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May 24, 2011

P: 3.4 unable to create slideshow video with soundtrack.

  • May 24, 2011
  • 12 replies
  • 484 views

Lightroom: 3.4 unable to create slideshow video with soundtrack.
I created a voice over for my slide show so that I can send the file to relatives to watch.
Voice over created with as an iPod voice memo. That created a .wav file which LR does not support. Annoying, but fair enough. Next step was to create a .m4a file which LR claims to support. That runs within LR, but crashes when I attempt to create a video file (the intended recipients do not have LR).
Error text:
Log (6)
Assertion failed: self->aenc
info: Creating MainConcept H.264/AVC video encoder ...
info: Version: 8.0.0.47059
info: Platform: OSX
info: Using library: MainConcept optimized Software Encoder (mc_enc_avc.001)
extendedOption: media_time_offset : 0.000000 -> 1000.000000
End error text
Third step was to try a .mp3 file.
That comes up with an exclamation sign beside it, and will not run withing LR. It also crashes the "create a video" subroutine within LR. Different error to above. I could find no explanation of what the exclamation means. I tried the help, clicking, double clicking and right clicking.

Both conversions were from the original .wav file by WavePad Sound Editor v4.5.1 using default options in the SaveAs dialog box
LR3.4
Mac OSX 10.6.7
I have tried two machines - a MacPro i5 and an iMac Core Duo

This topic has been closed for replies.

12 replies

Participating Frequently
May 27, 2011
Excellent, glad that you found a way around the problem for now. I'll try to remember to post status on the bug when I know more.
May 27, 2011
Thanks from me too Dan.

Armed with your information I went looking further.
I discovered while reading the Audacity blogs, that iTunes can convert a .WAV file into an AAC file. Something I didn't know. I tried this, and after working out where the new file was put, by no means obvious, I discovered that it was saved as .m4a. I tried using this as the source Audio for the slide show and it all works. Great result.

Now to go back to the original slideshow & rerecord a soundtrack - I have made some changes to the photos in the meantime.

Then all i have to do is convert the mp4 file into a standard DVD movie so I can mail it off. More learning curve ahead. Sigh.

Thanks again. Greg.
PS I hope this bug you uncovered gets fixed in a future release.
Geoff the kiwi
Community Expert
Community Expert
May 26, 2011
Thanks for the prompt attention to Greg's issue Dan !!
Participating Frequently
May 26, 2011
I filed a bug for this internally. There's something not quite normal about the file, but various players are handling it fine (including, in my case, Lightroom), though it definitely fails when attempting to export a slideshow as a video. The MainConcept routine doesn't appear to provide a more detailed error message, so I don't know exactly why it fails.

I'm getting mixed results from different analysis tools. Exiftool (which apparently does a whole lot more than EXIF) says it is 22050 Hz with 2 channels, QuickTime player says 22050 with 1 channel, and VLC says 44100 Hz with 2 channels.

I suspect if I knew more about audio formats and encoding, I could offer a workaround, but this is out of my zone of expertise.
Participating Frequently
May 26, 2011
Ok, I can reproduce the assert. It doesn't crash for me, and the file plays back in Slideshow for preview, but it does emit this error and fail to create the video file properly, so I can move to the question of why not:

Log (5)
Assertion failed: self->aenc
info: Creating MainConcept H.264/AVC video encoder ...
info: Version: 8.0.0.47059
info: Platform: OSX
info: Using library: MainConcept optimized Software Encoder (mc_enc_avc.001)
Geoff the kiwi
Community Expert
Community Expert
May 26, 2011
No problem Greg thanks for understanding. Hopefully Dan will have an answer before too long. I get to do odd things at odd hours as I am in New Zealand and so have UTC +12 hours at present - maybe I do them before they happen!!
May 26, 2011
Thanks Geoff for clarifying. I appreciate the need for sleep, and the different time zones involved. I was not expecting a response this soon from Dan. My concern was that the email you in fact triggered was an automatic response triggered by an interception of the email I sent Dan. The timing was about right for that to be the case. I'm glad it wasn't.

I have raised the issue in a number of places, both here and in forums associated with the audio software. So far, to your credit, this is the only place where I am receiving any help at all.

The manual states that any mp3, m4a and m4b may be used to generate a soundtrack for a slide show. That is clearly NOT the case. That is why I raised the issue there so that others would be aware of the discrepancy between the manual and reality, not because I was expecting a resolution to my problem there.
Geoff the kiwi
Community Expert
Community Expert
May 26, 2011
Greg, if you keep posting your issue in different places you will get many responses. I am one of the moderators the on-line manuals for Lightroom and Photoshop and I triggered the email you received. Why?
1. Because your problem was not something that is dealt with in the "Comments" section of the manual. You have a distinct issue that may well be to do with software other than Lightroom and the forums (here) and the U2U forum are the appropriate place to have issues verified.
2. I had seen your post here and Dan's request for you to contact him.
3. The Adobe Lightroom team are busy people and I guess like to sleep sometimes so I'm sure Dan will report back to you when he has assessed the problem. The team are very good at responding in my experience.

This site is new and it may take some time for all he little glitches, duplication, etc sorted so I ask for your patience meantime. Thanks.
May 26, 2011
I just received what I assume is an automated response from help_adm at adobe.com saying that I should post a question on the forum. Since I have already done that, this is raising my annoyance levels considerably. Can you confirm whether you have received my email?
May 26, 2011
Thanks for that Dan.
email Sent.