Proxy Problem: Proxy & Full Res must have matching audio

Report · Feb 14, 2017

I am getting this error trying to attach proxies I made from Premiere 2017 on a Mac. The 4K footage was shot 24P, 4 mono channels on C300 Mark 2. I have tried making the proxies Quicktime with ProRes 1280x720 and GoPro Cineform 1280x720. Besides bigger frame sizes, those are the only 2 options (I also tried the larger QT ProRes setting, same result). The proxies get created just fine and, like the source, they have 4 channels of mono audio. However, nothing shows up in the Proxy tab in the Project window. When I try to attach manually, I get this error:

"Proxy Media and Full Resolution Media must have matching audio channels."

I don't know what else to do. Any ideas?

Thanks,

Tom

Report · Feb 14, 2017

Are you using the proxy creating tools of PrPro at ingestion/import or by right-clicking the media and selecting make proxies, or are you creating them yourself in say Media Encoder? I just want to be sure.

And if doing this via PrPro's new proxy tools, did you use the Media Encoder's Proxy creator tool to make them?

Neil

Report · Feb 14, 2017

Hey Neil,

Thanks for responding. The clip was ingested into Premiere. I am then right-clicking the clip and choosing Proxy / Create Proxies from the menu. After choosing the QT Pro Res setting from the drop down menu, Premiere sends the data to Media Encoder. Media Encoder makes the proxies. They look great and are named the exact same thing with "_Proxy" at the end. Everything seems like a normal proxy workflow. I just keep getting the weird message about the matching audio. I've tried all the obvious fixes. Redoing. Restarting Premiere. Restarting Mac, etc...

Report · Feb 14, 2017

Hmmm ... maybe Jim_Simon or RoninEdits would have an idea.

Neil

Report · Feb 14, 2017

So an update...I'm guessing this is a bug or something that needs to be fixed on Adobe's end. When I right-click a clip and choose Modify / Audio Channels, the Preset box says "Custom" and Clip Channel Format says Mono. This box was never touched when the clips were imported. However, if I import the same clip again, the Preset says "Use File" and the Clip Channel Format says Mono. When I do my normal Proxy workflow, everything works fine. If I try to Modify Audio Channels to Use File, it keeps reverting back to Preset.

I have hundreds of clips in my project. Putting them offline and re-linking does not do anything. The only workaround I see is to manually Replace every clip. That would take too long.

Is there a fix for this problem? It's really annoying if an AE screws up importing a project or modifying the audio channels, it ruins Proxy workflow....

Report · Feb 15, 2017

Does anyone have any idea how to create Proxies if the clip audio has been modified? It didn't need to be modified. It just happened when the AE took the footage to Tentacle Sync Studio first. Has anyone ever experienced a problem like this one?

Thanks,

Tom

Report · Feb 15, 2017

"It just happened when the AE took the footage to Tentacle Sync Studio first."

Ahh ... that's info you hadn't mentioned before. If the audio was altered somewhere in the process, it can bollix things up.

So ... in precise detail ... what is the order things went through?

Neil

Report · Feb 15, 2017

Hey Neil,

Thanks for responding again. I'm trying to troubleshoot this issue as best as I can so I'm trying to update the findings. I didn't know the whole process of setting up the project as that was the AE's role.

We use Tentacle Studio System to sync the footage by timecode. Supposedly it works better than Premiere. The footage is imported from the cards into TSS. From there, it generates an XML, which is then imported into Premiere. From what I can tell it alters the audio in some way, which then prevents Premiere Proxy workflow from working properly.

From TSS: When I right-click a clip and choose Modify / Audio Channels, the Preset box says "Custom" and Clip Channel Format says Mono. Creating and attaching Proxies do not work.

Importing Directly to Premiere: the Preset says "Use File" and the Clip Channel Format says Mono. When I do my normal Proxy workflow, everything works fine. If I try to Modify Audio Channels to "Use File:, it keeps reverting back to Preset.

I'm not sure if this is the root of the problem or not. I also don't understand why I can't just fix the problem. Any ideas?

Thanks,

Tom

Report · Feb 15, 2017

This is something where I think Kevin-Monahan would be better suited to advise ...

Neil

Report · Feb 15, 2017

I'd try taking Tentacle Sync Studio out of your workflow. Premiere Pro can sync via Timecode almost instantly (it's syncing via audio that can take a long time).

So, you'd just be using the Tentacle Sync hardware to get matching timecode on footage from all of your recording devices and not using their software.

-Warren

Report · Feb 15, 2017

Warren,

Thanks for responding. I totally agree. I personally do not like using these programs, like Plural Eyes and Tenatacle, except in cases of emergency. I think you should start by importing the footage with the program you're finishing in (Premiere). And then you can send to PE or Tentacle or DaVinci. But, it's not up to me. They don't pay me to decide these matters. So I'm stuck trying to figure out the workflow that I am told to use.

Any suggestions for working within this workflow would be very much appreciated.

Thanks,

Tom

Report · Jun 08, 2017

Hi,

I experienced the same problem. I was working in a timeline in Premiere Pro CC 2017 - created through an xml from Tentacle Sync - with 4 camera types: RED, SONY FS7 + A7S, CANON C300!

I’ve first created Proxies via ingest and preset settings from Premiere to Media Encoder! The RED files allowed to attach the Proxy files -fine- but the others won’t! So I tried soo many things after repeatedly getting the common error "Proxy Media and Full Resolution Media must have matching audio channels.”

After hours I found out that just the files in the Project Window - “imported” through the Tentacle Sync XML - won’t let me attach the Proxies (no-matching-audio-channel error!!) !

So I replaced the original footage in the project window with exactly the same files they were already linked to (Offline all and than Link Media does exactly the same) - and than I was able to attach the proxies to each camera file without getting any error.

So such a random thing to do ...

Also it didn’t make a difference for the proxy attaching either I transcoded the files into 8 single mono streams with 1 Mono Output Channel or 1 stream and 8 Mono Output Channels.

Would be interesting to know what the actual difference in the output is!?

Thanks in advance and best,

M

Report · Apr 12, 2018

Hi Tom,

I've found a solution to this, it's not elegant but it works.

After importing the footage and audio through the Tentacle XML, I selected all the footage in the Project tab, Right Click->Offline Media

Then reconnect to the original media, this allowed me to attach any proxies I had created or create new ones that auto attach.

Hope that helps.

Thanks,

Mitch

Report · Sep 10, 2018

I am having this same issue. I have RED Dragon 6K footage that I had the DIT make proxies on set in Resolve with a LUT added. The files are DNXHD files.mfx files in 1920 x 1080. I can not attach them because premiere said the audio does not match. This project does not even need audio it is all MOS. But the Red cam recorded empty tracks. Does anyone have a work around for this. Can I turn the audio off when attaching proxies? I really don't want to create new proxies again. Thanks.

Report · Sep 10, 2018

Hi David:

Since you're using RED source footage, I'd stick with H264 for the Proxy files.

Adobe Premiere Pro Help | Ingest and Proxy Workflow in Premiere Pro CC 2015.3

This help page is written for 2015.3, but as far as I am aware nothing changed as of PR CC 2018. While the whole page with worth a read (and re-read), you're may only be interested in a sentence in the last bullet point, "...for example, R3D Full Res and H.264 Proxy is supported. R3D Full Res and DPX Proxy is not supported."

Also, the Proxy should only differ from the original in frame size and video compression type and should otherwise match the high resolution clip in all other ways. So, if the RED source footage has silent audio, then the Proxy files should have silent audio as well.

-Warren