audio 'clicks' - a settings problem?

lakewud · Post by **lakewud** » Sun Jan 21, 2007 5:26 pm

hello all. Not the most intresting of problems i grant you however currently its a curse for me and would appreciate any help.

Capturing my footage via firewire etc etc in VS10+ ( havent changed a thing concerning the settings etc other than how VS10 is automatically set up ).

Noticed that theres a lot - almost every 10 - 15 secs - of..best described as 'little scratches or click noises' occurring all the time on the audio track when i capture?

They arnt on the orignal footage.

Once in the editing stage they are still there, so obviously its going to be a problem with any speech.

Any advice? Using a Panasonic NV-GS200 camera. Sould a change an audio setting perhaps? Any ideas please. Been putting me off capturing my project and thus starting it at all.

Thanks

GeorgeW · Post by **GeorgeW** » Sun Jan 21, 2007 5:29 pm

Are you capturing/transferring to DV .avi, or direct to mpeg

Also, what audio settings are you recording on your camcorder -- 12-bit 32khz, or 16-bit 48khz

Regards,
George

Black Lab · Post by **Black Lab** » Sun Jan 21, 2007 5:53 pm

What are your clip's audio properties?

For what it's worth, I have experienced audio clicking, but not on my captured avi files. The problem I have is after I render to my mpeg using Dolby. If I render the mpeg using LPCM the audio is perfect.

lakewud · Post by **lakewud** » Sun Jan 21, 2007 9:08 pm

thanks for your replies George and Black Lab.

To answer your questions, have nothing to do with mpeg, its dv to avi. The settings that come up when capturing are:

DV TYPE-1, PAL

Panasonic MSDV

( and under music logo is ) DV Audio.

These are after i click on the capture button and my footage comes up on screen. Before i actually click on capture, the settings for audio read:

PCM 16BIts Stereo

and under that reads:

Realtek HD Audio Input.

So im assuming that 16bits etc is the settings im automatically using.

For what its worth, have looked into the VIDEO & AUDIO CAPTURE SETTINGS BOX, would it be right for the Video INPUT SOURCE to read: Video Tuner ( the options being Video Composite, Video Aux etc etc? )

The audio settings in the property box are, AUDIO DEVICE: Realtek HD Audio input ( should i be looking and altering that..if i can?? ) & INPUT SOURCE: Stereo Mix

In the PROJECT PROPERTIES BOX. Audio settings read LPCM Audio. Have a choice of Mpeg audio and dolby digital.

So..hopefully thats enough info for you to tell me what i might be doing wrong? Changing the 16bits to 12bits? How? out of interest.

Post by **Ken Berry** » Sun Jan 21, 2007 9:57 pm

No. 16 bits is what it should be. 12 bit is of lesser quality. It is not changed in your computer, but in the camera itself. You would have to consult your camera manual on that if you decide to go down to 12 bit.

The only time that I have had the static burst that you describe is when I captured DV Type 1 and used it in a program that prefers Type 2. I seem to recall, though, that Panasonic uses its own DV codec. Have you installed anything which came on the disc with your camera? It might be that either VS doesn't like the codec thus installed; or else it needs its own codec...

You might want to experiment by capturing Type 2 instead of Type 1 (the Options cogwheel icon on the Capture page of VS) if your computer has good resources.

And you also might want to try a free program called WinDV which specialises in capturing DV, as its name implies. If you get the clicks with that, then we will at least know that it isn't just VS. The implication would be that it *is* a codec issue...

lakewud · Post by **lakewud** » Sun Jan 21, 2007 11:30 pm

thanks Ken for the advice.

Have acted upon it, changed to type 2...sadly no change..same goes with 16bit ( changed it to 12bit incamera..though of course ive filmed my footage in 16bit so probably makes no difference. )

Looks like will have to check out that Winddv.

Thanks for the reply all the same.

lakewud · Post by **lakewud** » Mon Jan 22, 2007 8:56 pm

Ken,

Have done what you suggested, and recorded via WinDV. (Sadly) once captured in this way and played back via Media Player...the clicks remain. So, VS isnt at fault ..im guessing then its this Codec you mentioned..though im unclear as to what this is and how to go about rectifing the problem espicially when playing back via my camcorder the clicks arnt there?

Any further ideas on a solution to this annoying problem?

heinz-oz · Post by **heinz-oz** » Mon Jan 22, 2007 10:14 pm

I have had the same problem a few years ago. Turned out to be the onboard sound. Clicking noises disappeared when I replaced the onboard sound with a PCI sound card. At the time I was advised to stay clear of Soundblaster cards.

I was also using 12 bit sound on my cam and changing that to 16 bit did not change a thing.

Post by **Ken Berry** » Mon Jan 22, 2007 10:16 pm

Did you actually use the CD which came with the camera to install anything from it to your computer?

There are a couple of freeware programs (GSpot and Sherlock) which you can use to check exactly what codecs you have on your computer and which company is responsible for them.

One other thing you could try: though I would not normally recommend this (as I don't myself do it), but instead of capturing DV, try setting VS to capture direct to mpeg-2 instead. And if that works, see if it captures the clicks. If not, then it points more firmly to the DV codec being a problem.

htchien · Post by **htchien** » Tue Jan 23, 2007 4:43 am

heinz-oz wrote:I have had the same problem a few years ago. Turned out to be the onboard sound. Clicking noises disappeared when I replaced the onboard sound with a PCI sound card. At the time I was advised to stay clear of Soundblaster cards.

I also have the audio clicking noises with the Realtek on-board sound on my home PC, and the use of a Creative SoundBlaster Ensoniq PCI sound card does not change that....

My home PC is dead now and I'm using my notebook to do the video editing.

H.T.

Post by **Ron P.** » Tue Jan 23, 2007 4:54 am

htchien wrote:I also have the audio clicking noises with the Realtek on-board sound on my home PC, and the use of a Creative SoundBlaster Ensoniq PCI sound card does not change that....

My home PC is dead now and I'm using my notebook to do the video editing.

H.T.

I guess you taught that PC to mess up

htchien · Post by **htchien** » Tue Jan 23, 2007 5:03 am

vidoman wrote:
htchien wrote:My home PC is dead now and I'm using my notebook to do the video editing.
I guess you taught that PC to mess up

Yup, so I can buy a new one and my wife would say Okay you can buy it.

bop · Post by **bop** » Tue Jan 23, 2007 5:19 am

I use realtek on-board audio and did encounter a scratching noise a while back that only went away after i disabled the 1394 NET adapter in the network connections tab in the control panel. After i did that the distortion went away

Brian

lakewud · Post by **lakewud** » Tue Jan 23, 2007 10:41 pm

I really dont want to sound like i dont appreciate all your replies ive had to my problem. However, i do increasingly find it fustrating when trying out some of the advice given, i.e. disabling the 1394!!!! ... having tried it, along with the mountain of other 'ideas' im none the wiser.

This does irrate me slightly, that for one poster disabling this device has solved his problem - apparently! - and yet for me its a waste of time...and has to be said, not for the first time on this forum, asking one question leads to a quite often useless answer...an answer yes - and again, i appreciate the often lengthy post given - albeit a lot of the time spoken in high-brow terms for which i feel there is no need.

But the success rate ( for me at least ) is very low, yes this forum has opened doors, and i have learned a lot - but so often when a real problem arises...the advice to actually solve the problem isnt there, and you end up downloading a ton of other programs - suggested by members - littering up valuable space on your hard drive - all in the vein hope of solving your troubles...

So there - had my rant..brought about mainly due to the annoying 'static-like clicks' which accompany my video footage.

Any other ideas feel free to share...ill try em' out but wont be holding my breath.

bop · Post by **bop** » Tue Jan 23, 2007 10:52 pm

Lakewud,

I did not say to disable the 1394 card because how would you capture

, what i said was to 'DISABLE THE1394 NET ADAPTER IN THE NETWORK CONNECTIONS TAB' in the control panel.

This did and still does cause problems FOR ME if it is enabled but having it unenabled doesn't hinder capture in any way except stopping the crackling/popping distortion that affected MY captures

Brian