I think I've found a solution to the out-of-sync sound that plagues many of us. It's the growingly popular Enditall, which you can download from here for $7.95.

Last night I captured a 2-hour project after Enditall shut down 18 unnecessary applications. I did the project in one sweep instead of overlapping segments. At the end there were 7 dropped frames; the sound matched up perfectly (well, to within 1/4 second).

I even detected a hint of minty freshness!

One test doesn't guarantee anything, but if my guess is correct, that dropped frames affect only the video track, I can see how the problem arises. I've used this approach on shorter captures with equally good results, so I think this may be the trick.

Bill

Bill

This is good advice, but I don't mean to sound patronising when I say Enditall - and other background task blockers - have been recomended for capture issues in Studio for many years now.

There used to be a freeware version ISTR.

I still think the 1/4 second OOS is unacceptable. I'd guess you are using USB capture? Perhaps your input tapes have lots of dropout.

 

jjn:

Bill

This is good advice, but I don't mean to sound patronising when I say Enditall - and other background task blockers - have been recomended for capture issues in Studio for many years now.

There used to be a freeware version ISTR.

I still think the 1/4 second OOS is unacceptable. I'd guess you are using USB capture? Perhaps your input tapes have lots of dropout.

Hello, JJN,

No problem. I don't visit the forums a lot, so the existence of background task blockers was new to me. Additionally, I'd seen numbers of users commenting on their OOS issues, so figured it wouldn't hurt to mention it one more time. The most surprising aspect of your comment was that something like that had been available at no charge. Sigh.

As far as the 1/4 second discrepancy goes, I agree. Ideally ther shouldn't be any. I can accept it in some contexts (silent movies with music added), but when the lips don't match the words, that's a different matter. I can kludge the odd micro-discrepancy, but I don't like repeating part of a project that should have gone right the first time.

Bill

Thanks for this clear, direct to point post Bill.

There is another alternative, a free app thats built on to Windows. Its MSCONFIG, not the most convenient to use. But if helps just as good as Enditall. 

Marc P.:

Thanks for this clear, direct to point post Bill.

There is another alternative, a free app thats built on to Windows. Its MSCONFIG, not the most convenient to use. But if helps just as good as Enditall. 

Hi, Marc,

And thank you for the pointer to MSCONFIG. Every little bit helps.

 

Bill
 

Anytime Bill. Pinning this post up.

The only way I've ever reliably gotten around the out of sync sound problem is to not use the Pinnacle hardware in the first place.  (I've given up on the USB Moviebox because of the sound issues).  Instead, I output from my VCR or older Hi-8 camcorder (depending on what I'm trying to capture, of course) and feed that (with S-video and red/white audio cables) into my Canon Optura 20 digital camcorder, and then use firewire from that camcorder to feed into the computer.  The process is a bit annoying, because you've got two tape machines and your PC running at the same time (and you have to baby-sit the process - you can't just turn it on and go to bed), but a few extra minutes for set-up beats hours of aggravation after capturing a two-hour vidotape and discovering you have out of sync sound!

Note that this process works only if you have a digital camcorder that allows analog-in-to-digital-out processing.  Not all camcorders will do that, even if they have firewire output.

While I most often use Sony Vegas Movie Studio Platinum (because of its reliability),  I still use Studio 9 from time to time for fast-and-dirty projects.   I log off Vista and re-boot with XP to use Studio 9.  Studio 10 seems to not like my PC.  (Then again, Studio 9 doesn't always like it either.   Pinnacle must have some former Microsoft programmers on their staff because, like Windows, Studio seems to crash for no apparent reason and do odd things from time to time with no explanation and that may or may not ever be repeated.)

Back in the day of my Amiga/Video Toaster editing, we had TBC's (Time Base Correctors) to keep everything in sync. Never a problem with audio sync. When I went to NLE on the PC, that is when I experienced it. But, I found that if I used the video camera that I shot the footage with as my source deck, there were no sync issues.

Capturing DV with the Pro BOB from Liquid (yes, USB 2.0), I have yet to have a problem with audio sync. Old VHS tapes can cause these types of problems. 

Ah, the Commodore Amigas!  My son still has my old Amiga 500 and Amiga 1200, and (20?) years later they both still work and play great games.  If I recall correctly, the Amigas were performing multi-tasking even before Bill Gates had made his first billion dollars!  Not that this is related to the original poster's problem, but thanks for reminding me of the simpler days of "Marble Madness."

Experimenting has shown me that even Enditall isn't perfect. My solution of choice now is to simply digitize in 15-minute segments, overlapping by a minute or so. This gives me 1-4 dropped frames per segment, and OOS sound isn't a problem with the final project. I can use the equipment we have without investing in a new camcorder, firewire, etc.

When I transfer the segments to the timeline I insert a buffer -- a still image that's simply a red .jpg; this makes it easy to spot where each segment ends and the next one begins. I edit out any duplicate frames, then remove the red buffer and proceed as usual with editing, etc.

This is also cumbersome, but less so. I can digitize segments as convenient, even using a couple of days if necessary. It's less baby-sitting, it calls for only one tape machine + my computer to be running. It's not quite elegant, but it beats the annoyance of time lags between dialog and lip movements.

Bill

 

Even though this is an old thread, I have used Studio versions for over five years now and always link my camcorder, video player and older devices through my Canopus ADVC100 box.  See http://www.canopus.com/products/ADVC300/index.php    The result is no-more OOS and a lock-steady video.   I don't work for the company either.

Hi all,

I have not been around on the forum for quite some time so have lost track of where the OOS debate had reached.

However, having just decided to capture all of my old Hi8 and Digital 8 tapes (about 90 hours from the last 18 years) before the camcorder gives up the ghost and i no longer have a device on which to play them I have hit up against the problem big time.

I captured tape 1 (90 minutes Hi8) through the Digital 8 camera using firewire and see i have about 1 sec OOS by the end of the tape. I also captured my fussy old wedding video before it degrades any further by using the camcorder as a pass-through to firewire with similar results.

Memory usage and processor usage seemed within reasonable limits and i had not dropped frames, though one or two appear to have become corrupted around original camera "on-offs".

I am using S10.8... do we yet have a solution for S10 OOS as a quick search did not bring up anything of use?

Thanks

Gary