"Seamless" vob joining results in multiple audio tracks

[grannyGeek]

Here is example of my process ---
DvdShrink in Reauthor mode to cut 2 clips from dvd, with one audio track selected.
(I have "enabled logical remapping".)

PgcDemux to demux some clips for audio editing, edit the 2-ch 192 kbps ac3 track in Audacity 1.3.7 (just a simple fade out), export the track to ac3 format (g-spot shows same specs for edited track as for original demuxed track.)
Remux with Muxman "free" version.

Re-name all the vobs in sequential order.

VobEdit to "Join Clips".

IfoEdit to "Create Ifos".
IfoEdit to Strip ("Vob Extras" process)


Sometimes this works perfectly.

Sometimes, I end up with two audio tracks, neither one having sound for the entire duration.
Say I have clip A 3 minutes + clip B 2 minutes
Track # 1 has 3 minutes silence, then sound.
Track # 2 has 3 minutes sound, then silence.

Why aren't the tracks merging?
As I noted, sometimes it works perfectly, so I can't really blame Audacity (although I even tried editing and exporting to wav, and then convert that with BeLight -- still won't work.)

Is this something like the audio CBR / VBR thing you hit with mp3 sometimes?

Is the re-mux doing something to the video bit-rate that makes the two clips no longer compatible?

Or (long screech of shrill violins....) is my computer possessed by an evil demon?

[borax]

Actually I don't know why the clips are 'incompatible' if the audio properties are the same. But they have to be EXACTLY the same: Bitrate, number of channels, bits per sample, encoding (stereo/joint stereo). AFAIK VBR is not supported at all, so this should not be the problem. Another idea:
Why not join the clips as elementary streams with mpeg2schnitt or cuttermaran? Then you would avoid all 'past processing' steps (rename vob files, vobedit + ifoedit). And at least mpeg2schnitt can do a fade out effect by itself.

[grannyGeek]

Hi, thanks so much for responding.

I will give the "mpeg cut" tools a try tonight and see how I land.

I was paranoid about trying anything like that, from stories about loss of audio sync.
But I guess better to have to tweak sync than to have half-silent tracks.

Thanks for the advice!