Intensity Shuttle creates extra frames causing sync issue

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william_qian

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  • Joined: Sun Feb 03, 2013 2:11 pm

Intensity Shuttle creates extra frames causing sync issue

PostSun Feb 03, 2013 5:22 pm

I've seen a number of posts already talking about the Intensity Shuttle's "gradual video-audio out of sync" issue. As a user who suffers this as well, I dug into the problem and found the cause of the it:

As the capturing goes, the Intensity constantly and randomly creates "redundant" frames for the video (like 0.x second tiny loops), which cumulatively makes the video length longer then it should be. For example, if the final clip should be 1:00:00 long, the video length may be 1:03:24 and the audio length is 1:00:00. This looks very much like a "sync" issue but actually it is not. The video footage is inaccurate, but the problem actually lies within the sound capturing process.

The reason why these tiny loops occur may be that Media Express is trying to match the video and audio by somewhat "resampling" the video. I own both a Pro and a Shuttle. When capturing with Virtualdub, the sound capturing with the Pro is flawless while that with the Shuttle is constantly being resampled. The tempo and pitch is all over the place. If I check the "Use Hi-Fi Audio Levels" option in the control panel, which is enabled by default when capturing through analog with the Pro, the sound will be full of noises. The reason why I bought me a Shuttle is that SD content captured by the Pro is full of artifacts: jagged edges.

I also tried different codecs for capturing. Surprisingly, the MJPEG codec causes more "redundancy" than the 8-bit and 10-bit uncompressed ones. So I believe it has very little, if there is some, to do with the PC spec rather than the codec itself. More specifically, it maybe is the codec's compatibility with the device (the onboard analog device chip) since the footage captured with the Pro is perfect. Also, it has nothing to do with the input source. Whether it is interlaced or progressive, SD or HD, component or HDMI, the problem persists.

I noticed that if I use analog inputs with the shuttle, the "HDMI Audio & Analog RCA Audio" option and the "Component Video & Analog RCA Audio" option in the control panel will actually provide the same functionality. If I use analog inputs with the Pro, then only the "Component Video & Analog RCA Audio" option will work correctly, as the option indicates. It seems that the Pro deals with digital and analog inputs separately but the Shuttle utilizes a somewhat "hybrid" method. Since digital and analog contents are on different clocks, this can cause the sync problem that the Pro will not incur. But neither the device driver nor the Media Express seems to adjust it accurately.

In terms of the compatibility issues among the codecs installed on the computer, I clean installed the Windows 7 64-bit OS with necessary drivers only, and the problem is still there.

These are all that I found out, does anyone here has a clue how to fix it? Much appreciated.
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Luca Ceriani

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  • Joined: Tue Feb 12, 2013 7:37 pm

Re: Intensity Shuttle creates extra frames causing sync issu

PostTue Feb 12, 2013 7:51 pm

Hi everyone,
I'm posting on this thread to avoid creating a new one.

I recently updated my computer from a X58 platform (Gigabyte GA-X58-UD5) to a X79 platform (Asus P9X79 PRO). For this update I've changed the motherboard, processor, RAM and HDDs. Sound card (Soundblaster X-Fi Titanium) and video card (FirePro W7000) hven't been changed.
Recording was perfect on the old computer (though the HDDs will drop a few frames here and there), but ever since I started using the new one, I have video and audio out sync, which perfectly fit what William described: the video is longer than the audio.
I've always used Media Express to record videos, and the problem is present with Premiere CS6 as well. An other big difference is that I'm using the onboard USB controller, but using the same expansion card I had on the X58 won't solve the problem.
I've tried recording on three different HDDs (an OCZ Vertex 4, a WD Black 2TB and a WD Velociraptor) and the problem persists; all discs check out fine in the disc speed test for 720p60, my target format.

Reading around the internet peopel suggest that it's a codec conflict, but is that true? When recording the video I can actually see the timecode on Media Express to slow down for one-two seconds every now and then.

Again, I've never experienced this out of sync problem with my old rig, what are there any hints that the folks at BM can suggest to try solve the problem?
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Luca Ceriani

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Re: Intensity Shuttle creates extra frames causing sync issu

PostThu Feb 14, 2013 4:34 pm

Update: I contacted BM's mail support and they suggested to try an older driver version, 9.5.3 precisely.
Now the Intensity Shuttle works correctly on the motherboard's AsMedia controller (driver version 1.16.2.0), don't know on the PCI-E card because after what I thought was a successful firmware update, the card doesn't recognize the Intensity Shuttle anymore (but external HDDs are fine).
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vroa

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Re: Intensity Shuttle creates extra frames causing sync issu

PostFri Apr 26, 2013 11:24 am

I can confirm the problem. I'm struggeling with the audio out of sync. since I bought the Intensity Shuttle. I tried different hard drives, bought a new USB 3 card, tried Windows 8, clean installs but the problem persists. So I checked the recordings based on your observation and indeed video frames are added randomly to the video stream during recording causing a non linear time shift between the video and audio signal. Since the adding of frames is random it is very hard to correct the timeshift when post processing the recordings.

I try to record component video with RCA audio from one source at 720p50. I record without reports of frame drops on a hard drive indicated by Disk Speed Test to read and write at 250 MB/s. Windows 7.

My conclusion based on these and many other observations in this forum is that the device is not fit for purpose and I demand BM to come with a solution.
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Qaenos

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Re: Intensity Shuttle creates extra frames causing sync issu

PostSat Apr 27, 2013 4:34 am

This bug was introduced with the 9.6.6 drivers for Windows.

Install version 9.6.5.
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robby_cuenot

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Re: Intensity Shuttle creates extra frames causing sync issu

PostTue Dec 27, 2016 10:27 pm

TL:DR; Desktop Video 10.4.3 works properly, but the latest versions do not.

Bumping this thread from the grave. I was cruising along through my 65 or so VHS tapes just fine until this October when I reinstalled Windows 10. I updated to the latest Desktop Video revision (10.8.4) and was hit with this issue. I tried everything: driver reinstalls, software reinstalls, OS reinstalls, hardware upgrades, and nothing worked. A new demon frame would duplicate itself multiple times every 30-60 seconds, throwing a 2 hour tape off by a full 5 seconds. I stumbled upon this thread after pulling my hair out for the 10th time. I tried Desktop Video Version 9.6.5-- and it crashed Windows 10 Anniversary. It's not compatible. How was everything working before just fine then? I had this same bug, the same duplicated frame problem, only 3 years after this thread started. I looked back to my purchase date for the shuttle and decided to try the software from then; August 2015. To my suprise, it works!!! The software broke in v9.6.6, was somehow fixed between then and 10.4.3, and broken again before 10.8.4. Who knows what causes it, but hopefully this saves someone else the headache many of us have gone through.
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midael

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  • Real Name: Michael Von Warthol

Re: Intensity Shuttle creates extra frames causing sync issu

PostTue Jan 29, 2019 12:10 am

[quote="robby_cuenot"]TL:DR; Desktop Video 10.4.3 works properly, but the latest versions do not.

BUMP. Latest versions still do not work. Wasted 84 minutes recording + debugging when someone had updated Desktop Video to latest 10.11.4 (with which audio/video will end up off-sync).

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