possible solution to synchronisation problems

[Don F]

Many, many people seem to be having sync problems. I don't know if this will help everyone or anyone for that matter but I'd like to share a discovery which is "good to know" information. In case you're in a hurry here's the chase. I'm using VideoStudio X5. My problem (perhaps not anyone else's) had absolutely nothing to do with VideoStudio except that it did precisely what I wanted it to do. My sync problem was a result of combined playback apps and system not processing (not keeping up) the fantastic video I cranked out. Here's how I figured it out:

I was having terrible audio/ video sync problems with or without Smart Render. My project includes two video clips with a lot of other stuff compiled around and within them. Rendering as an MPG2 was making my slides rizzy and jittery (even with the fixes in place) so I needed the highest quality "master" rendering possible. A .wmv rendering was as much as 5 times the size but it looked and sounded great except for the sync drift about halfway through each video clip.

Here's the punch line: I have 5 different "pedestrian" players (+jwplayer) just because of such situations. I had the sync problem with each player but I noticed slight differences from one to another. So using the same big rendering, with my DivX Plus converter I quickly converted to another .wmv but smaller and played back on all the players again. With four of them the same sync problem showed up but the fifth (Real Player) played perfectly. So now I have a perfect master which I won't be viewing but which I can convert to any format and size to match my purpose.

I figure it's a good idea to get as much experience with to get as much experience with a problem as possible before asking other folks. If anyone reading this wants to know, DivX, Real, QuickTime and WM players are free downloads. Just be careful not to download any junk apps with them as (from first hand experience) many will interfere with VideoStudio's operation.