VID clips from video tape onto dvd

[lovebug]

hi,
I ve got a ton of old video tapes that Im now playing into a dvd recorder and putting clips onto dvd discs.

I then put the dvd into my desk top and convert to mp4 files

It works great with great results.... only prob is Im not getting sound...

some of the vid clips however do have sound and those are always little clips I made on the disc from live TV

the clips I made from live tv come out with sound..... the clips I made from video tapes dont have sound ...

can someone explain this ?

The clips from the video tape had sound when I recorded them !

[hech54]

I then put the dvd into my desk top and convert to mp4 files

Why?

[OldMan64]

Perhaps if you shared the process of getting the ones that do not have sound after the conversion would help. Most likely a problem in that area. These "old video tapes that Im now playing into a dvd recorder and putting clips onto dvd discs" - explain how this is done. Is this a VHS to DVD dubbing device or separate devices connected together to accomplish this step? Do the clips after this point have audio?

[lovebug]

I put the old video tape into my old video player
that is connected via scart to my DVD player

I play the old video ..... see an interesting clip .... hit record on my DVD Player

It might take a month to fill up a disc

meanwhile Im watching live tv so a few live tv clips will go on the disc too

Whenn the disc is full I finalize it then pop it into the desktop comp

I then use DVD Vob to MPG

Those files I put into ..... any video convertor ..... and convert to .... customized MP4 MOVIE

Right now Im beginning to think that Im losing the audio on this last conversion

But strangely.... the live tv clips still have their audio !

[orsetto]

Simple things first: you weren't quite clear on whether there is any sound from VHS on the DVD at all. You said there was sound "while you watched/recorded the old tapes" but not whether the sound is OK when you play the dvd. If there is no sound on the DVD, you may have a wiring issue in the SCART lead or sockets, or some other problem in the unit's external input system. If the dvd itself is OK, then we can look at other possibilities:

Since you are located in UK, can I make the assumption your "live clips" are being recorded via the DVD unit's built-in DVB-T tuner? If so, this might be part of the issue.

When recording from its tuner, the unit may use a somewhat different encoding methodology than it does when copying your VHS thru SCART. As you alternate sources over time while filling the disc, you're also alternating the audio/video format very slightly. Under normal circumstances, playing the original dvd, this usually isn't an issue.

But every VOB to MPEG conversion utility I've ever used has occasional problems pulling intelligible audio from some dvds. In your case, the constant jump to a different encoding source for each clip could be triggering this audio conversion glitch: the utility works fine with the tuner-sourced "direct" digital audio, but gets confused by the sudden switch to digitized analog audio from VHS.

If the audio drop is not happening during the VOB>MPEG conversion, then its happening in the MPEG>MP4 conversion. Probably from the same trigger: the converter has difficulty with the recorders' audio encoding from VHS.

If you can identify the exact step where audio is first lost, members here can suggest a solution. Meantime, try a test with a dvd made only from VHS input (no live clips). Do your usual workflow, and tell us if you get audio. That would help narrow things down a bit.

BTW, dvd recorders are optimized to MPEG-encode physical dvds as the final product. Ripping the dvd to make further MP4 conversions can be tolerable with tuner-sourced videos, but VHS transfers tend to lose a lot more quality during the DVD>MP4 conversion. If your primary goal is MP4 conversions of VHS, you'd likely get better results dubbing directly to a PC (in any non-MPEG format). MPEG is not the best first-step encoding choice for VHS, unless you're going to stop right there at dvd creation..

[hech54]

Some converters hate PCM, some hate MPEG2 audio.....etc etc.

[lovebug]

Many thanks for that interesting post ... Ive been going thru my old video tapes for some time now... slowly filling DVD discs
with TV clips .... prob on average 2 min clips

Ive prob got 200 plus discs lined up to go into the computor !

Interesting you should mention the video tuner.... for a long while I used to get onto the channel with my Astra Box
and take this tv feed into my DVD recorder ... via scart of course .

then , years later I relaized things would be easier using the DVD recorder built in tuner
so, prob for the past 2 or 3 years Ive been using that ..


Ive put 4 discs into the comp over the past 2 days and luckily the sound has been good on all discs.

Ill keep doing this now, using discs from current and discs from years ago and keep checking on the audio

If it happens again... and I find that the video files have no sound and the live tv do have sound... Ill go back
to the vobs and see if its the same with them

then go to the disc itself and see if the audio is on there.


The scart could be the problem.... if not connected properly ... that could explain it
but then... as Im recording from video tape to dvd disc Im hearing the audio on the TV ... so surely
that audio will be going onto the disc ?



Anyway thanks a lot for the ideas.... Ill keep on putting those discs into my desktop and
be very alert about the audio ............... and report back !


.

[lovebug]

Hi,
Ive put about 6 dvd s into my desktop in the last 3 or 4 days.... luckily most of the audios
have been fine..... one or two clips very low sound ... but maybe that was because I had the sound low on the tv when I recorded the clip on my dvd ?

Anyway, just hit a dvd that has the audio problem....

the clips made from vhs tape .... no sound
the clips made from live TV ... perfect sound

I went to the vobs .... made from the dvd disc using dvd vob 2MPG

and the same story.... no sound

I went to the disc ...... no sound

I took the dvd disc out and put it into a DVD player ... the sound perfectly ok on all the clips !

So for some reason the computor is not picking up the audio on this ..... finalized dvd ....

yet I just did 6 similar dvd discs and the audio was there !

Very frustrating to say the least !

[lovebug]

Hi,
Ive put about 6 dvd s into my desktop in the last 3 or 4 days.... luckily most of the audios
have been fine..... one or two clips very low sound ... but maybe that was because I had the sound low on the tv when I recorded the clip on my dvd ?

Anyway, just hit a dvd that has the audio problem....

the clips made from vhs tape .... no sound
the clips made from live TV ... perfect sound

I went to the vobs .... made from the dvd disc using dvd vob 2MPG

and the same story.... no sound

I went to the disc ...... no sound

I took the dvd disc out and put it into a DVD player ... the sound perfectly ok on all the clips !

So for some reason the computor is not picking up the audio on this ..... finalized dvd ....

yet I just did 6 similar dvd discs and the audio was there !

Very frustrating to say the least !

[lovebug]

Just had a dvd converted to customized mp4 and most of the clips did nt have sound

Ive just put the disc back and converted 3 clips to mpeg 2 .. again using .....any video converter....

and find that they all have sound !


In future I think Ill still try to convert to mpeg 4 customized .... but Ill have to immediately check out whether the sound is there
or not and if not.... recovert the vob files to mpeg 2 and delete the other files .

[hech54]

All this is a bit confusing. Long story short.....
If you have audio on your original home-made DVDs.....the audio is there.
Converting your DVD material to anything else results in quality loss.
The End.