Audio Problems with Print to Tape

ScottMenzies wrote on 7/25/2001, 9:56 PM
I recently noticed that as I print to tape or preview a rendered file (VF2 - very cool, so far!) on my Sony TRV-120, I get the opposite of "pops" in my audio. It goes silent for a split second and comes back on a regular basis. If I replay that which I have printed, these pops are in different spots, which leads me to believe that the information has been accurately printed to the tape and it is somewhere in the camera that I'm having this problem. My problem is that if I play something I printed from Video Capture BEFORE I installed VF2 and it's video capture, the printed tape plays fine and the audio is okay (it sounds more crisp and bright, too). It that it's only been since I've installed VF2 and the new Video Capture that this has been a problem. I've tweaked rendering settings to no avail. If I capture printed video back to VF2, it seems to sound okay (no pops or silences). If I re-render and print THAT again, back to popping. Somehow the information that Video Capture is printing to the tape is not gelling well with the camera, but only since installing VF2.
Another piece of information. In the release notes for VF2 it said to uninstall VF1 before installing the new version. I did that. However, I did not uninstall Video Capture (it didn't specifically say to, so I didn't make any assumptions). Now I have two versions of Video Capture - one that is called up by VF2 and one that is called up by the shortcut on my desktop. Could this be the basis of my problem or is there a little bug in the new Video Capture that isn't jelling well with my Sony Handycam?
It seems that, most importantly, the information is all getting to tape, but I'm just worried about the playback and why it is acting strangely. Any suggestions?
Thanks a bunch,
Scott
P.S. I played with the sample-rates and bitrate, as well, to no avail.

Comments

SonyEPM wrote on 7/26/2001, 8:44 AM
You have two capture tools installed, which is fine. Can you try printing back to tape with Vidieo Capture 2.0e (the old one)? Is the problem still occuring with 2.0e or is it just a 2.5 thing?

If its happening with both, then we'll head down another path of diagnosis.
ScottMenzies wrote on 7/26/2001, 9:48 PM
Thanks for the reply! I actually did try printing to tape from Video Capture 2e and got the same results, which prompted me to go through the process of uninstalling and reinstalling the programs in order to remove it for a clean VF2 install (which was a bit difficult, as I had to reinstall VF 1.0 to uninstall both together). I thought it might have been the conflict of the two that did it, but it turns out that that is not the case, as, even with a "clean" install, I'm still getting the silences.
These silences also appear to be very regular (though I've not timed them or anything to make sure), even if they don't happen in the same spot each time. It happens with preview as well as print, so I'm not sure what part problems on the camera end would play. What do you think?
Thanks!
Scott
P.S. It didn't occur to me to try rendering in VF1 after I reinstalled it. Darn...
SonyEPM wrote on 7/27/2001, 9:49 AM
Make sure your sound card and video display drivers are updated- those have been found to introduce pops/clicks in some cases.
ScottMenzies wrote on 7/30/2001, 1:06 AM
Are the sound and video cards in use when doing a DV out to a camera using a fire wire? And again, when I play the printed tapes back on the camcorder alone, they still have the pops, which never show up in the same spot each time I play the tape back (so they're NOT recorded directly on the tape). Tapes printed before VF2 don't have this problem, and play back fine. Strange and frustrating!
Terry25 wrote on 7/30/2001, 4:07 AM
I am experiencing the exact same problems. This solely concerns the playback on the camcorder independant of my computer. (JVC model) The picture is fine but get brief dropouts of sound. When recording to tape the audio coming out of the camcorder is fine, when played back gaps occur. Experimenting with a 30 second clip I get about 4 split second dropouts. I am new to VideoFactory having no previous installations.
soldavi wrote on 7/30/2001, 7:49 AM
I am having exactly the same problem. Also using a JVC camcorder. Sound from Camcorder sounds fine during print to tape, but dropouts occur when playing back.
Terry25 wrote on 7/30/2001, 4:27 PM
I've downloaded and used the Video Capture 2.0e Update meant for Vegas. With succuss, it worked fine. I've printed the same clip without problem.

Other quirks I've noticed with the VF capture:
- when I select 'No Preview' the program locks up (mouse turns to an hour-glass) and I have to Cntrl-Alt-Delete.
- the camcorder does not automaticly stop after the clip has printed, I have to click on the stop button
MHampton wrote on 7/31/2001, 8:48 PM
Hmmm, strange. I have the OpturaPI camcorder and am having a similar problem. The audio cuts out on the camcorder when recording and when playing the tape back on the camcorder. I noticed that when I play the tape through my TV and TV speakers, it plays just fine, which lead me to believe that maybe I had a defective speaker on my camera. Now that you guys are having a like problem, is it possible that VF is outputting the audio so "hot" that it is causing the camera's speaker to cut out?

The main problem I'm having right now is audio sync. I've created a video that is ~50mins and I printed it to tape and also made a windows media file. I watched the windows media file and it was fine. When I was watching the tape, I noticed about half way through the video, the audio was about a second behind. I'm re-rendering and printing to tape now so I'll see if it was something that I did. Again, the make movie for web worked just fine and I verified the sync all the way to the end.

Michael
ScottMenzies wrote on 7/31/2001, 10:50 PM
Wow. Thanks for alerting me to that out-of-sync problem. It seems everything I, too, have done, is out of sync, along with randomly going silent (even on external stereo speakers). I'm going to make a wild guess that somehow those two problems are connected. Unfortunately, I'm a little bummed, as, in assuming my print-to-tapes were okay (superficially they sounded and looked fine, it took we a week to notice the problems), I've printed over my original footage. Guess that was pretty stupid of me, eh?
So, I'm understanding that Video Capture 2e is okay? Unfortunately, this means sitting around waiting for each 4 Gig section to print, but I guess it's better than nothing.
HPV wrote on 8/1/2001, 1:19 PM
I using Vegas, but I thought I should drop a note over here on VF forum for you guys. I fixed my audio synch. issues 100%. I'm using Pinnacle Studio DV for print-to-tape. If you have it your in. If you don't, you might want to pick it up if SF doesn't get VidCap fixed soon. I captured all clips with VC 2.5 running solo. Auto segment AVI rendering works fine, just load each clip one after the other for glitch free playback in Studio.
See my post under Vegas for more info. This is good day.

Craig H.
ScottMenzies wrote on 8/1/2001, 10:48 PM
Thanks for the tips, but I don't have the Pinnacle program. I feel this problem is pretty serious and hope SF will be moving on it right away to make a patch or something. Print-to-tape isn't just an extra perk, it's a main utility that people need, and I'm not really interested in spending more money for another program...
rubley wrote on 8/6/2001, 10:00 PM
I get no audio whatsoever on my SONY TRV9!!! WTF!!!
I love paying $30 for an upgrade which has almost nothing new, and what is new is broken!!!! When am I going to be able to print to tape directly from the timeline??? Render a file first??? Bite me.....
ScottMenzies wrote on 8/6/2001, 11:41 PM
LOL! Can't say I disagree, there...
mvpvideos wrote on 8/7/2001, 12:49 AM
i'm also having a problem with audio sinc when printing to dv. I have a Sony dcr-vx200, not a cheep camera and after 6 minutes, the audio falls behind the video. It's amazing you by this stuff and then no one from sonic is available to help us out. Someone on here said to use the 2.0e capture version, so I will try it.
MHampton wrote on 8/7/2001, 8:09 AM
I have been assured that the audio sync problem is high on their list of items to fix. Until then, I'm content to use 2.0e knowing that a fix is on the way. I still use 2.5 for capturing.

Michael
mvpvideos wrote on 8/7/2001, 4:21 PM
ATTENTION ALL!!!! IF YOU OWN ADOBE PREMIERE, TAKE YOUR VIDEO PROJECT AND RENDER IT TO THE DISC AS AN AVI FILE AND THEN INPUT IT INTO ADOBE PREMIERE, AND PRINT TO TAPE FROM THERE, IT WORKS GREAT! I HAVE PREMEIRE 6.0 I DON'T KNOW IF ANY OLDER VERSIONS WILL WORK, BUT GIVE IT A SHOT.
deef wrote on 8/9/2001, 4:30 PM
Rest assured, we are currently working on fixing these important problems that you are all experiencing.

It appears that when we added support for multi-file render printing that this A/V sync issue reared its head. We have repro'd them and should have a fix in the near future available for download.

In the interim, it's recommended that you use Sonic Foundry Video Capture 2.0e (freely available for download from our website) when printing to tape.

Thanks!
jimc91 wrote on 8/10/2001, 3:54 PM
I have crackles and pops and temporary gaps in the audio that I capture with VF 2.0. I downloaded the capture 2.0e and it does the same thing. I can listen to the original tape in my camera with perfect 16 bit stereo and it sound normal. After I capture clips to my harddrive and then review them, the audio is terrible. The video is perfect but the audio is awful. What gives??
rubley wrote on 8/10/2001, 9:30 PM
Kind of hard to use 2.0e WHEN IT DOESN'T RECOGNIZE MY SONY TRV9 WHICH WAS RECOGNIZED BY 1.0!!!!!!