Trying to find a way to glitch video files with audacity without breaking key images

technical questions/help
1

Hello,
No idea if this is the right place so i’m just going to go at it.
I’m trying to glitch videos using audacity for a project but i’m running into an issue : the whole process works, creates cool stuff visually, but whenever i try to import it into a video editing software it stops working.
I’m using davinci resolve and like half of all the clips turn into media offline, even though when i’m opening them with VLC it works fine.
Is there any way to “stabilize” or “freeze” or whatever the video file so that the software will read the parts that are too corrupted ? I guess this is similar to analog video not working on certain supports because it’s too “broken” even though there is data.

Would using an intra image compression codec work ? Seems like glitching a key image breaks all hell loose

Or is there any way to “re-render” so that the glitch is somewhat solidified in a fully functional clip.

Thanks everyone

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if they play in VLC i would suggest screen recording the output in order to generate a new video file that da vinci can read.

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Sounds like Resolve problem. Does VLC play the file all the way through? If it does play through then it makes me think that Resolve is confused. Resolve might see this glitched out data and think that it’s a different format or something; there are file type limitations in the free version of Resolve.

Try converting the clips in Handbrake, assuming handbrake doesn’t affect the output of the files you made, and see if Resolve likes those versions more. A different process but some video clips I recorded with eyesy through a generic capture device needed to go through Handbrake before Resolve would vibe with them. I haven’t had an issue since I updated to Resolve studio but I also haven’t thrown as much weird stuff at it.

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Most problems resulting from glitching analog video are related to losing a stable video frame sync. If Audacity is corrupting the frame sync, some digital video software/firmware will barf out on that. For example, an LCD screen might give you the blue screen of death until it can find a stable sync again. Maybe this would also affect the digital software you are using?

To fix this, you might need to run the signal somewhere more forgiving like on a CRT and then record that screen. Or on a digital screen, you could first run it through a timebase corrector (TBC) or other hardware like Underscore’s Sync-ope or, if you’re into Eurorack, Syntonie’s Stable. All of these require playing the file and “rescanning” it (recording it off the screen).

You might also try to look at the waveforms in Audacity and see if the sync is in fact corrupted. You could then copy-and-paste better looking sync signals over the bad ones. This might be tedious and time consuming, however.

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Rather than screen record you could also try converting it. Handbrake is a nice free and open-source software that does that very well https://handbrake.fr/

And if you’re on windows, installing the k-lite codecs pack might be useful if the issue is also around the video format Download K-Lite Codec Pack

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the thing to note about re-encoding the glitched video via handbrake/ffmpeg/whatever is that it is quite likely that many cool glitches you saw before re-encoding will look different, or maybe even dissapear in the process. on the other hand maybe you’ll get even cooler stuff out after, who knows unless you try.

other things worth thinking about:

  • what codec video are you starting with?
  • is the codec compression time based, frame based, both, neither?
    @bill_fisher is talking about analog glitch video, codecs don’t exactly have sync signals the same way CVBS does but in this case the closest analogs (lol) would be File Signatures and keyframes
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