HDV, Kona LHe, & A/V Sync

[Vince Gaffney]

I tried everything and discovered it by accident. But it worked and I’m still setup that way. My video is coming in component and i believe that the green channel has sync?

somehow it works great. i thought my problem was using a digi002r but it was out of sync either way.

vince

[Brian Conner]

Well that’s just crazy enough to work. 😉 (no offense intended)

I hope we don’t need to try that. I like giving them the option to adjust audio levels on the fly through the Mackie board.

[Brian Conner]

OK, I just spoke with Hector, Aja tech support.

He had one idea. He recalls a case with some sort of problem that was caused by using two 23″ Apple Cinema HD Displays with a MacPro. Sounds off the wall, but he’ll try to find the details of that case.

My client has the Radeon x1900 card, so I doubt that’s the problem.

I did re-confirm that the Z1U is set to 1080i60, so it’s not 24p.

Hector is willing to send a new Kona LHe card.

[Gary Adcock]

Brian

I do not believe it is the Kona card, you are missing something or the client is not telling you everything. if some of the tapes are good and some are not that leads to computer or camera operator error.

gary adcock
Studio37
HD & Film Consultation
Post and Production Workflows

[Brian Conner]

I agree 100%, Gary. I have never figured the LHe was the culprit.

Problem is, this client is a total neophyte, knowing zero about video, editing, Apple computers, troubleshooting.

I’ve got my hands full on that side of the thing, never being certain they have done exactly what I’ve told them to do for a given troubleshooting step.

[Brian Conner]

Problem has morphed into dropped frames warning, per client. In Safe RT, she gets dropped frames warning, in Unlimited RT she sometimes gets sync problem, but not always. So, in the troubleshooting steps outlined below, ‘dropped frames’ is in Safe RT, ‘out of sync’ is in Unlimited RT.

More troubleshooting:

1) Disabled External Video – No problem, no dropped frames, sync OK

2) New User Account – Dropped frames, out of sync

3) Move media file to other internal drives – Dropped frames, out of sync

4) Kona System Test, Read/Write Test – 150 MB/sec read & write. No indication of low data rate on any individual frames in the Text window of System Test

5) Kona System Test, Playback file – 150 MB/sec read. No indication of low data rate on any individual frames in the Text window of System Test

Hector, Aja Tech Support and I agree that all the above tends to indict the Kona LHe card.

My plan is to have the client ship me the system so I can replace the LHe and test/repair until it’s resolved.

So, we still can’t conclude anything, but at the moment it looks like the LHe card might be the culprit.

Brian

[Brian Conner]

Also, I had her invoke the ‘secret’ Internal Tools’ menu and open Playback Meter.

Playback Meter gives zero indication that any frames are being dropped.

Almost makes me think the dropped frames warning is in error . . . except for the A/V sync problem (unless the two are not related, which seems unlikely.)

[Brian Conner]

OK, I have the client’s system now. All of my testing so far has led me to absolutely no solid conclusions.

Yes, when I set External Video to None, the dropped frames problem goes away. That seems to indict the Kona LHe. But, I’ve replaced the LHe card, and the replacement behaves the same way. Plus, the A/V sync problem is still here.

If I create a DV NTSC project, there is no dropped frame problem when playing out to external video. No A/V sync problem either.

Now I’m thinking the problem is the MacPro itself. It doesn’t seem to be able to push out DVCPRO HD video/audio frames properly in either direction.

Brian Conner

[Brian Conner]

More troubleshooting:

I installed the original LHe in my MacPro (same specs as the client’s MP), installed the Kona LHe 3.3 software, restarted, and amazingly no dropped frames. At that point, it looked like there was a problem with the client’s MacPro. Not a pleasant discovery, but at least it looked like I was getting some place.

However, I restarted again and captured a clip. Looked fine going in, but when I played it back, the A/V sync problem was back. I dropped it in the Timeline, and I got the dropped frames warning.

So, I’m back at square zero. And frustrated.

Also, I found the Panasonic/Apple DVD with the DVCPRO HD clips that Apple handed out a few NABs ago, back when FCP 4.5 came out. Copied the 1080i clips into the client’s MP and tried to play them in a sequence. Dropped frames warning. That means the client’s clips, that he shot on his Sony Z1U, are not the problem.

Anybody got a Quad 3Ghz MacPro working well with a Kona LHe? Please tell me about it.

At this point, I’m thinking the configuration is the problem, and that Aja has got some serious work to do. But my sample size is exactly two MacPros, so it’s kinda small.

HELP.

Brian Conner

[Gary Adcock]

[Brian Conner] “Anybody got a Quad 3Ghz MacPro working well with a Kona LHe? Please tell me about it. At this point, I’m thinking the configuration is the problem, and that Aja has got some serious work to do. But my sample size is exactly two MacPros, so it’s kinda small.”

Brian,
As I said before IT IS NOT THE CARD- you changed the card.

I have seen this same setup ( mactel and LHe) in over 30 machines in 4 different companies, and I have 2 in my office. None of them exhibit this issue.

Last time we went thru this with you on the cow, some of the setup steps had been left out when you were trying to capture HDV using FW for deck control.

Has the firmware been updated on the machine? – do not take for granted that it is.

Have you configured the PCIE slot utility?
– if not that would explain it not working after the restart.

What else is connected?
– the mac pros do not like booting with some devices attached via FW and/ or USB.

Dropped frames are never the card, it has to be something else.

gary adcock
Studio37
HD & Film Consultation
Post and Production Workflows