SyncView 2.01.01

[Build 2.1.0]

• NEW WAV Export Tool operations. Audio can now be resized to a given length and then resampled to a second length in one operation. The quality and precision of the resampling/stretching process has also been improved by using a two-pass procedure. With 30+ minute audio sources, this new method is considerably faster.

• NEW 'Direct fix' option in the Stream Demux Tool. This feature can be used to quickly change the video framerate of the source AVI. It is no longer necessary to first demux or copy the AVI file.

• NEW 'Mixing' options in the WAV Export Tool. There is now a third panel of controls for normalization and channel configuration; the latter are used for downmixing multi-channel audio files with unknown channel configurations.

• ADDED support for more WAV file variation in the WAV Joiner Tool. Most of the specialty RIFF chunks (such as PEAK, CUE, and LIST) are now permitted, but SyncView ignores them when generating new WAV files.

• CHANGED the audio length units in the WAV Export Tool to milliseconds (formerly seconds). This makes it easier to copy and paste alignment settings to the Audio Sync control when producing a multi-VCD project from one, long WAV file.

• FIXED Stream Demux Tool. SyncView crashed if the user clicks on the stream list without selecting a stream.


[Build 2.0.2]

• ADDED Mono-to-Stereo conversion in the WAV Export Tool. This operation does not perform magic; it merely produces a WAV file with two, redundant channels.

• CHANGED Default I/O Buffer to 1.0 MB (from 512 KB). This change should improve the performance of the WAV Export Tool in the freeware edition.

• FIXED several problems related to the European decimal format.

• FIXED Audio Sync control. SyncView crashed if the user clears the Audio Sync value and does not enter an actual value.

• FIXED Cancel commands. Clicking the Cancel button when specifying a filename did not always stop execution in the WAV Export and Stream Demux tools.


[Build 2.0.1]

• NEW Open/Save behavior. The software now tracks each Open and Save operation and will set the initial directory accordingly when prompting the user for a filename. This feature is intended to save time when using the various tools.

• ADDED 'MPEG-1 Video CD' to the list of container formats supported in the Stream Demuxer tool.

• FIXED Menu System. The mechanism used to track menu navigation did not work smoothly under Windows 98.

• FIXED WAV Export Tool. A recent modification needed to minimize clicking artifacts during resampling was omitted from build 2.0.0; it has been restored in this release.

• FIXED WAV Export Tool. The 'Unexpected Data Alignment' warning terminated the export process before the new wave file could be finalized, resulting in an invalid WAV file.


[Build 2.0.0]

• NEW Stream Demuxer tool. You can now demux most AVI and MPEG files directly in SyncView. Moreover, if a quality DirectShow audio decoder is installed (e.g., ffdshow), audio streams can be converted to uncompressed PCM on the fly (as in VirtualDub). AC3-to-ProLogic downmixing is also possible in SyncView.

• NEW Wave Joiner tool. This tool is useful for building 3-VCD projects from 2-part AVI sources.

• NEW "Actual Size" video option. The video window can now be detached from the SyncView GUI for real-size playback.

• NEW System Sync Error Monitor. When activated, SyncView will plot and analyze system sync error during playback. This feature should be used at least once after the software is installed, to test whether the video pitch control needs adjustment.

• NEW Preliminary support for WAVEFORMATEXTENSIBLE and 24-bit WAV files. Note that some SyncView operations do not yet support floating-point data or specialty RIFF chunks (e.g., Peak).

• NEW 6-hour sync adjustment (previously limited to 33 seconds). This extended control can be used with the WAV Export Tool to quickly and accurately split a long WAV file when producing a multi-disc MPEG title.

• NEW audio loading. SyncView opens compatible files (and detects failures) a bit faster than previously.

• NEW GUI and menu enhancements.

• ADD "Tool I/O Buffer" menu setting. This setting is now used by each of the three tools to control the size of read/write operations.

• ADD GPL MPEG-1/2 Decoder. SyncView will try to use this DirectShow component for video playback if the source is MPEG-1, MPEG-2 or VOB. It worked well in testing and eliminated some problems observed with other decoders.

• ADD MPEG-2 Demultiplexer (Mpg2Splt.ax). There is a bug in the deprecated DirectShow filter (MPEG-2 Splitter) that causes MPEG-2 streams to be referenced in the wrong order. SyncView now enforces the newer object when it detects an MPEG-2 file.

• FIX WAV Export Tool bug that prevented proper resizing when sampling frequency is changed.


[Build 1.99.99] Beta preview to build series 2.x.x introduces two new tools: Stream Demuxer (for AVI and MPEG) and Wave Joiner (useful for building 3-VCD projects from 2-part AVI sources). Many miscellaneous enhancements, including preliminary support for WAVEFORMATEXTENSIBLE and 24-bit WAV files, true-size video option, and 6-hour sync adjustment (formerly 33 seconds).


[Build 1.02.02] Fixes a bug in the Wav Export Tool that could trigger an error when a resampling operation is canceled; resampling operations have been slowed down slightly to help reduce CPU demands; added optional Startup Tips to assist new users and to address typical questions; updates the fmodex.dll.


[Build 1.02.01] Implemented new buffering and sampling-rate operations in the Wav Export Tool to prevent false clicks--which are audible with headphones in build 1.02.00; new Edit menu allows the user to save three media positions so that key scenes can be navigated more quickly when testing and evaluating alignment settings; enhanced WAV Export GUI now supports all resizing operations regardless of whether or not a video program is present.


[Build 1.02.00] Wav Export Tool allows the user to modify and export the audio data to an uncompressed WAV file, for easier alignment work; added Video Pitch adjustment to reduce the occurrence of sync corrections during playback; the Audio Operations panel can now be used to set the default audio renderer and to open filter property pages.


[Build 1.01.00] New Examine operations allow the user to adjust the size, speed and position of the media sample; minor GUI fixes.


[Build 1.00.01] Fixes the following bug that affects all previous versions since Beta 042 (inclusive): If SyncView happens to close while minimized, the GUI is permanently minimized the next time the software is run.


[Build 1.00.00] First standard release introduces an Audio Operations control to better address false audio timestamps caused by MPEG decoding discrepancies; minor GUI improvements.


[Beta 0.00.051] Final beta release fixes problem with 8-bit audio displays, addresses a potential timing error with MPEG audio displays, and updates the FMOD.DLL, which was updated by its author on June 2.

[Beta 0.00.050] SyncView's development is 95% complete, because the four primary media formats for VCD production are now fully supported: 16-bit WAV audio, MPEG audio, AVI video and MPEG video (8-bit audio programs do not display correctly in this version); new playback and monitoring operations significantly reduce CPU load (which used to be 100% on my Pentium 4, XP machine).

[Beta 0.00.042]
Addresses minor bugs in the GUI and error handling routines that were introduced by changes to build 0.0.40; added separate file histories for the audio and video sources, making it easier to resume or review recent projects; user settings are now saved to the system registry--the small user.gui file can be deleted from the SyncView folder if the user chooses to update the EXE without uninstalling.

[Build 0.00.041]
The filter-graph construction code has been revised to decrease the program's tendency to reject MPEG-2 video material; SyncView will now display basic mpeg audio information (for the sake of completeness), though I am still months away from developing the code needed to display the decoded PCM data--any contributions to expedite this process would be warmly appreciated!

[Build 0.00.040]
SyncView is now based on the DirectX architecture and relies on DirectShow filters to support more audio and video formats (e.g., mpeg video and mp3 audio); added options to control audio display and behavior of sync error correction; the tool-tips and GUI are now fully enhanced for Windows XP. Note--Standard WAV files could not be opened on an older Pentium-3 machine running Windows 98, but I haven't determined whether the problem is a software or hardware issue. SyncView is developed on a Pentium-4 machine running Windows XP.

[Build 0.00.030]
First public beta release (based on MCI platform). No problems have been reported.