-
Why stereo DV captured as mono?
When capturing mini-DV tape via firewire, some clips are listed in the project bin as being in stereo and some in mono. Source is definitely 48 kHz/16 bit stereo throughout (Sony DCR-PC100), and this occurs with PPro 1.5 and P6.5, with or without using scene detection (PPro), and the mono clips may occur as successive captures or interspersed among the sequence of captured clips.
Dual Athlon PC, 3GB RAM, 400GB RAID 0 array plus 2x200GB H/D, Audigy2 audio card, no background programs running (not that I know of, anyway).
Anyone ever ran into this before? Thanks for any leads for where to start troubleshooting.
-
10 Replies
-
In my experience it was the camerman. I had shot severa days worth on location and when I got back home and captured it, it was in mono except for the footage started when I fired that camerman and got another one and all that footage was in stereo.
Other than that I have had no problems.
-
As far as I am aware, there is no facility in the PC100 to go to mono sound. I therefore suspect either an issue with the replay hardware (ie the camera) or the FireWire cable or the IEE1394 port/diver.
As a starter, if this happened to me, I would try another player and another cable to see if that made any difference.
-
Thanks for your response, David. You’re correct that the PC-100 doesn’t have a mono setting; only 32 kHz/12 bit or 48 kHz/16 bit stereo are choices.
I’ve tried different firewire cables with same result. I’ve also plugged it into two different firewire ports but both ports run off the Audigy2 card, so perhaps the card is the culprit? (I’m running latest driver, too.) It might be the PC100 but I’m inclined to think not because prior to capturing with Premiere, it worked with Sony’s DVgate with nare a problem. Of course, the PC100 might have developed a problem coincidental with the switch over (don’t have DVgate installed anymore for a test.) I’ll try a test with anoter DV-cam, however.
Thanks again for the heads-up on where to be looking for solutions.
Cheers
-
Are you using a external mike? the firewire cable or card/port shouldn’t determine whether its mono or stereo, the audio and video are part of the same track
-
Have you tried capture using Scenalyzer Live (www.scenalyzer.com)? This will remove any doubt about Premiere being the culprit. You will also be able to monitor the sound ‘live’ during replay and/or capture using the VU meters to see if the stereo signal is affected.
Try before buy with watermark will allow you to test the audio issue.
You might then want to use Scenalyzer for all your capturing like so many others do.
Don’t bother with version 2. The latest v4 beta is excellent.
-
Further to Blast 1’s comment. Just in case…
There is a big difference between audio only on one track of a stereo pair and mono. Sony domestic cameras are very variable on whether both stereo tracks are filled using a mono mic. Safest to use a splitter between mono mic and camera to put the mono input onto both stereo tracks.
If you have a single-side recording in Premiere, use Fill Left/Fill Right to generate twin track from the one side.
-
Thank you all for your responses. Just ran some tests with these results.
>Are you using a external mike?
Oddity occurs with clips shot with and without external mike. In the most recent case, the entire session was shot using an external mike yet captured mono segments occured either in consecutives captures or sprinkled among stereo captures.>Have you tried capture using Scenalyzer Live?
No … don’t have but it’s worth getting if not for the other features you mentioned; thanks for advice re V2.>There is a big difference between audio only on one track of a stereo pair and mono.
I placed a stereo clip on the Timeline in PPro 1.5 and audio shows up in a stereo track with both L & R channel waveforms. A repeat with a mono clip has audio showing up in a mono track with a single waveform.Does this suggest that the PC100 is in fact the culprit? I’ll try capturing the ame tape using another DV-cam, as well as shooting DV with another cam to rule out this camera as the culprit.
Of course, I welcome any further suggestions offered.
Cheers
-
Your description certainly suggests that there is a flag set somewhere in the data transfer that indicates mono rather than stereo sound. Where that is happening is anyone’s guess from the information available, but the PC-100 is certainly a suspect. Well worth trying an alternate player if you can – if only to eliminate the PC-100 from the suspects list.
-
I haven’t read all the before posts accuratly, but I have experienced the same problem a while ago. I think I remember the cause being the way the video/audio was recorded in the camera. I transfered the video from the tape to another tape using a hardware video/audio-mixer and played the monotrack to both L and R. Then I digitized the same clip with the same machine, and everything was fine. That’s why I think the problem lies in the camera.
This occured in a cheap small sony camera. Don’t know if it is a setting or a fault. But my guess is, that it has something to do with the setup menus in the camera. -
Mystery solved! – it’s the mic!
I’ve been tied up for a while and just now got around to running some more tests. In addition to the OFF setting, the mic I am using has a ZOOM and a GUN setting, and in the GUN setting, it records in MONO! Nothing in the mic’s poop sheet says anything about this, good grief! Or … is this common knowledge and I’m just not with it?
The other tests show the PC-100 recording in stereo with the mic’s ZOOM setting (mic zooms in/out in step with lens zooming, although there’s a slight pitch change at the tele-end), and, of course, with the mic turned off or removed.
Thanks again to you all for your interest and help. Couldn’t have fingered the culprit without your input.
Cheers
Reply to this Discussion! Login or Sign Up