Audio inconsistently out of sync w video when importing with Sony GV-HD700

Question

Audio inconsistently out of sync w video when importing with Sony GV-HD700

I have a buddy who imports three standard-definition, mini DV tapes (one right after the other) into FCP using his Sony GV-HD700. The video is nearly always fine on the first tape. Tapes 2 and 3 often have audio off up to 12 frames (usually abt. 9) in either direction (late or early).

He has the following specs:

27' iMac
2.8GHz Quad-Core Intel Core i5
8 GB DDR 3 RAM
1 TB SATA Hard Drive

Final Cut Express HD pre-installed about 2 months ago
Sony GV-HD700 HDV Video Walkman/VTR

Has anyone else encountered this issue? All tapes are 60 mins and are recorded (mostly) with the same camera. The settings on his Sony camera are

St. Def.
tape set to short play (60 min)
16 bit audio @ 48.000 khz

Like I say, not all the tapes are out of sync, but many are to varying degrees in either direction (usually the second or third tape or both). The actual video files once imported to the iMac are off - not just in the timeline or in the final DVD.

PowerBook G4 1.67 Ghz, Mac OS X (10.5.5)

Posted on Sep 1, 2010 11:39 PM

Reply

Answer 1

Alchroma

Level 7

23,809 points

Sep 2, 2010 12:05 AM in response to Joey Delli Gatti

Double check the FCE Sequence the tapes and captures are to a 48 kHz= 16 bit Sequence as opposed to a 32 kHz= 12 bit Sequence.

An incorrect Sequence setting is the No. 1 cause of sync drift.

Al

Reply

Answer 2

Meg The Dog

Level 6

13,561 points

Sep 2, 2010 1:21 AM in response to Joey Delli Gatti

Hi -
Check that you are not attempting to capture through areas where nothing is recorded on the tape - i.e., such as when the camera operator stops the recording, winds the tape back for a playback check and then leaves a gap of a couple of seconds of blank tape before the next recording begins.
If you attempt to capture through one of these areas, the clip invariably goes out of sync.
It is tedious, but you may need to capture in smaller chunks.
To test this, capture a small portion of the tape that is currently playing out of sync in FCE and see if your short test capture is OK.

Hope this helps.

MtD

Reply

Answer 3

Sep 2, 2010 1:27 AM in response to Alchroma

It doesn't drift to gradually being out of sequence - it starts off out of sequence. After I lock the video and nudge the audio into place, it's fine for the entire rest of the captured footage from that tape. This is 16 bit audio as well.

Reply

Answer 4

Sep 2, 2010 1:30 AM in response to Meg The Dog

That's a thought. I will have him push play in the log and capture window, and wait until the video pops up before pushing the "log and capture" button.

I think that he's just clicking the "log and capture" button, and the log and capture starts the VTR and commences capture.

Reply

Answer 5

Nov 4, 2010 2:40 PM in response to Joey Delli Gatti

This worked. I think that he was importing without pushing play first. Since we have begun pushing the play button before the capture button (both in the capture window), we haven't had the issue.

Message was edited by: Joey Delli Gatti

Reply