2.0 to 5.1 for dvds?

[blacksheepdownunder]

HI guys, i make alot of concert dvds and am wanting to improve my work. I want to make 5.1 suround from 2.0 audio. I know you cant make TRUE 5.1 from 2.0 but i have used a technic in SONY SOUND FORGE in the channel converter. My problem is it doesnt work on most concerts. Works great on studio recordings and movies. Any ideas?

[showtaper]

I have recorded a fair number of concerts and typically the only thing in stereo is
the audience. Maybe a little of the hall ambiance is stereo also. That makes it very
difficult to create pseudo 5.1 when the music is basically the same in both channels.

Let us know if you ever achieve anything useful as I have a couple of vids that I'd
like to process.......

[blacksheepdownunder]

Thanks... will do

[jman98]

I am going to try really hard to not be too critical here. For the benefit of others who might get something from it, I feel that this is a waste of time because:
1) As the original poster said, you can't really get true 5.1 out of this. To me, this is the audio equivalent of being one of those "MUST see black and white video in color!" or "MUST see ALL video in widescreen even if I have to stretch it" kind of people. Really, can you not just go through life hearing stereo audio at times?
2) Any but the cheapest of receivers will have an option to do the conversion on the fly for you via Dolby Pro Logic or something similar. No conversion required.
3) Converting the audio to 5.1 will cause it take up more space. If you are one of those people who makes DVDs that are 99% full, this could mean that you'll have to re-encode the video to a lower bit rate to fit your fake 5.1 audio in.

Anyway, it's not my time to waste or my point to judge you for doing this.
I know nothing about Sound Forge, but if it can take VST plugins, you might try this:
http://stevethomson.ca/vi/

Here's another method using something called Plogue Bidule
http://www.dtsac3.com/engels/introduction.html
Bidule is no longer free

I hope that Sound Forge can use VST plugins because it looks like you're kind of screwed if it can't. And Sound Forge is pretty expensive too.

[t0nee1]

Any but the cheapest of receivers will have an option to do the conversion on the fly for you via Dolby Pro Logic or something similar.

I totally agree with jman98..That being said, if you MUST, here's some links(older threads) for you to read...Including this via SEARCH..
http://forum.videohelp.com/topic291881.html
http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?t=83752

[aedipuss]

if you are a sony s.f. user do you also have vegas pro for editing? it has an easy way to create 5.1 from stereo input. open project file/properties/audio click the drop down next to master bus mode and select 5.1, then when rendering use the ac-3 pro and 5.1 will be the default. it's not really 5.1 as it basically just dupes the stereo to the back channels with a little manipulation.

[blacksheepdownunder]

thanks heaps guys