Audio Sync Issue When Exporting to Quicktime

Question

Currently using Premiere Pro CS3 3.2 and Quicktime 7.5.5
When I export to a quicktime .mov, my audio is a few frames out of sync. I've tried downgrading to older versions of quicktime with no success. Everything is completely in sync inside Premiere. If I import my rendered out-of-sync .mov back into Premiere, it magically syncs up fine again. It's the weirdest thing.
Help!

Answer 1

Scott:
There is a workaround.
I never really found a solid cause/solution, but if you're noticing that you have a couple of white frames at the end of your Quicktime exports, then you're probably suffering the same problem I have. Tech people I have checked with have suggested that the problem may be related to the use of .mp3 sound files (as opposed to .wav) in the Premiere project, but after removing them and replacing them with .wav's the problem persisted.
I am not technical enough to figure out exactly what's causing the problem, but I think it must have something to do with the Adobe Media Encoder (at least how it works on my computer). From what I've read on the subject, the Media Encoder is Premiere's Achilles's Heel.
Changing versions of Quicktime did nothing. Others trying to solve this problem have tried exporting their files with every conceivable variation of options and settings in the Adobe Media Encoder with no positive result.
I'm not the only one with this issue, but searches of the Internet show it to be relatively rare, so it's probably some weird glitch somewhere deep in my system. It's not widely-reported enough for anyone to care about addressing this bug. Of the few people that I've found suffering from this anomaly, none have found a fix.
But the good news is that I have found a workaround that accomplishes getting a quicktime file out properly that does work for me. I avoid the Adobe Media Encoder completely.
Step 1: Go to File > Export > Movie, and under Settings > General choose QuickTime, under Video > Compressor choose H.264, then Uncompressed Audio. I have not experimented with other settings, but believe that most of them will do just fine.
If you examine the quicktime file you've just exported, you'll see it works just swell; i.e. no white frames at the end of the movie and the sound syncs up perfectly. Okay, sounds great---but there's no way to limit the data rate using this method, which means we're stuck with a ridiculously large file.
The solution is to load the Quicktime file that you've just exported into Quicktime Pro, and now export it using data rate compression / sound compression options to suit your tastes. Bingo!
The other workaround that I have heard from some is to export your movie (again, avoiding the Adobe Media Encoder, instead using File > Export > Movie) as an Uncompressed AVI, and then compress with QT pro as before. This method didn't work for me, something about not having the proper codec on my system to read the AVI file that was exported, which makes absolutely zero sense but I couldn't find the right codec anywhere, even after identifying it with some super-duper codec identification utility. Go figure!
So, you'll have to get QT Pro ($30 I think) to use this workaround, but it does work, and that's what counts. I have no idea if there's a QT Pro clone or similar program available out there. Compression/decompression and all that jazz is way beyond me and I'm just happy to be able to get my file finally out there in working condition.
The only other bit of information I might share with you is that I tried searching the Internet at great length to try and solve this issue, but on the rare occasion I did find someone suffering this problem they were as confounded and frustrated as I was, and no one had a real solution. I continued to search with different search terms and tripped over the clues to this solution when searching for "white frame problem" in relation to Premiere. I even believe that if you search the Abobe forums you may find some posts about it, so if you're inclined to learn more about it, I suggest concentrating your searches with terms that refer to the white frame problem/issue, instead of the terms I used for so long, such as "Premiere Audio Sync Quicktime" and the endless permutations thereof.
But I'll bet this workaround works for you. Let me know, and if you'd like me to try it on one of your exports on my computer I'd be happy to give it a go.
I have often wondered if upgrading to CS4 would solve this problem. Are you using CS3 like me? If I could be sure CS4 made this issue vanish I would jump on it, but there just isn't enough information out there to know for sure. I'm inclined to think not.
Please do let me know if this solution works for you, or if you dig up any new information.
Thanks!