Audio/Video Synchronization Frustration

[DrNyquist]

Over the last several years, I've tried various ways to convert my old home video on VHS to DVD. I've never been able to get it to work properly. I've tried three different PCI capture cards, one USB capture device, and many capture programs. I've read countless how-to guides, but I still have synchronization issues. I've always given up and put the project off for another time. Now, I'm trying yet again, and I really want to make it work this time.

My latest attempt began a few days ago. I'm using my latest capture gadget, an EasyCap USB video capture device. I was hoping that having a device that captures both audio and video might solve my synchronization issue. I'm using an AMD Athlon 64 3000+ with 1.5 GB of memory. My OS is Windows XP with SP2. I'm in the U.S., so the video is NTSC.

Using the EasyCap, I've tried capturing with Ulead Video Studio SE, freeVCR, iuVCR, Virtual VCR, VirtualDub, and Windows Movie Maker. Windows Movie Maker was the only program that synchronized the audio and video. With all the other programs, the audio lags the video about a second. I would just be content with Windows Movie Maker, but it doesn't give me enough control over the output file and compression type. Also, video captured with Windows Movie Maker doesn't seem very smooth for some reason. I output uncompressed AVI files with everything but Windows Movie Maker, which output a WMV file.

How does Windows Movie Maker do it? No matter how much I've played with the settings in the other programs, the problem remains the same. Windows Movie Maker miraculously achieved perfect synchronization without any hassle.

Of all the capture programs I have tried, I like VirtualDub the best. Is there any way I can achieve synchronization with it? If not, is there another program that can do it?

I've spent many hours trying to make this work, and I can't tell you how frustrating it is. I really, really appreciate any suggestions you can offer.

Thanks!

[eskro]

Yepp!

VirtualDub can synchronize your AVI file!

Which version of VirutalDUb you have?

[DrNyquist]

Yepp!

VirtualDub can synchronize your AVI file!

Which version of VirutalDUb you have?

Thanks for your response. I'll give this a try. I have version 1.9.8.

I haven't tried this already because it looks like a fair amount of trial and error. Also, I don't know for sure the difference is constant throughout long captures. I was hoping there was some way to make it work automatically like Windows Movie Maker. Does anyone know how Windows Movie Maker does it so well?

[eskro]

Windows Movie Maker doesn't allow you to synchronize...

THe way im telling you is the way pretty much everybody sync their videos-up!

Just make a forum search and you'll see...

and its super e-z to do...

Im not telling u bulls***

[Nelson37]

It is quite common to drop video frames when capturing VHS. This would result in the video being shorter than the audio, causing a de-synch.

Some progs will drop corresponding audio frames to maintain synch, Vdub has an option for this.

Suggest you first test capture progs with a reliable, repeatable source such as a DVD.

Next determine if the de-synch is constant, or gradually increasing. This is absolutely critical to obtaining a solution.

[DrNyquist]

Windows Movie Maker doesn't allow you to synchronize...

THe way im telling you is the way pretty much everybody sync their videos-up!

Just make a forum search and you'll see...

and its super e-z to do...

Im not telling u bulls***

I believe you, and I'll try it this way tonight.

I was just hoping that Windows Movie Maker had some clever way of automatically handling synchronization since it somehow nailed the synchronization perfectly when none of the others did; granted, I only tried it once. I guess it was just luck.

Thanks for your help!

[DrNyquist]

It is quite common to drop video frames when capturing VHS. This would result in the video being shorter than the audio, causing a de-synch.

Some progs will drop corresponding audio frames to maintain synch, Vdub has an option for this.

Suggest you first test capture progs with a reliable, repeatable source such as a DVD.

Next determine if the de-synch is constant, or gradually increasing. This is absolutely critical to obtaining a solution.

I've been using the option to resample the audio to maintain sync with the video. I usually have a few dropped frames or none at all. VirtualDub usually inserts some frames. I've noticed it does this when there is noticeable noise in the video.

I'll play around with capturing from a better source.

Thanks!

[DrNyquist]

Yepp!

VirtualDub can synchronize your AVI file!

Which version of VirutalDUb you have?

It worked! I just subtracted the lengths of the video and audio tracks and used that as the delay time. It worked the first time.

Thanks!!!

[eskro]

no problemo!

[zulubase]

how does Virtualdub compare with VirtualdubMod, or are they the same? & can they handle mpg files, since avi are rather large, to put it mildly! thanks