Weird DV capture sound problem

[King-Of-DK]

Can anyone tell me why my captured DV video sound crackles and sounds very metallic??

I use a firewire card to capture,and the sound is awfull.. I thought it was the sound drivers in windows,so i installed the XP latest drivers for my SB live! Value,nothing works.

[joecav]

What program did you use to transfer your DV movie to your PC? I have done this many times and never encountered the issue you describe.

[King-Of-DK]

I have tried the program that came with my firewire card Ulead Video Studio 7 and then Nero 6 and Ulead Media Studio Pro

Same problem in all of them

[King-Of-DK]

Does anyone have a solution??

[tito13kfm]

considering that DV "capture" is really just transfering of a file to your computer, I would put the blame on either your soundcard or on the original recording. does it have this same sound if you play back the tape through the camcorder through your tv, or even better, hooked up directly to your computer speakers? Also, it might just be that your soundcard screws up pcm audio (can't imagine how). Just bring the avi into goldwave or virualdub and save out the audio, then reencode to mp3, or ac3 and see if it sounds any better, if so then it's a problem with your soundcard not liking pcm.

But i'm leaning towards the "it's in the original, so it's in the transfer" theory. maybe your microphone is dieing?

[npaulie2000]

Assuming that the original source before capture was ok. When you capture make sure nothing near is causing interference (microwave oven, anything with an electric motor (a fan or a/c unit) This could cause the problem.

[King-Of-DK]

First off,the camera is brand new,secondly there is nothing wrong with the sound when played directly on TV,third there is no fans or A/C (i live in denmark,and it is cold this time of year )

I find Nero to be the easyest to use,as i can both capture,edit and make the final DVD. And since the sound gets screwed up in the capture stage on all the programs i have tried,i really have no clue as to what causes the problem..

And there is no point in extracting the audio from the AVI,when the sound from the captured avi sounds very metallic..

Lastly,how do i retain the 16:9 format the footage was shot in,when converting? It seems like all my trials havew come out 4:3 where everything is squeezed?

[bugster]

King, check your camcorder settings and your PC capture settings.

DV camcorder record audio at either 32khz or 48khz. You should always use 48khz. If the sound on your Cam is 32khz and your capture SW is assuming 48khz that could be the problem.

[King-Of-DK]

The only audio settings in the cam is Audio 12bit or 16bit,nowhere does it specify the frequency.. But the sound was recorded in 16bit. The camera is a Panasonic NV-MX500

[King-Of-DK]

I found the specs for the sound in the manual,and my footage is shot in 16bit (48khz)

[Bstansbury]

When you capture in VideoStudio you can look at the properties and see exactly what your DV input was. When you have your camera plugged into your firewire card, and the camera turned on,... VideoStudio usually detects everthing as soon as you turn your camera into VCR mode. At that point is show which codec you will be using for the transfer. My window shows "DV" and below that is has "Sony-MS" for Microsoft AVI format. Also, you need to make sure you are selecting type-1 or Type-2 format.

The questions is,... Does the software really see the stuff. Open the controls section and check the "Change Capture Plug in" Mine is selected for "Ulead Direct show capture Plug in"

I've never had a problem,... I've used both VideoStudio 6 and 7. I find that 7 has too many other problems so I continue to use 6.02.

Hope this helps

[King-Of-DK]

I also use the directshow and DV-1 and the problem is not limited to ulead video studio,but also media studio pro and nero 6 retail

[Bstansbury]

Then I would suggest that it is not the software or your firewire link, but something to do with your sound card or the cables to it. Make a small capture of some video in type-2 mode. The audio is separate but I'm not sure it is .wav or what. Anyway, you could get it converted to a .wav file and send it to me or someone else over the net and we will play it and see what comes out. This will tell you if it is in the source or if it is your hardware.

Bud

[proxyx99]

Several possibilities:
capture and sound OK, playback's fault - try different application, export to tape or other format (Mpeg2) and check it then - may be OK
try to eliminate DV playback issue by outputting captured material to a different device (or back to DV cam) and then check the output audio.

Important: when transferring from DV cam, is the sound OK during preview (PC playback via firewire)?

You may try DV type 2 format (as advised be4) and see what happens (other capture applications like Scenalyser, WinDV, Vegas Capture, Pinnacle Studio etc.)

You need to determine if this is: playback problem, camera settings (?)- output issue (try analog -RCA output to PC or VCR), firewire issue (cams settings vs. PC settings), sound sampling freq. transcoding fault etc.

[King-Of-DK]

That was a lot of information,which i really have no idea what means. To clarify,i also use the firewire for sound,i don´t have separate cables to my soundcard,could this be it? Also play back from camera on 3 different home stereos results in good sound,so i really dont think it is the camera.

Also when transferred to VHS the sound is fine

The sound in the preview of all the capture prograns i have used is very bad,this is how i noticed it,and it persist throughout the conversion and on the final DVD.

The sound sampling frequency IS 48khz (called 16bit in menu)

As the camera when capturing sits between 2 PC´s,a hub and a scanner could it be interferrence from one of these devices? Secondly how do i play back to the camera?

[Bstansbury]

I think you're getting a lot of help, but not using the suggestions. You said;

Also when transferred to VHS the sound is fine

You need to provide us more information. IF you transferred it to VHS, this means to me that you plugged the output of your camera into the RCA input of your VHS deck and copied the video to VHS,.. and when you play it back the sound is fine. If this is the case, the problem still could be in the Firwire card or motherboard circuits, or in your Sound card. If you do a real transfer of Firewire Video and Data to your hard disk and the video plays, I don't believe there is any way to screw up the audio file. You also said;

And there is no point in extracting the audio from the AVI,when the sound from the captured avi sounds very metallic..

This is not true. The sound in the Firewire line is embedded in the Video stream, and I can't see how this could go bad just being transferred to your hard disk. It could be the fact that your system has other things going on while your moving the video from hard disk, to the video application and then it gets stripped, and then it goes back to your audio card, all across the same buss,... and at that point the audio is garbled because it can't deliever the data from the disk fast enought. All of this is just a guess.

Therefore, if you try the suggestion I made be4, about testing the .wav file separate from any other software on your system, or send it to me, you can isolate one more item. I'm getting convinced by your information that the problem is with your sound driver or whatever you use. If you can play the .wav file only on your system without noise you will have the answer.

Give it a try,.... it's very guick to do.

[proxyx99]

If sound is bad during capture, try another Firewire card (just to cut through the chase). To clarify, sound and video come together via FW, no other cables needed. Try similar setup on one of your friends PC's to see if you can replicate the distortion. If so, you should call Panasonic, if not I would start with FW card temp replacement. Be creative, unusual issues call for unusual methods.

Lastly,how do i retain the 16:9 format the footage was shot in,when converting? It seems like all my trials havew come out 4:3 where everything is squeezed?

The appilication that you use has to be capable of preserving 16:9 format (must have 16:9 editing mode). Any recently released video editor should have this feature.

[King-Of-DK]

Thanks for all your input guys.. I found the problem.. It was my cellphone which have been sitting near by everytime i did the capture,when removed out of the room no problem..

So again thank you guys

[proxyx99]

forgot to add to my last post...

....and don't forget to remove all cellphones from your PC's vicinity.

[King-Of-DK]

hehe good one,had it only come sooner, then all my troubles would have vanished

[proxyx99]

Never undermine human ingenuity. There's more trouble to come, sooner then later. To wrap it up, you are not done yet, by any stretch of imagination...

[King-Of-DK]

That is probably why i have 268 posts!! I have had a lot of problems before,and are bound to run into more sooner rahter than later

But thanks to you fine people in these forums,help is never far away