QuickTime Recording

[nickle15]

I am trying to record a movie using Quicktime on my Mac mini. It's a brand new M1 machine if that matters.

I have a Logitech webcam for the video input and have no trouble recording that but the audio will not record. I have a Focusrite 18i8 interface and that comes up in the recording input options when I start a new recording in Quicktime. I've tried every experiment/configuration I could to no avail.

I would like to record a movie using the Focusrite to capture the audio (playing synth) and the Logitech capturing video. Is this possible? If so, any quick ideas on what I'm doing wrong? Thanks!

[sonics]

I don't know QuickTime, but why not try something like OBS Studio. It's free, and will give you all the control you need.

[MOF]

Have you tried iMovie (it will allow you tidy up the video before export) and set the audio input to your audio interface in ‘settings’?

[Luke W]

OBS would be my suggestion for this sort of task as well.

The settings that appear in QuickTime certainly imply that it's possible to do exactly what you're trying to achieve. Does your interface work as expected in other software?

The benefit of using something like OBS though is that you'll have more comprehensive settings at your disposal, and some level meters that will assist in finding any faults if nothing else!

[nickle15]

I have iMovie but wasn't aware of any recording capabilities - I've just used it for editing. I'll check into it!

I'll also take a look at OBS. Happy to try any solution that gets me where I'm wanting to go. Thanks to both of you!

Thanks Luke - my interface works perfectly for audio recording in Pro Tools and Garageband, so no issues there. OBS sounds like a good place to look. Thank you!

[nickle15]

Well, I consider myself a reasonably intelligent person. Not smart, mind you. But not a total idiot. That being said I just can't seem to accomplish my goal here. Right now if I want to make a movie I record video on my iPhone, and audio in my DAW. I then merge those two files in iMovie.

That process is fine except for the audio and video eventually fall out of sync, typically within two minutes. I've been down all the rabbit holes to ensure my settings in iMovie and on my iPhone are set correctly and they are. In my mind I keep thinking there must be a way to use my webcam and my Mac to make a movie file in one program. Thus my query here.

After the responses to this post I spent a few hours trying to use OBS, QuickTime, and iMovie but can never get audio into the recordings. I've been to Focusrite's site which gave me instructions on how to accomplish this. I used the instruction on the OBS site to set up the audio - all to no avail.

So can someone tell me (who actually does something similar), is what I'm trying to do even possible? Can I capture audio and video in one program or is merging two files together the best I can do?

I've been all over Google looking for answers so I'm not being lazy here - I'm just at the end of my rope. It might come down to me just not understanding some principle related to using an audio interface, though it's working for all my audio so I think I'm doing something right.

Thanks for any advice anyone might care to offer. And thanks for letting me vent.

[sonics]

OBS Studio is designed for capturing video and audio sources together.

Does the webcam show up in OBS?
Does the audio input show up in OBS?

If not, what have you tried to do to fix it?

[nickle15]

Hello! The webcam shows up, and be added, and I can see what will be recorded.

I'm not sure how to answer the other question. I understood from the OBS site, and the Focusrite site that a go between app would be needed to bring in audio from my interface to the OBS software. So I installed the BlackHole software recommended by OBS. I then followed the steps to get a new audio device set up. Once that was done it was able to be added in the OBS devices but still no audio. Interestingly the only audio that would be audible (and visible on the meter) is audio playing from my Mac, such as something on YouTube or the Music app. So that's where I'm at... Thanks for checking in!

[BJG145]

QuickTime...I hadn't realised that was still a thing. Guess it still is in Mac-world.

[sonics]

Did you follow the instructions provided by Focusrite HERE?

[nickle15]

Did you follow the instructions provided by Focusrite HERE?

I did. That was my next stop after the OBS instructions didn't pan out. I noticed that there is a step late in the process on the FR page that I can't follow because the option they tell me to select does not appear in my dropdown page. Grrrrr....

Thanks for trying. It's 12:52 in the afternoon here in cold Missouri, USA and I'm not moving until I get this to work! Or I have a stress induced heart attack - which might not be that far off!

[MOF]

That process is fine except for the audio and video eventually fall out of sync, typically within two minutes. I've been down all the rabbit holes to ensure my settings in iMovie and on my iPhone are set correctly and they are.

If there’s a notable loss of synch’ in two minutes then I think it’s a settings problem.
If you’re in the USA you have various camera settings at 30 fps and 29.97 drop frame and non drop frame.
In the UK a camcorder should be 25fps and audio at 48 khz, not the CD rate of 44.1khz, and a webcam might be set to a different rate.
Select your video file and click Apple+i to get its data settings and then set the audio rate to match.

[nickle15]

That process is fine except for the audio and video eventually fall out of sync, typically within two minutes. I've been down all the rabbit holes to ensure my settings in iMovie and on my iPhone are set correctly and they are.

If there’s a notable loss of synch’ in two minutes then I think it’s a settings problem.
If you’re in the USA you have various camera settings at 30 fps and 29.97 drop frame and non drop frame.
In the UK a camcorder should be 25fps and audio at 48 khz, not the CD rate of 44.1khz, and a webcam might be set to a different rate.
Select your video file and click Apple+i to get its data settings and then set the audio rate to match.

Thanks - my iPhone is shooting at 60 fps (according to what the iPhone screen shows). The info tab that pops up from the resulting video file doesn't give me any audio information - at least not that I can identify - besides the audio channels line that says Mono. Under Codecs it lists Timed Metadata, AAC, H.264 and I'm not sure if those mean anything. 1920x1080

The wav file I bounced out of Pro Tools is at 44.1kHz and 24 bits.

These are both representative of the files I would be merging in iMovie. Do you see anything in those settings that would pose the sync problem? Thanks so much for your time!

[ManFromGlass]

Just guessing here but what if you tried a quick test of shooting at 30 fps? Maybe Quicktime (with it’s ancient roots) is more comfortable with that?
I’m having a back-in-the-day memory of video/audio drifting because the audio was one rate but the video was 29.97 drop, or non-drop or even an actual 30 fps. Some of the joys of being in N. America.

[nickle15]

Just guessing here but what if you tried a quick test of shooting at 30 fps? Maybe Quicktime (with it’s ancient roots) is more comfortable with that?
I’m having a back-in-the-day memory of video/audio drifting because the audio was one rate but the video was 29.97 drop, or non-drop or even an actual 30 fps. Some of the joys of being in N. America.

Thanks - I have tried each of the different video settings on the phone. The sync issue is presenting itself in iMovie when I try to merge a wav file from Pro Tools with a video file from the iPhone. QuickTime was just something I tried recording with because it was on my Mac already and seemed convenient - outside of the fact that it didn't work!!

[MOF]

The wav file I bounced out of Pro Tools is at 44.1kHz and 24 bits.

That’s not the video rate, it should be 48khz.

[Drew Stephenson]

A lot of phones and DLSRs shoot their video with audio captured at 44.1, 48 is not as universal as is sometimes thought.

[Edited for clarity]

[nickle15]

The wav file I bounced out of Pro Tools is at 44.1kHz and 24 bits.

That’s not the video rate, it should be 48khz.

So changing this in Pro Tools would potentially fix my sync issues?

[MOF]

So changing this in Pro Tools would potentially fix my sync issues?

Almost certainly. If you've already done some recordings export the audio at 48khz, it should sample rate convert without any artefacts.

[nickle15]

So changing this in Pro Tools would potentially fix my sync issues?

Almost certainly. If you've already done some recordings export the audio at 48khz, it should sample rate convert without any artefacts.

I will be doing some more work this weekend and thanks to your advice I will hopefully have better results. My Focusrite interface is set to a sample rate of 44.1 and all of my audio flows through it. Would you think this needs to be changed or will just changing it to output the wav file at 48 be sufficient? Thanks so much!!

[sonics]

I'm going to go back to the task of trying to get OBS working, assuming that to be the method you would prefer, rather than having to sync your audio in post.

I have a new-ish M1 Mac Mini here, running Monterey. I am going to need OBS on it, and it had not yet been installed.

I ran the latest OBS Studio installer and made sure to allow the app access to the microphone in "System Preferences>Security&Privacy>Privacy>Microphone" as it requests during the installation. If you have not done that, then OBS will not have access to the inputs on your interface, and you may see the device, but get no signal. This is a known issue for audio apps.

Then in OBS Settings>Audio add your interface as mic/aux device. You should then be able to add it to the Sources device list.

Once done, I had no problems seeing my microphone levels (from my PreSonus interface) in OBS.

(I believe that you don't need to configure a special audio routing app unless you need to record or stream the desktop audio. I did not install any such app.)

P.S. Set your interface to 48kHz. It's the best option unless you are recording a CD.

[nickle15]

I'm going to go back to the task of trying to get OBS working, assuming that to be the method you would prefer, rather than having to sync your audio in post.

I have a new-ish M1 Mac Mini here, running Monterey. I am going to need OBS on it, and it had not yet been installed.

I ran the latest OBS Studio installer and made sure to allow the app access to the microphone in "System Preferences>Security&Privacy>Privacy>Microphone" as it requests during the installation. If you have not done that, then OBS will not have access to the inputs on your interface, and you may see the device, but get no signal. This is a known issue for audio apps.

Then in OBS Settings>Audio add your interface as mic/aux device. You should then be able to add it to the Sources device list.

Once done, I had no problems seeing my microphone levels (from my PreSonus interface) in OBS.

(I believe that you don't need to configure a special audio routing app unless you need to record or stream the desktop audio. I did not install any such app.)

P.S. Set your interface to 48kHz. It's the best option unless you are recording a CD.

Huge step forward here, I think. I was able to plug a mic into the FR and it came to life. I recorded using my webcam and mic input on the interface and it worked! I hadn't tried that input (input 2) in the tests up to now. So...

I have an analog mixer that all my keyboards route through, then they run into my inputs 5/6 on the FR. Am I correct then in assuming I have to find a way to get OBS to recognize 5/6 before I have any hope of capturing that audio? That's the big hurdle at this point. If I can get that lined up I'm good to go!

You have my sincere thanks. You've helped me accomplish some goals here that I've been working on for many months and I'm grateful. Thank you!!

[sonics]

Am I correct then in assuming I have to find a way to get OBS to recognize 5/6 before I have any hope of capturing that audio?

I believe that would be done using the Focusrite Control app. That should allow you to route and control signals within the interface, giving you the mix of signals you want going into OBS. ...I think

[nickle15]

Am I correct then in assuming I have to find a way to get OBS to recognize 5/6 before I have any hope of capturing that audio?

I believe that would be done using the Focusrite Control app. That should allow you to route and control signals within the interface, giving you the mix of signals you want going into OBS. ...I think

I bet you’re right! I’ll take a look. Thanks again!!!