AVI sticks / stutters

[kr236rk]

hi,

i captured a couple of clips the other day in AVI and MPEG2 format - my heart froze when i played them back and they started sticking - like a momentary freeze-frame effect - and i thought my edit software must be on the way out (Pinnacle), but when i posted this on a Pinnacle forum they just said it's an arbitary glitch to do with "1 or 0" digitals, not really a 'fault' at all, "just work your way round it"

that's nice to know in a way but i'm amazed just the same - i also notice that when i dub an mp3 audio to an edit, it is much less likely to stick in the finished file - like i've never heard of a stuttering mp3 before?

the footage in edit does not stick - it's only when you render it into AVI / MPEG2 - dvd burns don't tend to stick, but there were problems here about 1 year ago, and i blamed the burner, perhaps unfairly?

any thoughts please?

thanks

Ric

[jagabo]

It sounds like your computer isn't fast enough to play the files properly. What codecs (audio and video) did you use in the AVI files. You can use MediaInfo or Gspot to determine this if you don't know.

It's not unusual for uncompressed RGB or YUY2 video to play jerky because hard drives weren't fast enough in the days of Pentium 4 CPUs and 40 GB drives. But this would cause problems with the capture as well as the playback.

I wouldn't expect MPEG2 playback to have a problem with that computer.

[kr236rk]

It sounds like your computer isn't fast enough to play the files properly. What codecs (audio and video) did you use in the AVI files. You can use MediaInfo or Gspot to determine this if you don't know.

thanks Jagabo - this is a great forum

MediaInfo:

General
Complete name : G:\.avi
Format : AVI
Format/Info : Audio Video Interleave
File size : 911 MiB
Duration : 4mn 16s
Overall bit rate : 29.8 Mbps
Recorded date : 2065-25-45 46:26:25

Video
Format : Digital Video
Codec ID : dvsd
Codec ID/Hint : Sony
Duration : 4mn 16s
Bit rate : 27.6 Mbps
Width : 720 pixels
Height : 576 pixels
Display aspect ratio : 4/3
Frame rate mode : Constant
Frame rate : 25.000 fps
Standard : PAL
Resolution : 24 bits
Colorimetry : 4:2:0
Scan type : Interlaced

Audio
Format : PCM
Format settings, Endianness : Little
Format settings, Sign : Unsigned
Codec ID : 1
Codec ID/Hint : Microsoft
Duration : 4mn 16s
Bit rate mode : Constant
Bit rate : 1 024 Kbps
Channel(s) : 2 channels
Sampling rate : 32.0 KHz
Resolution : 16 bits

It's not unusual for uncompressed RGB or YUY2 video to play jerky because hard drives weren't fast enough in the days of Pentium 4 CPUs and 40 GB drives. But this would cause problems with the capture as well as the playback.

LOL - i'm using a P4!

I wouldn't expect MPEG2 playback to have a problem with that computer.

you're right - the MPEG2 was the least likely to stick

my newer pc is an Athlon x2 which has yet to have edit software added to it - hopefully the faster processor will wave goodbye to the dv file sticking?

one other note though, when i dub mp3 soundtracks to dv's, then they don't tend to stick - it's almost as if the soundtrack is smooth-running the visuals: weird?

[aedipuss]

mp3 audio has a much lower bitrate than the pcm so will take less cpu to decode. more cpu left over for the video and it will play better.

[kr236rk]

mp3 audio has a much lower bitrate than the pcm so will take less cpu to decode. more cpu left over for the video and it will play better.

okay thanks - looking forward to trying this all out again on vista [fingers crossed]

[jagabo]

my newer pc is an Athlon x2 which has yet to have edit software added to it - hopefully the faster processor will wave goodbye to the dv file sticking?

The A64 X2 should be less likely to stick. But are you talking only about previewing in Pinnacle Studio? Editors aren't really designed for realtime video playback and will not perform as well as media player software. This is especially true when previewing filters. It's nothing to worry about. It may be annoying but it doesn't effect the final output of the editor.

[kr236rk]

my newer pc is an Athlon x2 which has yet to have edit software added to it - hopefully the faster processor will wave goodbye to the dv file sticking?

The A64 X2 should be less likely to stick. But are you talking only about previewing in Pinnacle Studio? Editors aren't really designed for realtime video playback and will not perform as well as media player software. This is especially true when previewing filters. It's nothing to worry about. It may be annoying but it doesn't effect the final output of the editor.

thanks Jagabo,

tried the stickie file in several players > esp Windows Media Player, and it stuttered here and there < - the edit footage did not stick in Pinnacle, funnily enough; i even find watching some online web videos - including my own - sticks, which must be down to the Pentium 4 ~ wow ~ state-of-the-art processor not so long ago, but clearly struggling in 2008? burning discs in Pinnacle does not seem to stick at all though, which is a real relief

Ric

[edDV]

Try VLC for playback of DV (dvsd). VLC defaults (deinterlace = discard) for single field playback (720x240p, 29.97fps expanded to 720x480). This is "lite" on CPU usage.

If you want to play it full frame interlace, select Deinterlace = "Disable".
If your CPU can handle on the fly deinterlace try "Mean", "Linear",or "X".

If you want to try interpolation to 720x480p try "Bob".

Note that VLC is processing the DV video on the fly for computer display only. The file is not altered.

[kr236rk]

Try VLC for playback of DV (dvsd). VLC defaults (deinterlace = discard) for single field playback (720x240p, 29.97fps expanded to 720x480). This is "lite" on CPU usage.

If you want to play it full frame interlace, select Deinterlace = "Disable".
If your CPU can handle on the fly deinterlace try "Mean", "Linear",or "X".

If you want to try interpolation to 720x480p try "Bob".

Note that VLC is processing the DV video on the fly for computer display only. The file is not altered.

thanks edDV - that looks worth a try!