Warning: Ver 2.0.9 - Do not archive a Davinci Resolve project with this addon

[NickMDal]

We just lost a 100 hour project, fortunately after rendering. I trimmed, then archived the project in DR 17 (current version). I needed to extract it to create an Instagram preview and found all the audio corrupted.

There were 10 audio tracks. I used DeClick 2 on 20 consecutive audio clips in a single track.

On extraction, audio gain was maxed on many clips and when reduced, was unintelligible. DR support blames this VST addon, the only 3rd party audio addon in the project.

The backup drive synchronized the archive as it was created. So corruption appears to occur during either trim or archive. The backup drive contained the same corrupt archive and so we are up the creek and out $100!

Acon support has not replied so far, so not sure if the updated version addresses this issue or not.

[stian]

I'm sorry to hear that you lost the project. Did you file a support ticket? I tried to look it up with no success. We are not aware of any issues with DeClick 2 and Davinci Resolve. Can you open the project file? If yes, what happens when you remove all instances of DeClick 2 in the project, save a copy of the project and reopen the copy? If the audio is still corrupted, it is very unlikely that DeClick 2 is the culprit, since there is no instance of it loaded.

Best,
Stian

[NickMDal]

I did file a ticket. Monday 6/20/22 at 11:59pm

The source audio files were corrupted as they were archived. They are re-written as part of the trim/archive process. They are now distorted if I play them directly, so there is no recovering.

I don't now what you mean by "there is no instance of it being loaded." Do you mean that it is not applied to the source audio no archiving?

(Blackmagic Design has since said the VST addon is to blame. They suggested we use an updated version)

TICKET

Dear Nicholas Mirro,

We have received your message to our support and will reply as quickly as possible.

Subject: Conflict with Davinci Resolve
Product: Restoration Suite

Message:
Hello. I recently had a Davinci Resolve project archive lose its audio. The audio corrupted when I attempted to extract the DR archive to create a short Instagram video.

The project required 100 hours to complete and the audio seems to have been corrupted. The original render following editing was successful, so the loss is in the potential reuse of the content.

I have a ticket with BlackMagic Design, owners of Davinci Resolve. Below is our ticket discussion exchange. Can you shed light on this?

The answers below were to questions BlackMagic asked, for my support ticket.

-----

Thank you for helping.

Davinci Resolve 17.4.6 Build 4 (Studio)

The project was created in DR 17. I always update DR when it is available. That might help with determining the exact builds applicable based on the dates below.

The project was first rendered in October 2021 and trimmed/archived in January 2022. I extracted the archive last week and first discovered the problem.

Windows 10 Home 21H1, Build 19043.1766
PC purchased from CLX in November 2020

ASRock X570 Taichi w/TB3 AIC R2.0
ASUS ProArt PA248QV 24.1
2 Acer 1080p LCDs
AMD Ryzen 9 3900X
32GB DDR4
GeForce RTX 2080Ti 11GB

4TB Corsair MP400 M.2
BMD Micro Panel

3rd Party audio effects – YES – Acon Digital DeClick 2

This effect was applied to 20 audio clips in 1 of 10 tracks used. The 20 clips are grouped together with transitions occupying 1 minute and 40 seconds. I took single bee buzzing sounds and merged them to create a background hum.

Nick

[stian]

Thanks for elaborating! I found the support ticket. Unfortunately, it was categorized incorrectly by us, and I apologize for that. I still struggle to see how DeClick 2 could be the culprit in this case, but we can make an attempt to reproduce the issue. I assume that the source files aren't affected, right? In order to reproduce, we would need to know exactly what you did in Resolve. Did you use DeClick 2 as a an insert in the audio track with clips that were corrupted? I assume you mean the "Export Project Archive" command? Did you leave the options at the default settings ("Media Files" and "Render Cache" checked, and "Proxy Media" unchecked)?

[stian]

I just exported an archive of a test project that used DeClick 2 on an audio track with the default settings. That seems to work fine here. I examined the .dra folder that Resolve creates, and it has a folder with the MediaFiles. Could you please check if these corrupted as well?

[NickMDal]

The source audio files were corrupted as they were archived.

Thank you for helping. As I mentioned, these files were corrupted. They are recreated with the archive. I did a trim prior to archiving.

Tonight I'll give exact details of the addon usage.

[stian]

If the source files are corrupted as well, I'm afraid that it cannot be DeClick that caused it. The source files should never be processed destructively with plug-ins unless there is a design flaw in the host application.

[NickMDal]

Here are the settings of the add-on.

You can see in the timeline (1st image), the red highlighted clips are the only with the Acon effect. The gain is mostly maxed out. It impacted other tracks as well, but not all.

All clips in that highlighted sequence have the same settings (image 2).





This last image shows the Acon settings for an older project. 2 audio clips in a single track had these settings. The project restores from archive normally.

[stian]

Thanks for sending over the settings. However, as I mentioned above, I'm afraid that this must be an error in DaVinci Resolve since the original source files were corrupted. Please contact Black Magic's support and report the issue. Thanks!

Best,
Stian