Final DVD problems (Jerky, & audio sync gets worse &

Andy_C · Post by **Andy_C** » Fri Dec 29, 2006 7:12 pm

Hi Folks,

I've got Video Studio 10 plus and most video DVDs that I burn are fine, but some have two problems:
1. Video is jerky (not badly jerky, but certainly not normal smooth video)
2. Audio sync is fine at the start of the disc, but progressively separates from the video over the course of the disc (by the end of the disc the audio & video are several minutes out of sync).

The discs exhibit the exact same problems when played in various DVD players and when played on my PC and laptop.

In each case, the Video Studio project is quite simply a single PC video file (avi, mpeg, etc.) being burned onto DVD - no editing, no merging clips, no video effects.
Some projects produce perfectly OK DVDs, some exhibit the problems I have mentioned.
The original source video files are perfectly OK and exhibit no jerkyness or audio sync problems when played in Windows Media Player and other media player software.
The only difference I can think of betwen different projects is that I set the MPEG bit rate of the final disc to suit the size of the disc & video clip (i.e. I set the DVD bit rate as high as possible without the overal project going over 4.3GB).

Can anyone help?

I have the trial version of the software and I'm reluctant to buy it until I can get this sorted out. I had the same problem with audio sync problems with Video Studio 8 a couple of years ago and didn't buy it then because of this problem.

I'd appreciate any feedback!

Thanks,

Andy_C

Black Lab · Post by **Black Lab** » Fri Dec 29, 2006 8:05 pm

You haven't really given us much to go on. (i.e. I set the DVD bit rate as high as possible without the overal project going over 4.3GB - how high?)

Have a look at the Recommended Procedure and info we need.

Andy_C · Post by **Andy_C** » Fri Dec 29, 2006 8:41 pm

Hi Jeff,

Thanks for the reply.

The source files are feature length movie files that I backed-up onto my hard disk from DVD.

I'm trying to clear space on my hard disk and so get the movie files onto video DVD again.

Right, that said....

So the source files are typically:
- 1.5 hours or more
- DivX avi files (approx 700MB)
- PAL 25fps
- Video data rate approx 110kbps (different for each file), 24 bit (some files are 12 bit)
- Audio MPEG Layer-3, data rate approx 128kbps (different for each file)

Each project is simply 1 single movie file per DVD, no editing, no merging files/clips, no effects.

The Output DVD settings are:
- PAL 16:9 720x576 24-bit 25fps
- DVD video bit rate: Variable, Max 5000kbps (this max value is different for each project, allowing the full movie to fit snugly onto a single DVD [<4.3GB], typically a bit lower than 5000, not less than about 3000)
- Audio 192kbps (Dolby Digital 48kHz)

When the project has been processed and burned onto DVD, I receive no error codes, and get the standard message saying that the project has completed successfully.

As I mentioned in my first post, this often works perfectly, but sometimes the final DVD is jerky and has audio sync problems.... so it's a bit hit-and-miss.

FYI, I've updated my profile with my PC specs.

Please let me know if there's any other info you need.

Thanks,

Andy_C

Post by **Ken Berry** » Fri Dec 29, 2006 9:11 pm

How do your convert the DivX mpeg-4 to DVD-compatible mpeg-2? Do you first go to Share > Create Video File > DVD before even opening the burning module (Share > Create Disc > DVD) or do you go straight to the latter? Do you use a third party conversion program like SUPER?

DivX is a highly compressed and complex format and regularly causes problems for users. Although VS is capable of doing the job, my first preference is to use a third party conversion program to obtain my mpeg-2, then I use VS to burn that to disc.

Going straight to burning a disc using DivX files is a mighty big ask of your computer. The conversion is a highly complex and demanding one, and on top of that you are asking the computer to also do the multiplexing of the video and audio etc, as well as the actual burn. It's better to separate the two steps.

Andy_C · Post by **Andy_C** » Sat Dec 30, 2006 1:00 am

Hi Ken,

Thanks for your reply.

I simply drop the file (avi, mpeg, etc.) into the 'Video' track under the 'Edit' tab... then go into the 'Share' tab and hit 'Create Disc'.

So yes, I let Video Studio do all the work and I don't have any third party conversion software. And yes, the conversion is a mighty big ask of the PC and takes at least 3 hours! (2.6GHz P4, 512MB).
This seems to work fine most of the time (apart from the long processing time).

I'd be happy to go with your suggestion of using SUPER and breaking the job down into separate tasks. Can you tell me more about SUPER (where to get it, how to use it, etc.)

Out of interest, do you know why VS produces some discs perfectly and others are flawed?

Thanks,

Andy_C

Post by **Ken Berry** » Sat Dec 30, 2006 2:55 am

You can download Super from here http://www.erightsoft.com/S6Kg1.html And as I say, it's free.

As for the eternal question of why a program or process burns a disc successfully some times and not others, I am afraid that is one of the great mysteries to us all. We know it happens, though, and that is why we have developed our Recommended Procedures for a sequence of steps, rather than doing things all at once. At least it seems to guarantee success more times than not...

Andy_C · Post by **Andy_C** » Mon Jan 08, 2007 5:28 am

Hi again Ken,

I downloaded SUPER but I wasn't that impressed with it unfortunately. It takes a lot of fiddling around and trial-and-error before getting any kind of decent results. Plus, output files do not seem to be consistent with compression settings (e.g. bit rate of created file is much lower than it was supposed to be). Also, I would like to be confident that the software I am purchasing should do what it is supposed to do, without having to resort to third party software.

So, using Video Studio to convert the source AVI to an MPEG2 file, and then using Video Studio to create a PAL DVD from the MPEG2 file seems to work pretty well. In so far as:
1. the jerkyness has gone
2. the sound and video stay in sync for the duration of the entire DVD

However, I have encountered 2 further problems:
1. A lot of my AVI source files are 23fps, and PAL DVD is 25fps. Video Studio appears to convert 23fps to 25fps by simply copying frame 23 into frames 24 and 25. This means that there are 3 identical frames every second, which manifests itself as a slight jump in the video every 1 second. This sounds trivial, but it is quite noticable when watching video playback from the final DVD.

2. When converting NTSC VOB files to PAL MPEG2 (to subsequently burn onto PAL DVD), the audio and video stray out of sync.

Both of these 2 new problems seem to be issues with converting frame rates. Can you give me some idea of how to tackle these issues with Video Studio.

Thanks!

Andy_C

sjj1805 · Post by **sjj1805** » Mon Jan 08, 2007 5:48 am

There is an article here
PAL to NTSC Conversion dealing with doing it the other way round and contains some mention of NTSC to PAL.

As you have discovered - the different number of frames per second present a problem. Most European PAL DVD players will accept a DVD in the NTSC format and so you may be better off keeping it in NTSC rather than attempting to convert it.

23 Frames per second appears unusual, did you mean 24 frames per second (film format).

Please view This link for more information concerning frame rates.