Ulead DVD Movie Factory 3 lip/audio sync problems

[steeleye]

I am one of the many frustrated by this problem. I thought I had it licked by using VideoReDo for all editing and then authoring my final DVD (including chapter creation) using DMF3 with "do not convert compliant file" checked. However, I am finding intermittent segments lasting several to tens of seconds during playback on my DVD player where the sync is slightly off, just enough to be noticeable and irritating. This occurs several times over the course of a 90 minute video. Interestingly, when I allow MF3 to reencode the video, the sync problem does not occur. However, the reencoded video quality (picture and motion) is not nearly as good as the original MPEG capture.

P4 processor at 1.6Ghz
512MB RAM
20G primary hard drive
120G accessory internal hard drive with two equal partitions (defragmented)
ATI Radion 9000 series video card with MMC
Sony DRU-540A Internal E-IDE/ATAPI Dual-Format DVD ReWritable Drive
Windows XP with service pack 2

During capture with ATI MMC, I encode at half D1 resolution of 352x480 with a VBR of 4000 kbps, no deinterlacing, motion estimation of 90%, P:B frame setting of 2:2, 16-bit stereo audio at 48kHz and 256 kpbs, and no video soap. I monitor the capture for dropped frames, stopping and restarting if the number exceeds 5.

I have tried the suggestions listed in this thread: http://phpbb.ulead.com.tw/EN/viewtopic.php?t=11
However, this only succeeded in increasing the processing time and causing distortion of the music track for the menus.

?????????????????

[phd]

Maybe I can help.

Since you mention restarting the capture I assume you are capturing from videotape?
Is the captured video in-sync in VRD?
Which version of DMF3 do you have? Full basic, Disk Creator, or SE that was bundled with hardware?
Have you installed the latest patches and the burning engine update according to the instructions on Uleads web site?
Do you author the DVD to a hard drive folder and burn as a separate step?
How long does it take to render to the hard drive folder?
If you author and burn as separate steps, do you use Ulead to burn or another program?
Is the audio in-sync when played from the hard drive folder?
Do you find when it goes out of sync, that it returns to in-sync?
Are the audio OOS points coinciding with chapter points in DMF?
Are the audio OOS points coinciding with cut points in VRD?
Have you always had audio OOS problems or is it a recent occurence?

[steeleye]

Hi Pat, thanks for the response. I'll answer your questions one by one...

1. "Since you mention restarting the capture I assume you are capturing from videotape?" Yes, VHS, beta and Hi8.
2. "Is the captured video in-sync in VRD?" Yes.
3. "Which version of DMF3 do you have?" Full basic.
4. "Have you installed the latest patches and the burning engine update according to the instructions on Uleads web site? " Yes.
5. "Do you author the DVD to a hard drive folder and burn as a separate step?" Yes, to an iso file, then burn.
6. "How long does it take to render to the hard drive folder?" About an hour.
7. "If you author and burn as separate steps, do you use Ulead to burn or another program?" I close out of DMF3 and restart to use the Ulead burner.
8. "Is the audio in-sync when played from the hard drive folder?" Yes, when I play the captured MPEG with windows media player or ATI file player, there is no sync problem.
9. "Do you find when it goes out of sync, that it returns to in-sync?" Yes, the OOS seems to only last tens of seconds perhaps to a minute and only once to several times during the course of a 2 hour video. However, this is just enough to be irritating to a sphincter pilot like me.
10. "Are the audio OOS points coinciding with chapter points in DMF? " This may be true. BTW, I use motion menus.
11. "Are the audio OOS points coinciding with cut points in VRD?" No, because on the last couple of projects, I have only needed to trim at the beginning and end of the file. In addition, several of these captures had zero frames dropped during the course of their encoding and no errors were detected by VRD with quickstream fix. Moreover, the VCR used has a built-in TBC.
12. "Have you always had audio OOS problems or is it a recent occurence?" I have been dealing with this problem for many months and many coasters. I have been all over the web with this and tried any and all suggestions I could find, actually learning quite a lot in the process.

[phd]

1. "Since you mention restarting the capture I assume you are capturing from videotape?" Yes, VHS, beta and Hi8.
-OK
2. "Is the captured video in-sync in VRD?" Yes.
-OK
3. "Which version of DMF3 do you have?" Full basic.
-OK
4. "Have you installed the latest patches and the burning engine update according to the instructions on Uleads web site? " Yes.
-OK
5. "Do you author the DVD to a hard drive folder and burn as a separate step?" Yes, to an iso file, then burn.
-Could you render to a folder rather than an ISO file. This is so you can test the authored DVD folder after Ulead creates the DVD structure on the computer with a software player. WinDVD, PowerDVD, Sonic Cine Player, or Ulead's DVD player.

6. "How long does it take to render to the hard drive folder?" About an hour.
-Seems a little long.

7. "If you author and burn as separate steps, do you use Ulead to burn or another program?" I close out of DMF3 and restart to use the Ulead burner.
-Good!

8. "Is the audio in-sync when played from the hard drive folder?" Yes, when I play the captured MPEG with windows media player or ATI file player, there is no sync problem.
-This is only testing the captured file, not after Ulead renders a DVD folder. See #5.

9. "Do you find when it goes out of sync, that it returns to in-sync?" Yes, the OOS seems to only last tens of seconds perhaps to a minute and only once to several times during the course of a 2 hour video. However, this is just enough to be irritating to a sphincter pilot like me.
-Maybe the DVD media. We'll see once you test the completed DVD folder

10. "Are the audio OOS points coinciding with chapter points in DMF? " This may be true. BTW, I use motion menus.
-Eliminate motion menus for this test.

11. "Are the audio OOS points coinciding with cut points in VRD?" No, because on the last couple of projects, I have only needed to trim at the beginning and end of the file. In addition, several of these captures had zero frames dropped during the course of their encoding and no errors were detected by VRD with quickstream fix. Moreover, the VCR used has a built-in TBC.
-TBC is good. Since your files are in-sync when played in VRD. Generally you should be able to author an in-sync DVD

12. "Have you always had audio OOS problems or is it a recent occurence?" I have been dealing with this problem for many months and many coasters. I have been all over the web with this and tried any and all suggestions I could find, actually learning quite a lot in the process.
-OK

Try this:
Take your same edited capture files that you used for this project.
1. Recreate the DVD with simple menu. No motion menu, no background music. Chapter points are OK. If you create chapter points, preview them in DMF and make sure none of them are silent or exhibit any other strange behavior. If it does, eliminate that chapter point and move it a GOP in either direction.
2. Author to a folder on the hard drive. Not as an ISO but as a folder with the VIDEO_TS and AUDIO_TS subfolders.
3. Make sure "Do not convert compliant..." is checked.
4. See how long it takes to render. Should be about 20-30 minutes. Eliminating the extraneous menu creation items, we'll see if its doing any reencoding.
5. Play the DVD folder on the hard drive. Not the captured MPEG files but the completed DVD folder. THis is to determine whether or not DMF rendered it correctly.
6. If it plays correctly You can try burning. I would suggest trying a different program to burn to DVD as well as trying different media. It could be Ulead is not burning it correctly or your media is not compatible with your player or your burner.

A couple of additional questions:
What brand of media do you use?
What brand is your player?

What we're trying to accomplish with the above procedure is to separate the authoring from the burning to see which is at fault. If the authored folder with the DVD structure plays OK on your computer, then we have to look at the burning portion of your process.

Let me know what happens.

[steeleye]

Sounds like a good plan. This will take a couple of days. I'll post my results then.

Almost forgot... the media is TDK (-R) and the DVD player is a Toshiba

[phd]

Also go to Videohelp.com and check out your media and compatibility with your player and recorder. You apparently need the media code as well.

In one code for TDK it played on 7 players and didn't play on 10!! THat's pretty bad but review all the info.

http://www.videohelp.com/dvdmedia.php?dvdmediasearch=tdk&dvdmediadvdridsearch=&type=6&size=All&dvdburnspeed=All&order=Name&hits=25&search=Search+or+List+Media

[bitter_old_man]

To get the media code, use DVD Identifier: http://dvd.identifier.cdfreaks.com/

Barry

[Anonymous]

Well, I'm finally back. Because of a recent post by Merlin on the Ulead Video Studio Forum (http://phpbb.ulead.com.tw/EN/viewtopic.php?t=1467&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=30), I uninstalled MF3 and reinstalled it without the updates. I succesfully created several discs with perfect lip sync over the entire 1.5 hour video. However, I have just created one with the audio and video out of sync by a couple of msec over most of the video. This is the case with the final burned DVD, as well as the VTS files. I am at a loss over where to go from here...[/url]

[Anonymous]

Well, I'm finally back. Because of a recent post by Merlin on the Ulead Video Studio Forum (http://phpbb.ulead.com.tw/EN/viewtopic.php?t=1467&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=30), I uninstalled MF3 and reinstalled it without the updates. I succesfully created several discs with perfect lip sync over the entire 1.5 hour video. However, I have just created one with the audio and video out of sync by a couple of msec over most of the video. This is the case with the final burned DVD, as well as the VTS files. I am at a loss over where to go from here...

[phd]

Bear in mind that the post you reference is mainly referring to the audio sync issue in VS8, which has apparently been a thorn in the users' sides since release.

There are many posts regarding the audio sync issue in VS8 as well as 2 other problems: a memory leak issue as well as disappearing projects and clips.

Merlin mentions not having a problem with VS7 and DMF2. He then upgraded to VS8 and DMF3. I think perhaps the crux of the problem is using VS8.

There are many common files and the Ulead patches and updates sometimes install a different file which can affect another Ulead program. Order of installation of the programs and their patches seems to be rather important as well.

Since you uninstalled the program and reinstalled without the updates, did you add the lines to the INI file at least?

Are you checking do not convert compliant...?

Are you creating a DVD folder on the hard drive and authoring a simple DVD? No motion menus, etc?

How long is it taking to render to the hard drive?

[DanR]

I would also recommend upgrading to our build #320 available on the beta site (see beta topic on this message board for downloading instructions).

[Anonymous]

PHD:

I have not had those three lines in the ini file for some time. The one time I tried them, I ended up with a long processing time (compliant box checked) and distorted menu music. I thought the three lines pertained when reencoding (box not checked), but I have never had a sync problem when I have allowed reencoding to take place. Unfortunately, I see clear degradation in the video quality, both image and motion, when allowing a reencode, not to mention the large increase in processing time, so I always check the box. However, the lip sync problem has been a problem, though frustratingly intermittent, under these conditions. I can try the three lines again and see what happens with a different source video. Does it matter whether the lines are at the beginning or end of that section of the file?

By the way, I am still using motion menus because I like them and the total processing time, box checked, for a 90-120 minute video is around an hour.

DanR:

Thanks for your suggestion. I will try out the beta release as well.

[phd]

The reason for not using motion manus and rendering a test DVD folder is just to see how long it takes to render a plain vanilla folder to the hard drive. Based upon the time it takes will help determine whether any reencoding is taking place inadvertently. Also it will rule out that perhaps motion menus are somehow creating a lip sync issue.

If we start off with small steps and break the task into as small segments as possible, it will help determine exactly how to fix the lip sync issue. (The old adage: How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time!)

I don't think it makes a difference regarding the lines at the beginning or end of the section. I always just add it on at the end of the section for convenience sake.

[Anonymous]

O.K. I am still running MF3 sans updates and replaced the three lines in the ini file. I have tried to create the DVD folders and disc image file from the mpeg with the lip sync issues above. I have also turned off motion menus. I am now getting a "Failed to reuse converted cache file (4570)" message after about 2 hours of processing time. MF3 seems to hang up about 2/3 of the way through during the converting video step. I have rebooted and turned motion menus back on then off again with the same result.

?

[phd]

That's taking far too long. Its reencoding the files for some reason.

I also have an AIW 7500 in addition to the Hauppauge PVR 250 and the time to author to a hard drive folder is measured in minutes, not hours.

Have you ever gotten that error before?

[phd]

Regarding your error: "Failed to reuse converted cache file (4570)"

Another user on the Ulead forum had that and his solution was to unintstall and reinstall all the updates.

http://phpbb.ulead.com.tw/EN/viewtopic.php?t=1081&highlight=failed+reuse+converted+cache+file+4570

[Anonymous]

Just to close this out, I have given up entirely on DMF3 and upgraded (with some trepidation) to DMF4. I am pleased to announce that, so far, I have not had any lip-sync problems. This is true as well with a couple of captures that were problematic with DMF3. Hooray!!!

[phd]

Glad its working for you.

Just curious. A few questions as I have not upgraded yet to DMF4.

Did you get an upgrade or full version?

Via download or physical shipment?

How many DVDs have you burned with success now?

Does it have a "Do not convert compliant ..." feature?

How do you like the new menu editing features in it?

[Anonymous]

1. Did you get an upgrade or full version? I assume its a full version upgrade ($34.99)

2. Via download or physical shipment? Downloaded in two parts. The first part contains the basic program (80 MB compressed), while the second contains the extra content like extra menu options, background music, etc. (337 MB compressed).

3. How many DVDs have you burned with success now? So far, I have created 5 successful DVDs, 3 from captures that had lip sync problems when created with DMF3. I am still editing with Videoredo, checking "do not convert compliant file", and burning an iso file with Roxio. The total processing time to create the iso file does seem to be substantially longer (2hrs versys 1hr for a 2hr video) than with DMF3, but I am pretty sure no reconversion is occuring because the quality of the final DVD looks untouched and, in the past, reconversion has taken up to 4 hrs for a 2hr video with my system.

4. Does it have a "Do not convert compliant ..." feature? Yes

5. How do you like the new menu editing features in it? I have not tried editing with DMF4, but the whole layout for editing and chapter creation is nearly identical, just a few cosmetic tweaks. However, the number of menu background and music options has perhaps quintupled, and the text boxes and chapter frames can be moved around at will. I have not begun to explore all the possibilities, because my needs are relatively simple. I think some of the big new features revolve around audio options, including recognition of ac3.

[phd]

Thanks for the info.

Glad its working so well. Wish you continued success.