random audio dropouts

Chapplemap wrote on 9/30/2003, 5:36 PM

I posted this in the audio section as well. I wasn't quite sure which forum it belongs in, so I just assume it'll be taken down from the wrong one:

Hello everyone. Thank you in advance for any help you can provide.

Before I continue, here are my system specs:

8IK1100 - gigabyte mobo
p4 3.0ghz
800mhz FSB
1gig of DDR ram
MEGARAID 150-2 - with 2 160GB seagate serial ATA HDs.
7200RPM 60GB seagate system drive
ATI RADEON 9000 atlantis pro
Pyro 1394 DV card

Deck: Canon GL1 or Panasonic DVX100 (PQ tapes only)

NLE: Vegas 4.0d and Premiere Pro

If I forgot to list anything please let me know.

On to the problem (please ignore my literally horrible spelling):

I am in the process of editing a documentary and I captured three tapes flawlessly (or so I think), when I began to notice random electronic noises and audio dropouts during preview. I thought it was just firewire buggin' out, but when I checked the captured files, they had the dropouts.

I tried using different tapes. All of them had dropouts. I tried using a different deck. Still dropouts. I listened to the footage via headphones, NO DROPOUTS. Also, the dropouts are completely random. Sometimes they'll pop-up, sometimes they won't. But obviously I can't have this, nor allow this to continue. I am a month away from beginning a big job and I need my system working flawlessly.

I tried re-formatting, changing 1394 cards, changing bios settings. Disabling all non-essential functions. I tried updating my bios. Changing firewire cables. Everything.

My old computer never had this problem. This is so bizarre.

Can anyone provide any advice on how to continue? I feel I am shooting in the dark trying to fix this.

I'm also interested in the bus flow of how DV gets into the computer. Perhaps someone can shed light on where the screwup is most likely occuring.

Thank you once again.

BTW I am getting this in premiere as well. (I love vegas much more!!)

- Alex

Comments

craftech wrote on 10/14/2003, 9:12 AM

This has gone back and forth many times. The last time around the final suggestion by a tech who monitors the forum was to try using Video Capture 3.0c instead of 4.0d.

John

SonyEPM wrote on 10/14/2003, 9:17 AM

Are dropped frames reported during the capture process?

johnmeyer wrote on 10/14/2003, 11:28 AM

I always suspect background software, since I have verified in several instances that it can cause dropped frames. The usual way to check is to click on Start -> Run, and then type "msconfig" and press Enter. Click on the Startup tab and unselect everything (you can re-enable it later). Reboot and then try recapturing. If you get a good capture, you now know that at least one of those background programs is causing a problem. Most likely candidates (in my experience) are HP printer software (the process name usually begings with "hp") and old anti-virus software (the stuff sold in the last two years doesn't seem to be a problem).

I have also seen amazing slowdowns from the Windows XP indexing software. This software provides little or no value unless you have to search often for documents based on their content.

Finally, as always, make sure you have DMA enabled for every hard disk (My Computer -> Properties -> Hardware -> Device Manager -> Primary IDE Channel -> Properties -> Advanced Settings). If this is set to PIO, things definitely will not work.

craftech wrote on 10/14/2003, 7:52 PM

Are dropped frames reported during the capture process?
=====================
Never in my experience, but you can see the dropouts on the timeline in random spots when it happens. There has never been a detectable pattern to them and I for ruled out computer related issues quite some time ago.

John