Video Lag and No Audio

Hello,

I am completely brand new to this program, and honestly, brand new to non-linear video editing software. The only program I have ever used has been Windows Movie Maker, but I really wanted to try DaVinci out because I'd really love to make better quality videos. I'm running into a huge issue, though. I'm new to all of the technical terms, but basically, when I upload a video to the "bin," it plays with an awful, awful lag that my original video files do not have. I made sure the program's framerate was the same as my recordings, yet the horrendous lag (which gives my videos blurry lines across the screen) continues. Along with that, my audio does NOT show up at ALL. It's almost as if it doesn't even exist. I deleted and re-downloaded QT several times, and I ended up getting rid of the "Decoder initialization failed," pop-up, but there is still no audio.

I am leaving the country in two days and am desperately trying to get this fixed before I leave so I know what kind of program I'm working with so I can record videos accordingly. I use Windows 10, and the I believe the format of the video is MTS. I have read several forums looking for a solution and have found nothing to help.

For a quicker response, You should post this question on the "Post Production" forum, where Resolve is discussed.

Quick response: DaVinci is not really optimised to edit .MTS which is generally a heavily compressed acquisition codec, not a dedicated 'editing' codec. To avoid the lag, you have two options: one is to buy/build a very powerful PC optimised for video editing or alternatively, 'transcode' your .MTS to a dedicated edit codec such as DNxHD or ProRes. Trade-off is file space but benefits are:

* editability on relatively low spec PCs
* industry standard PCM audio
* industry standard timecode
* industry standard reel numbers

I recommend transcoding 'outside' Resolve using any of the free or low cost FFMBC/FFMPEG based transcoders.

Quick response: DaVinci is not really optimised to edit .MTS which is generally a heavily compressed acquisition codec, not a dedicated 'editing' codec. To avoid the lag, you have two options: one is to buy/build a very powerful PC optimised for video editing or alternatively, 'transcode' your .MTS to a dedicated edit codec such as DNxHD or ProRes. Trade-off is file space but benefits are:

* editability on relatively low spec PCs
* industry standard PCM audio
* industry standard timecode
* industry standard reel numbers

I recommend transcoding 'outside' Resolve using any of the free or low cost FFMBC/FFMPEG based transcoders.

Is there any transcoder you suggest? I downloaded this one https://ffmpeg.org/ and all it was was just a file with different codes for the application, but no application itself. I'm at a loss as to what to do since I leave in 24 hours. If you have no other suggestion, that's fine, but if you do, I'd love one

Here's one I helped test prior to it's final release. It's been in development for several years so can be relied upon to create accurate transcodes of all your files. There are free versions around but they tend to be limited in their scope and development but this one does offer an almost 100% free trial for upto three consecutive files and the simple interface belies the very large range of functions including a footage stabilizer just implemented.

It's worth reading through the documentation before just launching right in and Wayne Norton, the developer is quick to respond with suggestions or questions: http://hdcinematics.com/Convert-V3.html

I second that suggestion, Convert 3 is the best tool on the PC for transcoding right now.

It can even add TC and reel names (based on file generation time and date, for example), which .MTS is normally lacking. Very important for round-tripping.