One-frame avi (DV) files are being expanded to 5 seconds!

yonkiman wrote on 11/13/2002, 9:20 PM

I'm digitizing some analog video with my Sony digital-8 DV camcorder and using Scenalyzer to optically detect changes in scenes. It's generated about 700 files of varying length, including 80 AVI files that are only one frame (00:00:00:01) long.

The problem is that VideoFactory doesn't handle these files properly when they're dropped on the timeline. It plays the audio for the correct 1/30th of a second, but the video is stretched out (silently) for 5 seconds! So a 2 frame (or greater, of course) AVI file works fine, playing audio and video for 1/15th of a second, but a 1 frame AVI file plays audio for 1/30th of a second and a still picture of that one frame for FIVE seconds!

I don't think there's anything wrong with the source material - Virtualdub and Premiere load and play the files fine, with no issues at all.

If anyone wants to try it themselves, the files are here (about 500kbytes total):
http://www.yonkitime.com/video/1_frame.avi (178 kbytes)
http://www.yonkitime.com/video/2_frame.avi (301 kbytes)

Please tell me this is a simple configuration/pilot error problem! Is "show single frames for 5 seconds" set in some obscure preferences area?

Thanks for any help,
Fred

Comments

BillyBoy wrote on 11/13/2002, 11:44 PM

I did just download one to see. I don't know what is happening, it may be that it is being treated as a still image which does have a default of 5 seconds when it is dropped on the timeline. I'm a little rusty using Video Factory, I know you can change preferences in Vegas Video, pretty good chance you can also in VF, which may get you past it.

Grazie wrote on 11/14/2002, 1:14 AM

I do know that there is an Internal stills default time, one can adjust - at your own risk & peril! I've used it to reduce the times for stills I've captured. Could this be it?

Grazie

IanG wrote on 11/14/2002, 6:36 AM

I think BillyBoy's right about it being treated as a still image, in which case Chienworks recent posting might be useful. That said, it's still a bug!

Ian G.

Former user wrote on 11/14/2002, 8:16 AM

Why not recapture the video and turn off the scene detect?

Dave T

yonkiman wrote on 11/14/2002, 10:40 AM

Dave T suggested:
>Why not recapture the video and turn off the scene detect?

Good idea - I considered that, but there were several reasons why I didn't:

1) I'm digitizing from multiple, but identical, CED video discs. The scene detect works pretty well so if one scene is noisy or skips, I can delete it and insert the same (but lower noise) scene from a different disc, and everything is frame-accurate. It makes my life a lot easier.

2) I've got a total of about 6 hours of this already digitized and I'm not excited about doing it all over again, and then facing the much more difficult editing task.

3) I'd rather see the bug fixed so other people don't run into the same issues and see hours of their time wasted.

Regards,
Fred

yonkiman wrote on 11/14/2002, 10:44 AM

Thanks BillyBoy, Grazie, DaveT2, and particularly Ian! That secret preferences menu solved the problem!

It really seems like they should (by default) treat one-frame AVI files with audio differently than still pictures.

Anyway, problem solved - thanks again!

-Fred

Former user wrote on 11/14/2002, 1:04 PM

Good reasons!! Good luck :)

Dave T2