P: No sound/audio when playing mts video

[Guest]

mts and m2ts video plays in lightroom 4, but without sound/audio. is this a known bug?

[Powercatpaul]

In my case the video files from my Sony AVCHD camcorder played audio fine in LR4.0 but after 4.1 and 4.2 were installed the audio stopped working.

When will this bug be fixed? I echo John Fitxpatrick's comments above. This is a useless program if the sound does not play.

[FeedbackCommunityMember]

I have imported my videos into Lightroom and deleted them from the memory card. Has the sound been imported but I am disallowed from hearing it? Or, has the sound not been imported at all? When will this be fixed?

[FeedbackCommunityMember]

I have imported videos into LightRoom and deleted these from my memory card. Has the sound been imported but I am unable to hear it, or has it not been imported at all? When will ADOBE fix this licensing problem?

[paul_kleczka]

Marty- your video on disk still has audio, Lightroom simply does not play it due to the aforementioned licensing restrictions. Lightroom will never modify the original file's sound, so playing the video in an external player with Dolby 5.1 support should play the video with sound.

[Powercatpaul]

Paul,

When will the licensing issue be worked out?

[Delane_Wycoff]

Although Dolby 5.1 sound is preserved in the original clip and also in published clips, it would still be preferable to have LR4.x support playback. If a plug-in for Dolby 5.1 sound playback were to be offered, it seems there would likely be significant interest from users of cameras recording in this sound format. Will this likely to be forthcoming from Adobe or from any other sources?

[john_fitz95]

Has anyone tried this yet with Lightroom 5 beta? I'm downloading it now and will make this one of the first things I try.

[john_fitz95]

Paul, Thanks for jumping into this discussion. The main question I have with this issue is why does the sound work in After Effects, Premier, and Soundbooth but not in Lightroom? It's obvious that Adobe has the licenses in question but there seems to be no information on why they are not included in Lightroom.

Also, as far as the audio codec is concerned, why not use a gpl available one which will do the audio decoding? I can play these files with full audio in many other open source programs with no problem. The only piece of software I'd like to use but can't is Lightroom.

Thanks,

[john_fitz95]

Still doesn't work.... oh well.

[paul_kleczka]

Thanks for the comments. We've noted the feature request to add support for Dolby 5.1 audio, but we can't commit on timing or feasibility at this time.

[Powercatpaul]

Is there an update on when this problem will be resolved?

[Delane_Wycoff]

Not to my knowledge. Sorry. I don't understand it, because the 5.1 Dolby sound is generally a feature of higher-end cameras and even if Adobe were to provide a Dolby 5.1 plug-in at an additional fee to cover the licensing, I think there would be a sizable number of such users that would be receptive to this.

At this point I am disappointed, but it isn't a major problem for my workflow. I continue to feel that It would be nice to have this feature, even as an added cost option.

[paul_kleczka]

I have been tracking this issue internally, but as Dolby Digital 5.1 is not a feature found in photography cameras, it sounds unlikely that we'll add support in the near future...

[Delane_Wycoff]

Paul, Thanks for sharing that information. I guess the product IS named "Photoshop Lightroom" (rather than "Videoshop LIghtroom")...so there is a certain amount of logic to your statement....and while it is nice that the video clips taken with "photography cameras" are playback compatible with the Photoshop Lightroom features, filling the Dolby 5.1 gap would make this capability even nicer.

The device distinction is getting fuzzier between photo cameras that also take video clips and video cameras that also take still photos, as more and more cameras are equipped with increasing capabilities for both video and still photography (e.g. "photo cameras" with connectors for external microphones and "video cameras" with built-in flash). From your comment, it sounds like the Adobe decision point on this may come if SLRs start to offer Dolby 5.1 sound.

It should be expected that growing numbers of users will be using Lightroom catalog features to organize ALL video clips and photos (while using Photoshop and/or Premiere and other applications for any editing requirements beyond those available within LIghtroom). Some cameras record video only with Dolby 5.1 sound. Owners of such devices would especially find it less awkward if Adobe were to simply make Dolby 5.1 sound playback an OPTION in LIghtroom (even if supported only as an added cost plug-in).

[Powercatpaul]

When I bought LR4.0 I understood that it would be able to play, and keyword AVCHD files. Like I mentioned before I was happy to finally find a program that would do this and the fact that I was already using it for photos made it all the better. It worked as advertised. But every update since 4.0 the sound has not worked. I feel bait and switched here. It sounds like Adobe dropped Dolby 5.1 to save a buck.

Frustrated

[paul_kleczka]

Thanks for the thoughtful post Delane. I agree with your analysis- it is spot on. If/when we see dolby digital 5.1 in DSLR's it would be really hard for Lightroom to not support it. I also agree that it would be a nice add-on for those who really do want to manage their video assets via Lightroom, but as I mentioned it is unlikely we will see this feature soon. I will continue to track this internally and make sure it stays on the radar though.

-paul

[paul_kleczka]

Hi Paul-

I definitely get the frustration of not having Dolby 5.1 support in Lightroom.

AVCHD files are supported, unless they have Dolby 5.1 in which case you will only be able to play the video without sound. If you are seeing different behavior please let me know so we can investigate what is happening.

This hasn't changed- Dolby 5.1 was never supported in Lightroom. It was not a feature added and then later removed. Lightroom 4.0 never supported Dolby 5.1.

-paul

[kireto_a]

I don't know if possible but it will be nice if when exporting m2ts with Dolby 5.1 and choose to encode them in h264 to be able to select to "copy" the audio stream as it is. Because now when you choose this option even the exported file has no sound, beause Lightroom tries to convert the audio to aac and as it seems fails becuase it cannot read it in the first place.

[FeedbackCommunityMember]

This is a great idea! Any work arounds would be much appreciated. What do you say Adobe ????

[endoverend.com]

Adobe should develop the product to accept a Sony Audio plugin for purchase of 5.1 support. Or buy the license and wrap it into the cost -NOBODY wants to downgrade their audio just because Lightroom is unsupportive but everyone shooting multiformats into one folder and metadata tagging in Lightroom is inconvenienced heavily - we also need audio import supported for field recorders.
I shoot stills / video and use remote mics when I work - all in one folder for storage.
If Bridge can do it .....just sell us LR PRO already and stop dragging your feet.
Love LR BTW.

[FeedbackCommunityMember]

Hi,
In lightroom 5.6. Once I try to import MP3 aduio music for slideshow. It says "This is not support music file". I would be really thankful if someone can help

[FeedbackCommunityMember]

I'm quite frustrated with this "feature". On the advice of a LR6 expert, I was planning to merge all my repositories and pictures to a master LR repository. I was bought on the idea and felt it made sense.
After hours importing all my m2ts files, I decided to play back a file and figured out that LR didn't support sound for that type of file.
Ahhh! And there wasn't a single warning at start of the process. It would have saved me a day of work.
LR6 team, please don't let your power users down.

[allanhm@fastmail.net]

If this is going to be a Photo and Video Library solution, we need to have 5.1 sound support....

Still an issue...

Please help us LR team.

[FeedbackCommunityMember]

Having the same issue, really disappointed. My mts or m2ts files with 5.1 sound does play in lightroom cc, but without sound. When raw file is exported and played in VLC sound is present. Come on Adobe get this issue fixed..

[Delane_Wycoff]

Apparently Adobe has elected not to pay licensing fees to Dolby that would be required for Dolby 5.1 sound to work in Lightroom. However, Adobe SHOULD provide a plug-in to allow users wanting this to get it if willing to pay an additional fee to cover Dolby licensing, preferably with option to down-convert Dolby 5.1 sound to 2-track stereo. Adobe has left this issue UNRESOLVED FOR YEARS going back to all previous versions. Does anyone know of a plug-in providing playback and/or downcoversion of Dolby 5.1 sound as 2-track stereo. I have yet to find a solution within Lightroom and continue to resort to alternate workflow solutions.