Audio drop out in PE08

[Guest]

I have PE V08, and have used it for a number of years. Suddenly it randomly drops the audio. I reload the video clips and audio loss turns up elsewhere. I reload the project and the audio returns. But each time I burn the disc the audio drop-out is at a different place. What is going on??

[Bill Sprague]

Don't know if I can help.  But, nobody can even guess without a lot more information about the files, the sources, the computer, etc. 

[Guest]

OK thanks. Asking the question was a long shot. Hoping that some-one might have had the same problem that they were able to fix.

[Steve Grisetti]

No one can know if they have the same problem if we don't know what operating system you're working on, what processor your computer has, how much RAM and how much free, clean defragmented space is on the hard drive -- and what model of camcorder your video is coming from and how you got the video from the camcorder to your computer.

[Peru Bob]

If the audio clips are mp3, try converting them to wav before importing in Premiere Elements.

[Guest]

OK, thanks. Worth a try. Offending files are .avi. I have another response enquiring about system properties, but will need some help here to round up that info. Wifey is off interstate on family business. She will have more clues.

[Steve Grisetti]

AVIs are more a category of file rather than a specific file type, Rusty. There are literately thousands of varieties of AVIs, depending on where they came from and how they were created.

But if you'll give us the specs I asked for above and any information you can about the origin of your AVI, we'll be glad to help you troubleshoot. We do need lots of details though!

[Guest]

Thanks so much, Steve. At this time I am unable to give this the attention it needs. I use PE only spasmodically, although over the years I have done at least 100 projects. Your comment about .avi’s is interesting, and I think my best way forward is to convert to .wav in future, as has been suggested. I recently purchased a copy of movavi for converting, and it also gives me the ability to prune video clips. In the past when using my own video footage it has generally been from my Hi8 camcorder, although more recently I have used my Canon EOS camera, which has video function. It produces MP4, which PE won’t accept. It is some time since I have needed to convert anything, and in the meantime my newer computer had lost its free conversion program.

The dropping of audio seems to be a recent occurrence, however I have only done a couple of projects in the past 18 months. The first time I encountered it was in footage from my EOS. The particular project that prompted this enquiry was that I had a DVD some years ago that I had created via PE but had somehow lost the PE project. The one DVD copy I had would not play on the DVD player but only on my computer. In order to recreate it I was inputting the video clips from the DVD slot on the computer. I was able to capture each song (it was a music video) into the project but when burning, some audio gaps were evident. I found the same on the actual project. So I would re-input and get different audio dropouts. I then tried using movavi in order to try to get robust clips (by converting .avi to .avi!) with only limited success.

I actually think I have managed to burn a good copy of the project, but have doubts about a repeat performance.

I have to turn to other things now, but might email you back if and when I run into a similar problem – hopefully with a project that is a bit less complex than the way I have gone about this one. The fact that I did have an earlier example of this suggests that it may well recur.

Once again thanks for your willingness to help.

Russell Hill