to answer clients, I do.

This should be a simple fix, but apparently it is not. This is good to know.

Again the issue isn't with the application, but with how you are using it.

The fault is mine for using something still in beta.

Resolve has lots of bugs just like all the other editors, but in this case the fault is with you not knowing how to use it properly. Based on how you have responded you seem incapable of owning up to your own personal faults and mistakes.

So what you are saying is RTFM and there is absolutely no way to restore video to audio in Resolve that some freaking how got out of sync during edit. To the latter point, noted.

Things happen, be it the user, the program, whatever. Snapping video to audio may be an option Resolve may want to add in the future.

• Ctrl+Z
• Lock the audio track so it can't moved in the first place.
• Make a compound clip so you can't move the individual audio tracks independently of each other.

If you want to fix random screw ups and mistakes, that's what a revision control system is for. But I'm sure the user base would hate that.

@Dan Sherman

I like your answer, it shows you are actually trying to problem solve and come up with tenable solutions. Thank you.

My current solution is if I am ever to use DaVinci Resolve, keep to what it was made for--color grading. Anything beyond that is like most all-in-ones. You are asking for trouble.

I try different products all the time and experiment. I probably will use Resolve for future projects after I cool off and they have more updates, but more carefully. I used Resolve for really short videos and they turned out nice and then went all-in for a really big project with more components and then it was not so nice.

Is this the menu you are looking for to automatically move the items back in sync?

Screen Shot 2018-02-24 at 2.28.57 pm.png (152.15 KiB) Viewed 9004 times

BTW You don't need to be sarcastic in your reply, we are all trying to help you here! I totally understand the concept of syncing field audio recordings, I just find your explanation a bit unclear about precisely how you went about it Resolve. You mention syncing in both the Edit AND Fairlight pages but did not detail exactly what & how you went about it in each page.

Edit: I just tested some things that I thought might be helpful. Firstly, don't do any syncing in Fairlight. All syncing should be done in either the Media or Edit pages. Fairlight mixing page allows sync adjustment independently of any video tracks. It is similar to sending an edit session to Protools or other DAW, where the sync relationship is now independent from the video edit session. The difference in Resolve is that the Fairlight page changes are also made to the Edit timeline so that all changes are consistent within Resolve.

I don't get it. I'm brand-new to video editing and to Resolve and the very first thing I did is very similar to what the OP seems to be describing.

I took some extremely poorly lit footage from a band performance shot with a Zoom Q3 and lightened it up to make everyone visible. Meanwhile, I had taken the audio and cleaned it up and enhanced it in a DAW. I dragged my improved audio into Resolve, lined it up removed the raw audio from the video track and chopped the whole thing up into individual songs. No problem.

The only issue I had was figuring out what format to render everything to so it didn't look screwy. And for that, I blame my own ignorance and not the software.

There's nothing "to get". This whole thing is nonsensical. The OP should not have been moving camera audio in the Fairlight page, but anyone with even a rudimentary knowledge of the Edit page could almost certainly fix this situation in a few seconds per clip, one way or another.

That's what I mean. If I start poking around pushing buttons trying to do something and it doesn't seem to be working, the FIRST thing I do is RTFM instead of getting on the forum and bitching about how the software is full of bugs and doesn't work.

Then, if I am still unclear after RTFM, I'll get on the forum and ask how to accomplish what I'm after instead of bitching about how the software is full of bugs and doesn't work.

Byron, how refreshing to have a new user with the right attitude post on the forum. I see the OP type of ranting far too much. It is even worse on the Pro Tools forum where not only do people not read the manual, they don't check the system requirements, and never read previous posts on exactly the same subject.
I'm fully in agreement with Johns' last post as well.

A special mention for Peter Cave who with a lot of patience gave a very good solution to deal with desynchronization.
Thank's

Byron, how refreshing to have a new user with the right attitude post on the forum. I see the OP type of ranting far too much. It is even worse on the Pro Tools forum where not only do people not read the manual, they don't check the system requirements, and never read previous posts on exactly the same subject.
I'm fully in agreement with Johns' last post as well.

Maybe it's because I make my living by RTFM. I n my professional life, I've fixed cars no one else could seem to fix because the first thing I do is RTFM before I start shotgunning a bunch of parts at it. For example, all the engine management parts in the world can't manage an engine that isn't mechanically sound in the first place.

I also understand that you can't "fix" something that is designed into the logic of a control module.

I've had someone come to me for help AFTER he had a whole car torn apart - and thousands of dollars of electronics installed - because the headrest would go up and down when you moved the seat back and forth. Well, the car is designed to do that. Why do you move the seat further back? Usually because you're taller. So what else do you need to do? Raise the headrest. So the manufacturer designed that into the logic of the seat control module. Its a design feature. So no, it can't be "fixed." There's nothing to fix because it is operating as designed.

I'm also flabbergasted by the number of posts I see about Resolve crashing immediately or not even starting. And then you find out that they are trying to put it on (I'm exaggerating here) some ancient Pentium 3 laptop with Windows 98 and 1GB memory. Don't people read the system requirements before downloading? Apparently not.

But don't feel bad, because it is the same in the audio world too. I see all kinds of posts about how [insert name of DAW here] is "garbage " and "full of bugs, " "doesn't work at all" and how they wasted their money. There is Excruciating detail about all the crashes, dropouts, stuttering etc. and how Kontakt won't even load. And three pages later, when after numerous requests, they finally post their computer's specs and it barely meets the minimum requirements. And eight pages into the thread, the OP finally updated the driver for his obsolete 15 year old SoundBlaster and all is well.

Sorry for the rant. It's been building up.

Don't worry about the rant. Those are just the sort of posts that make me want to throw things at the screen.

Bunch of Skynet drones, aren't you? Here's a radical idea for you to entertain, the program works for the user, not the other way around.

It is really simple, syncing two audio sources must not affect the video, ever--unless the user wants this to happen. You think otherwise. I find that perplexing. But there it is. Now Mr. Cave put through a solution (thank you for trying), which is fine if you have one video with the red box. But the fact is that I have a lot of footage, some of the video is flat out missing, some of the video has the red box and some does not. (I have already pointed this out before, but you darling trolls know that.) When I am syncing two audio sources, I should not need worry about the video, rather I want to look at what I am focusing on; audio. Put another way, I ought to be perfectly confident that when syncing two audio sources that video should not be touched, unless I want this to be so. Whether I am in the edit panel or Fairlight.

Yes, I did look at the manual, but it does not cover this scale of audio/video out of sync and the variations therein. Yet again, I should have a reasonable expectation, when syncing audio that my video will not be touched. You all think this is asking too much. Well, there we have it. Enjoy your Resolve. Because I know you guys are not here to give solutions, you are here to troll. Not one of you addressed how to restore all audio to video (that was out of sync the way I described), rather an orgy of admonishment. Enjoy each other and when you are done, ask for that feature included where video can snap to audio. Because, really, programs are for the user.

Bunch of Skynet drones, aren't you? Here's a radical idea for you to entertain, the program works for the user, not the other way around.

It is really simple, syncing two audio sources must not affect the video, ever--unless the user wants this to happen. You think otherwise. I find that perplexing. But there it is. Now Mr. Cave put through a solution, which is fine if you have one video with the red box. But the fact is that I have a lot of footage, some of the video is flat out missing, some of the video has the red box and some does not. (But I have already pointed this out before.) When I am syncing two audio sources, I do not want to look at the video, I want to look at what I am focusing on. I should be perfectly confident that when syncing two audio sources that video should not be touched, unless I want this to be so. Whether I am in the edit panel or fairlight.

Yes, I did look at the Manual, but it does not cover this scale of audio/video out of sync and the variations therein. I should have a reasonable expectation, when syncing audio that my video will not be touched. You all think this is asking too much. Well, there we have it. Enjoy your Resolve. Because I know you guys are not here to give solutions, you are here to troll. Not one of you addressed how to restore all audio to video, rather an orgy of admonishment. Enjoy each other and when you are done, ask for that feature included where video can snap to audio. Because, really, programs are for the user.

Bryn.

You seriously need to check your attitude and manners. You just called other users (who were actually trying to HELP you) Drones & Trolls after a series of earlier arrogant, cynical and completely out of place posts. None of the people that tried to help you works here. We did it out of courtesy and kindness to a fellow user. We don't write the program, numerous people pointed you out to your mistake. You can make critical mistakes in ANY video program that I know. You should have just say Thank You, and put this sad thread behind you.

You can read back 100 posts.. No one here curses or treats others like you did Bryn.

Hector. don't forget, I also threatened them and gave them ultimatums and forced them to post. Add to that, each one who posted addressed the specific issue, 'if you have a large batch of audio/video out of sync--this is the specific way to get them to snap together.' None of them made assumptions of whether I read the manual or not, or bemoaned their experiences about other posts on this forum. Rather, each post was laser solid, on point, to the issue.

You are right, I need to stop waiting for someone to post an answer to the specific issue outlined because that is not what it is about here. (Of course, Mr. Cave and Mr. Sherman are the exceptions here, they really tried to help.)