lipsync problems

[EvenSteven]

I'm trying to burn some xvid-files on to a DVD to play on a standalone DVD-player. I've used Nerovision Express 3 SE to convert and burn.
Sometimes it works fine, but often i notice that audio and video goes out of sync after a while....
My DVD-player is a Harman Kardon DVD22...(does not support Divx)
And the files are not out of sync when i watch them diretcly from my computer...
I've also tried the AVI2DVD-tool... that seemed to work, but it took like 3 hours to convert a 40-minute long video-clip...

Isn't there a easier way to do this?? I've googled it...and i have checked out different ways around it here on the forum, but they're all so time demanding and complicated...
I don't understand why Nero can't do this properly by it self...I have used Ner o for these tasks before and it worked out fine.. could it be the codecs? I use the megapack 6 and the DVDMPEG2Enc.dll plugin from that pack... Perhaps i need new ones or more....the pack contains many dll-files and i'm not sure wich to use ......

Anyway.....if someone are willing to help me figure this out, it would be great..

thanks

EvenSteven

[mats.hogberg]

vso divx2dvd
...but sync errors are mostly due to bad AVI (bad frames, VBR audio & c.) - They do simply not lend themselves to conversion. Avoid headache and get a DivX/XviD capable player.

/Mats

[EvenSteven]

vso divx2dvd
...but sync errors are mostly due to bad AVI (bad frames, VBR audio & c.) - They do simply not lend themselves to conversion. Avoid headache and get a DivX/XviD capable player.

/Mats

So there's no difference between avi, divx and xvid. ??
It says under "properties" in mediaplayer classic : that they're xvid..

[guns1inger]

The other major cause of lip sync problems is VBR MP3 audio, which most encoders choke on. DivxtoDVD is better than most at handling it, but even it gets caught out form time to time.

[ZippyP.]

So there's no difference between avi, divx and xvid. ??

An avi is a file that contains audio and video (Audio-Video Interleave) of some type or other. There are many audio and video compression types (coder-decoder or codec) that can be put into an avi. Xvid and Divx are two video codecs that are commonly found in avi's.

From what I understand, Divx capable players will also play xvid.

[mats.hogberg]

From what I understand, Divx capable players will also play xvid.

At least mine does. (ESS Vibratto II chipset)

/Mats

[EvenSteven]

The other major cause of lip sync problems is VBR MP3 audio, which most encoders choke on. DivxtoDVD is better than most at handling it, but even it gets caught out form time to time.

Eccuse my ignorance, but we can't all dedicate our lives to this hobby :P
I have searched the forums, read articles and guides, but you all use terminology and prahases/words I have no idea what means so.... It's like a full time job trying to understand these things
And I have accounts at many different forum-sites and I know how annoying it is when "newbies" just keep on asking the same qustions over and over...BUT it's kind of that what makes these forums going and keep you pro's occupied :P

Anyway.... thanks for the help.....but I have one more question for now..

This is what it says under "properties" when I playback the file in Mediaplayer Classic :Video: XVID 624x352 23.98fps 997Kbps
Audio: MPEG Audio Layer 3 48000Hz stereo 130Kbps
Unknown

So is this the bad audio you where talking about?? The VBR MP3?

[Abond]

Yes

[guns1inger]

Pro suggests payment . . . if only

[mats.hogberg]

You have to use GSpot to get the exact details of your source file. Post a screen shot. (From GSpot)

/Mats

[EvenSteven]

You have to use GSpot to get the exact details of your source file. Post a screen shot. (From GSpot)

/Mats

[maca]

EvenSteven:

Sounds like you're looking for a simple solution, so I wouldn't worry about all that information from the GSpot program or any of that stuff. (I'm not trying to make anyone above mad, just suggesting an easier way which is quick and foolproof.)

Sync problems with avi files are not NEARLY as complicated as you might think. You simply need to remove the audio from the file, and save it as an UNCOMPRESSED wav file. You can do this in a snap with VirtualDub, which is free. If the program you're using to author the disc can use AC3 audio, you can save yourself some space by then converting the wav to AC3 with ffmpeggui, which is also free. If you can't use AC3, no problem, your authoring program should let you use the wav, it'll just take up more room on the disc. And that's really all there is to the sync problem.

You'll find links to both the programs I mentioned on this site, as well as instructions for using them. They're both extremely fast and easy programs. The compressed audio in an xvid or divx movie is often Variable Bitrate, and this drifts when you're trying to encode to a dvd compliant file. Removing the audio as UNCOMPRESSED wav will fix the problem. It's a snap.

Don't let anyone tell you these files don't lend themselves to converting. I do them every day, and with the procedure I've described above (which takes about 5 minutes total) they'll work beautifully every time.

Another thing, as long as you're removing the audio with VirtualDub, you might as well also remove the video as "direct stream copy" with "no audio" checked in the options. This will give you a clean video stream to go with your clean audio stream, and encoding will be much faster. This is very easy to do with VirtualDub and takes about 1 minute.

Come back to this thread and post if you have a problem with the programs; I can easily talk you through the menus of these steps.

[revlis]

I know others will disagree, but try WinAvi. No problems with any file format, and converts Xvids with VBR audio no problem. I had the same problems as you, and after plenty of trial and error, I eventually went back to WinAvi. Maybe the quality isn't the best out there, but you can't beat it for ease and speed.

[KroZ]

maca-
I am also having issues w/ encoding. I am using DIKO to encode XviD to DVD. The file had .ac3 audio and I attempted an encode w/ out stripping the audio and the finished .vob files audio was about 2-4 seconds off sync. I was wondering what converting the .ac3 to .wav in VituralDub and then reencoding it back into .ac3 would do to solve the sync issue w/ encode? Are you saying that alot of the time the .ac3 audio included w/ the original file is VBR and extracting it to .wav and then reencoding it to .ac3 in CBR will solve the issue? Thanks for any help!!

[maca]

KroZ

It has always solved the problem in my case. If you open the avi in VirtualDub, chances are you'll get a warning saying something about the audio being vbr, and telling you that it may skew, etc. If you get that warning, that's a GOOD thing, because it means you have one of those movies that'll go out of sync during conversion unless you separate the audio as uncompressed wav. Just click "yes" and continue on. I don't know enough about how AC3 is technically made to know why this works, but in my experience it always does. Of course, if your avi is made with AC3 audio, you'll need some sort of AC3 decoding codec on your system so that VirtualDub can open it; otherwise you'll get a message saying "no method found of decompressing audio" or something like that.

Just make sure, in VirtualDub, that you choose SOURCE AUDIO, FULL PROCESSING MODE, AND NO COMPRESSION. This will give you the uncompressed wav you need. If you pull the audio off in a smaller compressed form, it'll do you no good and you'll still have the sync problem.

[maca]

DELETED

Ignore this message; I made a mistake and so I deleted the whole thing.

DELETED

[EvenSteven]

Ok....thanks maca.....i'll try it....
I have tried Winavi, but I still got the sync issues....

But i'll virtualdub.......
One quick question: what does "to author a DVD" actually mean ? I'm not sure if i get the meaning of that word...

[maca]

Generally, "encoding" means creating the dvd-compliant mpg file, while "authoring" means putting that video into the file structure for dvd, i.e. a VIDEO_TS folder with vob files inside. Depending on what you're using, some will combine steps, letting you encode and author simultaneously. Others require that you encode the mpg (either as a single movie file or as separate .m2v video and ac3 audio) which you must then import into the authoring program.

My general method is: use VirtualDub and ffmpeggui as described above to get an ac3 audio file and a new avi of just video with no sound. Then I put that avi into an encoder to create an m2v video-only file. (since all you really need to encode is the video, it's quicker to just leave the audio out)

I then load the m2v video and ac3 audio into my authoring software, and no sync problems, ever.

To KroZ: I'm not familiar with DIKO; if it does the encoding and authoring together, you might want to sniff around for separate encoding and authoring programs. But if DIKO lets you put in separate audio and video, you can just throw the avi and the ac3 in there and you should be fine.

[EvenSteven]

ok....thanks again...

But which software do you use for the authoring? Any recommendations? Does Winavi support loading seperate audio and video ??
Sorry for all the questions, but since I still got you here online

[maca]

I usually use TMPGEnc DVD Author; works fine and is very simple. I notice in your first post you stated that you have Nero Express. I just checked my Nero Express and it says you must have a separate authoring program. But from your original post, it sounds like you already have SOME kind of authoring program, since you've burned your movies to dvd. Whatever program you're using to actually create the file folders that are burned to dvd is your authoring program. If it'll let you use a separate video and audio file, you're set with the above method. If it requires a single mpg file, then you must get ahold of an encoder which can put your video and uncompressed audio back together. I really don't know if WinAvi can do that or not; I've never tried it.

[maca]

EvenSteven

I have WinAvi on my computer, so I'm doing a quick test to see if it will take an avi along with ac3 audio.

[EvenSteven]

ok.....maybe I don't understand the difference between converting and authoring. But I have used Nero Express to convert...then burn... First Nero turned the 350MB avi. file into many vob-files aprox(1.5GB)...then afterwards i burned them on to a DVD....This method has worked before... but not anymore for some reason ??

[maca]

If Nero express turned the avi into vob files, then your version must indeed have authoring capabilities as well as encoding. Now you just need to find out if you can put separate avi and ac3 into it, and you'll be set.

By the way, I couldn't get WinAvi to do it.