My plan for BigBaldGuy.com is to keep the daily message short and sweet using unedited webcam video. After experimenting with podcasting and social networking tools for a couple of years, I’ve learned that if I’m going to publish content on a daily basis it must be relatively effortless. The more complex the publishing process, the less likely I am to stick with it. It’s just too damn much work to produce a show like the SweatCast, for example. I may shoot some higher quality video when I’m out and about, but most days it will be my talking head on the webcam.
In the spirit of simplicity I chose to use my trusty Macbook Pro’s built-in iSight camera to record video in QuickTime, upload it to YouTube, and embed it in my posts. Sounds simple, right? It won’t be HD quality, but it will be good enough for my purposes here. Unless the audio and video don’t sync up. WTF??!! Whodathunk!
Here’s the original video recorded with QuickTime on my Macbook Pro. The audio and video are out of sync and it drives me crazy! I can’t publish videos like this. Watch just a little of it to see how bad it is.
Here’s the same video edited with QT Sync and saved as an MPEG-4 using the Broadband-High setting. I’ve adjusted the audio to advance 168 milliseconds. This video is much more enjoyable to watch:
I find the QT Sync video quality to be very good and using it allows me to record in my normal workspace with the Macbook Pro. Now I won’t have to schlep down to the basement to record in my dark studio on the iMac where I don’t experience this problem. I also need to be able to easily record when traveling, so I’m happy to have found a solution for the Macbook. While it’s great to have the problem solved, I’m still annoyed that I have to go through these extra steps. C’mon, Apple, let’s fix this problem and make QuickTime record it right the first time! Seems like a perfectly reasonable request, don’t ya think? Leave a comment with your thoughts.
Download from MacUpdate.com: QT Sync 0.3.3
Step by Step Fix
1. Download & install QT Sync (Mac only, I believe).
2. Record and save video with QuickTime.
3. Open video with QT Sync.
4. Adjust audio track to 168ms or whatever works best for your video. Change the setting on the fly to test.
5. Export the video into MPEG-4 format using the Broadband – High setting.
6. Play the exported .mp4 video in QuickTime to see that audio is now in sync with the video.
7. Upload to YouTube.
Credit to TechTicker for solving this problem for me. Thanks Mike!
{ 7 comments… read them below or add one }
Hey TBBG!
I’ve search the internet for two days until i found your post on this weird problem. I’ve been as much frustrated over this, because it should not exist, it’s a stupid flaw in either the hardware or software. I now have a Macbook Pro, but I used to have a white Macbook that worked briliant with Quicktime… As much people as possible should email Apple and demand that they fix this problem, pronto!
Anyways, thank’s for sharing your tip with QT Sync, I’m gonna try it out as soon as possible.
Charlie, Sweden
I have been having the same problem with QT and iMovie. The funny thing is that my iSight and imovie were working fine back in the fall. Now, all of a sudden the sound isn’t syncd up. Will the QT Sync update help with iMovie?
Seems like QT Sync could sync up an iMovie video that’s been saved as a Quicktime file.
thanks big bald guy -this issue was pissing me off big time. I am sure most Macbook using bloggers have run across it at some point. QT sync totally helped fix the problem, but I agree – why do we have to waste time hunting it down – this hasn’t come up to Apple ?
Thank you for the hint – saved my day!
After about 2 mins your “resynced” movie is out of sync! I’m not sure if its the flash player on my MacBook (new) or if its your original resynced video – but its out of sync!
D
Thank you so much for your tip here. It helped so much. It resolved my issue.
I use iMovie 7.1.4 to record audition videos right onto my MacBook Pro. This was working with little effort until QuickTime 7.6 came out. (I did not upgrade to iMovie 8.0.) Now, when I export from iMovie to a QT movie, the audio and video are out of sync. I can’t find anything online about adjustments I can make in the iMovie export process to fix this. So, thanks again for the QT Sync tip.
I’m afraid Daniel Riisager Döderlein is correct about your 2nd video, at least when I view it. I’m on a MacBook Pro, 2.4 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo using QuickTime 7.6, if that helps you any. It pops out around 1:38.
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