How do I correct out of sync audio using Fraps, or avoid it

[Didz]

I have the same problem.

I've produced 26 video's using FRAPS 3.4.6, and most of the time everything is fine. But sods law tends to intervene at the worst possible times, and most recently when recording a live battle event when there is no possibility of a retake the sound drops out of sync with the visual footage.

Everything is still there but the in game SFX and the commentary just sails ahead of the visuals and gets out of sync. The net result being that the sound finishes before the visuals and then there is a period of silent film at the end when the rest of the video footage plays through.

Like I say, sods law is that this happens during live play when there is no possibility of a retake, so ideally I either need to stop it happening, or at least find some way of resyncing the audio with the visuals.

Hopefully, someone with some technical understanding can suggest a solution.

PC Build Status

Operating System: Windows XP Home Edition (5.1, Build 2600) Service Pack 3 (2600.xpsp_sp3_gdr.101209-1647)
Language: English (Regional Setting: English)
System Manufacturer: OEM
System Model: OEM
BIOS: Phoenix - AwardBIOS v6.00PG
Processor: Intel(R) Core(TM)2 CPU 6600 @ 2.40GHz (2 CPUs)
Memory: 2046MB RAM
Page File: 1943MB used, 3019MB available
Windows Dir: C:\WINDOWS
DirectX Version: DirectX 9.0c (4.09.0000.0904)

[redwudz]

Didz, I've created a new topic for you as you will likely get more answers that way instead of adding to a old thread.

And welcome to our forums.

[poisondeathray]

What resolution / FPS are you recording at ?

What GPU ?

Sounds like your hardware can't keep up & you are dropping frames (thus audio is longer than video causing out of sync) . Your observation that it occurs more frequently during intense action like battle scenes adds to this theory (stress hardware more during these times)

Try recording at lower resolution, lower FPS, and recording to another hdd (don't record to system drive C to rule out HDD I/O issues)

Also consider upgrading your hardware

If this is what is happening the only way to "fix" it after the fact is to shrink/expand either audio or video to match lengths - even that might not work because it depends on the pattern of frame drops - if it's sporadic then it might be impossible to sync up perfectly

[Didz]

Hi poisondeathray,

Resolution will be the same as my desktop which is 1280 x1024.
FRAPs 3.4.6 Movie settings are:
30 FPS; Half-Size; Lock Frame Rate whilst Recording; Loop Buffer Length 30 Seconds.

The problem doesn't seem to occur during normal filming, when I'm taking creative 10-30 second shots to explain specific game functions or decisions. It only really occurs when I'm filming live action sequences, which obviously can't be paused and thus have to be tracked in real-time as they unfold. Sods Law of course is that these are the very sequences that can't be replayed for the camera.

I've read elsewhere that this might be the result of delays being incurred when FRAPS finishes one recording file and opens the next. In my case for example the battle I filmed was divided over three files of 4GB; 3GB and 414MB, so there were two automatic file breaks.

As far as a fix is concerned:

It seems that all the video and audio is present in the files, its just that the timing is out so that the video continues after the audio has finished. Logic would suggest that if I could stretch the audio out to the same length as the video it might match, or at least be a closer match than it is now.

Another possibility would be to try and manually adjust the video by clipping out sections so that key sequences occurred in line with the commentary.

I was kind of hoping this would happen automatically when I imported the files into WMM, but instead it seems that WMM crops the video as soon as the audio track finishes so you actually lose the end of the filming.

So, I need some tool that will allow me to resync the files before importing them into WMM.

*****
Another suggestion I've seen is that the problem may be caused by the settings used in the Realltec Audio set-up. There is a Youtube video demonstrating how these settings if changed resolve the problem. Unfortunately, I can't find the menu the guy used to change them, however, I have already discovered that some settings like 'Noise Supression' screw up FRAPS audio recording, so it sounds plausible.



This is the video I was referring to above. He seems to be disabling the Realtech HD Audio but I don't know where I find this setting (even assuming that I'm using it)