Muxing m2v, ac3 and mp2 & authoring

[benzothegreat]

If anyone can help me out with this problem that'd be great. I have an AVI file that I've converted into an mpg, and then split into m2v and mp2. My goal is to have a DVD that will play both on my computer, for instance (so, the mp2 soundtrack) AND my standalone DVD player (ac3 soundtrack). I have tried TMPGEnc to mux the 3 streams together, but I couldn't hear anything on my standalone.

I have tried SpruceDVD to have the mp2 as the first audio track, and the ac3 as the second audio track. This played fine in powerdvd, but on my standalone when i changed audio tracks there was no audio and the picture started jumping/stuttering (only when I selected that track too!)

I have also tried the same thing in IfoEdit, with the same result.

I since tried just the m2v and ac3 stream, at 192, 224, 384, I sitll cant hear anything on the standalone, and the higher rates make the movie stutter.

I have tried Spruce, BeSweet and SoftEncode to create the ac3 streams, they all create the same problem.

How is it that professional DVDs only have the ONE audio track listed, however that audio track works in both powerdvd (mp2) and my standalone (ac3)?

What I want to do is simply author the DVD so that if I play it in powerdvd it plays the mp2, and if i play it in the standalone it plays the ac3.

Can anyone suggest how I might do this??

Thanks!
Ben.

[fmctm1sw]

Any particlar reason you want both audio tracks on there? AC3 should play find with powerdvd and your standalone should play it too. But, your standalone may have trouble with the AC3 because Besweet doesn't create a fully DVD compliant AC3 file (especially pioneer from what I hear). You may be in the minority. Most set-tops will play MP2 fine as well. Why don't you try just one audio track and try to narrow your problem down?

[benzothegreat]

You know, maybe that's the problem. So what you're saying is that if I have the m2v file muxed with a proper ac3 file, PowerDVD will play it fine thru the soundcard?

That makes a fair bit of sense. So then, how can I create an ac3 file that works though? as I said I've already used those other programs. Is there any other software out there that will do it? Maybe I'll try again with SoftEncode. Any others?

[fmctm1sw]

Yes.

If you want a fully DVD compliant AC3 file, you will need a Dolby Digital certified encoder. This means no ffmpeg or besweet just to name a few. But those programs are very good and work for the vast majority of users. What kind of set top player do you have?

[benzothegreat]

I've got a philips 962sa, with ntsc & pal progressive scan

I'm just about to try this new file i made with softencode, we'll see how we go!