Audio capture problem (12 bit DV tape)

[Pat H]

I'm currently using Premier CS3 for capture and editing, but I'm assuming FCP would have the same issue so anyone's input is appreciated.

Anyway, Premier Pro allows me to capture in 16 or 8 bit audio modes, at 48, 44 or 32 khz. However, I'm capturing a tape for a friend and the audio on the DV tape is 12 bit. When I try to capture using the 16 bit capture setting at 48khz, the audio is SEVERELY out of sync. However, there simply isn't an option for 12 bit audio capture. Any ideas? I'd hate to tell her that I can't capture a simple DV tape properly with a Mac Pro and the full Adobe production suite

 

[DPA]

I assume that this is a miniDV tape so you are working in SD. I capture miniDV footage, in FCP, in Uncompressed 8-bit 48 kHz. Everything works fine. Capturing 12-bit when using SD is a terrible waste of hard drive space. Again that is in FCP and I don't know what Premier offers. If you can find an setting that captures uncompressed 8-bit video and 48 kHz audio then you should be fine.

Regards,
David

 

[jettoblack]

There seems to be some confusion here between 12/16-bit audio and 8/10/12-bit per pixel video.

FCP.guru.guy is referring to using the video codecs "Uncompressed 8-bit" or "Uncompressed 12-bit" which indeed is probably overkill if you are shooting DV. It is best to stay in the DV codec unless you are going to be rendering multiple passes of re-compression.

I think Pat H is referring to the difference between the DV audio formats. DV supports two kinds of audio: 12-bit 32kHz 4-track audio, and 16-bit 48kHz 2-track audio. I have edited both in Premiere CS3 without any problem. You just need to make sure you are using the right preset (32kHz for 12-bit, or 48kHz for 16-bit) when you capture. The option is definitely there, you just have to look for it.

Look at this "New Project" screenshot from Premiere and you should see the 32kHz/48kHz preset options. Notice under "Description" where it says 32kHz 12-bit or 48kHz 16-bit depending on which preset you select.

Hope this helps.

Edit: I just re-read your post and I guess you are using FCP, not Premiere? It should be same though.

 

[Pat H]

There seems to be some confusion here between 12/16-bit audio and 8/10/12-bit per pixel video.

FCP.guru.guy is referring to using the video codecs "Uncompressed 8-bit" or "Uncompressed 12-bit" which indeed is probably overkill if you are shooting DV. It is best to stay in the DV codec unless you are going to be rendering multiple passes of re-compression.

I think Pat H is referring to the difference between the DV audio formats. DV supports two kinds of audio: 12-bit 32kHz 4-track audio, and 16-bit 48kHz 2-track audio. I have edited both in Premiere CS3 without any problem. You just need to make sure you are using the right preset (32kHz for 12-bit, or 48kHz for 16-bit) when you capture. The option is definitely there, you just have to look for it.

Look at this "New Project" screenshot from Premiere and you should see the 32kHz/48kHz preset options. Notice under "Description" where it says 32kHz 12-bit or 48kHz 16-bit depending on which preset you select.

Hope this helps.

Edit: I just re-read your post and I guess you are using FCP, not Premiere? It should be same though.

Hey jettoblack, I am referring to audio not video. Unfortunately I already started my project (and have a lot edited already) in 16 bit, 48 khz mode. It just so happens that 1 or 2 of the 5 tapes I am capturing are 12 bit, and thus have audio sync problems when captured into the project.

Would it help if I started a 32 khz, 12 bit project, captured the tapes within that, dropped everything on the time line, and output a new .mov in 48 khz, 16-bit and used that in my original project?

 

[DPA]

Sorry for the misconception. In FCP, for audio, it just says 48kHz, 32kHz, etc not the audio bit rate. The video bit rate is the only bit rate specified when capturing. It looks like this question has been taken care of.

Regards,
David

 

[surfmadison]

Change your settings

I has some footage that someone shot for me. They did the same thing, and all my audio was out of sync. I went to the Easy Settings and changed it and it synced perfectly.

The other thing you can do if you don't want to recapture is just move the audio track forward or backward until it syncs. I found that if I got the first frame to sync, it remained in sync for the rest of the hour tape.