Sequencing waveform out of sync?

XerxesDGreat

XerxesDGreat

New elf
Joined
Dec 26, 2020
Messages
15
I'm manually adding a timing track (several tempo changes in the song) by creating an empty timing track and tapping 't' at each beat or bar (depending on which I'm working on), but I notice that they're always at least one frame (25ms) and usually two frames (50ms) after the corresponding peak in the waveform. When I add an effect, say a simple on, to a beat or bar, the models turn on/off perfectly in sync with the music, leading me to believe that the rendered waveform itself is just offset. Is there a way to refresh the waveform or move it?
 
Have you tried using the built in vamp plugins to detect the beats & bars? I've found even with tempo changes it works pretty well.
You can also move any timing marks (be they manual ones you've entered or automated ones) just by sliding them across to properly match the start of the waveform peaks if they happen to just miss.
As a DJ I try to get everything as tight as possible but as a realist who has had a pixel display for a number of years, show size, network traffic, delays from FM Transmitter to receiver, viewing distance and when recording via phone/video, all introduce minute and subtle delays all of their own. Its essentially impossible to get it exact but very close to it, 99% of the audience would not even notice.

TL:DR: I wouldn't stress the small stuff if it's out by one frame here or there.
 
yeah, those are all good points, and I totally can move a timing mark; the issue is it's an entire song's worth of timing marks which I can't move en masse. Also, it's odd because the same issue doesn't seem to occur when I import a new sequence; the visuals line up with the sound and the timing marks line up with the wave form.

However, in the grand scheme of things, I have gone with the spirit of what you're saying; I'm basically just using the wave form as a guideline, keeping in mind that it's about two frames early, and doing the actual sequences by ear, watching the lights, and ignoring my inner perfectionist. 😁
 
So, update to this, I never found a way get the wave form to line up with the music; I'm treating that as a lost cause. However, I did come across another issue which seems to happen for some reason; the timing marks themselves got out of sync with the audio, so now the show is clearly out of sync. However, I poked around and, since the .xsq file is just xml with elements which have a start and end time, it was just a matter of writing a quick python script to bump everything over by 100ms or so.
 
no, hardwired speakers. At this point, I've completely ignored the waveform and instead gone completely on sound, setting up timing marks accordingly. I've also exported a video of the sequence and uploaded to youtube; all the effects are in sync with the video on all youtube players, yet the waveform is still not in sync in xLights. Was hoping there would be a way to fix but "ignore the problem" is fine by me :-D
 
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