Three DV questions

[edu]

I use WinDV, Sony Digital 8 (pass-through) and Firewire to capture TV shows. Some are standard and some digital.

1. When capturing, WinDV will intermittently display/capture in 4:3 and 16:9 format (same show). Intermittent means after I stop capture and wait for the next part I want to record. I'd like it always to be 16:9 to fit my HDTV.

2. When transferring from the camcorder tape, the resulting images have short horizontal lines by the edge when there is motion. Also, the picture is not smooth overall because of mild pixelations(?). It is not that bad from a distance though. Can you suggest a better SW than WinDV?

3. I thought it will never happen to me. But recently, some captured TV shows are out of synch (audio and video). Just a fraction of a second. I can always fix it with VirtualDub but it would be nice to skip that process.

[guns1inger]

1. Don't know. Is this true 16:9 or letter box 4:3 ?

2. Interlace. Normal. Won't see it on the TV, only on the PC. Don't sweat it.

3. Are the sync issues coming from VHS recordings only ? If so, buy new tapes or perhaps invest in a TBC if this is an oncoing exercise. If it comes from all sources and is intermittent, you may be stuck with the vdub solution.

[schematic2]

Try Scenalyzer and you'll never look back....

[Wile_E]

Scenalyzer doesn't have a buffer, so it has possibility to drop frames like other DV capture programs.

[edu]

Thanks,guys.

Tmpgenc says it's 4:3. I just wonder why the switch is happening. Actually, I could not tell if top and bottom are cropped. No biggy.

I am recording TV programs from a HiDef cablebox. Capture setup is cablebox>VCR>Sony Digital 8>Firewire>PC. I can delete the VCR from the setup. I have it because cablebox is far from PC. I read in other posts that there is strong possibility of audio/video synch problem with this setup. I do not know if it is because of the VCR or the use of pass-through camcorder.

[BSR]

the picture is not smooth overall because of mild pixelations(?). It is not that bad from a distance though. Can you suggest a better SW than WinDV?

Not sure about passthrough, but this is how your camera works when filming:
Using anything other than WINDV will not fix this. Not sure what digital 8 you have(probably doesn't matter because I've never seen one do tru 16:9)
What your camera is doing is cropping the top and bottom of the captured frame, then internally resizing up to 480 to be DV compliant. So your spreading less resolution over a larger area which is making it appear pixelated.

Now you can test to be sure by capturing 4:3 and seeing if you see the same pixelation.

I've tried my sony cam with WINDV and get audio sync with any captures longer than 45minutes(but only when doing passthrough).
Good capture programs I've tried that lock the audio with video are Scenalyzerlive, Vegas, Premiere, and Ulead.
Also heard that type 1 capture in WINDV will sometimes fix sync issue.

[edu]

2. Interlace. Normal. Won't see it on the TV, only on the PC. Don't sweat it.

Only now I have the chance to view it on TV. It is a lot worse. The horizontal lines became bolder and look like long saw teeth (jagged). Only when there is motion though.

[Richard_G]

2. Interlace. Normal. Won't see it on the TV, only on the PC. Don't sweat it.

Only now I have the chance to view it on TV. It is a lot worse. The horizontal lines became bolder and look like long saw teeth (jagged). Only when there is motion though.

Is this when playing back the raw DV footage or are you converting it in some way? It sounds like you have done something with it and reversed the field order. This will result in jagged edges and jerky movement.

[BSR]

DV is bottom field first and should be encoded as so.
Try rechecking your TMPGEnc Settings to see if this is the issue.

[GeorgeW]

This might not be related, but whenever I hear about field order issues, I remember that not all software titles use the same field-order designations.

For instance, Ulead software (mostly older versions) will designate "Field A" as meaning "Lower Field" or "Bottom Field" first. And TMPGenc 2.5 designates "Field A" as "Upper" or "Top" field first. There's also "Odd" and "Even" designations in some software.

The point is, make sure you maintain the proper/same field order throughout your process (capture, edit, author). If you are capturing frame-based, that's a different story...

If you have a package that calls DV .avi "Field A" (for Lower Field), then you would encode in TMPGenc 2.5 as "Field B" (which is "Lower Field" in TMPGenc 2.5 -- I think they changed the designation in versions 3.x).

Luckily, newer versions of software are moving towards a more uniform designation...