premiere pro is mixing up my audio files with different clips

[eawood_]

*editing on Macbook pro, using the most recent updated version of premiere, filming on Canon XA11*

Ive been using premiere for like 6 years now, and only in the last few months have I had this problem, and it is driving me INSANE...wondering if anyone out there will have a solution, because I went as far as to CALL adobe, and they didnt even know what was wrong, so here goes....

premiere is mixing up my audio files with different clips. it'll play video with audio from a completely different clip. i film, upload from SD card to external LaCie solid state drive, then upload them into my premiere project file where I proceed to organize footage into bins and label them. I use a mic that I plug into camera's XLR port, so audio is already synced when I upload footage.

Basically what's happening is the SD card will have files w/ simialar names, like a file from a week ago and this week will both be automatically labeled something like ".000001" just the numbers sd cards label things in order. I have them all under one project folder in my LaCie SSD, but each day's shoots are in seperate folders, all under the one project folder on the SSD. I've cleared media cache, that doesnt seem to help.

Adobe customer service told me to make the media w/ incorrect audio offline, then re link it. This works about 50% of the time, and the other half of the time it just stays the same with the same wrong audio. It's really weird! I'll go to relink the footage, direct it to search the folder where I know it to be, and then I'll play the clip off my SSD to make sure, and sometimes premiere will think the audio is different/wrong even coming straight off the harddirve where it's searching for it, but when I play that same video from my harddrive, it's the right audio. In addition, sometimes the clips will play fine, then after I render they'll be audio from another clip again.

I don't know why this is happening, and it's insanely frustarting. It's never happened before. I'm currently editing a 90 minute project, and this is taking up an obscene amount of time when I could be cutting sequences together.  Is there a different way I could be directing the camera to label the footage on the SD card?? I'm currently using AVCHD format, should I switch it to MP4 when filming? AVCHD is slightly higher quality, which is why I've been doing that. I'm just so confused and no one seems to know what to do....please help!!!

[Kevin-Monahan · Accepted solution]

Eawood,

Sorry about this frustrating anomaly.

The deal is that with card based media, you must import the footage via the Media Browser. I suspect you may not have imported card-based footage via Media Browser. It does warn you about this in the documentation. If you do not do so, the metadata needed to differentiate clips that are named the same thing by your camera's manufacturer does not carry over into Premiere. Same thing with "spanned" clips.

Problem: once you change the directory or move the clips at all, they become "lost" without that metadata. Relinking errors would then ensue. That is why you are seeing this problem that can only be solved by good import "hygene," meaning to always import with the Media Browser and avoid dragging footage directly from the folders into the project. 

To fix this problem, there is no quick way that I know of. You have to manually link the clips to the proper original media. Not always an easy thing to do. If anyone else has tips, please let me know. It sounds like a feature request for some kind of warning is in order. For example, when importing certain kinds of media, a warning box stating the proper way to import the clips must be followed could be launched. One thought is that if you moved clips back into their original directory, the paths might be able to be relink clips more easily.

Thanks,
Kevin

[eawood_]

This may be a dumb question but how to do import thru the Media Browser? I've always just clicked and dragged from SD card, to external harddrive, to premiere pro... How do I do this the "correct" way w/ the Media Browser? 

I think you're right about that feature request as well....This definetley feels like a bug that Adobe should look into, or at least prompt doing it the right way via a warning of some kind, similar to the "change existing settings" pop up when importing clips into the timeline that automatically fixes aspect ratio problems...that's just what came to mind when you said that. Let me know about the Media Browser, thanks!

[R Neil Haugen]

Upload the full contents of the camera card to a folder on your computer. That's the first step.

Then once that's done, in PrPro, go to the MediaBrowser panel, navigate to the folder of media, right-click and "import" or "ingest" media.

Neil

[R Neil Haugen]

I work daily with colorists ... some of whom also edit ... but they all have to 'conform' project into whichever grading app they're using. And one thing I'll hear "screamed" every once in a while is "AVCHD should DIE!!!!!!!!!!"

I personally avoid it if at all possible because of the way it separates the audio and video in separate folders and data-bits that then have to be re-linked for any usage.

When working with AVCHD or any other spanned type media, you need to copy the folder structure from the camera card to the computer whole. Which sucks right off the bat.

Then to give PrPro the best chance of keeping audio/video linked, you must import via PrPro's MediaBrowswer panel, select a folder of media and "import" or ingest the folder. That's far more likely to keep links working than drag/drop from Finder/Explorer, or in my experience, even right-clicking in a bin of the project file.

You might test whether in your deliverables the AVCHD is actually visually better quality than the mp4.

Neil

[Maya28328242o3yg]

Hi! I'm having the same exact problem nearly two years later. You're the first person I've found who's had the same problem. Did you ever resolve the audio mix up issue? 

[R Neil Haugen]

Are you working a format with the audio files same as above? All named the same thing in-cam?

[Maya28328242o3yg]

Yes, I recorded in AVCHD and my clips come in as MTS files (Ex: 00001.MTS). My problem is almost exactly the same. For example, a clip named 00001.MTS from shooting Day 1 will mix up with a clip named .00001.MTS from shooting Day 2.

I've tried relinking. That doesn't work. I've tried renaming clips in the AVCHD folder by clicking the "Show Package Content" pathway. The clips disappear from the AVCHD folder and I can't find them when I'm trying to relink. I have videos of all of this happening if that would be helpful.

The solution this board came up with in 2021 was importing AVCHD media through media browser. However, I already do that and my problem still remains. Thank you for any help you can offer!

[eawood_]

Hey Maya,

Funny you're also having this same problem... I find this has only happened to me when editing very big projects, as there are a ton of files/info in one project file. I don't think there is any one clear solution, unfortunatley. What I found to be best is you MUST clear the media cache each time you open the project. This may make playback a little slow, as there will be less preview files, but the program is less likely to mix up all your files.

[Maya28328242o3yg]

Hi! I do have a fairly big project with about a year's worth of footage. Like you said, there's no clear solution, which is horribly frustrating. Clearing media cache sounds smart. Since the problem seems like it's related to the AVCHD file types, my next step I'm going to attempt is transcoding to ProRes with Handbrake and restructing my project file. Did you ever try that or did anyone recommend that? I'm fairly new to video editing so I'm just trying to piece together a bunch of advice. 

[eawood_]

Not gonna lie, I've been video editing for ~8 and that "next step" sounds a little crazy to me haha. Though there is no clear answer, clearing the media cache each time and using the proper import methods DOES help significantly w/ this prblem. If you've decided recording AVCHD is the issue, I would jsut record in mp4. It is slightly lower quality but 99% people will not notice or care. Good luck with this issue though, and if converting w/ Handbrake is the magic fix, let me know! I'm currently starting up another big project, and good luck w/ yours!!

[Maya28328242o3yg]

Unfortunetly, my shooting period for the project is mostly done so I'm stuck with almost all AVCHD. I've learned not to shoot in it next time though! I'll let you know how transcoding and restructuring goes. 

[Maya28328242o3yg]

Thank you for your advice!

[thom_c]

Hey Maya,

I would be transcoding to ProRes if you have the space as soon as you can ... it will fix a lot of problems ... as mentioned earlier in this thread, AVCHD is a terrible format to work with ... 

[Maya28328242o3yg]

Thanks for the advice! I just got a new harddrive and have plenty of space to start transcoding.