Quicktime Screen Recordings in CC 2017

Report · Nov 16, 2016

I commonly use Quicktime screen recordings as a part of my projects for work and since updating to CC 2017, Premiere and After Effects seem to have issues with these kinds of files. For instance, if a screen recording is 45 minutes long, when I import it into Premiere it will be something like 6 minutes long. Everything that is supposed to be in the screen recording IS there, however, it's as if the video has been sped up. More curiously, the audio that was recorded in the screen recording is the correct speed, though it gets cut off when the video ends. Has anyone had this issue/can we expect a fix anytime soon?

Current system:

Late 2013 Mac Pro

2.7 GHz 12-Core Intel Xeon E5

64GB RAM

AMD FirePro D700 6144 MB

For screen recordings only:

Early 2011 MacBook Pro

2.2 GHz Intel Core i7

8GB RAM

I've never had this issue with any other version of Premiere/After Effects.

Report · Nov 17, 2016

If I recall correctly they made some quicktime changes. I bet this messed it up. I make tutorials using QT every week. I had an issue switching from 2015 to 2015.3 but only for one tutorial for some reason. Lately they've seemingly been not 100% perfectly in sync. And then 2017 is completely missing parts now even when I bring in my previous edits.

It used to do that to me with mp4 files from my PS4 as well in all versions. There's just something about h264 codecs and how Premiere handles it. I've tried switching to Screenflick but it has similar sync issues and timing problems. And I have to export. QT is the simplest and best for me since I know wtf I'm doing as far as editing. I don't need all the extra junk from Camtasia or Screenflow.

Part of it is that QT records at odd frame rates. But even the Screenflick files that I had to export at 30fps come into Premiere at 30.30. Of course interpreting the footage doesn't fix it. Making sure the audio is the same doesn't fix it. Nothing fixes it. And it's really messing me up. I like to keep these files around and I don't want to have 15 minute ProRes files littering my drives when the old h264s were working fine. I'll probably just hold out with 2015.3 for my tutorials for a bit unfortunately.

I'll try to check with people on the mograph slack to see if the Adobe peeps on there have an idea. I think I did last time, but it seemingly resolved itself so I didn't bother much and never found a solution that time.

Report · Jan 19, 2017

I have the exact same issue. I record the screen while filming the presenter, and sync the resulting recordings in Premiere. Since Premiere CC2017 the Quicktime screen recordings won't work: the clip length is considerably shorter, but all content is there, as if sped up. The audio is normal speed, and not in sync with the screen recording, and it gets cut short by the clip ending.

Because of this issue I am having to work in CC2015.3, which still works perfectly in this regard -> evidence that the change is in how Premiere handles Quicktime screen recordings, not that Apple have changed their Quicktime screen recording specs.

This is a serious bug that prevents me from working with the newest version of Premiere.

Report · Jan 20, 2017

I called tech support recently and they said that are aware of the issue and that it should be fixed sometime in a February update. He couldn't give me a specific date, but hopefully this turns out to be the case.

"I am writing the email in regards to your issue that when you are capturing the screen through the screen capturing tool premiere pro reduces the file duration and also the audio and video is not in sync. We checked on our as well the issue was coming so with the updates which are soon to come would be fixing the issue as for now it is recommended please use 2015 version only until the new updates."

Report · Apr 05, 2017

Just discovered this problem!

I updated my 2017 CC and I am about to take another try at it.

Did you guys ever get it fixed? I use mine for a podcast I produce.

Report · Apr 05, 2017

Not as far as I have seen. I don't believe that February update ever came. I usually try to load in a Quicktime screencap every new update since this happened and it hasn't worked yet. I'm still editing my screencast-related stuff in 2015. 😕

Report · Apr 16, 2017

Same problem. no fix yet.

Report · Apr 16, 2017

By the descriptions of all on this thread, the video playing does up but audio fine, the assumption would be that it is VFR recorded media. Download MediaInfo and drop a file on it. Go into Tree view and see under video whether this is CFR (constant frame rate) or VFR (variable frame rate).

PrPro is by design a program that works only with CFR media. So if that is the case, this isn't a bug you're hitting, it's by design.

Please submit a feature request form (link found on the forum's "overview" page) about this.

In the meantime you would need to convert the media with maybe Handbrake or use a screen capture program that creates VFR media.

Neil

Report · Apr 17, 2017

Yes, it's variable, no need to download anything to verify that. Here's the thing, it works fine in 2015.4 so at one point it actually was designed to do it. 2017 killed it.

They've also apparently said they intend to fix it and everyone on the team I've talked to knows it's variable. So I don't know what to tell you but it doesn't seem like it's a use case they don't support.

As for using something else, I rather hate all of the other options available. And QuickTime has the added bonus of being free. Every other package wants to ship with some crap editor and most don't even let you have easy access to the videos they record. Or they need to transcode as well so you end up with gigantic file sizes and longer waits. And the ones that do, also have issues in Premiere. I've tested quite a few of the screen capture softwares and they all have bigger drawbacks than using an old version of Premiere. It just sucks that it works in one version and not the very next one.

Report · Apr 17, 2017

Some VFR outputs from one device or software or another have at times played mostly sort of correctly in PrPro ... but by accident, not design. They just followed close enough to what PrPro expected to see to play back ok with "X" version of PrPro. But as the PrPro code changes over time, and the various capture apps change, the devices/apps using VFR that seem to "play" ok in PrPro constantly shifts.

Currently, in 2017, my Samsung S7 phone video looks pretty decent most of the time ... occasionally there'll be a herky-jerk where it jumps a couple frames worth of time. But the sound stays dead on and the video stays with the sound.

Next update, that may change.

Because they haven't ever designed PrPro to actually work with VFR. Now, submitting a feature request for this would be good, as you are very aware how many people use VFR media and PrPro.

https://www.adobe.com/cfusion/mmform/index.cfm?name=wishform

Neil

Report · Apr 17, 2017

I've sent a wish/bug report for it already a few times, and I've talked directly with the team as well. No one said it was unsupported that I can recall.

And yes, it's totally possible that that's the case. But, like I said, no one said I was using it in an unsupported fashion. So it's kind of hard to determine whether it's a happy accident that it works or a bug that it doesn't at least from my outsider's perspective.

Report · Apr 17, 2017

I've had this same sort of comment from several engineers over the last few NABs ... "We make video software. It's designed for CFR, and we don't even pay attention to whatever else is out there. VFR media is still video media. Depending on the device that made it and encoded it, it may or may not playback decently on PrPro. We don't test any of it. We ignore it. If it works, fine, if not ... well, convert it first."

Neil

Report · Apr 17, 2017

Thinking back on it, you're correct. I forgot that I had received that comment from one engineer, but not from others. And it was noted at the top of this thread that there was supposed to be work on it. So I don't know. I can't see it being fixed. So, like I said, I'm keeping 2015.4 around.

Report · Apr 17, 2017

I normally have at least one older version "live" depending on the projects I'm working. Handy, actually.

Neil

Report · Apr 17, 2017

Same. At one point I had like 3 or 4 versions of AE before I dropped a few. Now I normally have the current and second most recent versions of Premiere and AE.

Report · Apr 20, 2017

What would ideal file format to convert a quicktime screen recording using some sort of media converter?

I guess what program should I use for conversion and then what file format?

Report · May 07, 2017

Same problem here. We use Quicktime Player screen capture for the lecture recording service of our university. Up to 2015.2 everything went fine. A bug in Adobe's licensing forced us to make the switch to CC2017. Now the captures have completetly wrong timing. In Davinci Resolve they work perfectly.

Inserting an extra conversion step into our pipeline means a noticeable delay. I hope this will get fixed.

Report · May 07, 2017

If it's VFR media, don't hold your breath. Many have requested PrPro handle VFR instead of only CFR for some time. You can batch-convert easily in HandBrake ... IF you set it to a specific frame-rate for the conversion. If you choose same-as-original for frame-rate, it leaves it in VFR no matter that you've clicked the CFR box.

Neil

Report · May 07, 2017

Hi Neil, thank you for the Handbrake tipp.

Report · May 07, 2017

And do be sure to set a specific frame-rate speed with Handbrake ...

These are the setting I've used on several projects with 4k phone footage. Set your frame-rate first, then as they say, set the "Optimize Video" Encoder preset fairly slow for best quality. And I go 20 or lower on the "quality" level.

You may want to go a bit "higher" quality, slower on Optimize, and towards the placebo quality, may 18 or so. Or set an average bit-rate. One good idea is drop your drone media on MediaInfo, go into Tree view, and see what the bitrate numbers are. Make sure you're at or slightly above and you should be good.

Neil

Report · May 12, 2017

Thanks for your help. I recorded a Quicktime screen recording and also recorded the person giving a brief tutorial on a camera and syncing was a nightmare. Playing back in Finder/Quicktime/VLC etc. was fine, but after importing into Premiere and syncing the audio, the video portion was nearly twice as long. Converting in Handbrake definitely helped out. I hadn't tried converting in Media Encoder yet, but this option worked just fine for me in the newest monster of an update in April update of Premiere 2017. Thanks!

Report · Mar 03, 2018

Thanks this helps.

Report · Aug 10, 2017

Still having the same problem. I'm currently bypassing it by setting the frame rate manually. Any other ideas or updates?

Report · Aug 10, 2017

That can lead to issues with timing still. I just switched to using Screenflick. It was too much of a pain to deal with and I needed to just move on. On the plus side, there's no discernible delay at all with Screenflick, so I don't have to shift audio 15 frames so that my clicks line up. It also uses a lot less resources to record, so my fans on my video card don't start going nuts in the background. And After Effects is more responsive for my tutorials.

Report · Aug 31, 2017

Same issue here! That´s very annoying I had to convert the file to another format before adding it to Adobe Premier