VHS to PC cabels.

[deathleecher]

Im trying to rip my old family VHS tapes down to my PC.

But keep getting a audio delay.

Im using this grapper: USB 2.0 Video/Audio Easycap V.2

Im using a Standard Composite kabel

Would an S-Video cable be better?

 

[Stephen Becker]

S-Video is a higher quality than the yellow composite cable, but both are video only, you still need the red and white for audio. It is important to keep in mind that these are all analog cables and analog inherently cannot be responsible for an audio delay. The issue probably lies in you Easycap. Before you do anything else, I would ensure that device is on the latest firmware and has the latest drivers.

You are on this forum, so I assume you are recording with OBS instead of any software that may have been included. I suggest NOT using any 3rd party software along with OBS. Assuming that device uses standard drivers, you should be able to simply add a Video Capture Device to your scene in OBS. If doing that does not capture audio, then you may have to also add an Audio Capture Device, but that is typically not needed.

If with this basic setup you still get audio sync issues then you might need to manually tweak the timings in OBS. Right-click on your Audio Mixer in OBS and choose Advanced Audio Properties. From here you can apply a sync offset to your audio feed. Note, this can be a positive or negative number, depending on what direct you need to go.

The challenging part is figuring out what offset is needed. If you have a video with something that made a clap or bang sound where you can both see and hear it, that can be very helpful. If you have a video of someone speaking with a close enough shot to see their lips, you can find a place where they say a hard "P" sound. Either way, you would have to go frame by frame to see what frame the sound starts in the video and what frame it starts in the audio and do the math.

If you want to just "wing it" you can also start putting numbers in and see what happens. At 30 FPS each frame is 33.34ms and 3-4 frames off is about when lip sync becomes noticeable, so making rough adjustments at 100ms at a time is typically a good place to start, you can then drop down to 33ms adjustments if you really want.

The good news is that once you have it figured out, the same settings will apply to all your videos. Just don't update drivers for the Easycap at that point, as different drivers could have different timings.

 

[AaronD]

If it's a constant delay, just use the Sync Offset to account for it.

Record some, load the recording into your favorite video editor, and see what it takes to line it up. Then put that setting in the Sync Offset. A bigger number makes the audio come later. Go through that process again to make sure you've got it right, then run through all your videos.


If it's not a constant delay, but steadily increasing, then you have some other problems to figure out. Perhaps a mismatched sample rate, or something like that.

But try the Sync Offset first. I have a streaming rig that has about 300ms in there for the feed from an external sound board / mixing console / whatever you prefer to call that. Perfectly normal, and possible any time you have separate audio and video paths, but you do have to set it right.

And of course, the standard for media production *is* to have separate audio and video paths, even if it doesn't necessarily look like it.

Would an S-Video cable be better?


View attachment 98991

It would give you a better picture. Less crosstalk (accidental combination) between color and brightness. But it doesn't do anything at all for sound or A/V sync. It doesn't even carry sound, so you still need the red and white RCA's regardless.