Videopad loading my mp4 files with out of sync audio

[Dave Rado]

I am trying to edit out some sections of a 50 minute documentary in Videopad (with permission from the producer), but when I open the MP4 file in Videopad, the video and audio are slightly out of sync - despite the fact that if I play the same MP4 file in any standard media player, the sound and video are in perfect sync.

I thought it might just be a problem with Videopad's preview so I tried using the method described here in order to cut out the sections that need to be deleted from the video, and I then exported the resulting project as a new MP4 file.  But in that new MP4 file the sound and video were slightly out of sync when played in any standard media player - whereas in the original MP4 file before deleting the unwanted content from it in Videopad, the sound and video are perfectly in sync.

I then tried getting the sound and video into sync by importing the new MP4 file into Videopad, and synchronizing it using the method described here. However, if I get it in sync at the start of the video, then it's out of sync at the end of the video - and vice versa.

Is there any way to get this to work with Videopad?

Dave 

[borate]

Please upload and share one or two of the files that are in sync with your media player but out of sync when loaded into Videopad.  Use Google Drive, MSOneDrive or the like.

Also, if feasible, upload the project that you exported as a new Mp4 file and paste the link here.  NOT the result, but the portable project file/s.

Here are instructions on how it's done...  http://nch.invisionzone.com/topic/23659-tips-for-getting-help-on-this-forum/

Someone will check things out.

 

[Dave Rado]

Thanks Borate, I've uploaded them in a zip file to dropbox, here.

[borate]

Your source file appears to have frame rate/conversion anomalies.  A developer might analyze specifics.

It was tested in another editor and not only was it out of sync but preview was annoyingly choppy.

The full file has been reworked in PAL standard at a constant audio bit rate.

No editing was done, with the exception of deleting extraneous video at the end, correcting the aspect ratio and nudging the audio into better, more consistent sync.

The corrected file plays well in the latest VP version.

[Dave Rado]

Thanks Borate

1)The file you uploaded works much better in terms of the syncing, but it's nowhere near as sharp as the original video was; and I notice the file size is a lot lower (the original file was 370MB and the one you sent me was only 242MB). Is that an inevitable consequence of reworking it at a constant frame rate?

2) Also, I assume the anomalies you refer to must have been created by the software I used to rip the DVD with - so do NCH sell a good DVD ripping program? Or could you recommend one? I don't have much money but I need one that can (a) rip PAL DVDs and maintain their original frame width and height (some I've trialed such as Filmora change the aspect ratio when ripping PAL DVDs and produce a distorted picture in the resulting MP4); and (b) if at all possible, one that can rip DVDs that don't have the same region as my laptop is set up for. 

Dave

[Dave Rado]

Further to point 1) above, I meant to say that the picture is nowhere near as sharp - it looks quite blurry by comparison.

[Dave Rado]

Further clarification regarding pont 2) a) above; the frame height and width of the PAL DVDs I'm working with is 768 x 576, and a lot of ripping programs seem to want to change it to a different aspect ratio when ripping it, leading to distortion.

[borate]

The constant audio bit rate isn't the quality issue, but the video conversions no doubt are.  Quality was intentionally low to limit file size.

Try this:  Load the conversion into VP,  UNlink audio from video, then replace the video from the conversion with your original.  You can mute of delete its audio track.

Sync 'em up and see if they stay that way.

Aspect ratio can be changed in VP, using the SCALE tool and unchecking the "maintain aspect ratio" box.  The Mp4 you submitted was 720 x 576 and, yes, it wasn't quite right.

As for converting VOB files (on the DVD), see if NCH Prism can do anything for you.  There's also this utility.

[Dave Rado]

Hi Borate

Regarding Prism, it doesn't rip protected DVDs, which is perfectly legal if it's for personal use and/or if one has the publisher's permission (which I do have). And as far as I can tell, Handbrake is only available for 64-bit versions of Windows, whereas I have Windows 7, which is 32-bit. 

In the end I got the original MP4 files from the publisher, from which they had created the DVDs, and I edited those in Videopad - and I can confirm that I was able then to edit them (removing the unwanted sections) without any synching problems resulting. Many thanks for your help with troubleshooting that problem.

However I have now another problem.  The original DVDs - and also my edited MP4 files after being burnt to a DVD - play in widescreen format when I play them on my DVD player through my widescreen television; but two out of three of them (it's a three  part series) play on my PC with a 4:3 aspect ratio by default, and they then look severely distorted, as the picture is actually meant to be displayed with a 16:9 aspect ratio.

I can get round this in VLC media player by changing the aspect ratio when playing the video to 16:9 ; and as I say my DVD  player automatically plays it with a 16:9 aspect ratio. However, if I try to add a menu to it using Nero Video, even though I use a 16:9 image as the background image, Nero Video sees that the video has a 4:3 ratio, so it crops my background image to have a 4:3 ratio, and when this then plays in widescreen it looks distorted.

So I want to convert the MP4 to have a 16:9 ratio, which is the ratio it should have. I don't know why the publisher's MP4 files have one episode with the correct aspect ratio and two with the wrong ratio, but that's all they have - and they do all play with a 16:9 ratio when played on a DVD player rather than on a DVD ROM drive on a PC. 

The one MP4 they gave me (episode 3 of the series) that plays at the correct aspect ratio by default on a PC has a frame width & height of 720 x 574. The other two episodes both have aspect ratios of 704 x 576.

Is there any way I can convert the MP4 in Videopad to have the correct aspect ratio? I tried exporting my edited video and using the setting "Auto match content but force 16:9" but that makes things much worse - it still displays a square image rather than a widescreen one, but it now can't be changed to a widescreen image when playing it in VLC and it no longer plays with the correct aspect ratio on my DVD player - in other words, it hasn't actually resized the image to the required aspect ratio - instead it's just put the square image onto a black widescreen background!

So is there any way I can convert the aspect ratio of the videos' images of the two episodes which have the wrong default aspect ratios on a PC, to what they should actually be (which is 16:9)?

Dave

[borate]

Upload one of the files, or a portion thereof, that does not render at 16:9 correctly and someone will check it out.

Note in the latest VP versions that DVD movie export offers the choice of either 4:3 or 16:9 aspect ratios.

[Dave Rado]

Hi Borate

Just to let you know that I'll do so asap but haven't been able to yet.

Dave