Audio problems (voiceover or music soundtrack repeating, skipping, no sound, volume, etc)


  • SYMPTOM: If you are experiencing problems importing a sound file to your scribe, or problems (such as skipping, repeating or no sound) with the voiceover or music in your rendered videos, some of these notes and tips may help you to resolve them:


    SOLUTIONS AND TIPS: (Most of these tips and bug workarounds apply to VideoScribe version 1.3.26 and 2.0, and they may also apply to other versions.)


    1) If you import a voiceover or music soundtrack, your sound file must be mp3 format.

    2) for the error "There was a problem accessing the MP3 file at the URL you specified.", make sure your file extension is lowercase(".mp3") instead of uppercase (".MP3") which may cause an error. You may also want to make the filename all letters and/or numbers if it contains any unusual characters.

    3) if your voiceover repeats because the video lasts longer than the voiceover, then edit the voiceover in a program like audacity and add more seconds of silence at the end.

    4) If you import an MP3 file but you hear no sound in videoscribe or in your rendered video, You may have a stereo audio file that only has sound in the left or right channel. If your audio file is a mono file saved as a stereo file (only the left or right channel has sound) it may not work at all (I'm not sure if this applies only to voiceovers or to music as well). If so you can resave your stereo mp3 in mono and it may work.

    5) If your music or voiceover seems to be skipping, repeating, stopping prematurely, or otherwise not working properly, make sure that you select the "loop music" option for the music soundtrack (on the music selection menu)." If you do not currently have a music track, you can try selecting a music track, looping it and setting the volume to zero.

    6) If you are using version 1.3.30, 1.3.31 or 1.3.32 of videoscribe, you may be experiencing one of several bugs which can be resolved by uninstalling the newer version of videoscribe and installing version 1.3.26 (or 2.0, or whatever version is currently on the versions page) https://my.sparkol.com/versions

    7) if you hear no sound, there is always a small chance that you have your volume muted on youtube or in your video player, or your speakers are off or the speaker volume is low.

    8) if your video is quicktime MOV then make sure you are using the current (or at least, a recent version of) quicktime player to play it back. If you have more than one player installed, you may want to try another video player.

    9) Make sure you add your soundtrack using the soundtrack icon (looks like musical notes) and add your voiceover using the voiceover icon (looks like a microphone).

    10) If the sound plays in preview mode but not in your rendered video, try using "save as a NEW COPY and close" (the save icon with two diskettes) to rename your scribe and save it as a new copy with a different name. Then open it and render it again to see if that solves the problem. That process can resolve a variety of rendering problems sometimes.


    11) If your scribe has a music soundtrack and you want to remove it, open the music soundtrack menu by clicking the music notes icon at the top of the screen, and then click the "no track" option which is the first selection in the list.


    12) if you saved a scribe online from one computer and then opened it on a DIFFERENT computer or device and the audio seems to be missing, that is a known bug. Download the scribe from your online-scribes page on the videoscribe website and save it to your computer as a .scribe file. Then import it manually (instead of opening the online file).


    13) some users have reported problems with sound after importing into powerpoint. consult powerpoint's website for preferred video formats, frame rates, etc. also see if the video/audio plays correctly after exporting from powerpoint.


    14) if you have more than one video player installed or third-party codecs, they may cause one or more of the players to have problems. Try playing your videoscribe video in a different player.

    Users have reported that a new MOV stuttered in quicktime player but played properly in realtime player or vice-versa. If your video stutters in quicktime but not when uploaded to youtube, then the problem is probably with your installed players/codecs.


    15) some users have reported problems with mp3 files that were saved with bitrates of 128 or lower. Try saving your mp3 with a bitrate of 256 or 320


    16) for version 2.0 on MACs it has been reported that music tracks may not save properly in rendered videos (no music can be heard). It is said that you can import a music mp3 into the voiceover slot and it will work.


    17) if none of the other solutions seem to help (or just as a test to see what happens)  you could try loading the voiceover into the music slot instead of the voiceover slot.


    -Mike (videoscribe user)


     

  • It seems a better idea, to prevent syncing problems, is record the audio within Videoscribe as the scribe is playing but every attempt at doing this has failed.  Where is a how-to on this?

     

  • Hi Leroy,


    Does this happen on all scribes or just a particular one? What happens when the recording attempts fail?


    How to record or add a voiceover in VideoScribe.


    If your computer has a built-in microphone you can record directly into your scribe using the microphone icon on your canvas. In version 2 you can play your scribe as you record by ticking the 'Show scribe on record' in the 'Record voiceover' screen.


    Alternatively, you can pre-record a voiceover and import it into VideoScribe as a file or via a URL (a web page address).


    Pre-recording a voiceover

    Use audio-editing software that will allow you to save in MP3 format. Audacity is a popular free program to use. You will also need the LAME plugin to save in MP3 format

    Decide if you want to use a microphone or your computer’s built-in speaker to make your recording

    Use Audacity or other software to record and then edit your voiceover

    Save it as an MP3 file

    To import your finished voiceover into VideoScribe:


    In VideoScribe, select the microphone icon on the canvas

    Click the file icon (import button in version 1) and select your file. It will load automatically

    To adjust the volume, select the voiceover icon again 

    If you are interested in hiring a professional voiceover artist for your scribe, please see the Sparkol Marketplace.

  • So many ridiculous bugs associated with music tracks and audio files... really, really disappointing

     

  • Hi,


    I have a series of 10 or so scribes with recorded voice audio. Two scribes miss up to 10 seconds at the beginning when rendered but there are no problems when I use playback in videoscribe. 


    I have already tried saving as a new copy with different name and re-render.

    Any tips?

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