Why does WMP play out of sync?

[Walter Mann]

I've come across an irritating glitch, which I'm sure others must have met with, though I can't see it mentioned anywhere.

When I capture from my new XM2 into Windows I find that Media Player plays the AVI with the sound just fractionally out of sync. There's nothing intrinsically wrong with the file; when I open it in an editor it plays right and when I write the same file back out of the editor (without re-rendering) WMP plays it perfectly. So the whole thing is just an irritation rather than a real problem - but I'd like to know why this happens.

Oddly, it doesn't happen with files from my XM1.. But I do notice that Windows does detect the two cameras as different devices - the XM1 as "Canon DV Camcorder", the XM2 as "Generic DV device" - is it a driver problem with the capture? Or is it just a fact of life?

Thanks for any thoughts..

[Alan McCormick]

Walter,
I am afraid I have not come across that problem then again I do not tend to view in WMP or have 2 cams.

Do you have wmp9 and have the latest windows updates (guess you have XP)?

No direct answer but maybe something you can look at.

[Patrick MCMurray]

avoid microsoft like the plage!
We're all stuck with windows, and they do well enough with their office programs, but stuff like media player is more made by their marketing people than programmers. theyre more conserned with 10,000 visualizations than having a good app. plus anything you run is doing more than you know. theres a program running on YOUR windows xp machine right now that copies and stores the serial number of any mp3 player you plug in. runs by default. hard to find. just some thing to waste a small part of your processing and HDD. Bring on Linux!

Bill Gates = Big Brother?

[Rob Lohman]

Can we please stick to facts here Patrick. It is obviously that you
are not fond of Microsoft or their software and that's your right.
But their WMP9 is definitely not being made by there "marketing
people". If you've ever seen HD WM9 footage you'll know what
I mean. It is *the* HD codec at this moment and that's a pretty
good accomplishment.

Not everybody can "avoid Windows like the plague" as you call
it. If you do lots of video and audio work (especially for clients)
there really isn't anything besides Apple and Microsoft.

Try to imagine someone with no experience setting up Linux and
getting a Video Editor to run under the system that would compete
with the likes of FCP, Vegas & Avid.

Your remarks will also not help Walter much with his "issues".
Ofcourse moving to another platform might be an option, but
please advertise it professionally, not bashing the other product
unneccesary.

[Frank Granovski]

I share some of your concerns, Patrick; but I explored Linux for a couple of years and I had even joined a Linux newsgroup. There was no support on an already difficult platform I discovered.

[Walter Mann]

Thanks for the thoughts - for what it's worth it's Windows ME and WMP9 - and, indeed, I'm not likely to migrate to Linux!

As I say, it's not a huge issue, since the AVI gets edited and ends up as MPG files (which I don't tend to view in WMP.. )

[But, as a matter of interest, what do Windows people usually use for quickly viewing their raw AVI if not WMP? I've certainly found it fine up to now.. ]

I suspect that something's being written wrongly in the capture process - but whatever that "something" is it's being corrected by the simple fact of writing the file back out of a video editor - but it's odd that it isn't happening to other people.

[Rob Lohman]

I'm still using the "old" player that is on everybody's system to
playback DV. Also since I can setup that system to playback DV
at the native resolution (100%) and not at half (50%).

I do: Start -> Run -> mplayer2

And then drop my file on there.

[Walter Scott]

<<<-- Originally posted by Walter Mann : Thanks for the thoughts - for what it's worth it's Windows ME and WMP9 - and, indeed, I'm not likely to migrate to Linux!

As I say, it's not a huge issue, since the AVI gets edited and ends up as MPG files (which I don't tend to view in WMP.. )

[But, as a matter of interest, what do Windows people usually use for quickly viewing their raw AVI if not WMP? I've certainly found it fine up to now.. ]

I have a Cannon GL2, Win XP and WMP 9. I have not had the problem you describe. I also agree that wmv version 9 HD is totally outstanding!

Not to run down OSs, but Windows ME is not one of Microsoft's better offerings. You really ought to consider moving up to XP

[Adrian Douglas]

Certainly upgrade if you can. ME was a stripped down and painted up version of Win98. It was designed for home use with MS Office, e-mail, and Internet. The version of Movie Maker that came with it was a last minute add-on to compete with Apple's Imovie. For DV work on today's machines I always recommend at least Win2k/XP.