DR-HD100/GY-HD100 Audio Sync/Lag Issues at DVinfo.net

Michael Hurley · November 27th, 2008, 07:06 PM

Hi There,

I recently invested in a Firestore DR-HD100 to compliment my JVC GY-HD100; with a view to a quicker & simpler workflow for ingest & editing with Avid Media Composer (version 3.05).

I have been having reasonable success using a few different shoot-to-edit workflows with tape-based shooting/capture but decided that a tapeless approach might be better. I was able to pick up a DR-HD100 for reasonable money and looked forward to a much more efficient set-up.

However, on my first project using the DR-HD100, I've run into a problem. The shoot was fairly straight forward - four short segments (single person, talking head stuff); a couple of takes for each segment - so I ended up with about 20 minutes of 720P 25 recorded to the DR-HD100 without a problem. The unit was set up as I understand is the norm for transfer to an Avid system - ie. GOP TC.

All went well with the transfer to the first of my systems - a newish Mac Book Pro. Import into Media Composer was problem but on playback there was a significant lag on the audio - about 5 or 6 frames out of sync with the video. This seemed to be consistent across all the imported clips. I subsequently tried the same on a PC-based system which had the same result

I then played back the .m2t clips directly (both on the DR-HD100 and copied to a local drive). These clips played back absolutely fine. I was able to transcode the clips to Avid's DNxHD codec using a third party application and thus was able to complete the project; the clips were fine when imported to Media Composer this way.

I'm a bit stumped here. It seems the problem lies with Media COmposer. Has anyone encountered this before with MC or other editing systems? Any help would be greatly appreciated?

Thanks,

Michael.

Justin Isbell · January 9th, 2009, 10:08 AM

I haven't had this exact problem, but I'm currently experiencing something indirectly similar and have not yet found the solution. Let me explain.

I also have that camera with a Firestore. I've gotten my clips imported into Media Composer without problems (imported quite a while ago). But when I go to export them to Quicktime, I have the video/audio sync problems you described. Exporting to WMV and FLV is fine (or very close, I'm not sure), but MOV and MP4 are horribly out of sync. This wasn't formerly the case, but it started recently. I'm going to try importing some media from the Firestore and see if it's out of sync now. You've got me worried!

Like I said, very similar, but at a whole different step of the process.

Justin Isbell · January 9th, 2009, 01:32 PM

Yes, I have confirmed that the problem I'm having is ONLY with the media from the Firestore. XDCAM EX media works flawlessly. When I went to a Mac Media Composer 3.0.1 editing station, the video in MC played out of sync the same as when I export to QuickTime on the Win/MC. In Windows it does not (well, maybe a tiny bit) play out of sync, so I didn't notice the problem until exporting.

I think the project I was working in was created in Media Composer 2.8 or 3.0. The media shows up as HDV 720p 29.97 in the bins. However, as a test I created a new project and new user settings. The media now shows up as HDV 720p 30 in the bin when imported from the Firestore, but the lag upon export remains.

This problem has followed me through at least Media Composer 3.0.1 up to 3.1.1. It wasn't a problem before. After upgrading from 2.8.x to 3.x.x this started.

I'm going to check the Firestore to see what firmware version I have and if there are any issues there.

I'm going to do some more searching and see if I can find more related threads, but this is the only one I've found so far.

Anybody have any bright ideas how to solve this?

Rob Stowell · January 11th, 2009, 03:58 AM

No solution... but there does seem to be a major sync problem with MC and ProHD in general. If you search avid's media composer pc forum, you'll find a few threads. Quite a few people can't capture without sync problems- from tape or hard-drive. Eg: Search - Avid Community

Justin Isbell · January 13th, 2009, 03:40 PM

Well, I "fixed" this problem by reverting from Media Composer 3.x.x to 2.8.4. All imported media is still horribly out of sync (now it shows as out of sync in the source/record monitor whereas before it looked nearly flawless, which is why I didn't notice until export), but all new imports are showing up as perfect start to finish.

Luckily I backed up all my M2T files elsewhere. I guess I'll just start the import, logging, editing processes completely over from scratch. Thousands of clips later, I'll be back in shape.

Sure would like a fix for this, Avid.

Guys? ...guys?

November 27th, 2008, 07:06 PM	#1
Michael Hurley New Boot Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Cork, Ireland Posts: 24	DR-HD100/GY-HD100 Audio Sync/Lag Issues Hi There, I recently invested in a Firestore DR-HD100 to compliment my JVC GY-HD100; with a view to a quicker & simpler workflow for ingest & editing with Avid Media Composer (version 3.05). I have been having reasonable success using a few different shoot-to-edit workflows with tape-based shooting/capture but decided that a tapeless approach might be better. I was able to pick up a DR-HD100 for reasonable money and looked forward to a much more efficient set-up. However, on my first project using the DR-HD100, I've run into a problem. The shoot was fairly straight forward - four short segments (single person, talking head stuff); a couple of takes for each segment - so I ended up with about 20 minutes of 720P 25 recorded to the DR-HD100 without a problem. The unit was set up as I understand is the norm for transfer to an Avid system - ie. GOP TC. All went well with the transfer to the first of my systems - a newish Mac Book Pro. Import into Media Composer was problem but on playback there was a significant lag on the audio - about 5 or 6 frames out of sync with the video. This seemed to be consistent across all the imported clips. I subsequently tried the same on a PC-based system which had the same result I then played back the .m2t clips directly (both on the DR-HD100 and copied to a local drive). These clips played back absolutely fine. I was able to transcode the clips to Avid's DNxHD codec using a third party application and thus was able to complete the project; the clips were fine when imported to Media Composer this way. I'm a bit stumped here. It seems the problem lies with Media COmposer. Has anyone encountered this before with MC or other editing systems? Any help would be greatly appreciated? Thanks, Michael.

January 13th, 2009, 03:40 PM	#5
Justin Isbell New Boot Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Storm Lake, IA Posts: 6	"Solution" Well, I "fixed" this problem by reverting from Media Composer 3.x.x to 2.8.4. All imported media is still horribly out of sync (now it shows as out of sync in the source/record monitor whereas before it looked nearly flawless, which is why I didn't notice until export), but all new imports are showing up as perfect start to finish. Luckily I backed up all my M2T files elsewhere. I guess I'll just start the import, logging, editing processes completely over from scratch. Thousands of clips later, I'll be back in shape. Sure would like a fix for this, Avid. Guys? ...guys?

January 9th, 2009, 10:08 AM	#2
Justin Isbell New Boot Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Storm Lake, IA Posts: 6	I haven't had this exact problem, but I'm currently experiencing something indirectly similar and have not yet found the solution. Let me explain. I also have that camera with a Firestore. I've gotten my clips imported into Media Composer without problems (imported quite a while ago). But when I go to export them to Quicktime, I have the video/audio sync problems you described. Exporting to WMV and FLV is fine (or very close, I'm not sure), but MOV and MP4 are horribly out of sync. This wasn't formerly the case, but it started recently. I'm going to try importing some media from the Firestore and see if it's out of sync now. You've got me worried! Like I said, very similar, but at a whole different step of the process.

January 9th, 2009, 01:32 PM	#3
Justin Isbell New Boot Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Storm Lake, IA Posts: 6	Yes, I have confirmed that the problem I'm having is ONLY with the media from the Firestore. XDCAM EX media works flawlessly. When I went to a Mac Media Composer 3.0.1 editing station, the video in MC played out of sync the same as when I export to QuickTime on the Win/MC. In Windows it does not (well, maybe a tiny bit) play out of sync, so I didn't notice the problem until exporting. I think the project I was working in was created in Media Composer 2.8 or 3.0. The media shows up as HDV 720p 29.97 in the bins. However, as a test I created a new project and new user settings. The media now shows up as HDV 720p 30 in the bin when imported from the Firestore, but the lag upon export remains. This problem has followed me through at least Media Composer 3.0.1 up to 3.1.1. It wasn't a problem before. After upgrading from 2.8.x to 3.x.x this started. I'm going to check the Firestore to see what firmware version I have and if there are any issues there. I'm going to do some more searching and see if I can find more related threads, but this is the only one I've found so far. Anybody have any bright ideas how to solve this?

January 11th, 2009, 03:58 AM	#4
Rob Stowell Regular Crew Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Christchurch, New Zealand Posts: 55	No solution... but there does seem to be a major sync problem with MC and ProHD in general. If you search avid's media composer pc forum, you'll find a few threads. Quite a few people can't capture without sync problems- from tape or hard-drive. Eg: Search - Avid Community