-
DVX100 audio woes – That Synching Feeling
Using: FCP 5.0.2 on a G5 dual 1.8 under OS 10.4.2
Experience level: tons of analog editing; still getting familiar with NLE
Project material: mostly 24p DV shot on DVX-100 & DVX-100aIssue:
Am having a very frustrating problem with out-of-sync footage from a DVX100 and Final Cut Pro 5.0.2.After learning that this was a “known issue”, I located, installed and began to use the “Panasonic DVX100 Audio Sync Tool” available from the Extras folder on my FCP install disk, which adds an easy-to-use Offset Audio Sync command to my Tools menu (the default setting for which, at +2 frames, is usually just right to deal with this bizarre business of the DVX100 sometimes delivering audio that’s 2 frames ahead of the video).
But here’s the new problem:
If I look at that now-in-sync clip in the Viewer, and simply add an In Point (as a sync mark for the creation of a mutliclip, or just to begin using the clip in a Sequence timeline), the audio offset suddenly disappears, and I have to re-apply it from the Tools menu. But then if I move or re-set the In Point, the audio offset disappears again — and again I have to re-apply it!
This is getting crazy: so now whenever I set an In Point for a clip whose footage was originated on the DVX100 (as opposed to the 100a, which was our “B cam”), I have to first re-apply the Audio Offset before I add that clip to a sequence? And re-apply it again every time I happen to change that clip’s In Point?
I notice in the Apple Read Me file for this plugin, it says: “When you modify clips using the Offset Audio Sync command, the corresponding media files are unaffected. Only the clips in your current project are adjusted.”
But what if I WANT the media files to be adjusted, so that the corrected sync remains locked in?
ARRGHHHH.
So now, the questions become:
– Why is this Offset Audio Sync so tentative that merely assigning or changing an In Point “Undoes” the command?
– Could there be something in how I’m applying it (though I don’t see what) that’s causing this?
And if the answers to the above are: “Who knows?” and “I doubt it”, then do I need to adopt the following workflow for each of the 7 or 8 “A cam” DV tapes still remaining to be captured:
1) Capture everything useful from the tape (either by logging first and Batch Capturing, or by Capturing Now and then using “DV Start/Stop Detect”, “Make Subclip”, and logging in the Browser);
2) drag all those new clips into a blank Timeline;
3) unlink the audio tracks from the video;
4) shift all the audio tracks two frames to the right;
5) relink the audio tracks with the video;
6) use the Blade All tool to even off the beginnings and ends of each clip;
7) then drag all the now in-sync clips back over to the Browser, where I make these newly-added clips into Master Clips, and finally delete the original out-of-sync Master Clips altogether?A test I just did on one clip treated this way confirms that it holds on to its new sync no matter how many In Points I proceed to enter and change in the Viewer — which makes sense, since the above workflow bypasses this fragile “Offset Audio Synch” tool altogether.
So, despite my initial relief at discovering the “Panasonic DVX100 Audio Sync Tool” plugin, it now looks like I’ll just have to ignore it and create whole new, sync-adjusted clips via the Timeline.
Unless one of the experienced denizens of this list can offer a simpler solution!
At this point, the floor is open for all nominations.
John Bertram
Toronto, Canada -
1 Reply
-
Got a reply with some suggestions from Scott on the DVXuser.com forum [quoted in square brackets], but it looks like a simple solution is still eluding me…
[I’ve not had a problem in 4.5. Log and then batch capture (avoid Capture now) Select clips in the BIN. Apply the sync offset. Now move the clips into the timeline and edit normally. Sync should remain.]
Have now tried capturing the DVX100 material (our “A cam”) both ways — Capture Now and more recently the full Log and Batch Capture route, but the end result is the same: I apply the Sync Offset to selected clips in the Bin, but the moment I attempt to add (or change) an In point in the Viewer, the Offset disappears.
[If you want the media to be in sync for other projects or as stand alone files you’ll need to export the clips.]
Just tried that as a test. Now have to decide (and would appreciate any input or suggestions) which route is more efficient and/or desirable:
1) Exporting the Sync Offset clips, trashing the original media files and replacing them with the new identically-named exports, then having to reconnect all my Browser clips to those exported QT movie files (which all seemed to work fine in the test I just did);
OR
2) dragging the plain, freshly-captured clips from the Browser right into an empty Timeline, manually resetting the sync and relinking the tracks, then dragging them all back into the Browser (which turns them into new clips), after which I delete the original (out-of-sync) clips, and the new ones magically become Masters, still connected to the original Media files, but able to retain their new sync alignment no matter what In points I enter or change in the Viewer.Workflow #1 gives me media files where the video and audio are truly and permanently in sync, BUT in my test just now, an 85 MB QT Movie became a 79MB Final Cut Pro Movie File, and a 63 MB QT Movie became a 57 MB Final Cut Pro Movie File. I made sure the Export was to a plain QuickTime Movie, using the same settings, and with no frame recompression (as per the Manual’s recommendations). So what’s with this 8-9% reduction in file size — I thought the Export was supposed to come out as basically the identical QT file.
And if I use these new Exported files as my project’s official Media files, am I risking any possible reduction in picture quality (like when you re-open and re-save a jpg file)? And if not, where did those extra MBs go when I did the Export with no recompression selected?
[If that’s not working make sure you have the latest updates for everything. Try creating a test project with a couple of clips. It’s possible your project is corrupt and it’s not remembering the offset.]
On your suggestion, I tried that as well. Unfortunately the freshly-captured clips in the brand new project behaved exactly the same way.
[Save often.]
Always do. Even tried doing a Save, Quit, and Re-Launch immediately after applying the Offset Audio Sync command (to see if it would somehow hold better), but no luck.
So again, I’m hoping someone can suggest the best way for me to proceed:
– leave the captured Media files alone, and just fix the synch a reel’s worth of clips at a time in the Timeline, creating new Master clips by then dragging everything back into the Browser and deleting the original clips;
OR
– just apply the Offset Audio Sync tool, and Export those sync-corrected clips into new QT media files, which become the permanent replacements for the original media files (and to which the Browser clips get reconnected)But as I asked above, are those new, slightly smaller QT movie files really the same quality as the originally-captured ones?
(Thanks for reading — my brain hurts!)
John Bertram
Toronto, Canada
Reply to this Discussion! Login or Sign Up