HELP - convert ac3 5 channel to ac3 2 channel

[gremlyn]

hi there,

in the past, i converted an xvid which had ac3 5 channels into dvd format. the end result was that the volume on the dvd layer was low. i had to turn the volume up higher than normal to watch.

i know that 5 channel is better than 2. the usual dvd player i use to watch doesnt have surround speakers. because i think that is the problem, how can i convert an avi xvid that has ac3 5 channel, to 2 channels??

i'm pretty new at this. all i have done in the past regarding audio is to extract the audio and convert it into wave format via virtualdub. that's all i have done so far.

help appreciated

[ungamunga]

I use ffmpeg for ac3 conversion. The following syntax should convert your audio for you.

ffmpeg -i inputfile.wav -ab XXX -ar 48000 -ac 2 outputfile.ac3

XXX is your bitrate (e.g. 192, 224, 384 kbps)

-ac 2 indicates stereo output. If you wanted 5.1 output, you would use -ac 6

GUI front ends are also around, as are tools like BeSweet and its family, if you don't like command line tools.

[jimmalenko]

ffmpeggui is probably gonna be the most user-friendly way to do this. It will basically just do exactly the same thing that ungamunga recommends, but will be a bit "nicer".

[ungamunga]

It is prettier and more user-friendly, but a bit less flexible. I like using batchfiles so I prefer the command line myself.

[gremlyn]

thanks for replies. i'm not very good at command lines etc so i installed ffmpeggui and it did the job for me. hopefully it solves my low volume problem. it is very easy to use, for someone like me.

thanks again for you help guys