Knowledge Base

Problem

During offline coding in Observer XT, video skips when the user presses pause or registers a behavior key. In multi-camera observations, cameras that were in sync become desynchronized during playback.

Details

Affects Observer XT 17 (and likely other versions) when coding multi-camera observations, particularly when videos have different resolutions or high resolution (e.g., 1080×1620). High playback load caused by combining high-resolution streams can cause skipping and sync drift. If the desynchronization is constant across the recording, it may also indicate a video offset issue between files captured in different rooms or with different recording settings.

Solution

1. Right-click each video in the observation and select 'Properties' to review codec, frame rate, and resolution for each camera. Compare values between cameras that play correctly and those that drift or skip.
2. If videos have very high or mismatched resolutions, playback load may be the cause. Consider transcoding the videos to a lower or consistent resolution using a third-party tool before importing into Observer XT.
3. If the desynchronization is constant (i.e., one camera is always ahead or behind by the same amount), apply a manual time offset in Observer XT to realign the cameras: right-click the video > Properties > set a numerical offset value.
4. If the desynchronization drifts over time (grows larger), this is likely a frame rate mismatch between cameras. Re-encode the affected video to a consistent frame rate matching the other cameras.
5. If skipping occurs when pressing behavior keys, reduce playback resolution or close other applications to reduce CPU load during coding.