It can't quite tell how you are linking these video tracks to audio tracks, but the only way for the tools to appear is for both of the clip's tracks to be the exact same length before they're linked.

If one of them is just one frame off (or is the same length but is misaligned to the left or right), then PD will treat them as a "group" rather than a single clip, and it sounds like that's what's happening to you. Here's an example, and if you see the dividing line between the A/V tracks, they're not actually linked, even though you told PD to link them:



The solutions/workarounds depend on how you've got the clips arranged now and what kinds of edits you want to do. One approach would be to zoom in tight on the edges of your clips and move or trim both ends before linking them. If the dividing line disappears, then you'll know that PD will treat it as a single, normal A/V clip from now on.

Another option would be to produce the all clips one at a time, as-is, and then import them and replace the timeline contents with the new versions. This approach won't require you to match the lengths of the A/V tracks since the produced clips will simply be black (or silent) for any section where one track extends beyond the other.

If neither of these seem to address your situation, please take a screenshot of your timeline and attach it here using this button when you reply:


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Thanks for your quick reply. I started with 2 ~20 minute clips, I replaced their soundtracks and used the sync feature to sync the audio to the video. I then started splitting the clips into smaller segments based on content. Since the segments were split the after replacing the soundtrack (and linking the soundtrack to the video track) they tracks for each segment should be the same length and appear to be.

I've attached two screenshots. The first (Original_Segment) shows a segment that still has the original soundtrack and the tools appear when it is selected. The second (New_Sndtrk) is one of the clips with the soundtrack replaced and the tools do not appear when it is selected.

I just tried deleting the segment with the original soundtrack and I clicked on the new first segment and the tools appeared for that segment but still won't appear for any of the other segements.

Thanks very much for the screenshots. I have a couple ideas that may get you past this, even if I'm not yet clear on what's exactly happening to cause PD to not accept the linked clips.

First, copy a clip with the original soundtrack and place it on the timeline in the New_Sndtrk project. Unlink the A/V on both that one and the matching one with the new soundtrack, then swap soundtracks and try to link again. This will tell us whether the issue is related to the new soundtrack or not.

Second, go back to the step where you first had the 2 long clips with the new soundtrack, then produce each one (search the forum for Produce Range if you're not familiar with that process). If doing that AND repeating the cuts you made aren't too much work, that should solve your problem.

There's actually a way to get your New_Sndtrk project to open up with those new clips rather than replacing them all on the timeline, but if those clips aren't recognized as "whole" that may not work, so for the moment just think about whether it's worth redoing with produced clips.

Another option would be to use the Pack Project Materials feature to save a copy of the project and all its media files in a folder, then upload that to the cloud and paste a link here. That way I and others could open it up and see exactly what's going on.

Go with as many of these as you're comfortable trying out.

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While I'm trying out your suggestions I had a thought. I did color correction and lighting adjustments in ColorDirector before editing the clips. Could this have something to do with my current problem?

Keith

I can't see why that should have an impact, but since I don't have the clips to test I can't rule it out. Packing the project as described in my last post would be an ideal way for me to figure out what's going on, but only do that if you're OK sharing the clips.

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I'm having a similar issue as well, but on PowerDirector17 and I've uploaded a short video to show the issue. This shows that even without modifying the audio track, re-linking removes the tools.

Didn't realize this was for PD16. I created a new issue in the PD17 section - https://forum.cyberlink.com/forum/posts/list/0/78230.page#320687

That is the normal behaviour. Unlink the video and audio again, select the video part and you have the tools back.
If you unlink audio from video, take an other audio file and link them, the resulting clip is not treated the same as before.

Hatti Win 10 64, i7-4790k, 32GB Ram, 256 GB SSD, SATA 2TB, SATA 4TB, NVidia GTX1080 8GB, LG 34" 4K Wide, AOC 24" 1080

Quote First, copy a clip with the original soundtrack and place it on the timeline in the New_Sndtrk project. Unlink the A/V on both that one and the matching one with the new soundtrack, then swap soundtracks and try to link again. This will tell us whether the issue is related to the new soundtrack or not.

Another option would be to use the Pack Project Materials feature to save a copy of the project and all its media files in a folder, then upload that to the cloud and paste a link here. That way I and others could open it up and see exactly what's going on.

Go with as many of these as you're comfortable trying out.

Sorry for being gone so long. I tried the first suggestion and had no luck. I've tried to pack, but the file is over 4 Gb so I couldn't upload to Cyberlink Cloud. I got an error message after 4 hours or so. I tried trimming the video to a 5-minute clip, but when packing, it packs the entire 4 Gb plus.

I read Hatti's message that this is normal behavior, but if that is so, how can I replace a dialogue soundtrack and still do edits?

Keith

Quote Sorry for being gone so long. I tried the first suggestion and had no luck. I've tried to pack, but the file is over 4 Gb so I couldn't upload to Cyberlink Cloud. I got an error message after 4 hours or so. I tried trimming the video to a 5-minute clip, but when packing, it packs the entire 4 Gb plus.

I read Hatti's message that this is normal behavior, but if that is so, how can I replace a dialogue soundtrack and still do edits?

First, packing the project requires all source materials to go along with it, even if you only have a 10 sec clip on the timeline but it's from a 4GB source. Also, since this seems to be PD's expected behavior, you don't need to share your project.

Using Produce Range on each split clip will certainly solve the problem, because it will create a brand new clip from the mixed A/V tracks on the timeline.

Another option, since it's the re-linked combination that PD doesn't like, is to simply don't do it. Relinking is already an extra step and normally there isn't any real benefit to doing so.

However, if you will be working with other audio-only or video-only/image clips on that same timeline track, it's possible for your "split" clip's tracks to get out of sync if you make certain changes to any A-only or V-only track clips to the left of where your split clips are on the timeline. In that case, it's probably better to relink the split clips and then remember to unlink them later if you need to edit it.

Sorry that it's such a pain!

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Sorry that it's such a pain!