Perplexing capture audio problem

C

creagz

New member
DVX users-
When I capture mini dv footage from my Canon Optura while using FCP, I frequently get audio "glitches." The "glitches" appear at numerous times during interview audio, and are not on the tape. I have used another camera for playing the captured footage, and the problem goes away. It is some issue with the Optura, but I wondered if any of you have experienced this before? The tapes were shot on an HVX, but I'm using this camera for capture.

The audio "glitch" can best be described as a light gargling sound, that lasts for only a fraction of the second. My editor and I have taken out a few frames and been able to save the time of recapturing footage. However, as you might imagine, if this is an easily solved problem, or is one that you've heard of before, I'll try to solve it.

I tried using a head cleaner for the Optura, but this didn't solve the problem. I've also reviewed the camera settings, but nothing seems to be catching my attention.

The distortions/glitches occur at high and low audio levels, so it is not a result of clipping or anything like that.

The Optura is what I can afford now for my capture, and I don't want to add hours to my HVX just to capture footage.
Any suggestions? Thanks in advance for your advice.
 
The heads on your Optura might be out of alignment or worn down. If it's out of alignment, you'll have to get your heads readjusted, if they're worn, you'll have to get them replaced. Yeah, these cheap miniDV cams really aren't designed to take the abuse of being used as a deck. I had a similar problem, but it was picture and sound related. If a head cleaner isn't working, go take your camera in for repairs. It should be anywhere from 75-150 bucks depending on where you go and how much the heads for your camera cost.
 
I had this problem once on a similar small Canon and it turned out to be the fire wire cable. I got a new one and it went away. My brother also had a similar problem and it too was fire wire related. His was a pin out thing though. He was using a 6 pin to 4 pin cable. He tried different cables, even mine that worked, but with no luck. He found out that his computer had the 4 pin on the back and then it worked. Just a few things to look into.
 
Thanks for the speedy replies.
I'm trying a different firewire cable, and will report back to this posting so other users can avoid this problem. The firewire cable I had been using came with my Lacie harddrive. Maybe it was low quality?
If this new cable doesn't solve the problem, I'll try an in-store head cleaning or re-allignment.
Thanks for your suggestions, and I'll hopefully be getting back to you with good news.
 
Firewire cable is interesting. My first guess was the heads were misaligned (this could be on the Optura OR the HVX). Let us know if replacing the firewire cable works.

Cheers
 
Firewire cable nor head reallignment the problem...

Firewire cable nor head reallignment the problem...

A different firewire didn't help.
So, I brought the camera to the most respected Twin Cities' video store, and had their main camera maintenance (head cleaning/allignment) person take a look at the footage audio issue, and he quickly said it was not a head issue.
According to him, when a digital camera's head is out of allignment, you won't see or hear anything. According to him, even a small allignment would have major issues, not an occassional sound glitch.
Since I have no visual distortion from the footage, the problem lies in a FCP setting or computer based issue.
I've since re-set my FCP settings, and am going to capture some footage to see if that helps.
I've posted on a few other FCP forums, and will bring any replies back here.
Any other suggestions are appreciated.
 
Do you experience the same glitches while simply playing back the tape (ie. without bringing the computer into the mix)?

If standard playback isn't giving you the same problems, you're probably looking at a problem with the cable, firewire bus, or capture drive. If you have the camera chained to the firewire port of a drive, try connecting it directly to the firewire port on the computer. For that matter, try removing as many firewire devices as possible. If the drive is fragmented, tidy it up. If possible, capture to an empty internal drive (7200 RPM at the very least).

Do you get the same problem playing the same tape on a different camera/deck? What about testing another tape on your camera?
 
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