Fairlight: audio file exports truncated

I am in the process of cutting and mastering an audiobook in Fairlight (Resolve 17.4.2 and earlier) on Win 10.

When exporting audio files (WAV or other), a bit of time goes missing at the beginning and end of the files. Usually about 1 second, but it is not consistent, so I can't just add an even amount of time everywhere.

For Audible I need less than 1 sec. of silence at the beginning, and that is hard to match when guessing what might work.

Is there anything I can do or set up in order to get precise timings in the rendered files? Or is this a known bug?

I have two initial thoughts on this. First, are you rendering a timeline that doesn't have any data on it in that first second? Or do you only have video data before the first audio clip starts playing about a second into the timeline? For example, if you cut the audio such that the first audio clip starts as soon the talent starts speaking, but that one clip was positioned around one second into the timeline, it's possible that Resolve is setting the render range to only include the part of the timeline actually has media on it. If this is the case, and changing the mark in/out range on the deliver page doesn't fix it for some reason, you could also try adding a new audio track, copying an existing audio clip to it starting at the very beginning of the timeline, and muting that track/clip.

If that doesn't work, I recommend my second initial thought: use audio software instead. Please understand that I don't mean this in a rude way at all, and I do realize that "use something else" isn't the answer anyone wants when asking "how do I do this thing with this tool?" I'm just saying that because I've had a few experiences myself with "little" problems like this with Resolve's audio, but I put that in quotes because in these cases it's not so much "little" as it is literally "unusable." That said, I primarily work with audio anyway, so it's not a bit deal at all for me to jump over to a DAW for audio work instead. And still, that doesn't solve the real problem, which is that this is completely something you should be able to do in Resolve.

Anyway, hopefully the silent beginning clip trick works for you, because it would be an even bigger bummer if Resolve was actually not rendering all of your media. Although doesn't the beginning second of silence that Audible requires need to include your room tone? I thought the main reason they asked for that was to make sure you hit their required noise floor, but I've never worked on anything for their platform. But still, I really hope the issue you're having isn't Resolve not rendering your entire render range. Sorry for rambling. Best of luck.

When exporting audio files (WAV or other), a bit of time goes missing at the beginning and end of the files. Usually about 1 second, but it is not consistent, so I can't just add an even amount of time everywhere.

By which export mechanism are you creating deliverables?

Deliver page or the Fairlight Export Files function?

Additional details as to the outline of your Timeline and export settings would help provide more specific assistance.

I have the same problem with Resolve audio. I edit in Audition, get it exactly where it needs to be, trim the in's and out's and it's good to go. When I import the entire file in to Resolve the audio at the end of the track is cut off by about 1 second. The only fix that I know of is to go back into Audition, find the last 20 or so seconds of the clip, highlight it and save as a separate file, then bring that file into Resolve.

It's beginning to be a "pain" to do this all the time. I have about another 50-60 more videos to do for this project, plus future projects I'll be doing.

I'll try adding 2-3 seconds of room tone during recording and editing of each of my audio files. This room tone can be trimmed inside Resolve, and therefore getting the audio exactly where it needs to be to match the video track to include the entire audio file.

If anyone has any other suggestions, I'm all ears!

I have two initial thoughts on this. First, are you rendering a timeline that doesn't have any data on it in that first second?

I have each chapter on a track as a compound clip within one timeline. Because each track has hundreds of clips. If I need to make changes to a chapter I open that compound clip in a timeline. The "silence" is a bit of room tone using a clip with the desired length and inserting that in each compound clip at the beginning. Same for the tail: The desired length as a clip with room tone. The noise floor on both is just quiet enough to meet the ACX standards.

If that doesn't work, I recommend my second initial thought: use audio software instead.

To manage a project like this, I explicitly prefer Fairlight. I have tried several DAWs when starting the project and came back to Fairlight because of how it manages projects. Now it would be hardly practical to import rendered files into another DAW just to fix this problem. Even adjusting the head "silence" length for individual tracks is done quicker. Anyhow, I do master the files with RX9 standalone, because the loudness control feature does not come as a plugin and is the only one that worked for me to get consistent and clear results. (e.g. as opposed to Ozone 9)

By which export mechanism are you creating deliverables? Deliver page or the Fairlight Export Files function?

I put the compound clips (see above answer) into a single track on a new timeline and use the deliver page to render each clip (in to out) to WAV (same thing happens with other formats).

Additional details as to the outline of your Timeline and export settings would help provide more specific assistance.

So within each compound clip there is some room tone starting at 1:00:00:00 lasting appr. 0.9 seconds (23 frames). At this point the room tone is above -60

Then I master the WAVs in RX9, for the final ACX check I run 2nd Opinion. The incorrect timing can be seen exactly the same before mastering and after, so it is not RX9 that changes it.

I put the compound clips (see above answer) into a single track on a new timeline and use the deliver page to render each clip (in to out) to WAV (same thing happens with other formats)

Decompose the Compound Clips on the Timeline prior to outputting deliverables via the Deliver page. Does this remedy behaviour?

Is the Fairlight Export Clips function truncating deliverables with both Compound Clips and decomposed Compound Clips on the Timeline?