audio 'clicks' - a settings problem?

Black Lab · Post by **Black Lab** » Wed Jan 24, 2007 12:10 am

lakewud wrote: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.

No more answers for you!

lakewud · Post by **lakewud** » Wed Jan 24, 2007 11:19 pm

Now now play fair Black Lab...we are allowed to critise on this forum are we not! Not all that is said is Gospel!!

Convinced that this problem lies somewhere between VS and perhaps my firewire ( how can you change that btw? or check it?..have - as Bop suggested - disabled it etc ).

The static clicks pop up every few seconds..any other ideas why? where to look? downloaded Sherlock...but at a loss what to do with it?

heinz-oz · Post by **heinz-oz** » Thu Jan 25, 2007 4:21 am

Have you tried a different sound card?

You have rubbed a few people, including myself, the wrong way here. I wouldn't be surprised if you get no further help at all. Have you forgotten that there are no profies around here? Just fellow users like yourself with a bit more experience. That doesn't mean that we have had to experience all your problems and found fixes for it. For many of us, the programs work straight out of the box or from a download.

sjj1805 · Post by **sjj1805** » Thu Jan 25, 2007 4:50 am

lakewud
Sorry to hear you're getting these annoying clicks and pops and obviously this is preventing you from being able to produce anything worthwhile.

Have you ever captured anything correctly and this is a recent new development or has it always behaved like this?

There are a number of possibilities and sometimes we tend to look for the more obscure reasons first rather than the simple reasons.

It could be one (or more) of the following.
Faulty cable between camcorder and computer.
Badly seated firewire card - remove it, wipe the legs of the card gently with a piece of tissue to remove any dirt and replace the card.
Wrong sound source selected in the Windows XP Volume control for recording (Please view This link)
Faulty camcorder - possibly the output socket or dirty playback heads.
Wrong sound card drivers - check the internet for any updated drivers from the manufacturer.
Faulty or badly seated sound card - try removing it like I mentioned for the firewire above.
Faulty connections inside the computer. I have removeable hard drives in caddies and every now and again taking them out and putting them back causes the IDE cables from the motherboard to the caddies to become loose. Visually they appear to be connected OK but giving them a firm push with my thumbs and then starting the computer bck up again has suddenly resolved issues not unlike the one you are experiencing.
Defragmentation of the hard drives - a badly fragmented hard drive could conceivably cause such issues.

Follow the advice in the following two posts:
From camcorder to DVD with VideoStudio
and
Creating a Video Editing Profile

lakewud · Post by **lakewud** » Thu Jan 25, 2007 9:14 pm

Sjj1805, thank you for your detailed reply..wont harp on and on about this problem..though i need to get it sorted to be able to edit anything.

I have tried most of what you suggested, my firewire is built in, so as far as badly seated card/dusty etc i dont think thats the problem. Have checked and re-checked cables etc.

I used VS9 a while back, and didnt get this problem, since then i have wiped my harddrive, getting rid of old programs, and bought myself vs10+.....everything else connected from printer to internet to playing cds etc etc all work as well ( better ) than before..all except this 'intermittent 'static' like clicks that come virtually every 5 sec..most of the time.

I have played about with all the settingsin VS project properties, project properties, AVI box, Audio format..it automatically comes up with PCM out of a list of a few dozen...ccitt-alaw, dv audio pal, gms 6.10 etc etc....what do these mean..do they make any differernce?Again the 'attributes box'..lists a ton of 48000khz16.....etc...meaning? do i really need to be bogged down by this info?

What else could cause this..almost interference a certain points....have defragged, different sound card..again never opened up or needed to install anything into this computer...updated drivers...all say no problems...believe me spent hours clicking on every box...all of which makes no difference in sound quality at all.

I dont understand this codex lark, I am of the feeling that its my panasonic camcorder perhaps not liking VS10...have used the disk that came with my camcorder too...So, how can i go about checking to see if my panasonic lines up - so to speak - with my computer.

Again, any advice would be acted upon. Wont go on and on about this problem.

Post by **Ken Berry** » Thu Jan 25, 2007 10:57 pm

I dont understand this codex lark, I am of the feeling that its my panasonic camcorder perhaps not liking VS10...have used the disk that came with my camcorder too...So, how can i go about checking to see if my panasonic lines up - so to speak - with my computer.

...Which brings me back to my original conjecture that you have installed the *Panasonic* DV codec on your computer, and this is somehow or other either displacing, or conflicting with, the Direct Show DV codec installed with Windows XP.

If you do a Google search for 'Panasonic DV Codec', you will find lots of posts on it. It appears that while it resolves some problems for some people, particularly those using other editing programs like VirtualDub or TMPGEnc, it causes other problems for other users. I was not, however, able to find any specific reference to how it might react with Ulead programs.

But since everything else seems to have failed, I guess this is at least worth looking further at.

First, use the Search function to see if you can locate a file on your computer called pdvcodec.dll If you find it, note down carefully where it is, then move it to another folder on your computer (don't erase it totally -- you might need to put it back where you found it!).

Then reboot the computer, and re-start VS and see if the sound problem persists. Hopefully, the Direct Show DV codec will have been restored to primacy.

Failing that, download a free program like Sherlock or GSpot to check your video codecs. If you find one which is attributed to Panasonic, note down which file on your computer it is associated with. If it is not pdvcodec.dll, then follow the above procedure with that new file instead.

lakewud · Post by **lakewud** » Sun Feb 04, 2007 11:20 am

Hey all - time marches on - but peoples problems still remain!

Dont want to be a stick in the mud or anything but, just wondering....gone through a batch of my tapes, 3 of them ( different makes ) have these static bursts splattered throughout..making the soundtrack unless. My other tapes are fine....Just so happens these 3 tapes are the ones im wanting to work with....so could i of recorded them in ..say..12bit and not 16bit...cant see a tab on VS10+ for playing back 12bit..only 8 and 16 etc....any help there. Though im grabbing at straws as idont think that would be the problem.

Have taped over a little section on the 3 tapes to see if the problem lies with the actual tape itself..sadly, any new recording sounds fine..so obviously the tapes not at fault...any other suggestions?

Any 'free' programs that will - at the touch of a button - get rid of static bursts? Any tabs in VS10 that could change the sound for me, looked in properties and prefereces, DV Type etc etc etc

Post by **Ken Berry** » Sun Feb 04, 2007 12:11 pm

I kow it didn't sound attractive, but you might at least let us know if you did anything at all about tracking down the Panasonic codec...

lakewud · Post by **lakewud** » Sun Feb 04, 2007 1:32 pm

But - if the codec is at fault then why would all of my other dv tapes play on VS fine, just not the 3 im wanting to use. Surely this points to a problem with the way it has been recorded - a setting perhaps - im unaware of.

However, have done what you suggested...and can see nothing realting to Panasonic in the 'Sherlock' - Video codec installed menu box....a load of..mpeg..avi draw etc etc...greek to me this really is!!

Where do go from here? Went onto the pansonic site, download a file, called something similar if not the same file name as what you suggested i perhaps move to folder etc..makes no difference.

What do i do with this sherlock codec ive just download...??

Post by **Ken Berry** » Sun Feb 04, 2007 9:23 pm

What do i do with this sherlock codec ive just download...??

I assume you mean the Panasonic codec... Sherlock is merely a program which detects what codecs are on your computer...

Looks like you don't have it on your computer anyway. But give it a try - there seem to be just as many people who find it helps as find it causes difficulties.

If you downloaded it from the videohelp.com site, then these are the installation -- and importantly, uninstall -- instructions. Install it, try it, and if it makes no difference to your problem, uninstall it.

How to install the Panasonic DV Codec
Right click on the PANADV.INF and select Install to install it.

How to uninstall the Panasonic DV Codec
Go to the Control Panel, go to Sound and Audio Devices, go to Hardware, scroll down to Video Codecs, click Properties and select the pdvcodec.dll and click Remove.

lakewud · Post by **lakewud** » Mon Feb 05, 2007 7:14 pm

Ok giving up on this - have to just stick with the static clicks! Tried your advice, loaded ( as far as i know ) some panasonic codec guff from videohelp...couldnt/dont know where to open the thing etc etc..as per the norm..advice is given, but you need a degree to understand it.

Thanks all the same.

G