poor sound quality captured from an anlaog camcorder

[aemery]

I tried capturing a video from my analog sony handycam but the sound quality is very poor. I tried all formats (DV, MPEG, VCD, AVI and WMV) but this did not improve quality (DV did not work and MPEG had no sound). If I change the audio format frequency to the lowest value in the drop down list, the sound improves marginally. If I hook up the camcorder to my TV, the sound generated is adequate.

The sound through videostudio acts like the volume has been turned up to maximum. I turn down the volume on the video studio screen and the computer but it does not help.

I taped a choir singing so the sound is very important.

Any suggestions?

[THoff]

You probably connected the camcorder to the MIC IN instead of LINE IN or AUX IN. The microphone input is for unamplified sound sources only.

If your system has only one sound input, then there may be some configuration option in the mixer applet for your sound device to configure the type of sound source, or to add/remove a input signal boost.

[aemery]

Thanks for the response...

I connected the camcorder via video and audio RF jacks (mono) to the device that came with the videostudio software. It has 2 audio jacks (right & left), S-video and video and connects to the computer via USB.

I have an integrated sound card (soundmax digital) which has very limited controls.

I tried to input a signal from my DVD player last night....the sound was better but appeared to be out of sync by a second or more....

Does this software really work or is it complicated to work with?

[kebrinton]

It works beautifully. You just have to get it right once, then keep doing the same.

You're still at that initial stage. Be patient and keep asking us.

What format are you capturing in? (File > Project Properties)

[Ken Berry]

The device you connect your camera to should presumably also have a plug hole somewhere (mine is on the side, not the front) which will say 'Audio Out' or something like that. That then connects to Line In on your computer by a standard cord with stereo jack at each end... Do you have something like that? (Normally, AFAIK, the USB is not sufficient for transferring audio...)

[THoff]

It doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me to take an analog audio signal, feed it into a mystery box, and then take the output from that box and feed it into an analog sound card. Also, USB 2.0 certainly has the bandwidth to capture both video and audio at the same time, and the better capture devices all do that.

If the unidentified capture device has audio inputs, then the sound card / integrated motherboard sound should be bypassed entirely.

aemery, can you tell us what device you have? What are the rest of your system specs?

[aemery]

Hi....

I was taking a bunch of screen prints of the configuration within the videostudio softare....while I was doing it, I found an option for Line in or microphone....I switched the button to microphone but did not notice any difference....which audio input should I be using?

The mystery box was supplied by ADS Tech (ULEADS) with the software. It is suppose to connect to the USB port. I plugged the video and audio jacks from the camera into the front of the ADS Tech box which then plugs into the USB port of my computer.

I was trying AVI and WMV capture formats....

Under Capture Properties , there is an option.... Audio Input Filter....it shows me that the audio input is set for Microphone...it also has grayed out boxes that controls the audio signal....any ideas how to fully activate this screen? Another option under Capture Properties is the Video Input filter which has the option of Line or Microphone at the bottom of the screen.

Is there any way to attach the screen prints to the msg board?

Thanks....

[Ken Berry]

As I said in my earlier post, does the ADS box have a connector somewhere on it labelled 'Audio Out', and did the box come supplied with a standard stereo jack at each end (NOT the RCA plugs)? I acknowledge Torsten's comment about USB being sufficient, but not all boxes are made equal. The one I use successfully has RCA video and audio connectors, an S-Video connector and also the Audio Out jack, which I connect to my Line In on the computer. The USB of itself is not enough.

As for the Mic or Line showing in Audio Filter, I think mine might even show MIDI (which was clearly wrong) and when I tried to change it, it simply reverted to MIDI. But with the Audio Out jack connected by cord to the Line In on the computer, I cluld happily capture the audio in sync with the video. Incidentally, I also used RCA connectors from the analogue camera video AND audio plugs to the box's video and audio RCA plugs. BUT it also requires then a connection between the box's Audio Out to the computer's Line In.

[THoff]

One possible explanation for the poor audio quality would be that UVS actually recorded the ambient sound through the microphone. You would hear the sound from the camcorder through the speakers, and that was recorded through the microphone.

In the Capture screen, click on the gear icon to change the Capture Options, select Input Source, and make sure the Audio Input Source is set to LINE IN or AUX, not MIC.

[GeorgeW]

Hi,

Alot of the ADS Tech USB Capture devices will capture send both video and audio through the USB connection, but some of the older ones use the sound card. You have to tell us the exact name of the device (USB Instant DVD, Instant DVD 2.0, DVD Xpress, DVD+DV, Instant VideoCD, Instant Video, etc). What is the exact name of the device, and the model number of the unit?

You mentioned mono audio earlier -- does that mean your sony camcorder is only outputting a mono audio signal? If so, then get a Y-Splitter that will take the mono audio and send it to both RCA-Input audio jacks on the capture device. I suspect it captured both video and audio through USB because you are getting some sound (but can't be certain until you tell us the actual device name).

George

[jchunter_2]

I have an ADS Instant DVD2 capture box and have used it extensively for capturing analog video. I hook it up as follows: composite video from camcorder to front Video connector (yellow), audio connects to front connectors labeled Audio L and Audio R. Always get good sound quality.

If you have an S-Video connector on your camcorder, you will get a better picture by connecting it to the REAR "S-Video In" (instead of the yellow RCA connector on the front) but always bring in the sound on the front connectors.

Use the USB2 connector on the back to connect to your USB2 port on the computer.

BTW, you will have a lot less grief by capturing with the Capwiz software that came with the unit. Video Studio support for ADS capture devices has been somewhere between spotty and nonexistent.

[aemery]

Thank you for all of your replies....

The capture device is USB Instant Video CD....it has RCA and S-video video inputs, RCA audio L & R and the only output is the USB connector. There is no device name only P/N USBAV-190 and S/N 20027458.

The software is Videostudio 7 SE. I do not have CAPWIZ software.

The camcorder is Sony Camera Recorder 8, CCD-FX410. It only has RCA video and Mono RCA Audio outputs. It is analog, not digital.

I do not have a microphone attached to my computer. I connect the audio RCA jack from the camcorder into the AUDIO R jack of the capture device. I did not connect any cable to the AUDIO L jack of the capture device. Note: when I connect the camcorder to my TV, the sound quality is okay.

VideoStudio configuration:
Options: Audio Format: Format - PCM and attributes 8,000 khz, 8 bit mono 7 kb/sec (If I try higher frequency, the sound quality gets worse)
Options: Capture Options: Capture Audio and Capture Video checked. Capture frame rate is 29,970 frames/sec.
Options: Input Source: Active Device - USB Instant VCD Audio.
Options: Capture Properties: Video capture filter: Video Setting tab: Video format - NTSC(M), Viedo Input - composite 1, Bandwidth - 6, Audio setting - Line in (the other option here is microphone).
Options:Capture Properties: Audio capture filter: displays AudioInputMixer properties and has PIN Line with Microphone highlighted. All other controls on screen grayed out.
Options: Audio Source: Current Audio Driver - USB Instant VCD Audio.

Computer conguration:
Control panel: Sound and Audio Devices: Volume tab: SoundMax Digital Audio (volume set to 3 out of 10).
Control panel: Sound and Audio devices: Audio tab: Sound Playback - default device SoundMax Digital Audio, Sound recording - default device USB Instant VCD Audio(this use to be SoundMax Digital Audio, changing it had no affect)....volume and advanced tabs grayed out, MIDI music playback default device Microsoft GS Wavetable SW synth.
Control Panel: Sound and Audio devices: Voice tab: Voice Playback default device SoundMax Digitial Audio, Voice Recording default device USB Instant VCD Audio.

SoundMax Digital Audio is an integrated sound card. I use Windows XP SP1. I have Intel Pentium 4, 2.6 ghz with 512MB and 75 gb hard drive.

Hope this is enough info...

[jchunter_2]

Aemery,
The capture device is the source of the problem. Forget your audio problem. According to the ADStech website, this dead-end product has really dumbed-down capabilities limited to:
Video Capture:
640 x 480 @ 15-20 fps
VCD MPEG-1 352 x 288 @30 fps (PAL)
VCD MPEG 1 352 x 240 NTSC
Connection to PC: USB 1.0

You will never be able to reach DVD quality with this box.

See if you can exchange it for ADS Instant DVD2.