24P DVD audio sync drift

tomk358

Well-known member
I have a 15 minute project, shot in DVCProHD, using Raylight to unwrap and edit. Premiere Pro 2.0, 24P timeline. Everything is in sync in Premiere. I then export an MPEG with Adobe Media Encoder- using the 16:9 CBR high quality preset, and I also set the framerate to 23.976 and progressive. It all works fine. I get it into Encore, and it plays just fine there as well.

Then I burn a DVD, and on my Sony DVD player (set top) it slowly drifts out of sync so by the end it is 5+ frames out. It's driving me crazy!

Any ideas?
 
its possible its your dvd player. have you tried any others? also check to make sure that your not re transcoding your mpg file within encore. as long as its the same file that you say is ok encoded from PPRO. then it should play back the same way on the DVD. ..if the issue is in the file somehow, you could try to multiplex it insetad of keeping it seperate audio if you havent already.
 
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more questions

So it seems like it WAS the DVD player at fault. It plays fine on my PC (off the burned DVD) and on my ancient Samsung M101 DVD player. I'm surprised that this is the problem, as I've never had an issue with the offending player (Sony NS555P) which I THOUGHT was pretty standard.

So this begs the question, what is going on? Could it be the media I'm using is causing errors, and the sony is slowly drifting because it's not catching up with the errors in time?

How come I've never had this happen before with other videos on this player?

Most importantly, what if my client plays it on a similar Sony DVD player? Doesn't fill me with much confidence that I can't seem to export a simple 24P timeline to a DVD for use with a Sony DVD player.

Bad technology day.

-Tom
 
You're not alone with audio drift in PPro 2.

You're not alone with audio drift in PPro 2.

I'm currently wrestling with a project where all is fine until I play the burned DVD on a Sony player. Even after editing, clips and sequences play fine in PPro 2, exported from there as avi's; imported to Encore and preview fine there, but after transcoding in Encore, the final DVD has audio drift that becomes noticeable about halfway through. Total is approx. 65 mins w/1 main menu, 5 sub-menus, 3 timelines, and 13 chapters. MiniDV shot as 480i/30P on HVX, with some "handycam" footage included as 2nd cam angles and as "bloopers" during rehearsals.

Many projects up til now have worked fine w/transcode = automatic. I can't figure this out. Have tried a few different transcode settings (though haven't changed GOP numbers) and seen some improvement, but not enough.

Am very frustrated, as the client is waiting, and I can't give it to them this way. I'm at the point of considering an experiment by taking the avi's, importing to my old Pinnacle Studio 9, and creating mpegs there, but I'm not sure if that would work, and if it did, can mpegs be brought into Encore to create the DVD? (I think they can, but I'm only half serious about using Pinnacle).

Any proven suggestions to get around this would be greatly appreciated. Maybe TMPGEnc? Never used it but have heard good things about it.

Thanks,
x
 
So does the audio drift when you play the transcoded mpg files inside Encore?
Have you played the DVD on another brand of DVD player, and on your computer's DVD player?

I'm wondering if my problem wasn't crappy media? My theory is that with not fully compatible media, the Sony DVD player is slowly filling up it's buffer with frames as it slowly gets behind the audio. After a while it becomes obvious to the viewer. With a more compatible DVD media, maybe the player wouldn't choke? I was using CRAPPY COMPUSA branded DVDs, which is what made me think of this.
 
So does the audio drift when you play the transcoded mpg files inside Encore?
Have you played the DVD on another brand of DVD player, and on your computer's DVD player?

No, when played on the computer, or from within either PPro 2 or Encore, everything is fine.

I've been alternating between -R and +R. My most recent attempts have been +R. I've tried those in the only other DVD player I have (a Proscan that is about 10 yrs old), and there I get a message that the disc is incompatible. (I guess the Proscan doesn't recognize +R).

I'm wondering if my problem wasn't crappy media? My theory is that with not fully compatible media, the Sony DVD player is slowly filling up it's buffer with frames as it slowly gets behind the audio. After a while it becomes obvious to the viewer. With a more compatible DVD media, maybe the player wouldn't choke? I was using CRAPPY COMPUSA branded DVDs, which is what made me think of this.

I'm using TDK white-faced/print-on media. Have never had a problem with them before, even in the Sony player, which is about 1 yr old.

I've never tried exporting from PPro 2 as separate video and audio. In some PPro 2 sequences the audio is a few frames longer than the video because, at some chapters, I want the audio to begin during a "dip to black"/"dip from black" transition. My fear is that I may not be able to line up both audio and video so they'd be in sync. Have you ever tried seaprating the two? Have you had success with it?

I fear I'll have to go back in PPro 2 and re-edit so audio and video are both the same length. Was hoping to not lose that, but I may have no choice because the client is anxious to get this.

Thanks for your input.
 
i would suggest multiplexing your audio if its not already. if you have a seperate PCM stream for the audio from the video stream, then your chances of synch drift are presumably going to be greater then if the audio is multiplexed within the same .vob file stream as the video. but if the DVD plays back fine in other players it likely just an issue of the player not keeping up with data rate or just letting the synch drift. although i would suggest that its not the audio thats being played at an abnormal rate, but the video is likely being played a little too fast. if a frame gets skipped here or there due to a high data rate it would cause the issue because it would speed up the timeline of the video by a frame every time it happens. .. anyway, just some suggestions and theory here, but in either case as a general rule you should try not to exceed 7.4 mbps for your dvd playback to ensure good compatability and smooth playback on most all players.
 
Along with Neil's suggestions, I would make sure that your audio is being transcoded to AC3. I believe it's the default with Encore. I've encountered DVD players that can't handle the bandwidth of a PCM audio stream.
-Dan
 
I did actually try both PCM and AC3, and also tried multiplexed as well, none of which made a difference in my case. The data-rate being too high could be a viable explaination of what is happening to both of us. I will try some lower data rates, and see if that helps.

So any suggestions for the best inkjet printable brand/type of media to be using?
 
I took a break from this problem for a week or so, and now I'm back at it. This time I tried multiplexing audio w/ a 5mb/sec CBR video stream. The audio is Dolby AC3. Now the whole thing is out of sync on my sony DVD player. This is SO FRUSTRATING. I have plenty of other content on the same type of disc that works fine, it's just this program won't work right.

In encore it plays the mpg in perfect sync, it's only after I burn it does the DVD not play right- it's 2-3 frames out.

I'm wondering if it somehow has something to do with the fact that I'm starting from a 24P raylight project?

-Tom
 
I took a break from this problem for a week or so, and now I'm back at it. This time I tried multiplexing audio w/ a 5mb/sec CBR video stream. The audio is Dolby AC3. Now the whole thing is out of sync on my sony DVD player. This is SO FRUSTRATING. I have plenty of other content on the same type of disc that works fine, it's just this program won't work right.

In encore it plays the mpg in perfect sync, it's only after I burn it does the DVD not play right- it's 2-3 frames out.

I'm wondering if it somehow has something to do with the fact that I'm starting from a 24P raylight project?

-Tom

Hopefully it's a 23.976 project and each of your exported files is 23.976 as well.
 
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