After Effects Audio Out of Sync After Render

How to fix it

Try these in order — the most common fix is first.

1. 1. Match frame and sample rate

   Copy steps
   1. Set Composition Settings frame rate to the footage rate
   2. Convert audio to 48 kHz WAV and re-import
   3. Precomp with 'Preserve frame rate when nested' if needed
   Did this fix it? Yes No

2. 2. Re-encode source

   Copy steps
   1. Transcode VFR/phone footage to constant frame rate in Media Encoder
   2. Replace footage in the project
   Did this fix it? Yes No

3. 3. Re-render

   Copy steps
   1. Purge memory and disk cache
   2. Render via Media Encoder, or render audio to WAV and remux
   3. Check the result in VLC to rule out player issues
   Did this fix it? Yes No

Symptoms

Exported video has audio lagging or drifting versus picture, though it looks fine in the comp.

Why it happens

• Comp frame rate differs from footage
• 44.1 kHz audio converted to 48 kHz
• Variable-frame-rate or re-encoded source
• Stale cache

This guide also covers

• after effects audio out of sync
• after effects audio delay export
• after effects render audio not synced

The same problem in other apps

All export, render & quality loss guides →

• DaVinci Resolve Render Job Failed Error (DaVinci Resolve)
• Blender Crashing When Rendering (Blender)

Other Adobe After Effects errors

• After Effects Preview Not Playing or RAM Preview Slow
• After Effects Render Failed in Media Encoder (Error Compiling Movie)
• After Effects Error: Crash / Can't Continue (GPU or Graphics Driver Issue)
• After Effects GPU Acceleration Not Available / Display Acceleration Disabled
• After Effects Missing Fonts or Missing Effects/Plugins
• After Effects Out of Memory / Unable to Allocate Memory Error
• After Effects Expression Error (Expression Disabled / Object of Type Found)
• After Effects Disk Cache Full or Won't Clear