4 Replies Latest reply: Jul 1, 2010 1:06 AM by Harm Millaard RSS

    CS4 Premiere Audio and Video Out of Sync Mac

    Video My Life Community Member

      Hi everyone.  I import AVCHD assets from my Sony HDR SR8 into CS4 Premiere on my Macbook Pro 17.  Upon playback the audio plays before the video, even to the extent that the audio is finished before the video.  I am capturing to my one and only hard drive on my Mac using the USB port on the Mac.  Are you able to help me figure out what I am doing wrong?  I assume I have done something wrong during the set up process.  Here are the particulars:

       

      Camcorder and native clips:

      Sony HDR-SR8

      AVCHD format 1440 × 1080/60i

      1,080 effective scanning lines and the interlace system

      The MPEG-4 AVC/H.264 format is adopted to compress video data

       

      Laptop:

      Model Name: MacBook Pro

      Model Identifier: MacBookPro5,2

      Processor Name: Intel Core 2 Duo

      Processor Speed: 2.8 GHz

      Number Of Processors: 1

      Total Number Of Cores: 2

      L2 Cache: 6 MB

      Memory: 4 GB

      Size: 2 GB

        Type: DDR3

        Speed: 1067 MHz

      Size: 2 GB

        Type: DDR3

        Speed: 1067 MHz

      Bus Speed: 1.07 GHz

      Serial ATA:

      NVidia MCP79 AHCI:

        Vendor: NVidia

        Product: MCP79 AHCI

        Link Speed: 3 Gigabit

        Negotiated Link Speed: 1.5 Gigabit

        Description: AHCI Version 1.20 Supported

      Hitachi HTS545050B9SA02:

        Capacity: 500.11 GB Total, 312 GB Used

        Model: Hitachi HTS545050B9SA02  

      Graphics/Displays:

      Chipset Model: NVIDIA GeForce 9400M

        Type: GPU

        Bus: PCI

        VRAM (Total): 256 MB

      Chipset Model: NVIDIA GeForce 9600M GT

        Type: GPU

        Bus: PCIe

        PCIe Lane Width: x16

        VRAM (Total): 512 MB

       

      Premiere CS4 Settings:

      Project:

      For editing AVCHD Formats recorded in anamorphic 1920x1080 (ex.1440x1080).

      16:9 interlaced HD video at 29.97 frames per second.

      48kHz audio.

      Drop-Frame Timecode numbering.

      Editing mode: AVCHD 1080i anamorphic

      Timebase: 29.97fps

      Video Settings

      Frame size: 1440h 1080v (1.3333)

      Frame rate: 29.97 frames/second

      Pixel Aspect Ratio: HD Anamorphic 1080 (1.333)

      Fields: Upper Field First

      Audio Settings

      Sample rate: 48000 samples/second

      Sequence:

      720 x 480

      00;00;00;00, 29.97 fps

      48000 Hz - Stereo

       

      Captured Clips Settings:

      Type: QuickTime Movie

      Image Size: 720 x 480

      Pixel Depth: 24

      Frame Rate: 29.97

      Source Audio Format: 48000 Hz - 16 bit - Stereo

      Project Audio Format: 48000 Hz - 32 bit floating point - Stereo

      Total Duration: 00:21:19:20

      Average Data Rate: 3.6 MB / second

      Pixel Aspect Ratio: 1.2121

       

      Anything stick out in these specifications, folks?  Thanks for your time!

        • 1. Re: CS4 Premiere Audio and Video Out of Sync Mac
          Bill Hunt CommunityMVP

          Welcome to the forum, and thank you for a very detailed, well-written post. It could be used as an example for so many other posters. A posting "poster child," perhaps.

           

          Now, not sure if either of these comments play a big role in your issue, but:

           

          Your processor is way below what is the minimum recommendation for AVCHD material. Most folk here believe that a fast i7 is the absolute minimum with that footage.

           

          Your single HDD is below the minimum for video editing. A 2x physical HDD is the recommended absolute minimum, with at least a 3x physical HDD setup being better. Maybe I missed it, but what is the RPM of that Hitachi? Also, is it a "green" HDD?

           

          Maybe others will have more suggestions for you, and good luck,

           

          Hunt

          • 2. Re: CS4 Premiere Audio and Video Out of Sync Mac
            Video My Life Community Member

            Wow, Bill Hunt, guru of Adobe forums.  Thanks for your assistance.

             

            Unfortunately for me I am being told the CPU is soldered into the mother board, thus not upgradeable.  I can upgrade the HDD, which has a rotational speed of 5400 rpm, but have absolutely no idea what I should replace it with.  Any suggestions?  I understand I can have the Matshita internal optical drive replaced with an HDD and mount the optical drive externally via USB.  Would this qualify as "2x physical HDD" as you mention in your post (two hard drives)?  As far as I have been able to ascertain the speed of the HDD is not variable (in order to save energy), thus I do not believe it is "green".

             

            Bill, do you think my woes with AVCHD video translate to all high definition video?  In other words, do you think I am going to have problems with any high definition video I import to this Macbook Pro?  I get ill thinking all of the money I put into this machine and software may have been wasted in regards to the use of high definition video.  Especially after the sleepless nights spent pondering the switch from PC to Mac.

             

            I was re-reading my post when I noticed the following two lines:

             

            Source Audio Format: 48000 Hz - 16 bit - Stereo

            Project Audio Format: 48000 Hz - 32 bit floating point - Stereo

             

            ...do you know if the "32 bit floating point - Stereo" reference is a user-manipulated setting in CS4 Premiere?

             

            Thanks again for your help.

            • 3. Re: CS4 Premiere Audio and Video Out of Sync Mac
              Bill Hunt CommunityMVP

              A 5400 RPM HDD will be an issue, regarding both Audio and Video playback. A 7200 RPM drive is the min, recommended.

               

              I wish that I knew more about Mac's, but that is just beyond my "pay grade."

               

              Not sure what capacity you have, but a 2x physical HDD (7200 RPM) setup would be about the minimum, for me, with a 3x physical HDD setup being much, much better.

               

              In the Hardware sub-form, Harm Millaard has done several great articles on the I/O sub-system setups, and these are not platform-specific. Now, the physical computer might limit one, but maybe not. Things like well allocated, eSATA externals can go a very long way to getting things done. I'd read Harm's various articles there, and see what might apply in your case.

               

              Wish that I was more Mac-literate, but I'm not, and probably too old to learn.

               

              I think that the I/O, while it might not be the only factor, is at least part of the issue.

               

              Good luck,

               

              Hunt

              • 4. Re: CS4 Premiere Audio and Video Out of Sync Mac
                Harm Millaard CommunityMVP

                What you are trying to do is climb the Mont Ventoux on a heavy 50 year old steel bicycle from your granny without gears. I bet you can't keep up with Contador and his colleagues on their carbon frames with 21 gears.

                 

                Essentially, your MBP is too slow to handle material like AVCHD, which is - apart from RED - about the most taxing format to edit and requires much more muscle than HDV or P2. But then you probably knew that already from various posts here.

                 

                Your CPU is underpowered, 4 GB is marginal and your disk setup is below requirements. A notebook, with the exception of Sager, can not be really upgraded, so you buy one and after 2 or 3 years you give it to your kid brother and get yourself a new one. That would be the best and most expensive solution. One thing you could try is to get a Xpress card to eSATA connector, which will give you two eSATA ports, to connect two 7200 RPM diks. I'm not sure that will help to really solve the problem. Your CPU will still be a major bottleneck.

                 

                If you consider the first analogy, getting a new bicycle would give you the best change of keeping up with Contador. But as they often say:

                 

                Don't try to keep up with the Joneses, drag them down to your own level. It's a lot cheaper.

                 

                Try with the two extra eSATA disks and if it still is not enough to edit comfortably, consider a new computer, where you can use those disks internally. Of course it is better to use a desktop instead of a notebook and a PC over a MAC, because it is less expensive and easier to upgrade at a later date and with a PC you have much more options than with a MAC.

                 

                Look at the links below to give you some background info.

                 

                Adobe Forums: Generic Guideline for Disk Setup

                 

                Adobe Forums: Storage rules for an editing rig. Some...

                 

                Adobe Forums: What PC to build?