Zencastr Produce is a paid feature that enhances and mixes together the separate audio (and video) files for you and your guests into a combined file.
If you encounter an issue while running a postproduction, see below.
In this article:
Postproduction Not Completing
Issue
A postproduction on the Produce Page appears stalled at some percent of processing, such as ‘Waiting…5%’, ‘Processing audio…10%’, ‘Processing audio…40%’, ‘Finalizing audio…50%’, ‘Processing video…80%’ or ‘Finalizing video…90%’ for more than an hour after it was started, without any apparent progress. Or, on the Recording Page, a postproduction appears to be at ‘25% Uploaded’ for more than an hour after it was started, without any apparent progress.
Causes
The postproduction most often stalls when:
A participant who has a silent audio track is included in the postproduction
E.g. a participant who was only listening in had their microphone muted during the entire recording
Less frequently, this might happen when:
A participant who recorded with their mic gain (input volume) at a very low level is included in the postproduction
Troubleshooting
Troubleshooting steps are for if the upload progress is stuck/not moving at percent of processing. If the postproduction progress is moving, but slowly, it is recommended to wait for the postproduction to finish.
If a participant who had a silent audio track was included in the postproduction:
On the Produce Page, click on the Participants tab and deselect the participant with the silent audio track and rerun the postproduction
If a participant who recorded with very low mic gain was included in the postproduction:
Please contact Zencastr Support via chat or email to see what options there are for this postproduction
Audio Is Out Of Sync In The Final Mix
Issue
In an ‘Audio Podcast’ or ‘Video Podcast’ file the participants are not synced correctly - e.g. one participant is talking over another, two or more participants are speaking at the same time, a participant is answering questions before they are asked, or other sync problems that did not occur during the original recording session.
Causes
Currently, Produce lines up files correctly when all participants’ audio tracks (MP3 or WAV) start at the same time. When participants’ audio tracks don’t start at the same time this is usually because:
A guest joins the call after the host has already started the recording
A host or guest leaves the recording page and later rejoins when the recording is still in progress, which creates multiple tracks for the participant who rejoined
A guest’s recording initiates a few seconds after the host starts the recording because of computer performance or internet connectivity issues
Troubleshooting
Currently, Produce cannot line up tracks that start at a different time, nor can it line up multiple sets of tracks for a participant. To fix the sync issue, you will need to use an audio or video editing program outside of Zencastr to manually line up the audio (and video) tracks for all participants.
For future recordings, you can minimize the chances of sync issues by:
Making sure all guests join before starting the recording
Checking internet speeds and connections before recording to reduce the chances of disconnections
Advising guests to close out all other open programs and apps while recording to reduce the load on their computer
Partial Content For A Participant In The Final Mix
Issue
An ‘Audio Podcast’ or ‘Video Podcast’ file only contains partial content for a participant, e.g. the participant’s last few minutes of audio (and video) are missing.
Causes
Currently, Produce lines up one set of audio (and video) files for each participant. When a participant has more than one set of audio (and video) files, this is usually because:
A host or guest leaves the recording page and later rejoins when the recording is still in progress, by either refreshing the page or closing and reopening it
A host or guest has internet issues that cause them to get disconnected and then later reconnected while the recording is still in progress
Troubleshooting
Currently, Produce cannot line up multiple sets of tracks for a participant. To fix the missing content issue, you will need to use an audio or video editing program outside of Zencastr to line up the participant’s multiple tracks and then manually line these up with the audio (and video) tracks for the other participants.
For future recordings, you can minimize the chances that multiple sets of tracks are created by:
Checking internet speeds and connections before recording to reduce the chances of disconnections
Advising guests to close out all other open programs and apps while recording to reduce the load on their computer
The host stopping a recording if anyone gets disconnected, waiting for that participant to rejoin the page and their files to fully upload, and then starting a new recording
No Content For a Participant In the Final Mix
Issue
An ‘Audio Podcast’ or ‘Video Podcast’ file does not contain any audio (and video) for a participant, i.e the participant’s content is missing from the postproduction.
Causes
When a postproduction does not contain any content for a participant even though they participated in the recording, this most often is because one of more of their recording files have an unfinalized track error. On the Produce Page, on the Participants tab, the participant with unfinalized tracks will have an exclamation mark symbol next to their name that, when hovered over, reads “No tracks available.”
Troubleshooting
To fix the issue of the participant not being included in the postproduction:
The affected participant first needs to do troubleshooting steps for their unfinalized tracks to complete the upload of their tracks.
Once the participant’s tracks have been uploaded, the host re-runs the postproduction with the participant selected.
Error Downloading Postproduction Files
Issue
When attempting to download a postproduction on the Produce Page an error that reads “An error occurred, your ZIP file may be missing files ()” appears and the zip file either does not download to the computer or downloads but is missing one or more postproduction files.
Causes
When an error appears while postproduction files are being downloaded, this most often indicates a problem occurred while zipping the files.
Troubleshooting
To get around the error encountered while downloading your postproduction files from the Produce Page, you can try downloading them from the Recording Page instead by:
From your Dashboard, on the Rooms tab, click the room name.
On the Recording Page, on the Podcast Mixes track, click Download Audio Podcast and Download Video Podcast.
You also can retry downloading from the Produce Page at a later time as the error may clear itself.
Error Running Postproduction
Issue
When attempting to run a postproduction it fails with an error that reads “There was an error running your postproduction. No credits were deducted for this attempt.”
Causes
When a postproduction run fails with an error, most often the cause is a problem with selected settings. Less frequently, the cause is an issue in the source files. In rare instances, there may be an issue with Produce itself. Rest assured that no matter the cause, no postproduction credits are deducted for postproductions that fail with this error.
Troubleshooting
If a postproduction fails with an error, try rerunning it once more. If the postproduction fails again, please contact Zencastr Support via chat or email to investigate the cause of the problem and see what options there are for this postproduction.
Other Issues
If you encounter an issue not covered here or you need additional assistance, please contact Zencastr Support via chat or email.
Related Questions
How long does it take for the postproduction to finish?
Postproductions normally finish in under an hour. The exact amount of time can vary depending on the recording length and the number of participants selected.
My guest’s file(s) didn’t upload after the recording, but I was able to get the backup file for them. Can I upload the backup file to Produce so I can include them in the postproduction?
At this time Produce does not support the upload of external files for postproduction. You will need to use an audio or video editing program outside of Zencastr to add and line up any external files.
Why is active speaker not showing the switch between participants?
For the Active Speaker and Zen video layouts in Produce, the switch between speaking participants is an effect that is applied after the postproduction is run. Therefore, if you have selected one of these layouts and are playing the video on the Produce Page, you will not see the switch between speakers in the preview. If, however, you selected one of these layouts, ran the postproduction, and are still not seeing the switch between speakers on the downloaded postproduction files, please contact Zencastr Support via chat or email for assistance.