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maxb1758288
maxb1758288
Participant
September 15, 2017
Answered

Slow audio playback in AE CC 2017

  • September 15, 2017
  • 8 replies
  • 30695 views

Fil 000 - YouTube

Made a video showing the issue.

Basically the song just becomes slower and slower when it's played back and it really hurts my project since I can't tell if the audio is synced or not.

General info:

MacBook Air

Latest version of AE CC 2017

    This topic has been closed for replies.
    Correct answer Vishu_Aggarwal

    It is getting slower and slower because frames are dropping and it is not playing at realtime even though the timeline bar is green.

    I have tried on MAC book pro playing the audio with 120 FPS and faced the same issue because if you open the info panel and than playback the composition it will show that playback is not realtime and frames are dropping.

    And if you off the video(eye icon) in the preview panel and than playback..Audio should playback fine.

    Try Pre-render from > Main Menu > Composition > Pre-render and then playback in your system.

    8 replies

    JCIOM
    JCIOM
    Participant
    September 20, 2021

    changing the frames from 60 to 30 worked for me after effects cc 2021

      SpaceCorn
      SpaceCorn
      Participating Frequently
      December 9, 2020

      I've got this figured out on my system after no luck with any of the suggestions in this thread including the so called previous SOLVED solution with no luck there either. The problem is the Audio Sample Rate in Project Settings under the File menu. The default is 48.000 khz which is too high for real time playback and rarely needed for most projects anyway. Change this to 44.100 which is still a very high quality and that fixed it for me instantly. Also keep in mind that if you move your mouse while playing back, that can also cause the audio to slow down, so change your sample rate and get your hands off your mouse after pressing play and you should be good for perfect playback as long as you buffered the section of your timeline you want to hear in realtime. Also want to say I noticed on a few threads regarding this issue that some people especially some of the older guys are getting snarky with their comments, i.e. "stop whining and buy new hardware" or "you don't understand how AE works, its not meant for realtime". That is BS. In todays world you shouldn't need pro level gear to get something as basic as audio to play in realtime, and YES you most certainly should expect any program to play back your audio without slowing down after you've already buffered it. After Effects is 100% meant for realtime playback for any length of timeline that your system is able to buffer. If you can buffer it, it should play in realtime with no lag. The max buffer time is dependent on your hardware and available cache space. We were all young once and these young guys need better big brothers who remember what its like to learn a new piece of software while doing their best with the gear they have. Hope this helps.  

       

        SpaceCorn
        SpaceCorn
        Participating Frequently
        December 9, 2020

        In addition to changing your sample rate you'll still need to Edit > Purge and clear your memory cache often. These steps were not neccesary with previous versions but they are now. Until Adobe fixes this, these steps are working for me. Good luck.

        D
        deliar87327234
        Participating Frequently
        December 9, 2020

        I have no idea how this works for you. I cleared my cache, adjusted all the settings people mentioned.  Someone else who works with Adobe mentioned it's pretty impossible to playback music in After Effects.  Therefore the solution is USING ANOTHER SOFTWARE for the actual mp3/wav sync. He used Premiere. I used FinalCut. This was the only thing that worked smoothly. 

         

        C
        Camera5ED8
        Participant
        September 16, 2020

        Anyone still have trouble, try changing your frame rate in Composition>Composition Settings...> to 30. It was the only thing that worked for me. 

        D
        deliar87327234
        Participating Frequently
        November 23, 2020

        I did this and does not work. I even started a fresh new project and only added the audio (mp3) to start with. It plays ok for 2 seconds and then slows down again. With no footage or anything! Just the mp3 alone... Does anyone have other solutions? I just updated the latest version too. Paying Adobe monthly, for a daily dose of frustration, honestly. 

        J
        Jonathan Santos
        Participant
        April 23, 2020

        It happened to me and this forum responses didn`t work at all!

         

        The problem is that your preview frame rate is different than your timeline frame rate. When I put my preview FR as my timeline, my audio sounds fine.

         

        Try this first. You do not need to pre-render and take lots of space from your hd.

          F
          fabrizzioa04
          Participant
          May 5, 2020

          How i do this please?

          C
          CathyKnox
          Participant
          January 21, 2020

          Hi! First of all, thank you for this forum! Got me one step ahead into solving the problem. However, even though I have played the audio in the right speed. My video is not keeping up. Generally saying, The audio is perfectly fine on playback but the video is buffering. I still could not tell whether the video and audio are synced. Can you guys tell me how do you usually work around this? I am doing motion graphics and would like to have these animations synced to the voice over. 

          S
          stanislavn78031938
          Participant
          January 2, 2018

              2018 year already here, but Adobe still can`t fix bug. I don`t know how it even possible: i-movie can play audio preview - AE can not. Such a shame.

          Vishu_Aggarwal
          Vishu_AggarwalCorrect answer
          Participating Frequently
          September 16, 2017

          It is getting slower and slower because frames are dropping and it is not playing at realtime even though the timeline bar is green.

          I have tried on MAC book pro playing the audio with 120 FPS and faced the same issue because if you open the info panel and than playback the composition it will show that playback is not realtime and frames are dropping.

          And if you off the video(eye icon) in the preview panel and than playback..Audio should playback fine.

          Try Pre-render from > Main Menu > Composition > Pre-render and then playback in your system.

          Vishu AggarwalAdobe Certified Instructor, Professional and Expert
          maxb1758288
          maxb1758288Author
          Participant
          September 16, 2017

          Try Pre-render from > Main Menu > Composition > Pre-render and then playback in your system.

          If I pre-render does it make a file then on my harddrive that takes up space on the Mac?

          Dave_LaRonde
          Dave_LaRonde
          Inspiring
          September 16, 2017

          maxb1758288  wrote

          If I pre-render does it make a file then on my harddrive that takes up space on the Mac?

          Yes.  So what?  Do you want it to work or not?  If you're whining about storage, guess what?  You need more storage!  Get it!

          maxb1758288
          maxb1758288Author
          Participant
          September 16, 2017

          I still need help

            C
            Camera5ED8
            Participant
            September 16, 2020

            Anyone still have trouble, try changing your frame rate in Composition>Composition Settings...> to 30. It was the only thing that worked for me. 

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