Synchronizing audio and video - an observation.

[tedco]

I have completed digitizing my Hi-8 video using Cyberlink Powerdirector 365 and Diamond VC500.
It has taken some time but well worth saving the old memories.
Although I haven't checked all video's they seem to be correctly synchronized.

I am now in the process of editing and am using Adobe Premiere Elements 2024.
However when importing to Premiere Elements, occassionaly the video/audio becomes out of synch.
Rendering does not fix the problem, nor running the original video through Handbrake, although this shouldn't be necessary as the video is already synchronized.

But if I am using Powerdirector 365 for editing, I have not experienced any synchronizing problems.

Wondering if there is a bug in Premiere Elements.

Just thought I would share the info.

Thanks....

[Steve Grisetti]

I've never experienced that myself, Ted. The MP4s that PowerDirector creates should be perfectly compatible with Premiere Elements.

Have you tried converting one of the problematic MP4s to a standard MP4 using Handbrake, just to see if that fixes the problem?

I suppose it is possible that the MP4s PowerDirector saves as aren't 100% compatible with Premiere Elements. I just haven't experienced any problems as you describe.

[tedco]

The digitized original file when viewed in VLC is correctly synchronized.
I don't think there is any need to use Handbrake.

The problem occurs when importing in to Premiere Elements that sounds gets out of synch.

Importing into Powerdirector 365 does not exhibit this problem, strangely enough.

As it is only a couple of video's I can deal with that and use PowerDirector for editing.

Not sure which editor is the better one.
I have been using PRE for many years and know it well.
Although I am new to Powerdirector, the software seems more user-friendly and easier to get around.
I have viewed your excellent 8-part tutorial on PowerDirector and learned a lot.

Thanks again,

[Steve Grisetti]

PowerDirector is much more diverse when it comes to handling different codecs. Premiere Elements might exhibit issues with those MP4s that PowerDirector doesn't.

I'll look deeper into the specs of MP4s captured by PowerDirector when I have a chance and see what I can see.

Did you use an existing capture profile or did you create a custom one? Which MP4 capture profile did you select?

[tedco]

Thanks Steve for your reply.

I used the default capture profile as MPEG-2 Video set to default DVD HQ.
The details shows a Bitrate of 800000
Width & Height as 720 x 576
Audio Codec as Dolby Digital
Audio Bitrate as 224
Audio Mode as Stereo (although my Hi-8 tapes are in Mono)
Speed Quality Indicator as 3
Frame rate as 25.

There is also a GOP Pattern as BBIBBPBBPBBP (not sure what that means).

I used the format as PAL_B (for Australia)
Capture Device as Conexant Polaris Video Capture
Capture Source used as Video SVideo
Audio Device as Conexant Polaris Audio Capture

Basically, I used the Diamond VC500 straight out of the box.
From memory I only changed the format to PAL_B.

Although it would be interesting to see what you discover, please don't spend too much time.
As mentioned, it is only a couple of tapes affected and I can easily use Powerdirector for that.
Actually, I did discover that if I edit in Powerdirector then export as *.mp4 file.
Then open it in Premiere Elements, do a few edits and export with perfect synchronizing.

Many ways to do the same job....
Thanks again Steve,

[Steve Grisetti]

I did some tests using MediaInfo and it appears that the default settings create file with variable frame rates, which may be contributing to the out ot sync issues.

Try creating a custom setting using essentially the same or default specs for an MP4. Even if one exists, create a custom MP4 setting anyway.

If you know how to read a MediaInfo report, see if you're getting the same results I am. The stock 720x576 (or 640x480) creates a a variable frame rate file while the custom creates a constant frame rate file.

[tedco]

Thanks Steve,

That did the trick - creating a custom profile with Constant Frame Rate corrected the issue.

And yes, you're correct that the default profile creates a variable frame rate.

Got a bit of a dilemma now - should I start all over and capture all my old analog tapes with the new custom profile.

I'll probably just re-capture the few tapes that exhibits out of sync, I think.....

Thanks again for your help, Steve.

[Steve Grisetti]

Glad we could help, Ted!