Problem importing Video files

[...andrea riderelli & aliusmodum...]

Hi all!

I am having a nasty problem on Audition when I try to import into MV a video file to change its soundtrack.

Audition apparently hangs when completing to extract audio track from video file. The dialog box titled "Extractin audio" remains at 99% (probably it is at 100%) but Audition CPU usage quickly rises at 50% on a Dual Core CPU.

After one hour and a half of CPU Time (as displayed on Windows Task Manager) Audition does not return the control, always consuming CPU time.

The video file is 10.4 GB sized. The strange thing is that in the past I successfully import another video file and changed its soundtrack without this problem appears. Sure I tried the import now without success.

Also the "Insert Audio from Video" seems to be affected from the same problem.

Please consider this problem is AA 2.0 and AA 3.0 related and occurring on both my very different PC (a Desktop XP SP3 and a Laptop XP SP2)

I have already fully uninstalled and re-installed both products (AA2 and AA3).

I also tried to import the video file using Audition 1.5. This time, I successfully imported the video file, but now the problem is that if I insert the video track on MV Track 1 and the audio track on MV Track 2 they are absolutely out of sync even though I align both at the very start.

Any help from you (SteveG?...) will be greatly appreciated (I have four video projects to edit in this sense...)

Thank you in advance!!!

Cheers,

andrea

[...andrea riderelli & aliusmodum...]

I would like to add another information: it's matter of a DV-AVI file from a Panasonic video camera.

So I think it is not related to this problem: http://www.adobe.com/cfusion/knowledgebase/index.cfm?id=332556

Cheers,

andrea

Andrea, this should be working just fine.  I say that based on the fact that DV-codec AVI files are what I normally use for video.  Panasonic DV-AVI is as "safe" as a format can be.  The large file size is not the problem.  So there's something odd about this particular instance of DV-AVI, or there's something unusual about your system.  Thank you for all the good details about what you've attempted for a fix.  Sorry all the hassles haven't led you to a fix yet.

I am assuming this is a normal "DV" file in standard definition NTSC (29.97fps) or PAL (25fps).  If your video is something other than that, but it plays back fine on your computer, then Audition should like it too.  But let's not assume that.

Normally a DV-AVI file has 48Khz, 16-bit stereo audio.  There can also be 32Khz audio in this format, and even up to 4 channels at once.  I honestly don't know of a reason why Audition wouldn't cope with any of those permutations.  Do confirm that the audio is normal 48/16/stereo for us, please.

Another option would be to download VirtualDub, or use some other editor, and cut your file down in size, or at least create a test snip.  You'd want a "direct stream copy" dub so that none of the data is changed.  That's just to provide you with the advantage of a more convenient import into Audition.  Or maybe a solution if the size IS the problem (though I can't explain why that would be).

Sound-to-picture sync in AA3 doesn't impress me that much.  If there's a discrepancy, it will vary with your sound card driver and possibly your ASIO buffer settings.  But that discrepancy would be relatively small -- like about 2 frames -- and would remain constant over the duration of the session.  Sound-for-video is one of the reasons I still keep AA1.5 on my system, which seems to handle sync with absolute perfection.  But no ASIO.

[...andrea riderelli & aliusmodum...]

Andrea, this should be working just fine.  I say that based on the fact that DV-codec AVI files are what I normally use for video.  Panasonic DV-AVI is as "safe" as a format can be.  The large file size is not the problem.  So there's something odd about this particular instance of DV-AVI, or there's something unusual about your system.  Thank you for all the good details about what you've attempted for a fix.  Sorry all the hassles haven't led you to a fix yet.

I am assuming this is a normal "DV" file in standard definition NTSC (29.97fps) or PAL (25fps).  If your video is something other than that, but it plays back fine on your computer, then Audition should like it too.  But let's not assume that.

Normally a DV-AVI file has 48Khz, 16-bit stereo audio.  There can also be 32Khz audio in this format, and even up to 4 channels at once.  I honestly don't know of a reason why Audition wouldn't cope with any of those permutations.  Do confirm that the audio is normal 48/16/stereo for us, please.

Hi MusicConductor (collegue?...)

Thank you so much for your reply!

I will try to do some tests converting from video-camera to PC again to see if I was wrong with some downloading settings.

Another option would be to download VirtualDub, or use some other editor, and cut your file down in size, or at least create a test snip.  You'd want a "direct stream copy" dub so that none of the data is changed.  That's just to provide you with the advantage of a more convenient import into Audition.  Or maybe a solution if the size IS the problem (though I can't explain why that would be).

I tried with another AVI file 1 GB sized obtaining the same issue. I will try with a much shorter file.

Of course I have no problem importing video files that have not any audio track inside.

Sound-to-picture sync in AA3 doesn't impress me that much.  If there's a discrepancy, it will vary with your sound card driver and possibly your ASIO buffer settings.  But that discrepancy would be relatively small -- like about 2 frames -- and would remain constant over the duration of the session.  Sound-for-video is one of the reasons I still keep AA1.5 on my system, which seems to handle sync with absolute perfection.  But no ASIO.

This topic about ASIO/no-ASIO driver is very interesting! The first time I done the synch was in AA 2.0 without problems (but now I can't repeat that performance because of issue above described...).

Instead, if I use AA 1.5, I have another problem:

I also tried to import the video file using Audition 1.5. This time, I successfully imported the video file, but now the problem is that if I insert the video track on MV Track 1 and the audio track on MV Track 2 they are absolutely out of sync even though I align both at the very start.

I am trying to figure out how to escape from this "impasse"... I will try to use Reaper althought it doesn't export video files but only the new audio track. In this case I have to rely on VideoStudio to syncronize video and audio track. Very dangerous!...

Thank you again!

andrea

At the moment I am not able to come up with any reasons for this impasse, and that is certainly what it is.  Sorry, Andrea.

If it's possible to try a quick test on another computer (yes, you'd have to install Audition just for that purpose), it would at least help you determine whether keep looking at the computer or the camera as the source of the problem.

Anyone else?

How are you importing your DV AVI into the PC in the first place? Do you have some special software to do this or are you using a video editing package? You can use MediaInfo to look at the AVI file and tell you what it contains.

http://mediainfo.sourceforge.net/en

[...andrea riderelli & aliusmodum...]

How are you importing your DV AVI into the PC in the first place? Do you have some special software to do this or are you using a video editing package? You can use MediaInfo to look at the AVI file and tell you what it contains.

http://mediainfo.sourceforge.net/en

Hi ryclark!

I imported the video from video-camera using Corel VideoStudio Pro X2.

Thank you for the link you provided, I didn't know it.

This is its analisys output:

Code:

General
Complete name       : D:\Video\20081004 Gonfalone il combattimento\parte 1\uvs081006-002.avi
Format              : AVI
Format/Info         : Audio Video Interleave
Format profile      : OpenDML
File size           : 10.4 GiB
Duration            : 16h 10mn
Overall bit rate    : 1 536 Kbps
Recorded date       : 2008-10-04 21:15:50

Video
Format              : Digital Video
Duration            : 51mn 47s
Bit rate            : 28.8 Mbps
Width               : 720 pixels
Height              : 576 pixels
Display aspect ratio: 4/3
Frame rate mode     : Constant
Frame rate          : 25.000 fps
Standard            : PAL
Colorimetry         : 4:2:0
Scan type           : Interlaced
Bits/(Pixel*Frame)  : 2.775
Stream size         : 10.4 GiB (100%)

Audio
Format              : PCM
Duration            : 16h 10mn
Bit rate            : 1 536 Kbps
Channel(s)          : 2 channels
Sampling rate       : 48.0 KHz
Resolution          : 16 bits
Interleave, duration: 40 ms (1.00 video frame)

Thank you for your help.

Regards,

andrea

Those specs are helpful, and confirm that the file is a normal PAL DV stream in an AVI wrapper.  The fact that the audio is interleaved on a per-frame basis is a clue to something, but my tired brain can't come up with the correct response.  Is this a DV-AVI Type 1, or Type 2?  Well, if you Google for the "Canopus DV File Converter" you can get a free utility that will let you play with both formats, but be careful because it also has some archaic modes that are not helpful.  Any conversions it performs is lossless because all it's doing is rearranging how the data is formatted within the stream.  I'd suggest a snip test of each type.  Audition prefers Type 2 but I can't remember now -- too many years -- how it behaves with Type 1.

[...andrea riderelli & aliusmodum...]

Those specs are helpful, and confirm that the file is a normal PAL DV stream in an AVI wrapper.  The fact that the audio is interleaved on a per-frame basis is a clue to something, but my tired brain can't come up with the correct response.  Is this a DV-AVI Type 1, or Type 2?  Well, if you Google for the "Canopus DV File Converter" you can get a free utility that will let you play with both formats, but be careful because it also has some archaic modes that are not helpful.  Any conversions it performs is lossless because all it's doing is rearranging how the data is formatted within the stream.  I'd suggest a snip test of each type.  Audition prefers Type 2 but I can't remember now -- too many years -- how it behaves with Type 1.

Hi MusicConductor. Thank you so much for your hint!

I will try to see what happens tomorrow.

Regards,

andrea

However looking at those specs something is very wrong with the audio duration. Video is about correct at 10.4GB for a 51 min video but 16 hr 10 min can't be correct for the audio. No wonder it never appears to finish extracting the audio!

I should try capturing the video with different software. Here is a free trial of one that I use that is very good.

http://www.scenalyzer.com/main.html

However looking at those specs something is very wrong with the audio duration. Video is about correct at 10.4GB for a 51 min video but 16 hr 10 min can't be correct for the audio. No wonder it never appears to finish extracting the audio!

Good eye!  I missed that.

[Is this a DV-AVI Type 1, or Type 2?]

Those specs are helpful, and confirm that the file is a normal PAL DV stream in an AVI wrapper.  The fact that the audio is interleaved on a per-frame basis is a clue to something, but my tired brain can't come up with the correct response.  Is this a DV-AVI Type 1, or Type 2?  Well, if you Google for the "Canopus DV File Converter" you can get a free utility that will let you play with both formats, but be careful because it also has some archaic modes that are not helpful.  Any conversions it performs is lossless because all it's doing is rearranging how the data is formatted within the stream.  I'd suggest a snip test of each type.  Audition prefers Type 2 but I can't remember now -- too many years -- how it behaves with Type 1.

Dear MusicConductor,

THAT was!

I downloaded those four concerts using DV-AVI Type 1 (I really didn't know the difference about the two types! It's time to study!...)

I downloaded the first concert using DV-AVI Type 2 and all works fine now!

BTW, is this limitation written somewhere on AA specifications? I can't find it anywhere.

Thank you again for all your great support!!!!

Best regards,

andrea

The restriction isn't so much within Audition since that uses what ever codecs Windows can supply to it. Microsoft doesn't support Type 1 in VfW (Video for Windows) because it is an interleaved format where the video and audio streams are 'mixed' together. Type 2 DV, however, uses separate streams in the .avi file for video and audio. Therefore it is much easier to separate the two.

[...andrea riderelli & aliusmodum...]

The restriction isn't so much within Audition since that uses what ever codecs Windows can supply to it. Microsoft doesn't support Type 1 in VfW (Video for Windows) because it is an interleaved format where the video and audio streams are 'mixed' together. Type 2 DV, however, uses separate streams in the .avi file for video and audio. Therefore it is much easier to separate the two.

Ok, I understand now!

Where can I find some intro info about these topics to start from?

Thank you for all your useful information, ryclark!

Best regards,

andrea

Just Google DV Type 1