Burning DVDs - mine have out of sync audio and video

[dbjames]

Newbie question. I'm using Pinnacle Studio V9.4 to burns DVDs. Video capture is from VHS tape to mpeg. Capture is OK, but more and more the resultant DVD has to be put in the bin because the video and audo are out of sync. The DVDs seem to be OK at the beginning, but somewhere there's a little jerk in the playback and then audio and video are out of sync - sometimes slightly, sometimes by several seconds.
Anybody have any idea ?

PS. I can often fix it by trying again and making another DVD. But this is a pain and it means I have to check every DVD I make. Captured mpeg is 100% fine, so I can always go back to it and try again..... anybody have any idea why Pinnacle Studio can make corrupt DVDs ????

DVD writer is an internal Phillips device, very recent purchase.

[TonyB.O.D.]

I have the exact same issue with Studio 9.4. The MPEG files look fine - no audio sync issue at all. But when I create a DVD the audio gradually goes out of sync with the video - the longer you are from the start, the worse it seems to be. Seems like it's dropping frames somewhere, but I don't know how to fix this.

The only thing I have done that seems to help is to make a scene break on a regular basis - that keeps the sync from getting to far out of whack. It's a workaround at best, but there should be a way to solve this.

I'm certainly not married to Stuido 9.4 - I just want to get the MPEG video to DVD (I don't really need to edit/author) - is there another tool to do that that might also solve the sync issue?

[harley2ride]

Many factors can affect sync.
Some things that can help deter sync issues are: use a seperate HD to capture to and encode from (not one running any software or operating system). Keep your HD defragged. Shutdown any Anti Virus software while capturing, encoding. Use quality dvd's (Verbatim or Taiyo Yuden). Make sure you have the correct frame rate selected and the correct audio 48hz. If you are having dropped frames while capturing, switch to a firewire capture, and use a dedicated firewire card (not the onboard firewire). However, I have two pc's setup using an ADS PYRO AV/Link, and I have yet to have a sync issue, and often, I just use the onboard firewire. You may want to look into a capture device which locks the audio and video. If you are only capturing from tv or vcr, you may be able to go with a hauppage capture card (250, 350, or 500). Other good options are ATI All in Wonder cards, Canopus ADVC 100, 110, ADS PYRO AV/Link, or the ADS USB devices which also lock audio and video during capture.

[TonyB.O.D.]

Many factors can affect sync.
Some things that can help deter sync issues are: use a seperate HD to capture to and encode from (not one running any software or operating system). Keep your HD defragged. Shutdown any Anti Virus software while capturing, encoding. Use quality dvd's (Verbatim or Taiyo Yuden). Make sure you have the correct frame rate selected and the correct audio 48hz. If you are having dropped frames while capturing, switch to a firewire capture, and use a dedicated firewire card (not the onboard firewire). However, I have two pc's setup using an ADS PYRO AV/Link, and I have yet to have a sync issue, and often, I just use the onboard firewire. You may want to look into a capture device which locks the audio and video. If you are only capturing from tv or vcr, you may be able to go with a hauppage capture card (250, 350, or 500). Other good options are ATI All in Wonder cards, Canopus ADVC 100, 110, ADS PYRO AV/Link, or the ADS USB devices which also lock audio and video during capture.

In my case I don't believe the issue is in the capture - I'm starting with an MPEG2 video which has no sync issues - it's when it gets converted to DVD that I have the issue. My drives are defrageed and fast 15K RPM SATA, so I don't think that's an issue, and I am using Verbatim DVD-R. I'm also not writing directly to DVD - just to the HD.

Is there another tool that works better than Studio 9.4?