Audio out of sync with video

[AutoExtreme]

Hi, newbie here

I have been trying to copy old vhs and 8mm video camera footage to the pc so I can eventually copy it to DVD. I am using an adaptec video capture card and windvd recorder. When I play the video back in WMP it seems to be ok, apart from a fuzzy line that runs along the bottom and a black line that runs down the right hand edge.

I run the video through TMPG to crop the edges and remove any unwanted video but after this the audio is completely out of sync. I have searched the forum but everything I find explains how to fix constant audio sync issues. The problem i`m having is the audio gets more out of sync the longer the video plays. Also, the video capture card I have only seems to capture MPEG, not AVI. Can anyone PLEASE help, thanks

[daamon]

Hi AutoExtreme,

Welcome to the forums.

Don't worry about the fuzzy lines along the bottom and edge, unless they're huge, they'll be hidden by the very edge of the TV screen - this is called the overscan area. If your TV doesn't have a standard screen (i.e. it's HDTV) it may show up.

Use the latest version of GSpot (v2.60) with your captured file and post a screen shot so we can see what exactly the format of the audio and video is that's being captured.

[AutoExtreme]

Thanks for the friendly welcome

I`m not sure i`ve done this right but I took 3 screenshots, one of 2 under VID, one of 2 under AUD and one of 2 under MS A/V.





Hope this is right!

[AutoExtreme]

Anyone???

[AutoExtreme]

Any chance of some help please?

I posted up the screen shots as asked for but i`m not too sure what to do to sort this problem out.

Thanks

[Scorpion King]

When displayed on TV there is a certain amount of the edge that will not display. Having garbage around the edges of captured video is normal as long as it is not so wide it will display on the TV. Since you are capturing MPEG-2 realtime I would try not to reencode the file again if I could get by without doing it.

WMP will lie to you about audio sync. If the file has an offset value and this offset is set in the header (i guess) WMP will see this offset and use it when playing the file. Use Media Player Classic to check files for sync. It will not use the offset marker.

The ultimate sync test is trying to play the file in VirtualDub, but in your case of having MPEG-2 files, then in VirtualDubMpeg2. If they play correctly in VD then they are in sync. If you need to set an offset to sync the audio then enter that amount in Audio - Interleaving - Audio Skew Correction. 1000 = 1 second. -1000 = -1 second. This may be trial and error. If you are able to sync the audio then save out the audio portion and join the original video with the new audio in Tmpgenc MPEG Tools Simple Multiplex. Then test it again.

Good luck.

[AutoExtreme]

Thank you for the reply.

I`m going to have to re-encode as the video needs to be edited, unfortunately there is no way of avoiding this.

I will try all the above but the main problem I have is that the audio sync gets worse as the video plays. It starts off not too bad, by an hour into the video its about 4 seconds out! What can be done about this?

Thank you

[Scorpion King]

Gradual sync loss can be caused by many factors. You are capturing from tape so you can go back and recapture the footage whenever you want, so it is probably easier to just recapture the video instead of trying to repair gradual loss of sync in the files you have now.

Capturing from camera footage can cause trouble when the tape hits a spot where there is noting but static (between the video clips) because your capture program can drop frames trying to capture that static. This can lead to sync problems. If your camera footage has blank spots (static) between the video clip portions then I suggest you simply stop the capture when it hits this static and restart a new capture when the video comes back. That is what I have found to be the easiest method. You can easily combine these short clips in your authorizing or editing program later. This alone may fix your sync issue.

Another issue is cpu load during the video capture. Use WIndows Task Manager - Performance Tab (Ctrl+Alt+Del key) and monitor CPU load during a capture test. If the CPU load goes over 60% then, based on my experience, there can be problems in the captured file. Many programs have a slidebar labeled either quality or motion search (etc) that can be adjusted to maintain a safe CPU load. With my 3Ghz processor I generally use 100% on these slidebars without problems but in a program like MainConcept I cannot. Try monitoring the CPU load until you are sure this is not the problem.

Don't surf the internet or open any other programs when capturing video. This might fix the problem. Do a fresh reboot and maybe close all unnecessary applications then capture. When background applications requires cpu cycles or hdd seeks this can cause video issues.

Try other programs. Try Ulead VideoStudio version 10 trialware. It is an easy to setup and use program that can capture mpeg2 video. With it you can combine your video clips, cut out unwanted sections, add transitions/fades/etc, then export the finished files without reencoding the video (very important point) as long as the project settings match the properties of your video clips. The program will haft to encode the transition effects/etc but the main portion of the video will not be reencoded. You will need to capture DVD compliant files to author DVDs though or a reencode will be necessary.

Update the cards device drivers. Do a search at the Adaptec site looking for updated device drives. Might help.(?)

Do some capture test from a difference source like TV. Like I said above -capturing from tape can be tough. I've had my own fair share of issues trying to cap from tape.

Good luck.

[Barnabas]

AutoExtreme,

Your problem is quite common. You are dropping video frames while capping. This happens a good bit of the time when capping from video tape. The capping software will pad the capture, so the capture is in sync, but once you cut it or author it, it's out of sync. You can try to run your captured file through VideoRoDo. That will probably keep it in sync, but you still have lost video frames. You really need to buy a TBC or Time Base Corrector if you are going to capture from video tapes.

[AutoExtreme]

Thanks for the detailed replies. Its given me some things to try out.

Thanks again