I made a video with two mics plugged into camera. One Radio mic on to camera audio track one and the other mic onto camera audio track 2. At a couple of stages the RM was off and recording was made on mic 2 only. No problems.
The footage was imported into Prem CS6 with the audio on two separate tracks. The finished project was fine and played well. Uploaded to You tube and notified all those interested. It was uploaded as H264 to YT as I always do.
Out of the blue one lady email to say the there was no audio on her short piece to camera and a couple of other clips. I soon worked out that these clips were recorded with mic 2 on channel 2. She was the only person to report a problem. I puzzled on this, as I couldn’t understand.
Then I sent the YT link to my next door neighbour and he contacted me to say that he could only hear audio on the clips that the first lady couldn't hear. He could hear nothing of the remainder. So two entirely opposite versions of audio problems on the YT playback.
I'm at a loss to know where to start. Can anyone offer advice and help please?
Pete.
Audio on playback on You Tube.
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Peter Stedman
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John Roberts
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Re: Audio on playback on You Tube.
Hi Peter, this sounds like a very weird issue and at first glance doesn't seem to make any sense at all...
Firstly, I would say that the way you have recorded the audio is OK, using the stereo audio track to record two mono signals from two different microphones. Also, the file you sent to YT should be exactly the same file that all your viewers play back, so the fact that some people are reporting anomalies with the audio content and not others leads me to believe that the file you rendered is not quite as it should be. All your viewers might well be listening to the 'incorrect' audio, but their playback devices (especially a laptop) might not make the problem evident. I suspect (and this is just my assumption without knowing any more details about the edit) that the two audio tracks containing the recorded microphones remain in stereo whereas they should both be in mono. I don't use CS6 (I use Movie Studio 12) but this is what I would do to the audio:
1) After importing the video and audio track in the usual manner I would duplicate the audio track to create an exact copy. This would give me three tracks: a video track, a stereo audio track containing the radio mic on the left channel (say) and the mic 2 on the right channel, and an exact duplicate of this track.
2) In MS12 I would then right-click the upper stereo audio track and select 'Channels > Left Only' which would discard the mic 2 audio and alter the stereo audio clip into a mono audio clip, containing only the audio from the radio mic.
3) Similarly, I would right-click the lower audio track and select 'Channels > Right Only' which would discard the radio mic audio from the clip and alter it to a mono audio clip containing only the audio from mic 2.
You still end up with three tracks, but this time you will have a video track, a MONO audio track containing only the audio from the radio mic, and another MONO audio track containing only the audio from mic 2. You should then balance and effect the audio as required, and render your file.
If you leave the audio clips as stereo and simply delete one of the stereo channels, or pan the clip hard left or right to just playback one or other of the microphone's audio, then your rendered file will reflect this and have each of the microphones only appearing in the left or right channel. This might be what's happening, and depending on what device is used to play back, may or may not be evident. If in doubt, always check your mix using headphones as they will reveal subtleties in the audio that you can't hear using speakers.
I hope this helps Peter, but maybe someone with CS6 experience will be able to advise you more competently. If you wish, you can PM me the link to your YT video and I'll take a listen and feed back more information.
Good luck!
John
Firstly, I would say that the way you have recorded the audio is OK, using the stereo audio track to record two mono signals from two different microphones. Also, the file you sent to YT should be exactly the same file that all your viewers play back, so the fact that some people are reporting anomalies with the audio content and not others leads me to believe that the file you rendered is not quite as it should be. All your viewers might well be listening to the 'incorrect' audio, but their playback devices (especially a laptop) might not make the problem evident. I suspect (and this is just my assumption without knowing any more details about the edit) that the two audio tracks containing the recorded microphones remain in stereo whereas they should both be in mono. I don't use CS6 (I use Movie Studio 12) but this is what I would do to the audio:
1) After importing the video and audio track in the usual manner I would duplicate the audio track to create an exact copy. This would give me three tracks: a video track, a stereo audio track containing the radio mic on the left channel (say) and the mic 2 on the right channel, and an exact duplicate of this track.
2) In MS12 I would then right-click the upper stereo audio track and select 'Channels > Left Only' which would discard the mic 2 audio and alter the stereo audio clip into a mono audio clip, containing only the audio from the radio mic.
3) Similarly, I would right-click the lower audio track and select 'Channels > Right Only' which would discard the radio mic audio from the clip and alter it to a mono audio clip containing only the audio from mic 2.
You still end up with three tracks, but this time you will have a video track, a MONO audio track containing only the audio from the radio mic, and another MONO audio track containing only the audio from mic 2. You should then balance and effect the audio as required, and render your file.
If you leave the audio clips as stereo and simply delete one of the stereo channels, or pan the clip hard left or right to just playback one or other of the microphone's audio, then your rendered file will reflect this and have each of the microphones only appearing in the left or right channel. This might be what's happening, and depending on what device is used to play back, may or may not be evident. If in doubt, always check your mix using headphones as they will reveal subtleties in the audio that you can't hear using speakers.
I hope this helps Peter, but maybe someone with CS6 experience will be able to advise you more competently. If you wish, you can PM me the link to your YT video and I'll take a listen and feed back more information.
Good luck!
John
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Peter Stedman
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Re: Audio on playback on You Tube.
Further to this thread. I would like to mention that John has given me so much help and advice through several PMs and has really solved the problem for me. I could never have done it without his knowledge and my thanks to him. 
Cheers. Pete.
Cheers. Pete.
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John Roberts
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Re: Audio on playback on You Tube.
Thank you Peter, I was glad to have been of help to you and resolved the issue. With your (Peter's) permission I'll try and summarise what happened and how we resolved it, hopefully it might help someone else with similar problems.
The issue revolved around the way the microphone audio was imported and processed on the timeline. Peter recorded the radio mic to channel 1 of his camera, with the built-in mic recording to channel 2, but not both simultaneously. Therefore his resultant stereo audio file when imported onto his timeline looked like this:
When the radio mic was in use it appeared only in the left hand stereo channel, with no sound in the right hand channel.
When the camera's built-in mic was being used it appeared only on the right hand channel, with no sound on the left channel because the radio mic was off.
Therefore on playback of the exported film, the microphone's audio flitted about between the left and right channels.
The workaround for Peter was to export the film with the audio set to mono. This then combined the left and right audio tracks onto a single track, and no further problems have been experienced. Peter is happy with this workaround, and it should cause no problems for any future productions, however it is not 'best practice' and for the technophobes/anoraks out there I should explain how it ought to be done (and also why we couldn't do this for Peter's film)...
When recording separate microphones to a camera/camcorder's individual stereo channels (which is a well-known and established practice) the resultant stereo audio file needs to be processed as two independent mono files on the timeline (sometimes incorrectly referred to as 'dual mono.') So in Peter's case, the left hand channel of his stereo audio file becomes a mono audio file on the timeline, and the right hand channel of his stereo audio file becomes another mono file.
The timeline would then consist of a video track, with two mono audio tracks underneath, one containing the audio from the radio mic, the other containing the audio from the camera's built-in mic. Peter would then be able to blend the two microphones as required by adjusting the volume faders of their respective tracks. Being mono audio tracks, they would by default appear in both left and right channels of any stereo export of the final film. This method is considered 'best practice' because the soundtrack and final export can still be done in stereo, so any music or spot effects (if used) retain their stereo positioning and the whole ambience has a better sense of 'space'. Some professional applications (such as TV) also might not accept mono exports.
Peter could also have recorded the audio from the camera's built-in mic onto channel 2 whilst the radio mic was in use, instead of leaving that channel off. The camera's mic would then record the ambient sounds from the location, which could then have been blended with the radio mic on the timeline, to create a bigger sense of space. However, in Peter's case, the radio mic did pick up sufficient ambience for this not to have been an issue, but if a more directional radio microphone had been used, then the recorded interviews might have appeared a little too intimate with no sense of what was going on around the interviewee.
The reason we couldn't do this for Peter's film was (as far as we could tell, and I am no expert on CS6 so please feel free to wade in) CS6 does not allow a stereo audio file to be split to two mono files retrospectively. This needs to be done before importing the audio but because Peter had already edited his film this was not an option. Some editors allow audio files to be altered in this way after importing, but not CS6 it would seem.
I hope this is of help to someone out there - any questions or problems, give me a shout and I'll try and help as best I can
John
The issue revolved around the way the microphone audio was imported and processed on the timeline. Peter recorded the radio mic to channel 1 of his camera, with the built-in mic recording to channel 2, but not both simultaneously. Therefore his resultant stereo audio file when imported onto his timeline looked like this:
When the radio mic was in use it appeared only in the left hand stereo channel, with no sound in the right hand channel.
When the camera's built-in mic was being used it appeared only on the right hand channel, with no sound on the left channel because the radio mic was off.
Therefore on playback of the exported film, the microphone's audio flitted about between the left and right channels.
The workaround for Peter was to export the film with the audio set to mono. This then combined the left and right audio tracks onto a single track, and no further problems have been experienced. Peter is happy with this workaround, and it should cause no problems for any future productions, however it is not 'best practice' and for the technophobes/anoraks out there I should explain how it ought to be done (and also why we couldn't do this for Peter's film)...
When recording separate microphones to a camera/camcorder's individual stereo channels (which is a well-known and established practice) the resultant stereo audio file needs to be processed as two independent mono files on the timeline (sometimes incorrectly referred to as 'dual mono.') So in Peter's case, the left hand channel of his stereo audio file becomes a mono audio file on the timeline, and the right hand channel of his stereo audio file becomes another mono file.
The timeline would then consist of a video track, with two mono audio tracks underneath, one containing the audio from the radio mic, the other containing the audio from the camera's built-in mic. Peter would then be able to blend the two microphones as required by adjusting the volume faders of their respective tracks. Being mono audio tracks, they would by default appear in both left and right channels of any stereo export of the final film. This method is considered 'best practice' because the soundtrack and final export can still be done in stereo, so any music or spot effects (if used) retain their stereo positioning and the whole ambience has a better sense of 'space'. Some professional applications (such as TV) also might not accept mono exports.
Peter could also have recorded the audio from the camera's built-in mic onto channel 2 whilst the radio mic was in use, instead of leaving that channel off. The camera's mic would then record the ambient sounds from the location, which could then have been blended with the radio mic on the timeline, to create a bigger sense of space. However, in Peter's case, the radio mic did pick up sufficient ambience for this not to have been an issue, but if a more directional radio microphone had been used, then the recorded interviews might have appeared a little too intimate with no sense of what was going on around the interviewee.
The reason we couldn't do this for Peter's film was (as far as we could tell, and I am no expert on CS6 so please feel free to wade in) CS6 does not allow a stereo audio file to be split to two mono files retrospectively. This needs to be done before importing the audio but because Peter had already edited his film this was not an option. Some editors allow audio files to be altered in this way after importing, but not CS6 it would seem.
I hope this is of help to someone out there - any questions or problems, give me a shout and I'll try and help as best I can
John
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Dave Watterson
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Re: Audio on playback on You Tube.
A fascinating problem ... and I am glad it has been resolved. Peter's friends obviously regard him as the fount of all video knowledge and he must be battling many issues we do not see on the forum. (Dare I suggests he vanisheds oroblems through slight of hand, since he is a magician?) But he has the good sense to share the tricky ones and draw on the skills and ideas of others. In this case John not only solved it but gave a clear explanation for the rest of us.
This kind of co-operation is at the heart of our movement!
This kind of co-operation is at the heart of our movement!
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TimStannard
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Re: Audio on playback on You Tube.
I'm a Vegas user myself. Some of you may not be aware that as Vegas started as audio software, John and I are rather spoiled for audio tools when compared to some other NLEs. However, I couldn't believe that CS6 couldn't do a simple task like split a stereo into two monos, so I had a bit of a rummage and came across this which may be of use. Three different methods are suggested (option 3 seems most useful). Perhaps Peter would like to try them.
https://larryjordan.com/articles/premie ... -channels/
https://larryjordan.com/articles/premie ... -channels/
Tim
Proud to be an amateur film maker - I do it for the love of it
Proud to be an amateur film maker - I do it for the love of it
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John Roberts
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Re: Audio on playback on You Tube.
Well spotted, Tim!
I had a read of Larry Jordan's article and option three is exactly what Peter would need to do if he wanted to follow 'best practice.' The second option is useless, and the first option (according to the manual) states: "The Breakout To Mono command works on items in the Project panel, not on clips in a sequence in the Timeline panel" therefore I assume it cannot be done retrospectively.
Incidentally, I can find no reference to performing the third option in the CS6 manual, if that is the case then it's a bit of an oversight because that operation is a very useful tool. I will admit to not reading thoroughly nearly 500 pages so it might very well have been buried somewhere other than the obvious 'how to process audio' sections.
And you're right, Tim - Vegas and it's derivatives are a joy to use audibly, probably what attracted me to using the editor series in the first place
John
I had a read of Larry Jordan's article and option three is exactly what Peter would need to do if he wanted to follow 'best practice.' The second option is useless, and the first option (according to the manual) states: "The Breakout To Mono command works on items in the Project panel, not on clips in a sequence in the Timeline panel" therefore I assume it cannot be done retrospectively.
Incidentally, I can find no reference to performing the third option in the CS6 manual, if that is the case then it's a bit of an oversight because that operation is a very useful tool. I will admit to not reading thoroughly nearly 500 pages so it might very well have been buried somewhere other than the obvious 'how to process audio' sections.
And you're right, Tim - Vegas and it's derivatives are a joy to use audibly, probably what attracted me to using the editor series in the first place
John