Audio "shifting" issue

[ugopiva]

Hi everybody,

I have to deliver a short film by December 21st with very tight deadlines and I'm very worried.
While I was editing the film, the program crashed.
After reopening the project all the audio files were wrong.
Let me explain: the clips in the timeline had remained in place, but the audio inside them was slipped as if it had been trimmed at random.
I manually fixed the problem, but after a new crash, exactly the same thing happened.
I noticed that the clips involved in the error are the ones that had been cut off. Those that had not been manipulated did not present this problem.
I do not know how to do it, I'm at the beginning of the project, I've completed only 2 scenes, but if this were to happen at the 20th it would be a BIG problem.
Does anyone have an idea how to solve this problem and what happened? it's urgent.
Thank you very much in advance for the help!

[Peru Bob]

Not a solution, but it may save you:

Make sure to save copies and backups of the project files on a different drive than the media drive.

[ugopiva]

Thanks a lot,
I tried, but it did not work...

[Jim_Simon]

the clips involved in the error are the ones that had been cut off.

What does that mean exactly?

[ugopiva]

I apologize in advance for my bad english.
I imagine how annoying it can be to read tedious technical requests on an absurd problem, moreover in a broken English. Bring patience, if you can.
I try to explane better: many of the clips i used to edit comes from very long master takes. So i put this long takes in a separate sequence together with the other synchronized master clips.
To edit my video i cutted and "estracted" some small parts from that masters using them in another sequence where i was assembling the movie.
The only parts affected by the problem described before are the clips that i cutted and moved. And the problem occurs in the original clip (so if you playback the masters the audio plays ok untill the cutted fragments) but also in the sequences where i moved my cuts.

Another weird part of this problem is this:
The first thing i tried to do after the problem occurred was obviously opening a previously saved project, but i discovered that affects also the versions of the project saved BEFORE problem happened.

I also tried to save projects in another internal hard drive, i tried relinking footage to the external hard drives with the backup footage (suspecting an internal hard disk problem), but nothing worked.
the last attempt was to open the project (a previous version, when the problem had not yet been) in another computer, connecting it to the backup hard disk, but again it did not work.

I do not understand if it's a problem with the software or my computer.

[Jim Curtis · Accepted solution]

Is your audio from an recorder like a Zoom, that has resulted in you having multiple audio files in different folders with the same file name?

Some recorders start their numbering over after a power down.  I've had Pr get confused over which audio files to link to, and take them from the wrong folder, resulting in what you may be experiencing.

If so, I suggest you move the audio or rename the folder with the audio files, and relaunch Pr.  When you get to the Locate Media screen, choose Offline All.  After your project opens, select the offline clips in your Bin, and use Link Media to locate them manually, ensuring that you are choosing the right folder for those clips.  Repeat as often as you need to put you back in business.  The next time you open the project, your audio should remain linked properly.

If that's not your issue, then starting a new Project, and importing the problem Sequences into it may solve it, as your Project may have become corrupted, which can present a host of strange and unexpected problems that seem to make no sense.

And for good measure, try resetting your Prefs by holding the Opt/Alt key down when launching Pr.  Maybe even do that first, because in my experience, that solves 96% of all the weird issues I've seen.

[ugopiva]

I think that, as you said, the resetting of the prefs, i don't know why, solved everything.
Thank you!

[Jim_Simon]

Alright.

Are you using Merged Clips at all?