Echo in imported video

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25 points

Echo in imported video

I'm in the process of archiving my old Videos to harddrive. Some of the videos are 6 years old, were recorded on different Camcorders, edited on a PC (ULead MediaStudio) and written back to tape.

Now when I import the videos to iMove, when I after importing the video play them back (in iMovie or after converting to H26 4 mov) I hear some kind of echo in the audio.

I'm using an Intel iMac 20" with 2GB of Memory and record to the internal harddrive and I have the latest versions of MacOS, iMovie and Quicktime. I have 70GB free diskspace - So I guess the machine config should not be the problem.

Did anybody experience similar problems, what could it be?

Is it because of the tapes were written with an older Camcorder (on Windows) or did the tapes go bad (but when playing the video in the Camcorder they sound ok) or is the Camcorder broken (it's a 1year old Canon ZR100) ?

thanks for any advice
-Uwe

20'' iMac (Intel), Mac OS X (10.4.9)

Posted on Mar 24, 2007 7:33 AM

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Answer 1

Mar 24, 2007 7:38 AM in response to Uwe_Meier

Connect your headphones to the camera and play the tape in the camera (no iMovie, no computer). Do you hear any echo?

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Answer 2

Uwe_Meier Author

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Mar 24, 2007 7:44 AM in response to Uwe_Meier

sounds ok if I play it in the camera. So I don't think the tape went bad.

20'' iMac (Intel) Mac OS X (10.4.9)

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Answer 3

Mar 24, 2007 7:47 AM in response to Uwe_Meier

Have you extracted the audio? (You may have accidently moved it slightly and also raised the volume of the original clips.)

(As you see, I'm clutching at straws here. I haven't heard about any echo before.)

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Answer 4

Uwe_Meier Author

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Mar 24, 2007 7:58 AM in response to Lennart Thelander

I appreciate the help since I'm clueless what it could be ... so any wild guess is welcome.

No, I did not extract the audio. All I do is import the movie to the timeline and without doing anything to it share it as quicktime movie.

Also right after the import, if I play it within iMovie I can hear the echo - so it is not a broken export.

I tried to import it without splitting, with splitting based on the timestamp and with automatic splitting every 10sec, I tried to import it to the internal harddrive, to an external harddrive, ... wasted many hours and get always the same result.

So my guess right now is either a broken DV link on the camera or something 'incompatible' because it was written from a PC (but I think this is unlikely)

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Answer 5

Mar 24, 2007 11:01 AM in response to Uwe_Meier

If you're playing your movie in iMovie, and you simultaneously have your camcorder connected, and the iMovie Preference (under the Playback tab) set to 'Play DV project video through to DV camera', then the movie's audio may be coming out of your camcorder's speaker, as well as from your Mac's speaker(s).

There'll be a slight delay from the camcorder, as the video's packed up along the FireWire connection and then unpacked at the receiving end.

That may be the 'echo' you're hearing.

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Answer 6

Uwe_Meier Author

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25 points

Mar 24, 2007 11:08 AM in response to David Babsky

unfortunately that's not it. I disconnected the camcorder and it still happens. It also happens when I play it with Quicktime.

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Answer 7

Mar 24, 2007 11:25 AM in response to Uwe_Meier

Does it happen when playing anything else: A song in iTunes? A downloded movie trailer in QT Player?

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Answer 8

Uwe_Meier Author

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25 points

Mar 24, 2007 12:32 PM in response to Lennart Thelander

No only those videos that I transfer from the Camera. So I guess it must have to do with the transfer from Camcorder to iMovie.

I just booted my old PC (first time since 1/2 year - didn't touch it since I switched to MacOS) and transfer the video there with my old PC Software. If I see the same problem there, I will probably blame it on the Camcorder.

thanks for all your help in trying to figure out whats wrong.

I will post the results once the video is transfered on the PC.

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Answer 9

Uwe_Meier Author

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25 points

Mar 24, 2007 2:18 PM in response to Lennart Thelander

ok, I imported the video on my old PC: no problem with the audio - sounds perfect. (now I just have to convert the AVI-DV to mov)

so I can't blame the camcorder or the miniDV tape ... must be something on my Mac 😟

any ideas?

I guess there shouldn't be a incompatibility of written miniDV tapes between Mac and PC.

The PC I used was the same one I used for writing the tape, ** t it is a newer camcorder and also a newer version of the video software.

I would hate to have to use the old PC to import all my 50 old tapes ...

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Answer 10

Mar 24, 2007 2:32 PM in response to Uwe_Meier

Have you installed any third-party QuickTime plug-ins? Try temporarily removing them.

Also try deleting iMovie's preference file: com.apple.plist.imovie
(A new file will be created for you when you launch iMovie.)

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Answer 11

Uwe_Meier Author

Level 1

25 points

Mar 24, 2007 3:23 PM in response to Lennart Thelander

I uninstalled all quicktime plugins (was one of the first things I tried) ... didn't change anything.

I didn't try removing the pref file yet ... will do that next.

I just did a try with the option "Filter audio from the camera" in the preferences deactivated ... no difference. What exactly is this option supposed to do?

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Answer 12

Uwe_Meier Author

Level 1

25 points

Mar 24, 2007 4:23 PM in response to Uwe_Meier

OK, I deleted the preference file, important my movie again ... same result echo in the audio.

One thing I realized this time (was probably before the same way, but I didn't stay in the room while importing): While I'm importing, the audio sounds good without echo. Once the recording is finished, I turn the camcorder off, select one of the imported clips and play it --> echo. This is even for clips were I'm sure there was no echo heard during importing (I tried restarting iMovie, and than play -> echo). Camcorder is turned off, it can't come from there ... this is wired.

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Answer 13

Mar 24, 2007 11:33 PM in response to Uwe_Meier

I just did a try with the option "Filter audio from the camera" in the preferences deactivated ... no difference. What exactly is this option supposed to do?

If there is a drop out on the tape, the audio may jump to a very high level (a loud beep). So this option mutes these beeps.

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Answer 14

Mar 24, 2007 11:35 PM in response to Uwe_Meier

How about:
Import the tape, saving the project, quit iMovie and THEN turn off the camera.

And while we continue to clutch straws:
Prevent Mac Disasters
Eight Simple Steps You Can Take Now to Keep Your Mac from Falling Apart
http://www.macworld.com/2005/01/features/preventmacdisasters/index.php
(Article is in 3 parts, don't miss parts 2 and 3)

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Answer 15

Mar 25, 2007 12:50 AM in response to Uwe_Meier

When you say "echo", presumably that sounds like any sound repeated a moment later.

Try plugging headphones into your Mac, instead of just using the built-in speakers. Then listen ..is the echo simply one channel - Left, for example - being repeated a moment later on the Right..?

If so - and I've no idea why that would happen! - it'd be easy to (a) Extract the audio (..so that it's separated from the video..) then (b) run the audio through Garageband (..or Audacity..) to delete one channel and to 'centre' the other channel, or copy the remaining channel to the other, so that the same sound is on both Left and Right sides simultaneously ..i.e; no "echo" delay.

I can't understand why there should be a delay of any kind, and I've never heard ⚠ of this without some kind of extra speaker being accidentally left plugged in.

So try listening on headphones, and let us know what you hear!

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