Comments

nlamartina wrote on 3/23/2001, 5:10 PM
Koko,

What your experiencing is known as NTSC time lag. Thanks to
VideoFactory's advanced interface, it's very easy correct.
Let me explain first why this happens (the are multiple
reasons, but here are a few possible ones):

- The NTSC standard calls for video and audio to be
synchronized at 30 frames per second (fps).
- In order to prevent cross-talk when transmitting AV
signals over an antenna, it was decided to offset the video
stream by just a hair, so the video runs at 29.97 fps, and
audio at 30 fps
- When a computer system renders frames, it does things
mathematically, and literally renders your video at 29.97
fps, and your audio at 30 fps (unless it knows better).
This causes the video to get ahead of the audio. The longer
your clip, the worse it gets. This timecode is
called "SMPTE non-drop".
- VideoFactory allows for "SMPTE drop" timecode, which
buffers the video off-set with an occasional blank frame to
keep the video in synch.

Here are some tips you can use to keep the synch together:

1. Set your project default timecode to "SMPTE drop"
in "project properties".
2. Avoid rendering your final copy at a lower framerate
than the material present in your project, ie, using
material that is 25 fps and rendering at 15 fps. Try to be
consistant as possible.
3. If the recorded/captured material in out of synch, first
place it in your project. Hold down your control key. Left
click on the end of the audio stream and drag it inward
until the audio lines up properly (preview to check).
Generally, use 1.2 second for every 20 minutes.
4. Go to this hyperlink for extended information on SMPTE
timecoding:

http://www.sonicfoundry.com/support/SupportProduct.asp?
FamilyID=0&Family=digitalavfaqs&TopicID=0&DetailID=501

I hope this helps. The problem you describe is something I
battled with for almost a year. It sometimes takes practice
to avoid, but keep trying, and I'm certain you'll get the
hang of it.

Best wishes,
Nick LaMartina