sutherla@qtp.ufl.edu (scott sutherland) (11/14/89)
Okay, this is another in my ongoing series of questions as I
immerse myself in the field of Amiga Desktop Video. Let me describe
my situation and then tell you the coflicting information I am getting.
SYSTEM:
Amiga 2000 (Stock)
CMI VI 500
Zenith Stereo VHS VCR
Now, I am trying to record audio onto my VCR so that I might later dub
it onto my video via insert editing. I purchased a 3 RCA plug to 3 RCA
plug video dubbing cable, with gold plated connections and shielded
video cable. I hooked up the stereo audio outputs of my Amiga to the
appropriate stereo audio inputs of the VCR, and put the composite video
out of the CMI encoder to the video input. I get a reasonably nice video
when I record video, and I get good audio. HOWEVER, when I play back the
video tape on a MONO VCR, I get NO SOUND! At first, I was worried. Then
I got an explanation of what might be happening that made sense. But
I have since gotten another explanation that conflicts with the first,
so I am hoping that someone out there can straighten me out. As I
understand how the video and audio are recorded is as follows. Along
one edge of the video tape is the control track. Along the opposite
edge is the MONO audio track. In diagonal "tracks" across the bulk of
the tape is recorded the video and stereo audio information.
------------------------------------------------------------
=================Mono Audio================================
\ \ \ \ \ \ \
\ \ \ \ \ \ \
\ \ \ \ \ \ \
\ \ Video and Stereo Audio \ \
\ \ \ \ \ \ \
\ \ \ \ \ \ \
\ \ \ \ \ \ \
===================Control Track===========================
-------------------------------------------------------------
So, the first explanation I got was that, by recording directly from the
stereo audio out of my Amiga to the stereo in of my VCR, I was ONLY
recording audio on the diagonal part of the tape. Thus, when I try
to play back the tape on a MONO VCR, it looks for the audio on the
MONO track, finds none, and I get silence.
I noticed that, if I unplug the RCA composite video in, connect
a COAX cable with F connectors from the RF out of the CMI to the RF in
of the VCR, and plug one of the two audio L/R channels into the Audio
IN of the CMI, I get sound. So, this is one way of getting MONO recorded
sound onto my tape, BUT only by sacrificing the video quality by using
the RF video, which is inferior to the composite video out. So I began
going around and asking my first question to local video and electronics
stores, to no avail:
QUESTION ONE: Is it possible to record an audio signal simultaneously on
on the stereo and audio tracks? I envision the following: connect 2 Y
adaptors (one male end to 2 female ends) to each of the Amiga Audio
out channesl. Connect one of each of these to my VCR audio inputs. Then
get a Y connector (2 male ends to one male end) and connect the other
output of each of the Amiga audio outputs to the CMI audio input. Then I
would have to have the RF cable and the RCA composite video cable
connected to my VCR simultaneously. So I then should get both MONO and
STEREO audio recorded simultaneously.
This brought up my second question:
QUESTION TWO: If the VCR is receiving 2 video signal inputs at the same
time, one from the RF cable and one from the RCA composite video cable,
does one override the other? If so, which one? If it is the RF, can this
be overcome? And does the other, unused video input cause interference?
(Okay, so this is a multi-part question.)
Well, I went to a video store to talk to someone that both Radio Shack
and McDuff's had recommended as a person who might might know the answer
to my questions. But his explanation only complicated things. The major
difference in his information was the following. He says that I should
be getting sound on my MONO VCR, even with the setup I am using. He
further stated that the "so called" MONO track on the video tape was
in reality a stereo track, but JUST NOT HI-FI. He says that there
are L and R parts of the "MONO" audio track and that VCR's that record
stereo sound that is NOT HI-FI use these tracks instead of the
diagonal tracks parallel with the video. Thus, he says that the MONO
VCR should find sound on this track and just treat it as MONO. Also,
He says that a HI-FI VCR should record its sound on BOTH the "MONO"
track and the diagonal "STEREO HI-FI" tracks, so that I should still be
getting audio on the MONO VCR. He believes that the problem is in the
stereo VCR, most likely in how the switches on the front are set for
input.
So now I am really confused. I thought I had it all straight in
my head, but this fly in the ointment has turned my brain back into
video MUSH. CAN ANYONE SHED SOME LIGHT ON MY PREDICAMENT????
Thanks,
Scott Sutherland
sutherla@qtp.ufl.edu
BTW, how many articles do I have to post to get the "MOST LONG ARTICLES
POSTED ON DIFFERENT AREAS OF THE SAME TOPIC" award??JOSEPH@kuhub.cc.ukans.edu (11/15/89)
In article <781@orange9.qtp.ufl.edu>, sutherla@qtp.ufl.edu (scott sutherland) writes: > > Now, I am trying to record audio onto my VCR so that I might later dub > it onto my video via insert editing. I purchased a 3 RCA plug to 3 RCA > plug video dubbing cable, with gold plated connections and shielded > video cable. I hooked up the stereo audio outputs of my Amiga to the > appropriate stereo audio inputs of the VCR, and put the composite video > out of the CMI encoder to the video input. I get a reasonably nice video > when I record video, and I get good audio. HOWEVER, when I play back the > video tape on a MONO VCR, I get NO SOUND! At first, I was worried. Then > I got an explanation of what might be happening that made sense. But > I have since gotten another explanation that conflicts with the first, > so I am hoping that someone out there can straighten me out. As I Could you be more specific about the play back. What happens when you play the tape on the stereo VCR, which was used to record? Most HiFi VCRs got an option to playback the mono track and suppress the setero. ----- cut > QUESTION ONE: Is it possible to record an audio signal simultaneously on > on the stereo and audio tracks? I envision the following: connect 2 Y The default for many HiFi VCRs is to record on both the stereo and mono tracks simultaneously. ---- cut > > QUESTION TWO: If the VCR is receiving 2 video signal inputs at the same > time, one from the RF cable and one from the RCA composite video cable, > does one override the other? If so, which one? If it is the RF, can this > be overcome? And does the other, unused video input cause interference? Sure it does. Depending upon the position of the input selector the VCR records from the RF or RCA input. eg. if you set the swith for external signal the VCR will record video and audio which come through the RCA inputs. ---- cut > He says that a HI-FI VCR should record its sound on BOTH the "MONO" > track and the diagonal "STEREO HI-FI" tracks, so that I should still be > getting audio on the MONO VCR. He believes that the problem is in the > stereo VCR, most likely in how the switches on the front are set for > input. I agree. There is a possibility that you are overriding the default setup of the stereo VCR. > So now I am really confused. I thought I had it all straight in > my head, but this fly in the ointment has turned my brain back into > video MUSH. CAN ANYONE SHED SOME LIGHT ON MY PREDICAMENT???? If you think that I can be of any further help send an Email to me. > > Scott Sutherland > sutherla@qtp.ufl.edu Tomi joseph@ukanvax.bitnet
mhershede@cdp.UUCP (11/17/89)
There IS such thing as an STERO non-HI-FI VHS.. in fiact I have never seen a mono VHS although I believe most cameras record only on one teact[Ctrack ck..