Zencastr Editing is a paid feature that enhances and combines your separate recorded audio and video files into a polished mixed file.
If you encounter an issue with your postproduction files after you finish editing, see below.
In this article:
Postproduction Not Completing
Issue
A postproduction on the Preview Page or in the Postproductions list appears stalled at some percent of processing, such as ‘Waiting…0%’, ‘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.
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 postproduction progress is stuck/not moving at a percent of processing. If the postproduction progress is moving, but slowly, it is recommended to wait for it to finish.
If a participant who had a silent audio track was included in the postproduction:
In the Editor, on the Audio & Video tab, under the Participants section, uncheck 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 a postproduction 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
Zencastr Editing can properly align and mix tracks when all participants' tracks start at the same time. Sync issues occur when participant tracks begin at different times or when a participant has multiple tracks of the same file type (e.g., 2+ MP3s, 2+ MOVs).
For recordings done on or before September 11, 2024:
Each participant’s tracks only captured the time they were present in the recording session, meaning:If a guest joined the session late, their tracks started later than the other participants’, causing sync issues in the postproduction since Editing aligns all tracks to start at the same time.
If a participant left and rejoined the session while the recording was in progress, multiple tracks of the same file type were created for them each time they came back online, causing sync issues in the postproduction since Editing cannot merge multiple tracks of the same file type.
For recordings done September 12, 2024 or after:
Zencastr now creates single tracks for each participant even if they are offline for some period of the recording. Silence is inserted into the audio track and black frames are inserted in the video track for the time they were offline.This ensures that all participants’ tracks start at the same time, minimizing sync issues during postproduction.
Troubleshooting
For recordings done on or before September 11, 2024:
You will need to download the individual recording files for each participant and use an external audio or video editing program to manually line up tracks and create your mix. Zencastr Editing cannot align tracks that start at different times or handle multiple tracks of the same file type per participant.
For recordings done September 12, 2024 or after:
Contact Zencastr Support via chat or email as postproduction sync issues should be minimal with the new single-track system.
Tips for Future Recordings
To minimize periods of silent audio and black frames in the final files:
Ensure all guests join the session before starting the recording.
Check internet speeds and connections before recording to reduce the chances of disconnections.
Advise 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
A postproduction file only contains partial content for a participant, e.g. the participant’s last few minutes of audio (and video) are missing.
Causes
Zencastr Editing can properly align and mix tracks when all participants' tracks start at the same time. Partial content in a postproduction occur when participant tracks when a participant has multiple tracks of the same file type (e.g., 2+ MP3s, 2+ MOVs).
For recordings done on or before September 11, 2024:
Each participant’s tracks only captured the time they were present in the recording session, meaning:If a participant left and rejoined the session while the recording was in progress, multiple tracks of the same file type were created for them each time they came back online, causing partial content in the postproduction since Editing cannot merge multiple tracks of the same file type.
For recordings done September 12, 2024 or after:
Zencastr now creates single tracks for each participant even if they are offline for some period of the recording. Silence is inserted into the audio track and black frames are inserted in the video track for the time they were offline.This ensures that all participants’ have single tracks, minimizing partial content issues during postproduction.
Troubleshooting
For recordings done on or before September 11, 2024:
You will need to download the individual recording files for each participant and use an external audio or video editing program to manually line up tracks and create your mix. Zencastr Editing cannot align tracks that start at different times or handle multiple tracks of the same file type per participant.For recordings done September 12, 2024 or after:
Contact Zencastr Support via chat or email as postproduction partial content issues should be minimal with the new single-track system.
Tips for Future Recordings
To minimize periods of silent audio and black frames in the final files:
Ensure all guests join the session before starting the recording.
Check internet speeds and connections before recording to reduce the chances of disconnections.
Advise guests to close out all other open programs and apps while recording to reduce the load on their computer.
No Content For a Participant In the Final Mix
Issue
A postproduction file does not contain any audio (and video) for a participant, i.e the participant’s entire content is missing from the postproduction.
Causes
When a postproduction file 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 has an unfinalized track error. In the Editor, on the Audio & Video tab, under the Participants section, 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 file on the Preview Page or from the Sessions tab, Postproductions list 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 Preview Page or Postproductions list, you can try downloading them from the Recording Page instead by:
On your Dashboard, click the Sessions tab on the left sidebar menu.
Under the ‘My Sessions’ list, click the name of the session that you ran the postproduction on.
Click the Join Session button at the top center.
On the Recording Page, on the Podcast Mixes track, click Download Audio Podcast and Download Video Podcast.
You can also retry downloading from the Preview Page or Postproduction List later, as the error may clear itself.
Error Running Postproduction
Issue
When attempting to run a postproduction, it fails with an error that re “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 Zencastr Editing itself at the time that the postproduction was ran. 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 a backup file for them. Can I upload the backup file to Editing so I can include them in the postproduction?
At this time Zencastr Editing cannot place externally uploaded files anywhere other than the very beginning or very end of a postproduction file as an intro or outro. Therefore, if your guest’s was unable to complete the retry upload troubleshooting step for an unfinalized track or the track didn’t completely upload, Zencastr Editing cannot properly line up a backup track into the postproduction. Instead, you will need to download the individual recording files for each participant and use an external audio or video editing program to manually line up tracks and create your mix.
Why is active speaker not showing the switch between participants?
For the Active Speaker and Zen video layouts in Editing, 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 Preview Page, you will not see the switch between speakers. 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.
Why can't I hear my intro/outro in Editing?
When adding an intro or outro as a bumper in Editing, these files are mixed in at the beginning (intro) or end (outro) of your content after the postproduction is run. Therefore, if you have added one of these and are playing the audio/video on the Preview Page, you will not hear/see the intro or outro. If, however, you added an intro or outro, ran the postproduction, and are still not hearing/seeing the intro or outro on the downloaded postproduction files, please contact Zencastr Support via chat or email for assistance.