How do I synchronise audio and video with an mpg file created in elements 11 ?

Question

How do I synchronise audio and video with an mpg file created in Premier Elements 11 ?
The source files are VOB files, and there is no problem with those source files.  But after creating the mpg file, the audio can be out of sync by 1 second or even 10 seconds, and sometimes zero seconds (ie perfectly OK).  That varies.  The variation might be linked to some of the VOB files.  ie. some are OK, and some are not.
Can I fix this automatically in Elements 11, or am I doing something wrong ?

Answer 1

Hartwood,
First, Premiere (both Pro and Elements) do not handle MPEG Audio perfectly - they like some files, but not all files with MPEG Audio. That makes a VOB a less-than-perfect source file. Still, with a bit of work, one should be able to edit it just fine. One of the factors is that there is a very slight block-size difference between the Encoded Video Stream and the Encode Audio Stream in a muxed MPEG-2 file. That often does not play into things, but can cause slight OOS (Out of Sync) issues. Also, both Premieres need to create all I-Frame files for the Video Stream, which is in GOP (Group of Pictures) structure, so what one sees on the Timeline is really a proxy of the MPEG-2 file's Video Stream. The Audio Stream must also be Conformed to PCM/WAV @ 48KHz 32-bit floating point, to be edited. That Conforming is perfect when one has PCM/WAV @ 48KHz 16-bit for the Audio Stream, but requires more work, when the Audio Stream is MPEG (one reason that some MP3's do not work well in Premiere). Several factors involved here, and a fair amount of work for the program. That is why DV-AVI Type II w/ 48KHz 16-bit PCM/WAV Audio works so perfectly.
Now, fixing OOS might be easy, or might require a bit more work. This article goes into some workflows, that might be helpful: http://forums.adobe.com/thread/436751?tstart=0
I can feel your pain, as I almost went crazy trying to fix OOS in a client's Project. They ONLY had the finished DVD, from which to work. The disc met the DVD-standards, so everything ripped/Imported fine, and when the simple edits were done (IIRC, there were four scenes, that had to be shortened, and then several Titles added), everything played fine in the Timeline. However, when I Transcoded that Timeline to be authored in Adobe Encore, two scenes went OOS. I went back to Premiere, and checked - all perfect there. I tried to judge the number of Frames that the Audio was out, in those scenes, and nudged them, tested, nudged, tested, and no matter what I did, I could never get the output files perfect, when Imported into Encore for authoring to DVD-Video. I tried DV-AVI, and letting Encore set the Transcoding automatically (usually a great way to work), I tried manually setting the Transcoding in Encore. I tried outputting to MPEG-2 from Premiere, and Importing that. No matter what I did, those two scenes were just OOS, and I could not even seem to improve them - it was like they were just locked OOS. I finally did some more editing, to break things up a bit, added a cut-away shot here, and there, and minimized the perceived OOS, but could never get it perfect. It was like trying to pick up quicksilver with a pair of tweezers!
Good luck,
Hunt