Video and audio file tracks and linking

Hi folks,

I am generally working on multiple musician grid videos, I've done a few but I get in a total mess with the audio / video tracks.

I have a final edited audio, created by extracting each musician's audio from the video, editing it in other software and then I export that to use in the final video project.

Next in resolve I add each video and align them using the audio waveform. Eventually I will delete or mute the audio from each video, and have a single audio track of the edited audio I did earlier.

The problem is how the video and audio tracks are linked. If I drag in my audio first I get audio on audio track 1. If I then drag in a video I will overwrite that audio if I drag it into video track 1, or I drag it into track 2. leaving an empty video track 1.

Somehow during every project I manage to somehow unlink the video / audio so I have some tracks for instance with video on track 1 and audio on track 3. Not sure how it happens.

Wrapping my head around which audio is linked with which video seems tricky.

Any suggestions on the best way of dealing with this?

I would prefer completed linked thumbnails / tracks like in Final Cut Pro, where the audio sits at the bottom of the video track and if I drag in an audio file it just appears as a separate track entirely.

Thanks,

Richard

Still an issue in 17, unfortunately.

viewtopic.php?f=36&t=129337

I assume you create your timeline from the audio track and then it will be created with an empty v1 video track and a1 track containing your audio. Can't you just drag the audio from a1 to a2 (it will be created automatically for you) leaving you empty v1 and a1 tracks where you can put your video(+audio)?

This isn't a bug or an issue, just a different way of working.

Some points to consider:
- You can move any track up or down into another slot.
- You can link/unlink any clip to any other, audio and video, even have more than 1 audio for the video. Each audio, each video can have it's own track, or can coexist on an existing track wherever there is a gap. It does not matter that the number of tracks of audio is not equal to video.
- When you drag a clip and it overwrites another it is because the position of the first clip is locked on the timeline, but you can unlock it.

To manage all this, there are two important icons on the toolbar. One of them looks like a padlock. If this master lock is highlighted, nothing can be moved out of position, and anything you try to drag into its slot will overwrite what's already there. If the padlock is open you can drag the new clip in front, behind, between, over or under. There are also padlocks for each track, but padlock on the toolbar is a master lock, for all tracks and clips. It doesn't prevent erasures and overwrites, just secures the seated position.

The second icon is a chain link. When this is highlighted, clicking on a clip will select not only that clip but also any other clip, audio or video that has been linked to the first. If the chain link is not highlighted, then selecting a clip will select just that clip independent of any other clips linked to it.

You can link clips together and unlink clips that are already linked by selecting a clip, right clicking and choose link or not to link (unlinked.) But the chain link on the toolbar is a master switch. If it's on then any clip selected will highlight all the linked clips and you can't edit them independently. But if it's off, it doesn't matter that clips have been linked because any clip you select will highlight just that clip.

Lastly, the column on the far left, if you right-click into that column you are given options for moving tracks up or down. It's not important for resolve that the audio for video track 1 is in a corresponding audio track 1 slot, rather what's important is that you have linked video and audio 1 as described above.

You can link and lock in combinations so that you can protect against overwriting and sliding clips when you don't want to.

Still an issue in 17, unfortunately.

viewtopic.php?f=36&t=129337

That sounds very much like my issue.

Thanks Tom.

It is very confusing way of working for this task unfortunately. The problem is that as I'm working, I am dragging in reference audio files in order to line up, which I only need temporarily. My videos and audio get out of sync in terms of track numbering, and then I find I'm overwriting audio that I want to keep when I drag a new video onto the timeline.

This isn't a bug or an issue, just a different way of working.

Some points to consider:
- You can move any track up or down into another slot.
- You can link/unlink any clip to any other, audio and video, even have more than 1 audio for the video. Each audio, each video can have it's own track, or can coexist on an existing track wherever there is a gap. It does not matter that the number of tracks of audio is not equal to video.
- When you drag a clip and it overwrites another it is because the position of the first clip is locked on the timeline, but you can unlock it.

Thanks Tom.

It is very confusing way of working for this task unfortunately. The problem is that as I'm working, I am dragging in reference audio files in order to line up, which I only need temporarily. My videos and audio get out of sync in terms of track numbering, and then I find I'm overwriting audio that I want to keep when I drag a new video onto the timeline.

Okay. Maybe I am jaded because I have all these paths to workarounds that I am so accustomed to using them, I overlook the shortcomings of automation or Resolve's default behaviors, or things that are not so intuitive.

But here is the workaround I would use for your problem. I would start by right clicking in the far left column and delete all empty tracks, to clean things up.

Move the playhead all the way past the end of all your tracks. Mark an "In" point. Move the playhead even farther to the right by some arbitrary amount, and mark an "Out" Point. Place the playhead somewhere within the highlighted area between the In and Out points. Next, instead of dragging your file into position from the media bin, let the program insert or append the video or audio clip wherever it wants to. It will drop it somewhere between the In and Out points, which are safely away from all the populated areas of the timeline. Now create your new video and audio tracks. Arrange the new tracks and the old tracks into the order you want them to be, top to bottom by right clicking in the far left column. Drag the new clips from where Resolve inserted them to the new track you want them on. Be sure to have object "Snap" enabled so that your audio remains positively in sync to the video whenever you slide clips along a track, or move them up or down to other tracks. Object snap is the little horse shoe magnet on the tool bar. In order to move an audio independently from a video clip it is linked to, select the clip, then right click and drop down the sub menu to unlink it. Or to keep it in sync with the video, relink it the same way so moving one moves them both together. But now that you've inserted the clip and positioned it on its own track safely away from the other populated tracks, with object snap on, appropriately linked or unlinked, you can move it into its final position on the timeline. Reset the In and Out markers, and you know the rest.

Thanks for the extensive reply Tom.

I'll give it a go!

Richard