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I took a look at the website of the conversion service you used, and can find no mention of their process to transfer 8mm film to video. There are several methods of transfer that produce different quality levels. Many companies, especially those who claim high quality, describe how the film is transferred. And some offer a test service; send a short piece of film and they will digitize it for you before you place an order. If you don't think your existing transfer is up to snuff, you may want to try a test transfer from another company.
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This is a very common problem, and usually the fault of the capture device.
I ran into the same situation when capturing video and audio from a laserdisc, using one of those USB converters. Sometimes it worked, but the longer the video the more likely it went out of sync.
Someone suggested to use a Canopus device such as the ADVC 110. Here is a blurb from the manufacturer:
"Other converters can lose audio/video sync when converting longer segments of video. ADVC110 supports locked audio when converting from analog to digital, assuring perfect audio and video synchronization."
I don't work for Canopus or benefit from mentioning their product. But I purchased a second hand Canopus unit and captured all my video in perfect synch. This is the solution that worked for me, at a cost. The Canopus units seem to keep their value so you could purchase one second hand, use it, and then resell it.
I suggest you first try capturing shorter segments of your VHS tape with your Roxio, to see if it stays in sync. You will have to experiment to find the proper length of capture time before it gets out of synch.
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Hi BydeBoyd, welcome to the forum.
I hope I don't scare you away, but I am going to be a grouch and say you can't "loose" audio. You can lose audio.
You can loosen your tie, but if you lose your tie, you don't have a tie.
You are only one of ten million people now using the word incorrectly in epidemic proportions.
Thank you for allowing me to vent, and I hope someone can find a solution for your problem.
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Thanks optodata, your solution worked for me.
I was getting the "Production unsuccessful..." error when rendering AVI to MPEG2, so I installed the codec pack and did the tweak, and I was able to render the file.
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I'm going to add to the sarcasm because it is warranted. Let's reimagine this:
"I've been a Cyberlink customer for ten years. So I know a new version of PowerDirector comes out every year, this time of year. Also, I know Cyberlink's discount is greatest right before a new version. So like is done with other MULTIPLE high dollar programs (i.e Pro Tools, Sonar, Studio One, Cubase, etc), I bought the current version for the low price, and expected a free upgrade. Now I am ever so pissed that Cyberlink won't give me the new version for free. I want it free. Free free free. And if I can't get it for free, I will complain about how this is bad customer service."
If you own any previous version of PowerDirector, you are entitled to an upgrade price and do not pay full price. So get your refund before the 30 days are up, and take advantage of the upgrade price. Or not.
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Quote:
Esentially, I want to do preedits of all my takes, store all the preedits, then pull them into my project when ready as though they were originals.
Am I being clear?
Yes! For many of us, we like to see all of our video clips "laid out on the table in front of us" because it helps us in our organization and creativity. From a mental point of view, some of us like having many video files or clips to peruse rather than having just one single video file where we retrieve clips. This is most useful for projects where the organization of the material has not been predetermined (i.e. storyboarded) but is left to the editor to determine how the clips should be assembled.
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"I imagine I can somehow isolate the buzzing and delete it"
Yes.
You can remove a constant background noise like hum or hiss from an audio track. In my situation I had an audio recording marred by a Super-8 film projector mechanical noise in the background, and I was able to completely remove the sound of the projector.
I'll condense a few steps here...Export your audio from your captured VHS into a wave file. Download and install the freeware open source audio editor Audacity. Import your audio into Audacity. Select a section of the audio where the buzzing (and nothing else) occurs. You are creating a noise profile. Then select Noise Removal and Audacity will use the noise profile to identify the bad noise and go through your audio file and remove the noise. Then bring that file back into PowerDirector.
http://wiki.audacityteam.org/wiki/Noise_Removal
You can get more information by Googling "using audacity to remove background noise"
Audacity is not the only audio editor capable of noise profile and noise removal, but Audacity is popular, and free.
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Quote:
As for flakey memory.. I believe I have 4 sticks of 2Gb, so that's unlikely.
Why is it unlikely? If you have four sticks then you have four chances of having flakey memory. If one stick is marginal, then system problems will occur depending on memory access roulette. There are programs that exercise memory and stress it.
Quote:
I'm not sure how I'd be able to tell if it was the HD or power supply.
The hard drive manufacturer often has free diagnostic programs. At the very least, look at the SMART hard drive data and see if any of your data bump up against the limits. And did you run CHKDSK? Did it detect any problems?
Power supply problems can be tricky and the easiest way to test is to swap out the unit with a known working unit.
Admittedly, you can go on a wild goose chase tracking down all the things that can go wrong. I just wanted to bring your attention to your hardware, rather than assuming it was PowerDirector. It could be software or hardware.
I would second the recommendation to disable anything unnecessary. Some software may have a memory leak, which builds up and then creates problems during a session. If this is suspected, it is a good idea to reboot the system every now and then.
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New systems are not immune to problems. You may be a power user so forgive me if the following sounds elementary, but here are a few other things to consider:
1. A flakey stick of memory.
2. A hard drive problem.
3. A power supply problem.
And these problems can be intermittent.
You can try reinstalling PowerDirector, and running CHKDSK.
And if it is software, it may not be PowerDirector. It's possible the same problems may occur with other applications, but this is unknown since you do not exercise the system intensively with other applications.
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If you want to explore this product, Phantom Drive (not Phantom Disk) is found at http://www.phantomdrive.de/en/ and they offer a 30-day trial.
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The data comes from the utility MediaInfo. Once installed, right click on a video file to see description tags. MediaInfo is open source, free of charge, available at
http://mediaarea.net/en/MediaInfo
That, or other similiar utilities are handy to have when you are curious about the tech specs of a file.
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First, congratulations on your successful video capture. Your footage looks good, nice and clear.
Your Sony CCD-TR516 is a standard definition analog only camcorder. It has composite video out (yellow), and mono audio out (black). The camcorder is not capable of S-video or component video, and the audio is not stereo. This information is from the Sony manual for the SONY CCD-TR516 camcorder. I don't know if the "E" (CCD-TR516E) changes anything.
You do not need an S-video cable since your camera does not output video S-video format. And even if you bought a composite-video-to-S-video adapter, it would not help, and would not improve the picture as the chrominance and luminance in the signal are already combined. So why are they sold? Solely as a convenience item for cabling purposes.
The choice of DVD or Blu-ray is up to you. As you said, Blu-ray holds more video. While Blu-ray is capable of higher definition, it doesn't automatically mean that a video will look better on Blu-ray vs DVD. You have standard definition video. There is only so much picture information in standard definition.
Here are the specs on the video clip you uploaded:
Format : MPEG-PS
File size : 15.8 MiB
Duration : 15s 560ms
Overall bit rate mode : Variable
Overall bit rate : 8 539 Kbps
Video
ID : 224 (0xE0)
Format : MPEG Video
Format version : Version 2
Format profile : Main@Main
Format settings, BVOP : Yes
Format settings, Matrix : Custom
Format settings, GOP : M=3, N=15
Duration : 15s 560ms
Bit rate mode : Variable
Bit rate : 8 114 Kbps
Maximum bit rate : 8 300 Kbps
Width : 720 pixels
Height : 576 pixels
Display aspect ratio : 4:3
Frame rate : 25.000 fps
Standard : PAL
Color space : YUV
Chroma subsampling : 4:2:0
Bit depth : 8 bits
Scan type : Interlaced
Scan order : Top Field First
Compression mode : Lossy
Bits/(Pixel*Frame) : 0.783
Time code of first frame : 00:00:00:11
Time code source : Group of pictures header
Stream size : 15.0 MiB (95%)
Audio
ID : 189 (0xBD)-128 (0x80)
Format : AC-3
Format/Info : Audio Coding 3
Mode extension : CM (complete main)
Format settings, Endianness : Big
Muxing mode : DVD-Video
Duration : 15s 552ms
Bit rate mode : Constant
Bit rate : 256 Kbps
Channel count : 2 channels
Channel positions : Front: L R
Sampling rate : 48.0 KHz
Bit depth : 16 bits
Compression mode : Lossy
Stream size : 486 KiB (3%)
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Yes, that's the correct model.
I'm not familiar with Firewire-to-usb adapter cables, so I don't know if those adapter cables provide sufficient power and data transfer rates. Maybe someone else can chime in here.
The Canopus receives power from the Firewire port on the PC through the 6-pin Firewire cable. Or the Canopus can get power from a wallwart (AC adapter). I'm not sure the adapter comes in the box with the Canopus. If not, you can always buy an inexpensive AC adapter. Oddly, Canopus charges about $40 for their adapter. There is nothing unique or proprietary about the Canopus power adapter, and no need to spend that much.
You only need the power adapter if you are using a 4-pin rather than 6-pin Firewire cable. And possibly if you use a Firewire-to-USB adapter.
My newest PC did not come with a Firewire port and I bought a Firewire adapter card. Yet my older PC had one built in.
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Thanks Barry. I'm still learning from you guys, and glad to contribute where I can. And glad to see our original poster really wants to learn editing.
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Let's start with the Hi-8.
"What a shame it won't look as nice as it did when first shot."
Not necessarily. You can get good results. Keep in mind that what you are starting out with is standard definition video. That was all that was available back then. And you are probably going to view it on a flat screen TV that's bigger than your old tube TV.
First, you will not use the VCR to capture video. Same with those VHS VCR tapes you have and those DVDs you made. Put all that aside.
------> You are going to capture your video from the original tapes that ran through your camcorder. <-------
Go to [url]http://www.diamondmm.com/vc500-diamond-one-touch-video-capture-edit-stream.html[/url] to download the latest drivers for your Diamond multimedia device. Install them.
You will hookup the yellow and black Hi-8 camera outputs to the red white and yellow inputs on the Diamond. Yellow goes to yellow, that's video. Now the black output is your audio out. It is mono. Your Diamond has red and white inputs for stereo. So you will want to use a Y adapter to connect your single mono output from the camera to the red and white stereo inputs on the Diamond. If you want to just try a short test until you get a Y adapter just hook up your mono audio to one channel on the Diamond. [Yes, you can duplicate a mono track in editing software, but I'm trying to keep it simple].
Put your tape in your Hi-8 camera and play it. Launch your capturing software, and capture video. Then stop the capture and look at your results. Let us know it goes.
Start there.
Today you have added a Panasonic camera into to the mix and that complicates things. So just start with one thing.
I've used USB capture devices before (two different ones) and eventually abandoned them for the Canopus. The Canopus does not need a driver, so a lot of compatibility problems are eliminated. And it does not screw up the audio sync with the video.
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Barry is right and has a great idea, I misunderstood his post.
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The original poster has a camera that records standard definition analog video in Hi-8 format. The Canon HV-30 records digital video, either high definition or regular definition, onto DV or mini-DV tape. Video from the Canon is already in digital format and does not need any conversion.
Digital-8 camcorders will play Hi-8 tapes. If the OP obtains a digital-8 camcorder, and that camcorder has DV out, and the camcorder converts analog to digital, then the A/D conversion is done by the camera and all is left is to transfer the video file to the computer by Firewire.
My opinion is that a service bureau is the best way to go for a one-time conversion of these older tapes, especially for someone who describes herself as a "techno dummy."
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There's hope for those lovely baby videos of yours.
Consider paying a service bureau to transfer your original Sony camcorder Hi-8 analog tapes to a DVD or Blu-ray disc that you can put in your DVD or Blu-ray player and watch. There are many companies that provide this service and you can find them with an online search.
If you want to edit the files, a service bureau can do the transfer and provide digital video files in AVI or similar format on a a DVD or Blu-ray data disc for you to edit in PowerDirector on your PC. Sometimes these companies provide these files on a hard drive you purchase or provide.
But if you want to do the whole capture thing yourself, you are going down the road many have travelled. Here is what's involved...
You have your videos, a camcorder, your PC and PowerDirector. You need to purchase a video capture device. Often the video capture software comes with the hardware device. If not, there are many freeware utilities out there for capturing video.
As Carl recommended, the Canopus ADC-110 is a great device, or the slightly older ADVC-100. You can find these devices through online retailers or auction sites. The drawback with the Canopus is that it connects to your PC with a firewire cable, so you need a firewire port on your PC. If you don't have this port, purchase a firewire port add-in card.
Start with your original source, the Hi-8 analog video cassettes - the ones that were in your Sony camcorder - and play them back on your camcorder, connected to the Canopus, to your PC. The Canopus will convert the analog video to a digital format and save it on your PC in an editor friendly video file format like AVI. Then edit these digital video files to your hearts content with PowerDirector, apply corrections and enhancements, and burn to a file or disc.
Instead of the Canopus, you can try one of those USB capture devices. The audio and video outputs from your camcorder plug into the capture device, and the USB cable plugs into your computer. There are many different USB capture device models. Some of them are very inexpensive. In general, they work for capturing video, expecially for short sequences, but some have their quirks.
Hi-8 (analog video) and digital-8 (digital video) used the same tapes, so double check to see what format you have.
You can get good results by starting with your original tapes. It's no surprise your computer videos look bad. You are several generations degraded (camcorder tape to VHS, VHS to DVDs, then DVD files copied to computer).
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It is possible the problem may be related to your choice of DVD-R vs DVD+R media, or the brand of DVD recordable media, and so no matter what you do, the station's DVD player/system will reject it.
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Interesting experiment with the 4k editing.
As for actually purchasing a 4K tv early in the game, even the SEIKO, consider the following.
CNET's review of the SEIKO:
Cheap 4K TV has pixels aplenty, poor picture
http://reviews.cnet.com/flat-panel-tvs/seiki-se50uy04-4k-uhd/4505-6482_7-35757100.html
and
Why Ultra HD 4K TVs are still stupid
http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-33199_7-57566079-221/why-ultra-hd-4k-tvs-are-still-stupid/
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