How to Sync Audio and Video in OBS Studio - Easy Step by Step Guide

[@JeffRolka]

Thank you so much for providing a concise and precise way of doing this. Many others out there are happy with approximations for sync'ing, but I really like knowing that I've done the math and it's going to look great. Thank you!

[@askdrtk]

I’m glad I could help out!

[@NelsLindahl]

Thank you! The video made the issue easy to fix. My audio sync gap was 120 ms vs. 150 ms, but that was easy to figure out by talking slow enough to really make it evident.

[@askdrtk]

That's great to hear and I'm glad to help out!

[@thenon-dominanthand3464]

Thank you for the simple, effective tutorial. Solved my sync issue!

[@askdrtk]

Thanks! I'm glad I could help out!

[@neilnapier9773]

Brilliant! Been struggling with this for a while. You saved my videos. Subscribed for life!

[@askdrtk]

Thanks, I'm glad I could help out!

[@rubensitomanutd]

This video deserve much more views really good explanation

[@askdrtk]

Thanks and I'm glad you found my tutorial helpful! The Stream Deck is such a flexible control surface and I enjoy sharing the ways it helps me get things done...

[@jamielawrence4749]

Love this! I was toggling the sync rate up and down like maybe to 26 but not seeing much effect and have NO clue about this stuff. I was clearly way too low! Going to try some new numbers or this method if I have to get really detailed. Thank you!

[@askdrtk]

Thanks! Glad I could help out!

[@TheMumblingEditor]

Thank you very much for the calculation. Very helpful!

[@askdrtk]

Glad to help out!

[@NepaliLifeAustralia]

Great solution! Than you so much.

[@askdrtk]

Thanks, I'm glad to help out!

[@skillsrev]

Love the calculation there, nice work!

[@askdrtk]

Much appreciated, I'm glad to help out!

[@itayran981]

great help, thanks

[@dana0001]

Great job! Thanks a lot.

[@askdrtk]

Thanks, glad to help out!

[@okko3200]

Thank you so much!!

[@tcarvalho18]

Thank you! You helped me a lot! God Bless You!

[@askdrtk]

My pleasure, I’m glad to help out!

[@larrybud]

Any idea of the fix in OBS when audio starts out in sync, but progressively gets worse as time goes on?

[@tricogustrico]

Love the maths part

[@askdrtk]

Math truly is everywhere...

[@eli.sinell]

UNDERRATED!

[@askdrtk]

Thanks! I’m glad to help out.

[@AntipoloUMC]

Thanks for your tutorial. Can you help us syncing our audio input and video playback? Example: In our church we use recorded video hymns with lyrics and voices. However, when playing it live and another one is singing "live" through audio interface they are out of sync. The video hymn audio is ahead with the live audio input. I tried offsetting the audio of the video hymn but I can't figure out how to sync them. Thank and more power.

[@askdrtk]

Thanks for the question. There are two things to consider. Since your live vocals are behind the recorded hymn, I suspect number 1 to be the reason you are having difficulty syncing. Start out with no offsets applied in OBS. 1. Are the audio and video within the recorded video hymns in sync (recorded voices in sync with the music and the on-screen lyrics)? If they are, you can skip to the next step. If the music and voices are in sync, but the video is not, I would recommend using a video editor to sync them. You would need to "unlink" the audio track from the video and offset them (slide the audio track over on the timeline) until the voices / music and video line up (vocals appear to match the on-screen lyrics or lip movement). If the recorded vocals and music are not in sync, you can do the same thing as long as they were recorded on separate tracks. Note that if the vocals and music are on the same track and not in sync, you will not be able to align them and will need to record them again after first syncing audio and video as in the tutorial. 2. If the recorded hymn vocals, music, and video are in sync (or once you have synced them as I described above) you can apply the same technique as in the tutorial to sync the live vocals. After fixing the sync in the recording as above, it is likely you will need to do this. a) Make a recording of the live singing with the recorded hymn playing at the same time. Make sure you can see both the recorded hymn video and the live singer in your recording. Before the hymn starts, during silence, have the singer make one or two loud claps. b) Load the recording into your video editor and count the number of frames between seeing the clap and the waveform of the clap. Divide the number of frames into the number of frames per second in your recording and multiply by one thousand. This number is the millisecond offset you need to apply to the live vocal. c) If after completing 2b the live vocal is ahead of the recorded hymn vocals, add the offset in OBS to the audio source for the live singer. There should be no offset on the video hymn audio output since the live vocal will be behind the video. Or: c) If after completing 2b the video hymn audio is ahead of the live vocal track, apply the offset to the video using a render delay filter (located in the bottom section of "Filters" for the video source) in OBS. In this case there should be no offset for the live vocal audio. After completing both steps, your video, recorded audio, and live audio should be in sync. Make another recording of the live vocals with the recorded hymn to verify they are in sync. I hope this helps out and let me know how it goes. Take care.

[@bobjohnson5218]

Great video. Will using a camera give the same results as for sync of a video source not from a camera? My lipsync shows on the OBS screen and doesn't go away after setting the offset which gives a corrected video output file. Also my offset is -300 so I'd guess that means the video is before the sound. Thanks!!

[@askdrtk]

Thanks! Capturing video and audio from a camera generally does not require an offset in OBS. For situations where the video is ahead of the audio when using a separate camera and audio device, I recommend adding a "Render Delay" filter to the camera. This will delay the video to match your audio and ensure your are in sync on the OBS screen and recordings/stream. Hope this helps out!

[@bobjohnson5218]

@@askdrtk Thanks!! This is very interesting. In the viewer, I get lipsync and even when changing the offset the viewer still shows the lipsync while the output file is fixed. Adding 300ms to the 'Render Delay' fixes both the recording and the viewer. I also noticed that the 'Scene Transition' Duration is 300ms, exactly the amount that gives me the problem. I took out my offset and the Render Delay and changed the duration of the Scene Transition to 50ms. Wouldn't let me go lower. Now the viewer is in sync as is the video file. Now if I could fix the jerky output and screen showing smaller than 720p I'll be in business.

[@boiledeggs9380]

what if the audio is coming before the video. When i change the ms to negative it duplicates the sound

[@askdrtk]

Audio generally is ahead of video in OBS. Try entering the sync offset as a positive number in the advanced audio properties as this value is "how long you want to delay the audio." Hope this helps out!

[@patrickmarr7076]

what hardware would be necessary to get the audio and video working together without an offset?

[@askdrtk]

To avoid the need for an offset the two options are to connect your microphone (or multichannel audio with a mixer) to your camera or to use a video switcher that accepts audio input such as the Atem mini. Gear required to connect to a camera depends on what type of audio input your camera has. If your camera has a 3.5mm input to use an XLR microphone or multiple audio sources you will need either a preamp or mixer. If the preamp/mixer have unbalanced outputs you can connect directly to the camera but if the preamp/mixer outputs are balanced only you will likely require a balanced to unbalanced converter such as an ART CleanBox. The other option of using an Atem mini will also required a preamp/mixer for xlr microphones and multichannel audio, but it make integration with multiple cameras convenient. I hope this help out!

[@tornadosmashbros]

How do you offset audio if it is delayed more than 1 second though? It only goes to 950ms for me

[@askdrtk]

The OBS audio buffer is limited to 1s. This is an artificial limit coded into OBS and there has been a request to increased the buffer size to allow for longer offsets (one person actually changed the code and recompiled OBS some time ago, but I haven't heard anything about it since). You could add a "delay" vst 2 plugin as a filter on the audio source to provide additional delay depending on how much offset you need. There are a number of paid and free options. A couple of good free options to try are CHOW Matrix and Cocoa Delay. Hope this helps out.

[@schultzeworks]

If you are not streaming and recording for later editing, it's much easier. Just bring the video into your avorite editing app and 'disconnect' the audio and video tracks, so that they can move independently. Then slide either track so your clap audio and clap video sync up. Now, you should 're-connect' the two so they don't get accidientally moved apart. Easy!

[@drewonthekit]

Im having some frustrating problems and absolutely love your videos. Is there a way to get ahold of you via email so I can ask some specific questions?

[@askdrtk]

No problem - send me an email from the business link on my About page.

[@BoReynolds]

Weird question but in Premiere all I have to do is highlight both my audio and video then click SYNCHRONIZE in PP and it does it, BUT then when I add my OBS screen recording with audio it DOESN't Synchronize correctly. Any ideas why?

[@askdrtk]

Hey Bo, is it the audio from OBS that doesn't sync up with other audio recorded separately or is the OBS video out of sync with the OBS audio or a separate audio track?

[@BoReynolds]

@@askdrtk See, I'm recording the video separately on my camera with the camera audio. But I'm also recording through Adobe audition and OBS. But I'm not using the camera through OBS. But everything is off-kilter. I can lineup or synchronize my audio with my video from Adobe I. Just can't get the audio from OBS to sync up with my screen record or the audio in OBS.

[@askdrtk]

OK, this usually happens because the audio in your OBS recording is out of sync with your screen record. OBS render delay between video and audio can often be over 150ms in your recordings. If this is the case, when you sync the OBS audio with your camera / Adobe audio, the screen recording from OBS will still be out of sync. The solution to this is to add a sync offset in OBS as I have shown in this video. If you have a capture card and HDMI output on your camera, you can use the clap method as I demonstrated. If not, when recording your screen tap on your microphone at the exact time you make a movement with your mouse and use that as the reference to determine the sync offset. Once your OBS audio and video are synchronized, your screen recording will then be in sync with your camera / Adobe audio after you sync audio from all three in Premiere. Hope this helps out!

[@BoReynolds]

@@askdrtk I appreciate it very much!

[@Michelle-uh2cw]

Do you have to use Adobe Premier Pro in order to find the correct offset?

[@askdrtk]

Thanks for the question. Most video editors will allow you to count frame-by-frame. If you don't already have one, DaVinci Resolve is free and will more than get the job done. Here is a link to check it out and download: www.blackmagicdesign.com/ca/products/davinciresolve/ Hope this helps out!