Desperate search for help with VIDEOGRAPHY

[anirtac]

Hi all I know that this is a Photography website, But i really need help with Videography, so was hoping to find some video gurus here....

I need Help.... I've been trying to edit and burn my videos i took using my video cam for a long long time... but there were some stubborn problems...

After editing, video looked fine on pc. but...

1) certain areas of the video, the red colour looked like blood red!!!

2) certain part of the video tend to skid or the image freezes while the audio continues...

3) the audio is always 1-4 seconds slower than the images...

PLEASE HELP... I've tried using diff video editing softwares... but no improvements... please tell me what else i can try...

Some ppl asked me for these info...

1. Provide us the format you use, such as mini-DV or MPEG2. The format should be Mpeg2

2. How you capture your video. If DV, are you using firewire? Errrmmmm sorry I'm very new to the video editing world... what's firewire? I used a JVC video camera and connect directly to the PC using the cable that came with the camera

3. Your editing software and platform. I've tried many softwares, like microsoft, adobe premiere... I'm intending to try Ulead

4. Audio format you use in your video - did you mix with additional MP3? Nope it is entirely the surrounding sound and the ppl talking in the video no additional mp3 used

5. Your final rendered format - MPEG, MPEG2, WMV etc Errrr isn't this the same as qn 1? final format is the one we use to burn to vcd... mpeg2 i think

fyi, some codecs in certain camcorders such as Panasonic and Canon (few models in PAL system) have blocky reds. My camera is a JVC.but dunno about codec

 

[Hommie]

1) certain areas of the video, the red colour looked like blood red!!!

2) certain part of the video tend to skid or the image freezes while the audio continues...

3) the audio is always 1-4 seconds slower than the images...

Possible answers

1) Could be you press certain demo button on the videocamera showing you effects. Not sure, perhaps you could post image grabbed on here?

2) We call that 'video dropout' due to varies reasons like dirt on the drum head or external knocks etc.

3) Its problem with video/audio synchonization. To answer that question, you have to provide answer to your 1 and 2 question below......

Some ppl asked me for these info...

1. Provide us the format you use, such as mini-DV or MPEG2. The format should be Mpeg2

2. How you capture your video. If DV, are you using firewire? Errrmmmm sorry I'm very new to the video editing world... what's firewire? I used a JVC video camera and connect directly to the PC using the cable that came with the camera

3. Your editing software and platform. I've tried many softwares, like microsoft, adobe premiere... I'm intending to try Ulead

4. Audio format you use in your video - did you mix with additional MP3? Nope it is entirely the surrounding sound and the ppl talking in the video no additional mp3 used

5. Your final rendered format - MPEG, MPEG2, WMV etc Errrr isn't this the same as qn 1? final format is the one we use to burn to vcd... mpeg2 i think

fyi, some codecs in certain camcorders such as Panasonic and Canon (few models in PAL system) have blocky reds. My camera is a JVC.but dunno about codec

 

[polars]

Hi all I know that this is a Photography website, But i really need help with Videography, so was hoping to find some video gurus here....

I need Help.... I've been trying to edit and burn my videos i took using my video cam for a long long time... but there were some stubborn problems...

After editing, video looked fine on pc. but...

1) certain areas of the video, the red colour looked like blood red!!!

2) certain part of the video tend to skid or the image freezes while the audio continues...

3) the audio is always 1-4 seconds slower than the images...

PLEASE HELP... I've tried using diff video editing softwares... but no improvements... please tell me what else i can try...

Some ppl asked me for these info...

1. Provide us the format you use, such as mini-DV or MPEG2. The format should be Mpeg2

2. How you capture your video. If DV, are you using firewire? Errrmmmm sorry I'm very new to the video editing world... what's firewire? I used a JVC video camera and connect directly to the PC using the cable that came with the camera

3. Your editing software and platform. I've tried many softwares, like microsoft, adobe premiere... I'm intending to try Ulead

4. Audio format you use in your video - did you mix with additional MP3? Nope it is entirely the surrounding sound and the ppl talking in the video no additional mp3 used

5. Your final rendered format - MPEG, MPEG2, WMV etc Errrr isn't this the same as qn 1? final format is the one we use to burn to vcd... mpeg2 i think

fyi, some codecs in certain camcorders such as Panasonic and Canon (few models in PAL system) have blocky reds. My camera is a JVC.but dunno about codec

I am a videography man but I am no guru ;p I am using a JVC digital video camera like you

1) I have not encountered this before

2 & 3) There is no audio/video synchronization

Common video editing software are Pinnacle Studio 9, Ulead Video Studio 9 and Adobe Premiere Elements 1.0. Adobe Premiere Pro is for professionals and not home video editing. It is more difficult to learn.

You could download trial/tryout versions from the respective company websites. Pinnacle even offered trial software CDs in various shops in Sim Lim Square. Go there pick up a trial software CD if your internet connection is not fast enough.

----

1) If you are using MPEG-2, you video cam should be recording to a DVD disc right? Those small DVD for handycam 2.8 GB in capacity. Mine is using mini DV, hence I have to use mini DV tapes.

2) Firewire is known as the Institute of Electrical Engineers IEEE 1394a/b standard. It is known also as iLink or DV link. It is a serial bus that offers 400 mbps in 1394a standard OR 800 mbps in 1394b specification. To use the firewire bus you need a firewire cable. My video cam does not come with a firewire cable. I purchased a firewire PCI card, because my computer does not come with firewire, and the package included a firewire cable and a Ulead Videostudio 5 DV software (which is outdated). The entire package costs $19.

3) I have listed various common home video editing software. There are many others as well. But those are the more common ones.

4) I also don't use voice-over or add extra music. I just capture the audio together with the video from the tape.

5) VCD is MPEG-1 only. The quality of VCD is extremely lousy and the video bitrate is only 1150 kbps. DVD is MPEG-2, the quality of DVD is extremely good and the video bitrate is 6000-8500 kbps. There's also MPEG-4. It can offer quality as good as DVD but the video file will be much smaller.

The problems you encountered may be due to the following causes:

1) The speed of your CPU is not fast enough. If you used a Pentium 3 it is not fast enough. You need at least a Pentium 4 3.0 GHz.

2) Not enough ram, 256MB only?

3) Harddisks not fast enough. You need a 7200 RPM IDE PATA or SATA harddisks. SATA is better than PATA but SCSI is much more better! SCSI is very expensive though. If your harddisks is fast (has to be if you purchased recently), then most probably you need to defragment your harddisks. Fragmentation causes harddisk read/write to slown down even if you have a very fast harddisk becos the harddisk has to look all over the platter for a single file that has scattered all over the platter.

4) Use the latest version of video editing software.

5) Ensure that you have the best and most stable Firewire chip. I am using the VIA chip, not the best but good enough. NEC chipsets are better.

6) Ensure that you are not doing anything else with your computer while doing a capture, e.g. trying to surf net while capturing, or playing a game while capturing. Practically you can't do anything much while capturing because capturing is harddisk intensive, the harddisk is busy and anything else you do will be extremely slow.

 

[shawnlim]

Hi all I know that this is a Photography website, But i really need help with Videography, so was hoping to find some video gurus here....

I need Help.... I've been trying to edit and burn my videos i took using my video cam for a long long time... but there were some stubborn problems...

After editing, video looked fine on pc. but...

1) certain areas of the video, the red colour looked like blood red!!!

2) certain part of the video tend to skid or the image freezes while the audio continues...

3) the audio is always 1-4 seconds slower than the images...

PLEASE HELP... I've tried using diff video editing softwares... but no improvements... please tell me what else i can try...

Some ppl asked me for these info...

1. Provide us the format you use, such as mini-DV or MPEG2. The format should be Mpeg2

2. How you capture your video. If DV, are you using firewire? Errrmmmm sorry I'm very new to the video editing world... what's firewire? I used a JVC video camera and connect directly to the PC using the cable that came with the camera

3. Your editing software and platform. I've tried many softwares, like microsoft, adobe premiere... I'm intending to try Ulead

4. Audio format you use in your video - did you mix with additional MP3? Nope it is entirely the surrounding sound and the ppl talking in the video no additional mp3 used

5. Your final rendered format - MPEG, MPEG2, WMV etc Errrr isn't this the same as qn 1? final format is the one we use to burn to vcd... mpeg2 i think

fyi, some codecs in certain camcorders such as Panasonic and Canon (few models in PAL system) have blocky reds. My camera is a JVC.but dunno about codec

Care to share your PC spec first before commenting. No gurus in VE but have produce some footage, so hope can help.

 

[CY_OH]

1) certain areas of the video, the red colour looked like blood red!!!

2) certain part of the video tend to skid or the image freezes while the audio continues...

3) the audio is always 1-4 seconds slower than the images...

Since your video is in MPEG2, are you using JVC microdrive models since JVC does not have DVD models?

1) Is the white balance correct? It might be due to an uncalibrated monitor. Check the video on your camera LCD. Does it look ok there?

Also check that your image settings is normal, eg. normal colour saturation, normal contrast from the menu, if available.


2 and 3) Since you are using the cable that came with your camera, I am guessing that it might be a USB cable. The data transfer rate might not be fast enough for the video, causing some audio/video to be dropped or a lag to occur.

Buy a firewire cable and firewire card to install in your computer. For the firewire cable, be careful about the connections. There are 4/4 pins, 6/6 pins and 4/6 pins types.

I'm not sure about this, but if you are using microdrive, is it possible to transfer your files from microdrive to computer via card reader?

Your computer should be running at least P4 2Ghz with 512MB RAM. Close all other programs except your video program when doing video transfer/format conversion.

 

[anirtac]

Hmmm... a lot of you are asking for my com specs.... but truth be told I'm not all that certain of it... cause a friend of mine built it for me.

I think it's AMD XP 1500 256MB 80GB(harddisk)... all these i really not all that sure.

I'm using JVC miniDV. u know those mini tapes that u record in? looks like a cassette tape? (sorrie abt the mpeg2 mistake)

I have been using the USB to capture my video. I believe i have the firewire too should I try that?

so which editing software would u all recommand?

I'm intending to burn my movie into a VCD format. so should I (after editting) format it into mpeg1?

Will adding captions, and title pages, editing the video cause the lapse in sound and video?

does any of my prob gotta do with the burning software?

 

[brian]

After editing, video looked fine on pc. but...
1) certain areas of the video, the red colour looked like blood red!!!
2) certain part of the video tend to skid or the image freezes while the audio continues...
3) the audio is always 1-4 seconds slower than the images...
PLEASE HELP... I've tried using diff video editing softwares... but no improvements... please tell me what else i can try...
Some ppl asked me for these info...
1. Provide us the format you use, such as mini-DV or MPEG2. The format should be Mpeg2
2. How you capture your video. If DV, are you using firewire? Errrmmmm sorry I'm very new to the video editing world... what's firewire? I used a JVC video camera and connect directly to the PC using the cable that came with the camera
3. Your editing software and platform. I've tried many softwares, like microsoft, adobe premiere... I'm intending to try Ulead
4. Audio format you use in your video - did you mix with additional MP3? Nope it is entirely the surrounding sound and the ppl talking in the video no additional mp3 used
5. Your final rendered format - MPEG, MPEG2, WMV etc Errrr isn't this the same as qn 1? final format is the one we use to burn to vcd... mpeg2 i think

fyi, some codecs in certain camcorders such as Panasonic and Canon (few models in PAL system) have blocky reds. My camera is a JVC.but dunno about codec

Hi, I'll try and add a little insights into your original questions, the thread is quite long and hope I dont repeat:
1. I hear that the phosphors on the TV is quite bad at reproducing REDs, which is also why a lot of TV productions try to avoid Red. Red colours always look out of whack when you view it on TV. LCD I think its not as bad, but never tried myself. So it might be likely that its not your problem why you see blood everywhere.
2 & 3: I do a bit of hobby video capture sometimes and I use primarily use DV format (common with most handycams around). The capture is via firewire, and its basically a download of the video onto your HDD, so most of the time the video + sound is synchronized. The only time when it doesn't seem too coherrent, is in the beginning when I started video editing on a Pentium II 266MHz few years back. The processor wouldn't keep up drawing the video and playing the sound at the same time. But the output on VCD or DVD was perfect. Most professional quality video editing software comes with timecode , and if you dont do anything funny with the setting, the audio and video should be recorded into your PC automatically synchronized. Which means the timecode on the audio should match the timecode on your video. If your audio and video is not synchronized, it could be likely that whatever video camera or system you have doesn't recognise timecodes or its recording different timecodes for the audio and video. I can't think of an instance in my experience when this has happened to me, so its just a guess.

Today I do most of my hobby editing on a Mac. I find it a much more enjoyable platform for doing so. iMovie is fun, but if I need to get serious I use Final Cut Express. Can't afford final cut pro. Even on my 550MHz powerbook with 512Mb RAM I could edit a DV movie in realtime and have realtime preview (ok, 550MHz is stretching the realtime preview).

But coming back to your "problem" I've just realised that now we know your handy cam model. Yes, Mini DV is good... same like mine. You should always capture with Firewire (IEEE1394). I'd be surprised if you can capture with USB, I'm not sure if the new handycams allow you to capture using USB2 even. If you use firewire there shouldn't be any delay in the video + audio. Try something like Premiere for the capture.

 

[anirtac]

Ok I'll go try it out once more.... this time I'll

1) Use the firewire to capture the video.

2) use Pinnacle studio 9 to edit and make the movie (Pinnacle seem easier to use than Premier, but will try premier if pinnacle still give same probs)

3) use Nero to burn the VCD.

4) all these without multi-tasking my com.

will post again to update on the results.

Special thanks to all those who replied to this post and those who pm me too!!