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marielleb70698797
marielleb70698797
Participant
October 14, 2017
Answered

Audio waveform effect not synced with audio

  • October 14, 2017
  • 2 replies
  • 2194 views

The waveform animation seems to just slide across the screen rather than moving when words are said. I don't have any position keyframes on the solid layer so that's not the issue. It just doesn't have an appropriate flat line when silent or peaks when words are being said. I've already tried removing as much background noise from the audio as well. I'm using a wav file. Can anyone help? I've added my settings. Thanks

Correct answer Rick Gerard

Here's what a screenshot with modified properties looks like:

As you can see in the timeline I modified the start and end point, maximum height, audio duration, thickness and display options. My screenshot shows the same problem that you are seeing, no audio at the current time but a waveform generated. The clue is audio duration. It is set to 4000 milliseconds which is 4 seconds. Note that the rendered audio waveform looks just like the first 4 seconds of my audio track. Your audio duration is set to 3345 which is a little more than 3 seconds and your waveform looks like it is a pretty good representation of the first 3 seconds of your audio track. If you first screenshot had shown the modified properties of your layer the solution would have jumped right out at anyone that understands how Audio Waveform works.

Right-click on the modified audio duration and reset it and your problem goes away. The shape of the waveform may not be to your liking so you can adjust the audio duration to get a better shape. If you really want a sample duration of 3 seconds then you can adjust the timing by sliding the audio offset in a negative direction. Audio waveform creates a moving waveform that corresponds to the next x seconds where x is the audio duration. If you just want the line to change shape but stay where it is on the screen you need to use audio spectrum.

2 replies

A
Community Expert
anythingwilldoCommunity Expert
Community Expert
September 22, 2025

sorry for reviving an old post but i'm running into a somewhat similar issue with Audio Spectrum. Here's what I've found so far:

Any change you do to Audio Duration (milliseconds) you need to offset it on Audio Offset (milliseconds), this is is simple to fix by just adding a *-1 expression on the offset parameter.

The higher you go on the Audio Duration parameter the more out of sync it will get, I'm still researching a fix for this, that's how I found this post.

I am a Community Expert for Adobe
R
Community Expert
Rick GerardCommunity Expert
Community Expert
October 14, 2017

That cropped screenshot shows us nothing. We need to see the layer with the modified properties revealed and even better, your comp. Just select the layer giving you problems, press the U key twice and PrintScreen and paste. You might also want to show is any modified properties in the audio layer and then hold down the shift key and press the L key twice to reveal the waveform. Position the CTI so it's right over some peak in the waveform that should be generating a waveform.  I have no way to know what you might have changed from the default settings unless I open AE and apply the effect to a layer and then try and compare the default settings to yours.

Are you new to AE? Is this the first time you have had this problem with this effect? Did you change any of the settings? Have you modified any of the audio parameters?

marielleb70698797
marielleb70698797Author
Participant
October 14, 2017

I'm not new to AE so I don't see why that's relevant to answering my question. I thought showing my effect settings might be helpful. Yes, this is the first time I've had this problem. I haven't modified the audio at all. As you can see in the second photo, there is no audio playing yet the line is not flat.

    R
    Community Expert
    Rick GerardCommunity ExpertCorrect answer
    Community Expert
    October 14, 2017

    Here's what a screenshot with modified properties looks like:

    As you can see in the timeline I modified the start and end point, maximum height, audio duration, thickness and display options. My screenshot shows the same problem that you are seeing, no audio at the current time but a waveform generated. The clue is audio duration. It is set to 4000 milliseconds which is 4 seconds. Note that the rendered audio waveform looks just like the first 4 seconds of my audio track. Your audio duration is set to 3345 which is a little more than 3 seconds and your waveform looks like it is a pretty good representation of the first 3 seconds of your audio track. If you first screenshot had shown the modified properties of your layer the solution would have jumped right out at anyone that understands how Audio Waveform works.

    Right-click on the modified audio duration and reset it and your problem goes away. The shape of the waveform may not be to your liking so you can adjust the audio duration to get a better shape. If you really want a sample duration of 3 seconds then you can adjust the timing by sliding the audio offset in a negative direction. Audio waveform creates a moving waveform that corresponds to the next x seconds where x is the audio duration. If you just want the line to change shape but stay where it is on the screen you need to use audio spectrum.

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