I have been using this to capture old feature films that are available on a Russian website. There are hundreds of them, and I have captured quite a number of them. Most are fine when output to DVD, but the odd one comes out with a jerky picture and the lip sync out. The default frame rate for the capture is 30 frames per second and I have left this in place. Since these are old films, could it be that I need to capture at 25 frames per second, and if I did, would this cure the problems with picture and sync?

I have tried upping the bitrate when outputting the DVD but this does not seem to resolve it.

 

I would be grateful for any suggestions as to what I can do.

PS If I preview the film on the website's viewer, it is fine. It is only after capture that it develops the problems. 

I can understand how jerkiness/flicker could be introduced (differences in the frame rate of the original film, the frame rate at which it was captured, the frame rate of your PC monitor etc.). But don't know why some captures should exhibit A/V sync errors and others not...

Is the issue only seen in Studio - if you play one of the "problem" recordings in a media player does it stay in sync? If it stays in sync in media players, you could try processing it using HandBrake (maybe there were dropped frames in the recording so it appears to be a variable frame rate)?

Changing video bitrate for the export would not have any effect on the amount of flicker or out-of-sync; higher video bitrates could improve picture quality by not throwing away as much fine detail or movement that was present in the video.

If you've got newer versions of Studio on that PC too, would MultiCam Capture Lite do a better job of the screen recording than Live Screen Capturing?
Does the website offer a way of downloading the films- or could you use a third-party video downloader app to grab them?

Regards,
Richard

Hi Richard. Many thanks for your response. I think there is a connection between the frame rate and the issue of the sync as it is only a problem on those jerky captures.

Yes, media players play the footage without issues.

Because this is a Russian website and probably not that well-used in Europe, There is no downloading option for the content. In some ways, the site is like Facebook as contributors upload the films and then get 'likes'. The purpose was never to facilitate downloading. I did try MultiCam Capture Lite but did not find it as user-friendly. I could not figure out how to only capture the section of the screen that I wanted. The arrow is similar to 'Live Sceen Capturing' but the 'handles do not appear when I click on it as with the former.  I will try having another look at it and will also explore the Handbrake option that you mention.

Bob in MultiCam Capture you can select what window you want to capture, see attachment

kiteflyer:

Bob in MultiCam Capture you can select what window you want to capture, see attachment

 

Yes, I can get to that screen but don't get an option to select the part of the screen that I want to record ie the video player. In Live Screen Capturing the entire screen appears with handles on it after I select the bit with the arrow in it, bit this does not happen in MutiCam Lite. 

Bob, if you click on the dropdown arrow where it says capture window, you'll get a list of possible capture windows like shown in my screenshot, the video player should be in that, possibly named with the title of the video, or click on the little box where it says freehand selection

Yes that is what I have been doing. I also have selected the freehand arrow which in the live screen capturing then offers the opportunity of sizing the capture window by dragging the handles, but with MultiCam Capture Lite everything remains static. Perhaps my install did not work correctly. What should happen when I select as described?

Bob keen:

Yes that is what I have been doing. I also have selected the freehand arrow which in the live screen capturing then offers the opportunity of sizing the capture window by dragging the handles, but with MultiCam Capture Lite everything remains static. Perhaps my install did not work correctly. What should happen when I select as described?

 

When you select a window from the dropdown list that should appear as the capture in screen, likewise if you select the freehand method you should be able to drag around the area you want to capture

That is what I expected to happen but nothing does. The install must be suspect.

 

Bob keen:

That is what I expected to happen but nothing does. The install must be suspect.

 

 

Yeah sounds it, sorry i can't be more help

kiteflyer:

Bob keen:

That is what I expected to happen but nothing does. The install must be suspect.

Yeah sounds it, sorry i can't be more help

I wonder if Bob has been caught out by MultiCam Capture Lite's user interface; IMO enabling the freehand selection tool is maybe not as intuitive as it could be...

• Simply choosing "Custom" in the "Capture Window" drop-down list does not turn on the tool
• Hover the mouse over the little symbol to the right of the text "Freehand Selection" (dotted square with a pointer in it) and a tooltip Freehand Selection - select area with pointer appears. But what might not be obvious is that symbol is actially a button.
• Click the symbol and the whole screen should darken (but the mouse pointer does not change); Use click & drag from top-left to bottom-right to mark the area of interest (as the mouse is dragged the area being chosen will be "highlighted" at nomal brightness)
• Release the mouse button and the familiar selection rectangle appears; it can be moved and resized using its grab-handles

HTH
Richard

Hi Richard

Thanks for the clarification. I was more or less doing what you suggest, although had not noticed the darkened screen. However, once I get to that stage I am not finding any option to resize or make a specific selection.

 

Bob keen:

...However, once I get to that stage I am not finding any option to resize or make a specific selection.

What happens if, once you see the darkened screen, you place the mouse at the top-left corner of a rectangle that you wish to select, press and hold the left mouse button and move the mouse to the bottom-right corner of that rectangle, then release the mouse button?

What happens here (using version 1.2.7.683 of MCC Lite (installed by PS25):

1. When turning on the freehand selection (and the screen darkens) the mouse pointer does not change
2. While dragging the mouse to mark out the rectangle, the mouse pointer does not change - however the area inside the rectangle shows at normal brightness
3. When the mouse button is released the screen returns to normal brightness and the selection rectangle appears with move/resize grab-handles (in the screenshot I have marked out an area surrounding MCC Lite's small settings panel)

HTH
Richard

Hi Richard

Sorry I have not responded sooner but I have been diverted by having to film some events. Previously, I was getting the option of the freehand arrow selection but that is now greyed out for some reason. Something odd is going on here. As a consequence, I am unable even to reach the stage that you describe above, although I feel as though I did previously try manipulating the sections as you state without effect. Not sure where to go from here other than to continue with Live Screen Capturing.