Dummy audio file in silent DVD?

[elkfir]

Hello all,
I had some super8 film professionally transfered to DVD. I wanted to re-author the DVD so I could have my own menu and chapters. I tried to import the DVD using TMPGEnc DVD Author but the program would always freeze when I tried to do the import. I was able to open the VOBs in VideoRedo but the resulting mpg file that I exported was not usable (it was severely truncated)

Then I realized there was AC3 audio on the DVD even though it was completely silent. When I removed the audio file I was able to re-author a new DVD without a problem.

Is adding a dummy audio file to a silent DVD some sort of a gimmicky way to thwart people from re-authoring a DVD?

[guns1inger]

No. You must have an audio track when you author. If the movie itself is silent, then you have a silent audio track. Many commercial discs also have silent audio tracks to overcome other limitations int he DVD spec.

I suspect your problem is related to other issues.

[elkfir]

guns1inger,
Thanks for your quick reply. But I still have think that darn audio file has something to do with why I couldn't re-author.
I've actually used two different companies to transfer Super8 files.
The DVD from company A did not have any audio stream (per DVD Shrink) and I was able to re-author without a problem.
The DVD from company B had a 0.67MB AC3 audio file (again per DVD Shrink), and I couldn't do anything with it until I removed that audio file.
There may be other issues as you mentioned, but from my angle it's that darn audio file that's causing my problem (and this same problem happened with two separate DVD's I received from company B.)

[guns1inger]

I would say they are producing non-standard AC3 streams when authoring. Empty or dummy streams should not cause you any problems. It is something specific to this company, not a general DVD issue.

[elkfir]

Thanks. I just have to think company B is doing this on purpose (I've had other problems with these guys.)
Their final transfer quality is actually very good, but they are very annoying to deal with and I probably won't use them any more.