Pro Tools 11 Sync issues, OMF's and delay compensation

[RedEyeJedi]

Hey Guys

Im having some major struggles at the moment... I have been doing final mix on a reality TV show and my mixes keep coming back from editors with SYNC problems

Whats going on here?
I have a workflow where by i route all busses to a master Aux, and then have the output of that Master Aux sent to a stereo Audio track to which i print the mix, sometimes destructively, sometimes just by punching and consolidating...

I often get the feeling that Delay compensation is screwing my projects around... and i have read reports.
when i monitor through the master aux (by routing it to Out as well as print bus) there is a whole big echo going on between the two.

I am running Pro Tools 11.3.2 Mac OSX Yosemite, well spec'd macbook pro

I have a license for Pro tools 12 will this sort it out?
Dave

[polyh3dron]

Are these OMFs coming from Final Cut Pro 7 perchance?

[Leverson]

Before you print your print tracks, hold down Control + Command (on a Mac) and click on the delay compensation COMP on any print tracks to force the delay compensation to turn blue.

After you print, check your head and tail pops and make sure they are printed in sync.

[RedEyeJedi]

Originally Posted by polyh3dron

Are these OMFs coming from Final Cut Pro 7 perchance?

I believe some of them are coming from FCP7 and some of them are coming from Premeire.. they have different editors working on different systems

One set of OMF's do not open in Pro Tools and i hav to open them in audition and re export the OMF.. not sure where the problem lies, but its quite a irritation to say the least. also that way i lose all volume automation for some reason.

I think that PT11 is just stinky with opening OMF's in general, but i feel its also got to do with export settings their side.

[RedEyeJedi]

Originally Posted by Leverson

Before you print your print tracks, hold down Control + Command (on a Mac) and click on the delay compensation COMP on any print tracks to force the delay compensation to turn blue.

After you print, check your head and tail pops and make sure they are printed in sync.

Okay, cool let me give that a try.. unfortunately i dont have any dead or tail pops.
but I do have unmixed audio from the video edit which has been embedded from their side. so I think it might be safe to assume that audio is in sync, as it came from their own export.
Videos are coming in as low res mp4's

Have you had these issues yourself? has it been resolved in any other update of PT?

[garnoil]

Originally Posted by RedEyeJedi

Okay, cool let me give that a try.. unfortunately i dont have any dead or tail pops.
but I do have unmixed audio from the video edit which has been embedded from their side. so I think it might be safe to assume that audio is in sync, as it came from their own export.
Videos are coming in as low res mp4's

Have you had these issues yourself? has it been resolved in any other update of PT?

I don't think is good to assume that things are in sync on 'their end' (meaning the video edit). In fact I would assume the opposite and absolutely check their sync. I know this adds a lot of work on your side and if things are out of sync on their end, it will be a time consuming issue to discuss and correct, they will probably tell you that you are wrong and that you don't know what you are doing but...if you do not fix it, it does not matter whose fault is is, it will always come back to you. Video edit often provides not only out of sync, but wrong audio, double monos, crazy levels, etc. So I would start by making sure the locked picture has exact 100% sync to the audio, then make sure the AAF is exact to the enbeded video (play them on top of each other) without any processing in Pro-Tools (use the same bus for the enbeded sound and the raw AAF). If the AAF is out, call the director, show them, explain, and let the director deal with video edit. If things are 10% in sync with 'their stuff', then it is on your end. One more thing, often and usually in low budget stuff, the final video edit 'can' be different than your video sync reference, so even if you are 100% in sync in your studio the final product going to QC may be out of sync because they make a 'few' little, 'almost nothing', just a 'couple of frames' video edit AFTER you have completed your final master outputs. Look at the QC (ask for a copy) and find out what exactly is out of sync and where. Make sure your system is in exact video sync (using a sync check app) so that you are confident that your system is in sync.

[garret]

First off check the sync of your system. Put a 2 pop on each of your Original DME source tracks and print it through your mix to your stem tracks and check that it is in sync and not coming through delayed. Then you can start looking at other issues.

[RedEyeJedi]

I just did a couple of prints and it seems that there is about a 2 frame delay on both printed and bounce to disk exports. in fact there is no difference between the bounce to disk and print record tracks - even with delay compensation turned off and not 'Blued" out on the print track.

have a look at screen shot


the top most track is the audio extraction from the video.

I also tested with a pip... My system definately has sync problems, varying between half a frame to 2 frames from what i can see.. but i can imagine it drifts more, the longer its been printed.

**** I really need to sort this out before i loose my job

[garret]

The very simple fix first off is to always print 2 pops though your mix and then manually sync the stem at the end. That will at least mean you can send out a mix in sync till you figure out what's wrong in your set up.

[garnoil]

Originally Posted by RedEyeJedi

I just did a couple of prints and it seems that there is about a 2 frame delay on both printed and bounce to disk exports. in fact there is no difference between the bounce to disk and print record tracks - even with delay compensation turned off and not 'Blued" out on the print track.

have a look at screen shot


the top most track is the audio extraction from the video.

I also tested with a pip... My system definately has sync problems, varying between half a frame to 2 frames from what i can see.. but i can imagine it drifts more, the longer its been printed.

**** I really need to sort this out before i loose my job

Is your system referenced to tri-sync? what codec are you using? Your system should not drift between half frame and 2 frames, that is too much of a variance. If you are not referenced to tri sync you can have up to 1 frame sync issues (which is enough to have your mixes rejected) but not 2 frames. Your video may be the problem, if you are using a GOP codec or MP4 it can lag by a lot. Use the Pro-Res codec, check the system sync with a reliable sync app, and reference your system. As you can see form what is happening to your mixes you can not work professionally with a system that is unreliable, these clients may never come back to you, and they may even pull the job. I would get the system referenced immediately (no matter the cost), fix the sync, and save this job and your reputation. All it takes is one unhappy client and your future can be easily compromised.