Video Glich on Playback

[CJStyle]

Just recorded my first DVD...when playing in my tv video player, every now and then, I see the video stop very briefly. On output, I selected the BEST possible video choice for DVD burning...

any advice?

[Ken Berry]

How many times? And always in the same place when you replay the disc? Or just in random places?

Some stand-alone players, especially the higher end brand names, can be very fussy about playing home made DVDs. Some prefer +R over -R, some like only particularly brands/batches, some don't like the colour of the dye on the disc (I kid thee not!). And many "prefer" DVDs which have been burned relatively slowly. Now some people here burn their DVDs at the highest rated speed for the blank disc i.e. if the disc is rated to be burned at 16x then they use 16x as the burn speed. Many of us, however, believe it is often better to choose a (much) lower speed. I for instance almost invariably use 4x and never have a bad disc when played on either my own player or those of friends and family. Note that the higher speed discs (16x and above) probably won't let you choose a speed lower than, say, 6x. But what is offered to you in the burner, choose one of the lowest possibilities. It may take a few minutes longer in the burn, but the result is usually worth the wait.

[CJStyle]

Hi, I rewatched the video several times on the home DVD player....and it's stopping briefly in different places...so, what do you think this means? One time it even stopped for more than a brief moment.

I recorded on the video on DVD-R

This DVD is going to a client...hmmm, don't like the gliches.

[Ken Berry]

As I said, its either the disc itself you have used, or else the burn speed. Can you burn another copy using a slower burn speed? Have you tried playing it in someone else's player?

[CJStyle]

What exactly is smart proxy?

I need to burn high quality DVD for clients (and, for the fun of it, post outtakes on YouTube).

ALSO - When clicking on Options in the Smart Proxy menu, should I change the field type to Lower?

FYI - my cam allows me to either capture SD or HD, I import MPEGs since I'm using a hard drive cam.

[CJStyle]

As I said, its either the disc itself you have used, or else the burn speed. Can you burn another copy using a slower burn speed? Have you tried playing it in someone else's player?

It plays fine in my DVD drive on my computer - so perhaps my DVD player.

[Ken Berry]

What is the model number of your camera? Some of the hard drive models use proprietary versions of mpeg format (e.g. the HVC Everio series use formats called SD .mod and HD .tod). But almost invariably, they use Upper Field First. So I would be very careful before I changed that.

If it is a hard disk camera, then it is unlikely to use the HDV format that my own Canon high def camera uses. That is an Upper Field First HD version of mpeg-2. But when you down-convert with this camera, it turns into SD DV format (which is the other format it uses). And somehow or other, it down-converts using Lower Field First. But as I say, I don't think that is what your camera does, but we will only know for sure when you give us the make and model of your camera.

SmartProxy is a way to allow less powerful computers to deal with high definition video. HD video is very demanding of computer resources, and this is especially so with AVCHD which appears to need a Core 2 Duo processor to edit and play it back smoothly. Some (many?) computers struggle with high def video. So enabling SmartProxy in effect creates SD proxy versions of the HD originals. You edit the proxy files in the VS timeline, and when you have finished the edits, they are applied (usually quite slowly) to the high def originals.

Now, you are I assume making standard def DVDs, rather than the sort of hybrid disc which allows you to burn high def video in AVCHD format to a standard DVD, instead of a Blu-Ray disc. Such hybrids will play back in excellent high definition format on a Blu-Ray rated player. These include the Sony PlayStation 3 which connects via HDMI to a high def TV for such playback. But they won't work on standard players.

So if you are making SD DVDs, your high def originals will only need to be down-converted to SD mpeg-2. I wouldn't have thought you needed SmartProxy for that. But in the down-conversion, you must maintain the original Upper Field First field order (unless, of course, the down-conversion is to DV format! )

Mind you, with my own HD work, I am future proofing myself by capturing and editing in HD format, and then converting it to a HDV file at the end, which I store against the day I will spend the money to buy a Blu-Ray player, and more importantly the prohibitively expensive discs (currently at least $25 *each*!! ). I also make hybrid discs as described above to play on my PlayStation 3. And I also down-convert the HDV edited file to SD DVD compatible mpeg-2 and burn it to a standard def DVD for distribution to friends and family who don't currently have Blu-Ray players or even HDTVs...

[CJStyle]

I am using HDR-SR12, I have changed the preferences back to upper field.

NEW ISSUES - I only have one clip on my timeline and separated the audio....however, the voice is slightly off from the lip movement of the person speaking?

Any advise?

ALSO - since I'm new to this 11.5 + I am wonder about the library, I just added my video from the same event into a new library folder - I just want to be clear, changing names of the video names or doing any editing will NOT change the original video - am I correct?

And, yes, you are correct that I'm only burning Standard DVD...I have my cam set to SD recording.

[Ken Berry]

Nice camera -- 120 GB hard drive! I see, though, that it uses the AVCHD format, which is high quality in a small size file, but as I said, possibly the most demanding of the high def formats.

Any particular reason you split the audio from the video? Was it in sync before the split?

Re your other question, yes, the original files remain untouched.

[CJStyle]

Yes, the audio was in sync prior to the split.

As a professional photography, I also offer video taping services....my goal is to use SELECTED audio of the bride/groom and then also have a sound track. For example, some of their vows coming through the song.

[sjj1805]

Try this instead of splitting the audio from the video.
Cut the video where you want the audio to stop/start.
Mute the audio where you do not want the recorded audio, so that the bit you do want the audio is not muted. Use the fade in/out buttons on the clip(s) containing the retained sound

Now add the music to the music track and it should all blend together and the audio should remain in synch.

[CJStyle]

Mute the audio where you do not want the recorded audio, so that the bit you do want the audio is not muted. Use the fade in/out buttons on the clip(s) containing the retained sound.

So...have main video on the timeline....then, put the cut clip layer below?
How do I mute just part of the video that's on the main timeline?
Can you set the length of the fade in/out...if so where are the settings?

Now add the music to the music track and it should all blend together and the audio should remain in synch.

I have figured out how to use the rubber banding on the track.

[Ken Berry]

If you just want to mute part of a clip, then make cuts at the start and end points of the video you want muted. That makes a new virtual clip. Then select (highlight) that clip and click on the mute button.

Duration of fades is in File > Preferences > Edit.

[sjj1805]

To add fades to your centre clip - the one WITH sound

[CJStyle]

Wow, you're GREAT - thank you for the visual training!