Hello everyone,

My wife and I recently bought a Sony Handycam DCR-SR200 camera and
we're having a lot of problems with it. First of all, we can record
(file format is mpeg) and take pictures (file format is jpeg) fine.
Downloading to the computer is not a problem, either.


However, the first problem is that we can't view the video files in
all software. We tried the files in Windows Media Player, which works
fine. But we tried them in Winamp, and the files will play for two
seconds (no audio), then freeze the software. I tried other mpegs on
Winamp to see if Winamp was the problem, and those others work fine.
It's just files from the SR200 that won't work. I use Winamp for
pretty much all audio/video doin's on my computer (save for DVDs and
maybe a couple of things here and there), so Winamp problem is
irksome. My worry is that the files won't work in just about anything
except for Windows Media Player, and maybe eventually be fussy about
that.


The second problem is that I'm playing around with editing videos,
making montages and whatnot. A new hobby. I'm a newbie, so please
bear
with me as I may sound totally out-to-lunch here. Anyway, I tried to
make a video slideshow in Windows Movie Maker. I know that WMM isn't
great--as I said, I'm a newbie, so I'm trying out my new hobby in
low-
cost or free software at the moment--but it's what I've got right
now.
When I tried to import an mpeg, WMM couldn't read it; I got an error
message. So I used some software to convert it to an avi. I got the
same problems with the avi (won't work in Winamp though Winamp never
had a problem with avi's before), but now the new avi won't work in
Media Player either. I tried it out in Movie Maker, which read it...
with problems: suddenly Movie Maker thinks a 4-minute video is 8
hours
long. This 8-hour video plays fine for video (4 minutes is 4
minutes),
however the audio is so out-of-sync that stuff at the beginning of
the
video starts playing at about 4:15. Also, when I compiled my movie,
the video was grainy and jumpy, no matter what aspect ratio, size, or
frames-per-second I converted it from mpeg to avi with. I wasn't
using
the audio for this particular project, but I'm sure the audio would
still be out-of-sync in the compiled version. WMM never had this
problem before.


Has anybody had these problems with the camcorder? This is my first
camcorder purchase, so maybe this is a problem with the whole
technology. But it just seems like such an expensive product
shouldn't
come with so many limitations and problems. We can still view the
videos and pictures, but with such an expensive piece of equipment,
all the problems I mentioned above are huge deal breakers.


Any ideas?

"Liam Gibbs" <liamgibbs@sympatico.ca> wrote in message
news:2d98467e-8f68-422c-b7f2-8391fbd0e5c2@n77g2000hse.googlegroups.com...
> Hello everyone,
>
> My wife and I recently bought a Sony Handycam DCR-SR200 camera and
> we're having a lot of problems with it. First of all, we can record
> (file format is mpeg) and take pictures (file format is jpeg) fine.
> Downloading to the computer is not a problem, either.
>
>
> However, the first problem is that we can't view the video files in
> all software. We tried the files in Windows Media Player, which works
> fine. But we tried them in Winamp, and the files will play for two
> seconds (no audio), then freeze the software. I tried other mpegs on
> Winamp to see if Winamp was the problem, and those others work fine.
> It's just files from the SR200 that won't work. I use Winamp for
> pretty much all audio/video doin's on my computer (save for DVDs and
> maybe a couple of things here and there), so Winamp problem is
> irksome. My worry is that the files won't work in just about anything
> except for Windows Media Player, and maybe eventually be fussy about
> that.
>
>
> The second problem is that I'm playing around with editing videos,
> making montages and whatnot. A new hobby. I'm a newbie, so please
> bear
> with me as I may sound totally out-to-lunch here. Anyway, I tried to
> make a video slideshow in Windows Movie Maker. I know that WMM isn't
> great--as I said, I'm a newbie, so I'm trying out my new hobby in
> low-
> cost or free software at the moment--but it's what I've got right
> now.
> When I tried to import an mpeg, WMM couldn't read it; I got an error
> message. So I used some software to convert it to an avi. I got the
> same problems with the avi (won't work in Winamp though Winamp never
> had a problem with avi's before), but now the new avi won't work in
> Media Player either. I tried it out in Movie Maker, which read it...
> with problems: suddenly Movie Maker thinks a 4-minute video is 8
> hours
> long. This 8-hour video plays fine for video (4 minutes is 4
> minutes),
> however the audio is so out-of-sync that stuff at the beginning of
> the
> video starts playing at about 4:15. Also, when I compiled my movie,
> the video was grainy and jumpy, no matter what aspect ratio, size, or
> frames-per-second I converted it from mpeg to avi with. I wasn't
> using
> the audio for this particular project, but I'm sure the audio would
> still be out-of-sync in the compiled version. WMM never had this
> problem before.
>
>
> Has anybody had these problems with the camcorder? This is my first
> camcorder purchase, so maybe this is a problem with the whole
> technology. But it just seems like such an expensive product
> shouldn't
> come with so many limitations and problems. We can still view the
> videos and pictures, but with such an expensive piece of equipment,
> all the problems I mentioned above are huge deal breakers.
>
>
> Any ideas?


You might install the current version of a CODEC (COder / DECoder)
to see if that resolves the problem. There is a program named
Sherlock that can list all the current codecs in your computer. These
programs are free from sites such as http://www.free-codecs.net.

I use FFDShow and Quicktime Alternative for video playback.

Thanks for the advice, Garth m'lord. I've been fiddling with the
codecs as you suggested, and I think I've gotten it to work out. Seems
a little easier to work with now that I have a little bit more
experience, but boy what an adventure. Someone else suggested some
software I could use, so I think I'll give those a shot.

Thanks!