[Resolved]Align audio with video/audio track not working for me..

simmiv wrote on 1/20/2021, 7:52 PM

Hi,

I record a video with sound and also have a separate external audio record. Once I import the audio onto a track i have the video and audio on separate tracks, but still grouped. I then import the external audio record and put it on the third track, i.e. below the video/audio tracks. I then select the video/audio and the audio track and choose "Align other audio objects with this track". I always get an error along the lines of "You wanted to have pieces of audio material automatically aligned to each other. This requires two audio tracks with audio objects. First select the objects on the reference track, and then the objects to be adjusted on the other track. Finally, activate the alignment function again." I simply doesn't matter what I do, i.e. which track I choose first. Even un-grouping the audio from the video file and only choosing the two audio tracks it gives me this error. I have used this before and it worked fine. I'm wondering if this is a bug in this version or am I doing something wrong?

NOTE: Problem is resolved. The issue is the fact that if you have any other object on the track, which is NOT an audio object, the Magix program refuses to recognize the audio file as an audio file. In my case I thought I had only audio objects on the track, but I found I had small text object at the end I was going to use for end credits. It had moved up a track accidentally in the editing process. I tested this by first moving the audio object I was trying to align to an empty track. When I clicked on the video file and the audio object, the alignment worked fine. I then found the text object and moved it down. Once I moved the audio track back up it also aligned fine. I wish Magix gave you a better error message or at least a pointer as to the fact that you have other type of objects on the track.

Comments

johnebaker wrote on 1/21/2021, 6:17 AM

@simmiv

Try this sequence:

Select the video audio track
Hold down the Ctrl key and select the music track
Right click the video audio and select Align other ........

It also does work selecting both audio parts by dragging out marquee - do not select the video part and right click Align other .....

HTH

John EB

simmiv wrote on 1/21/2021, 6:42 PM

Hi John,

Yes, that is what I do, but still get the error. I now have to align the tracks manually and then group them together so they don't get miss aligned again. I have some more footage to do so I'll do some more testing..

Rgds,

Simmi

simmiv wrote on 1/21/2021, 8:43 PM

Interestingly, if I create a new video file and use the same video/audio and audio track and do the selection of the audio tracks, when I right click for align, it simply works. Doing the same within my video project doesn't work. There is nothing different in that project from the new one, just more video and audio files along with some jpeg files. Pretty disappointing to just get an error saying you haven't selected two audio files when you actually have..

I'm not aware of having to activate or use any particular project settings in order to have this working..

Rgds,

Simmi

CubeAce wrote on 1/22/2021, 4:14 AM

@simmiv

Hi Simmi.

I've never used this facility within the program but I assume this is for adding audio from an external audio recorder. If not what are you syncing exactly?

Second. I notice the two clips are of different lengths. I don't know if that makes a difference but I'd guess not.

Third. Do the two files have the same sampling rate? That may make a difference if the matching part of the program can't use two different sampling rates at once.

Forth. Is the second recording taking place alongside the one from the camera or does the distance vary between the two during the recording? If so the files may not match acoustically enough for it to work.

Ray.

emmrecs wrote on 1/22/2021, 4:46 AM

@simmiv

Just one further suggestion:

If you open those first two files in a new project does the problem still occur?

Jeff

simmiv wrote on 1/22/2021, 6:13 AM

I've used this function a lot before.. I basically have a camera that records audio and video. I then also have a lapel mike hooked into a standalone Tascam DR-05 audio recorder. Once I'm ready to record, I start the camera and then the audio recorder. The first thing I do is to clap my hands once or twice to generate a noise spike in the audio recording which is then captured by the camera and the Tascam DR-05.

Once the recording is done, I stop both devices and import the camera footage onto the timeline. I choose to set the video and audio on separate tracks for the video footage.

I then import the audio file from the Tascam DR-05 and put it on the third track below the Video and linked Audio tracks. You can see the spike in the picture above in both audio graphs. You are then able to select both audio tracks and right click for the option to align the audio files. Magix compares the audio waveform for both files and then moves them to be aligned (The first one you choose is the reference i.e. it's not moved)

I can then ungroup the video track and delete the camera audio track. I then group the video with the Tascam DR-05 audio file. The Tascam captures a far superior audio from the lapel mike. I've done this many times before and it has always worked. When I began this video project I was going to do this again, but for whatever reasons it gives me the error message I posted above. I can choose the two tracks, right click to align, but for some reason it gives the error.

I created a new project and imported the two files I posted above and then it works fine. As I'm trying to finish this project I've had to manually align the audio tracks, so I can get by. I have more of these to do, so when I start the next project I'll persist a bit longer to see if I can work out why it's not doing what it is supposed to do..

johnebaker wrote on 1/22/2021, 8:07 AM

@simmiv

. . . . There is nothing different in that project from the new one, just more video and audio files along with some jpeg files . . . .

Is the there anything stopping the audio moving eg is the track containing the object that is supposed to move locked?

The only way I can replicate the message you are getting is if one of the objects gets deselected when right clicking.

John EB

emmrecs wrote on 1/22/2021, 8:18 AM

@simmiv

I created a new project and imported the two files I posted above and then it works fine.

I think that suggests that, "somewhere along the line" you made a mistake when initially attempting to align these tow recordings. The fact that importing them to a new project and everything happening "as expected" does indicate there is not a problem with the software, at least!

I originally made this suggestion because I wondered whether, somehow, the .MVP project file had become "messed up".

Jeff

simmiv wrote on 1/22/2021, 8:31 PM

Problem resolved.. I updated the first post with the solution!

Thanks for your input as always!!

Simmi