Help! Playback Sync Issues

Stuart Robinson wrote on 10/26/2006, 1:09 PM
I'm going to go through the official support channels with this too, but wanted to poll the thoughts of the forum experts.

I regularly make DVDs for clients, but one of them seems to be plagued with playback sync. issues, issues that I really can't see or nail down on my end.

So far, the source video for his discs has been provided as MPEG, either off-air or on DVD from the TV companies involved. The audio has been either stereo 48kHz PCM or two-channel Dolby Digital at 256kb/s and the video MPEG-2 at 704×576 or 720×576 PAL.

The footage is dropped onto the Vegas timeline or split in the trimmer. Most of the time the edits are really simple, just straight cuts and the odd fade, but there have been projects with multiple video tracks and cut/pan events. I tend to leave a second or two of blank space at the start of the timeline and render with it included so that the footage has shoulders.

It's rendered out of Vegas using the MainConcept MPEG-2 encoder at various variable data rates in the DVDA profile, and as 192kb/s Dolby Digital.

Those files are passed to DVD-Architect and the DVD created. The assembled files are then burnt using CopyToDVD and Plextor drives onto Panasonic or Verbatim blanks.

I then check the finished product on a number of DVD players, Panasonic DVD recorders (two different ones) a Pioneer and a Meridian, I even play them back using the software players on a couple of PCs. They look fine.

However, my client often mentions that they're out of sync, not just by a little bit, but by an amount that makes them unwatchable. He's using the software player in a Dell and a Sony stand-alone player.

We've made a lot of DVDs over the years and they've gone out to hundreds of people. So far nobody else has complained about sync. issues, but this is an important client and he's understandably worried about giving discs to others to view.

Incidentally, we've also tried authoring the discs in DVDLab Pro and our client still says some of them are out of sync. We've even tried reducing the data rate of the MPEG files to no avail.

I wondered where the forum experts would start troubleshooting? Any ideas for an alternative work-flow? I'm wondering if converting the original MPEG-2 footage to AVI intermediates outside of Vegas as the first step would help? If so, what software would be suggested?

Comments

Former user wrote on 10/26/2006, 1:18 PM
Sony DVD players are notorious for not playing burned DVDs.

And the software player may not have enough video ram or a hardware DVD player to keep up.

Dave T2
Grazie wrote on 10/26/2006, 1:26 PM

All my DVDs thru Vegas and DVDA2/3 are perfect. The only time I have experienced this out of sync has been when I've had a miniDV tape being played OUT through a majorly massive auditorium 300 hundred seater theatre, with humungous audio decks and stuff. We all knew my tape was in sync and it was their equipment that made the thing drift. Maybe you need to visit and see for yourself. Maybe take a dvd player with you? Or better yet, buy them a DVD player that you have tested as playing sync to demonstrate it works?

Dunno what else to suggest/advise.

daryl wrote on 10/26/2006, 2:06 PM
Hmmm, I agree with Grazie, this is the ONE customer with problems? Sounds like a site visit is in order.
farss wrote on 10/26/2006, 2:13 PM
I'd add my vote to the above suggestion.
Some clients are naturally out of sync too.
Stuart Robinson wrote on 10/26/2006, 6:31 PM
Thanks for all the replies. This does sound like a player issue, my finger was pointing at the Sony until the Dell exhibited similar issues.

However... the latest project is a disc with two titles and an animated menu. Both were created in Vegas and both are identical in terms of specifications, the same bitrate (audio and video) and both 720×576 PAL. Apparently one title is fine, but the other is out of sync. This on the same disc.

We know Vegas isn't the greatest editor when it comes to native MPEG-2 manipulation, so just for kicks what I'm doing right now is instead of digital rips from the source discs, I'm playing them in a DVD player and capturing the analogue output via a Canopus DVC into DV format. Those files will be used in Vegas to recreate the projects, and I'll be interested to see what happens.

>Some clients are naturally out of sync too.<

LOL! Not a good PR move to suggest that to them directly though!