How to keep .mpeg2 videos in sync when converting to h.264 mp4 with Staxrip

[jimbobub]

This is with .mpeg2 videos ripped as .mkv. If any editing is done do it all in .mkv first. After which those .mkv segments are remuxed to .mpg using avidemux. If no editing is done just remux the .mkv video to .mpg. In avidemux use audio and video copy. Use mpeg-ps muxer ff (mpg container) in output format (containers).

Mpeg2 is the codec. .Mpg and .Mkv are the containers. They contain the mpeg2 video.

[abolibibelot]

And so... at what point does it get out of sync? You mean the audio stream relative to the video stream?
(Tip: using question marks would help indicating where questions are.)
What is the purpose of ripping as MKV then converting to MPG if the end goal is to transcode to MP4 / H.264? Is there anything wrong with transcoding directly from the MKV? If the source is a standard (video) DVD, the time base of the original VOB files may be more accurate than that of converted MPG files, although I'm not sure about that at all. I would suppose that the MKV container can store whatever metadate from the original VOB files is necessary to preserve audio/video synchronization, but likewise, I'm not sure about that at all. (I'm not sure about much of anything these days.)

I haven't used Avidemux in a long time, in my experience it was streamlined and convenient but quite quirky, and it had a track record of evolving backward, as in, newer versions often broke features that formerly worked fine. But it may have improved since then, I couldn't say.
Nowadays I do most encodes with a simple ffmpeg script, which I find more simple and more reliable than using any fancy GUI program. It's more austere initially, but once you have a script that produces a satisfying output, you can reuse it with zero effort and expect the same quality, whereas with GUI program has to be configured each time, with the risk of making mistakes or forgetting something.

Anyway, at least it won't be yet another orphaned thread with zero reply...

[hello_hello]

This is with .mpeg2 videos ripped as .mkv.

How does Staxrip open MKVs containing mpeg2?
It's just that some source filters for Avisynth (and possibly VapourSynth) operate in variable frame rate mode by default, so when they decode mpeg2 video that's a mixture of 29.97fps and 23.976fps, they decode it at the average frame rate, which messes with the audio sync and the speed of the video playback. For mpeg2 video, StaxRip probably uses a different source filter. One that decodes in constant frame rate mode by default. Just a guess....

If all you need to do is remux an MKV containing mpeg2 video, try TSMuxer. It can open MKVs and will probably be easier, although the output with be a TS file, however if it's a source filter issue, StaxRip should use the same source filter for TS files that is does for mpeg2.

[jimbobub]

The post was how I was able to keep mpeg videos in sync by remuxing from .mkv to .mpg with avidemux and then converting the .mpgs to avc x264. I used staxrip. I'm certainly not the be all end all but the procedure works. The videos were originally converted from vhs tapes to dvd (interlaced 29.97) back in the 2000's. When ripping using makemkv they are .mkv. These .mkvs are in sync but when converted to x264 they are out of sync. Somehow using avidemux as an intermediary fixes the sync issue somehow. Even with videos (tapes) that were not to the best shape such as sound cutting out or getting static here and there on the videos it stayed in sync.