I've got four 20 minute sequences that I'm outputting to my Sony HVR-V1U HDV camcorder.  Everything goes fine until the fourth sequence and in the same place every time I try and re-try the video and audio break up horribly.  I've tried both of my HDV cameras (same model) and I've tried different firewire cables but I still get the same thing on the fourth sequence.  This same thing happened a month ago while trying to output a 30 minute sequence.

I'm running AVID Xpress Pro 5.8.4 (no MOJO) on a 24" Intel iMac (2.33 GHZ w/3 GB of RAM) using OS 10.4.11.  I'm also running Quicktime Pro 7.3.1

Has anyone heard of this sort of thing happening before and if so did you figure out a solution to prevent it.  My first thought was that I had some 48khz audio but that didn't make sense because it's my understanding that my AVID software converts my audio to 48 anyway it shouldn't matter how I shot it (the V1U defaults to 32 khz and has to be tricked into shooting 48khz).  I'm puzzled and extremely frustrated.

Thanks in advance for any help!

John Brune, Fort Wayne, IN

If it only happens in one sequence, and at the same place every time, then it sounds like either, 1)the sequence is corrupt, or 2)the media is corrupt.

As a test, can you replace the shots surrounding/including the failure point, and try to output that?

The crazy thing is that I went back and isolated the 3 minute section where the breakups are occurring during playback into the camera but when I made a transport stream of just this section it played back to the camera just fine.

Also, all the transport streams I made imported back into the AVID and played through no problem so I'm wondering if AVID doesn't like something about my cameras.  When I switched firewire cables it eliminated all of the dropout problems except for that particular 3 minute section.

John Brune, Fort Wayne, IN

"... when I made a transport stream of just this section it played back to the camera just fine ..."

Which might indicate that the sequence is/was currupt, so the failure only happens when it is played out in it's entirety.

How am I to know when a sequence becomes corrupt?  That means that my entire system and workflow is unreliable.  That means that the software or camera or something is corrupting this stuff.  I haven't had this sort of problem until just this past month.  I've been using this same system for over a year and it has never dropped out once.  I don't understand how media can be corrupt.  Creating a new sequence is not a reliable solution when I've got specific requirements from my clients to follow and deadlines to meet. 

Thanks for your input.

John Brune

"...  if this is my cue to ditch 12 years of AVID experience and migrate to the overrated FCP....!? ..."

Please spend some time in the FCP forums before you jump ship.  Life isn't all that great over there either.

"... That means that my entire system and workflow is unreliable ..."

That's a bit of an overstatement.  One error doesn't define an entire systems reliability.

"... That means that the software or camera or something is corrupting this stuff. ..."

It's not likely the camera or software caused this, if in fact, it is even corruption at the root.  However, corruption is usually due to the operating environment, OS, or a combination of circumstances.  In studies done by IBM, 40% of data loss were found to be caused by power related issues.  Is you entire system protected by a UPS?  Mine is.

"... I've been using this same system for over a year and it has never dropped out once ..."

Just as with mutual funds, "Past performance is no indication of future results".  Seriously though, things can change in an instant.

"... Creating a new sequence  ..."

Also, please note that I said "might be corrupt".  I'm just providing some ideas.  You're free to follow another course of action.  Since your short segment played out OK, then your media is not likely corrupt.  We can probably move on from that possibility.  As I mentioned, you can try replacing just an offending segment of the sequence.  I didn't suggest rebuilding the sequence from scratch.

"... and deadlines to meet ..."

I get that, and I feel your frustration.  I've been providing Avid support since 1994, and I'm trying to do the same here.

 "I wonder if this is my cue to ditch 12 years of AVID experience and migrate to the overrated FCP....!?"

I wonder if this is your cue that your system is glitching being that the iMacs are not approved. Understood that your system has been running happy for some time, but that is how it goes sometimes.. the unapproved system 'seems' to run fine until something happens.

Despite what the specs are today when I upgraded this system it was within specs provided by AVID online at that time otherwise I wouldn't have upgraded it.  Why do you say it's unapproved?  What about my mentioned system doesn't work now?  I didn't upgrade to the most updated version only the one that I could update to.  Intel machines were approved--even though it didn't say iMacs my 2.33 ghz processor and NVIDIA requirements were met.  Let me in on your info please.  Thanks!

John Brune, Fort Wayne, IN

(response to Randall Rike)

I'm not frustrated with you I'm frustrated with my set up.  I appreciate the input you're providing.  Yes everything in my office runs off of an APS (or UPS).  Another post declared my system is "unapproved" so if that's true I'm even more frustrated.  I can't invest more money in hardware at this time and I just want to do what I can to make this work.  Creating transport streams, while strange and unfamiliar after years of DV work, always seemed to work very well.  I'd like to blame the 24p footage I'm editing since I've only experienced glitches when that type of footage is being used but I know that is just a coincidence since everything is streaming at 29.97 anyway.  I'll try adding a color correction to the problem area so that it can render something new and see if that helps it--anything to make it a different transport stream than before. 

Also, I just imported my transport stream into AVID and the problem areas play fine within the application.  This confuses me the most.  I'm going to encode a new transport stream from this imported file and see if it makes a difference because I think that the AVID and the camera aren't playing well together. 

Thanks again!

Thanks for the FCP comment, too.  I really don't want to do that--example of my frustration!

John Brune, Fort Wayne, IN

As stated above I imported the fourth transport stream into AVID to check it for dropouts and when I saw it was error free I made a new transport stream from it.  I called it "Sequence 4 test.m2t".  I just laid it to tape without incident.  All trouble spots were non-existent.  If I'm experiencing corruption in my transport stream the first time around is it possible that by re-transcoding the entire thing I've "cleansed" the media, or did I just get lucky?

Only time will tell.  I'll recreate an earlier troubled sequence from 3 weeks ago and re-try some things. 

John Brune, Fort Wayne, IN

"... is it possible that by re-transcoding the entire thing I've "cleansed" the media ..."

That's a realistic possibility.  Over the years, I've washed JPG's, sequences, media clips, etc. so they would finally do what they're supposed to do.

Randall,

Let me pick your brain for a second...

You mentioned something earlier about power supply and while everything in my office runs thru an APC backup I wonder if you're onto something...It made me think whether or not the camera is getting enough power intermittently.  It goes thru the APC, then the power converter for the camera, and then into the camera.  I wonder if I'd eliminate dropout hassles further by using one of my camera batteries instead of AC when I'm laying sequences to tape.  Let me know your thoughts.

Thanks!

The power-path you describe seems like it should be OK, but it would be worth a shot to test with the batteries.

See next post -- I've deleted this one.

On a 3 week old project that I've never had success in getting back to tape, I tried battery power on the camera, a different camera, a different firewire cable.  I made a first transport stream (m2t) and imported that into AVID and then transcoded a second transport stream from it to try and "cleanse" it.  Nothing works.  When I imported the first m2t file into AVID it plays fine in all the spots that are corrupting during the record.  When dumping to tape it breaks up in the same spots again and again.  Just a few minutes ago I just tried one new thing--camera/deck settings.

Since the file appears uncorrupted in the AVID I'm convinced that I'm dealing with a camera input problem.  The Sony HVR-V1U has an "Auto" setting for its VCR operations.  I've turned off "Auto" and have selected "HDV".  Then I dumped the project to tape and it was nearly perfect.  I've got one major dropout in a completely different part of the show but all the other dropouts are gone.  I'm going to review camera settings further but this may be the solution I've been looking for.  A similar thing happened to me last year with this same camera when digitizing into the AVID--I had "i.link conv" turned on and when digitizing HDV that has to be turned off.  Major "Duh", perhaps, but there is a steep learning curve with HDV and I don't see anyone writing about these things.  I hope that bringing this up may help some people--especially other Sony V1U owners.