Skipping audio?

[XCheck]

Hi all,

I finally got around to reviewing clips I captured for my doc. The video is smooth (no dropped frames), but the audio sometimes skips during playback. Each skip is probably about 1/10th of a sec but it's noticeable. It's not in any regular frequency - some clips' autio is quite choppy, others are smooth as butter.

I shot with 24PA, captured with 2:3:3:2 pulldown removed. I use Vegas 5.0b on a 1.2(?) GHz Centrino-powered laptop (Sony VAIO).

Any ideas why that could be?

Jerry

[David Jimerson]

Is it consistent? If you play the same clip over and over, will the droupouts be in the same spots?

[XCheck]

Yes.

[David Jimerson]

Not sure. I've heard it skip on the timeline before, but it never repeated itself. I don't think I've had any audio dropouts at capture.

How much of a pain would recapturing be? You should be able to see the clips you captured in Sony Capture, highlight them, and re-capture the same clips from your tapes . . . even if you've already used them in a project.

[XCheck]

That's sort of what I am planning to do. When I 'just play' the tapes, they are fine, so I thought of ignoring it for now and only recapture for the final edit if I have to. Some of the clips may not be in the final cut so why bother now, right?

[David Jimerson]

Makes sense to me.

[TJIsACoolGuy]

Render it to WMV or AVI or some other form so that you can see (and hear) The rendered version. Sometimes if I am using too much of my computer's resources....it will skip audio so that it can keep up with all the processes it needs to complete. Watch the rendered version to verify whether or not it will be there when you are complete. Make an mpeg-2 and .ac3 file, and check out in dvd architect if it does the same thing.

[XCheck]

That's a great idea. I'll render the portions that skip a lot and see if it's just the preview trying to keep the pace or actual dropped audio.

Thank you!

[David Jimerson]

Better idea -- play your raw captured files in Windows Media Player. Look for the audio dropouts. (I actually thought that this is what you did.)

[XCheck]

Thanks, I'll do that (I think I did at some point but I've tried so many different things, I don't remember anymore).

In the case it's in the captured file - do you think using a different camera than the DVX for capture could be a problem? It's Canon Optura (made in 1997!), and, naturally, it doesn't have 24P or 24PA. But I thought that since it's recorded as 60i anyway, it shouldn't matter (and yes, I do clean the heads on it ;)).

Anyway, I'll try your suggestions, and I am going to try to recapture some clips with both DVX and the Canon to see if it makes any difference. I'll report on the results next week.

If anyone has any other idea what might cause this, please let me know.

Thanks,

Jerry