Panasonic digicam to mpg puts audio out of sync

[ronhud]

I have a file which was transferred from a Panasonic digicam to PC. On the camera I believe it was a .vro file, the software seems to have converted it to .mpg as it was being transferred. When run the video has several periods when the image is frozen for a few seconds although the audio is continuous. I am assuming that this is the result of bad frames being masked. The image seems to get ahead of the sound, as the sound is not distorted then I would like to be able to resync the video to the sound. I have tried to look at the file with VirtualDub, i t needed the mpeg-2 plugin to enable it to be loaded and the file info option shows it to be mpeg 2 format. I downloaded vdub-mp3-freeze to see if that could fix it but it gave the same error as VirtualDub originally gave and is unable to access the mpeg-2 plugin to solve this problem.

So.... what can i try to get the sound and video in sync? The vid is a family musical event and I would love to get something usable from it.

Thanks
Ron

[jagabo]

Have you tried opening the VRO file with VirtualDub? Do you get frozen video in the same areas?

You can also use Mpg2Cut2 to open VRO files and remux as MPG files.

Is the audio in your MPG file in sync until it gets to the first frozen section?

[ronhud]

Thanks for the reply. I put the minidisk in my dvd drive and it showed a directory on the cam so I copied the vro file over and loaded it into VirtualDub. The first frame showed but when I pressed play it gave a msg 'incomplete frame'. I stepped through the frames and they were full of square blocks and in some cases it looked as though bits of other frames were mixed in. When I play the file on the camcorder itself there are some frozen bits but the sound stops too so that the sound seems always to be in sync and the mages may have some small coloured blocks or stripes but otherwise are ok.

In the mpg file the audio is fine until the first frozen bit then it gets progressively worse. The video is of my grandaughter playing the Haydn Trumpet Concerto. In real time she finishes playing then the orchestra plays several bars to end the movement. On the mpg the orchestra visually starts to play the final passage while on the sound the trumpet is still playing so the visual is ahead of the sound.

From what I have read it seems that some software when it finds bad frames applies a mask up to the next key frame that isnt bad. I think I can step through the mpg file in VirtualDub and see where this masking starts and finishes. If I cant get the sound sync and visual perfect I would settle for the same as shows on the cam i.e the sound stops with the freezing and so finishes in sync. Is there any way I can accomplish this either with software filtering of some kind or manually with say VirtualDub.
Thanks again

[jagabo]

Can you play the VRO file with VLC? VLC uses internal filters to play videos. It doesn't rely on system installed components. Also try the MPG file. Does the audio get out of sync with VLC?

Did you try Mpg2Cut2 to make an MPG from the VRO?

I'm sure there's some way of getting your video to play (and converted) without A/V sync problems. It's just a matter of finding the right software.

[ronhud]

Thanks for staying with this. If I play the vro file with VLC it shows the same mish mash as when I step through it with VirtualDub. Playing the mpg file with VLC suffers the same out of sync problem. Mpg2Cut2 doesnt seem to have an option to save a vro as mpg. I welcome any further suggestions.

[jagabo]

Mpg2Cut2 doesnt seem to have an option to save a vro as mpg.

Any time you save from Mpg2Cut2 it will produce an MPG file. But I suspect it is showing you the same messed up video as VirtualDub and VLC. If not, try using the Mark-in '['and Mark-out ']' tools to mark a section then use Files -> Save This Clip to save as MPG. See if anything can play/edit that video.