AVI to VCD Audio Synching Help

[NifTBean]

There are a lot of threads out there dealing with topics similar to this, but nothing has given me a good answer for my particular dilemna. I have been attempting to convert avi files to VCDs in order to play on my DVD player. I had excellent success with short, 15 minute avi files. I easily converted them to mpgs with the DivX doctor and dropped them into Toast. They played well on my DVD player, and had no audio synching problems.

However, my problems came about when I had a large full length movie AVI to break into chunks, convert into VCDs, and burn onto discs. Every attempt involving several different test divx files has resulted in my audio being horribly off track from the video.

I have searched numerous forums, and tried many different solutions, but nothing has given me a decent beginning-end walk through with a solution for this annoying synching error.

So, can anyone direct me to a place that will give me all the tools neccessary to do a decent job of converting, or perhaps someone can write out the steps or give me some pointers.

I'm running the newest version of X, i have a dual 867mhz G4 and 1GB of RAM on my system. Thanks.

[jmusd]

NifTBean,

I just converted a avi to vcd using quicktime pro and it worked perfectly. To do this you must have the pro version of quicktime and the toast vcd plugin installed in quicktime. I had to convert the avi movie and used either DivX Doctor II or DivX Validator (I can't remeber which one I used?) to make it readable in quicktime. Then just export it as a vcd, I used the normal setting and it came out great, perfectly synched. You can even use quicktime to cut the movie up in chinks if you want to.

Hope this helps

[NifTBean]

just converted a avi to vcd using quicktime pro and it worked perfectly. To do this you must have the pro version of quicktime and the toast vcd plugin installed in quicktime. I had to convert the avi movie and used either DivX Doctor II or DivX Validator (I can't remeber which one I used?) to make it readable in quicktime. Then just export it as a vcd, I used the normal setting and it came out great, perfectly synched. You can even use quicktime to cut the movie up in chinks if you want to.

Very interesting, i'll hafta look into that. I do have a copy of quicktime pro, so i suppose this is a good option for me to try. Specifically, what is the toast VCD plugin and how do you tell QT Pro to split it up into chunks?

-niftbean

[jmusd]

Specifically, what is the toast VCD plugin and how do you tell QT Pro to split it up into chunks?

If you have toast 5 on your machine then you should have the toast plugin installed. You can check by going to the system library (not user library) open the quicktime folder and you should see a folder called "Toast Video CD Support.qtx." When you are in quicktime go to file --> export and at the bottom choose "movie to toast video cd," then choose options and set it up the way you want it...I chose NTSC (unless you have PAL of course) fit, and normal.

The second answer to your question is after you have fixed the avi movie, open it in toast and use the little slider bar arrows, which are right below the playhead arrow. Drag those to where you want them and then go to edit and cut. Then you can open a new player and chose paste, then just export each chunk you make.

jmusd

[NifTBean]

Most of the time the best solution is the easiest, I hadn't even considered using Quicktime Pro to do all those tasks I thought had to be completed by a cacophany of various programs. I just cut it into chunks, exported to a VCD, burned onto a disc and popped it into my DVD player, no hitches. Thanks a lot for your help.

-niftbean

[NifTBean]

Hey, i just have a quick follow up question. After watching the movie I split up and turned into a VCD using QT Pro, i found that about halfway through the movie the sound started to slowly unsynch itself, until at the very end it was pretty unbearable. What would be a good solution to fix this problem? Thanks

-chris

[jmusd]

NifTBean,

I would try encoding the whole avi file in QT pro before you cut it. After it is finished then cut it with gumby or mpgtxwrap work well.

jmusd

[ZeroSix]

If the video is more the 80 minutes in length, then the toast VCD component will not allow you to export to MPEG. Any splitting of a movie that is longer than 80 minutes must be done prior to exporting to VCD in quicktime pro.

It is very strange that you are having sync issues once exporting using QT Pro... Have you checked the audio/video sync of your source? My guess would be that it is the source that is out of line and NOT the resulting mpeg file from Quicktime... There have been so many videos i have converted using toast VCD that have just plain WHACK frame rates: 15 fps, 5 fps, 26 fps, and when exported they always end up perfectly in sync. However, when dealing with a file that has sync issues to begin with you cannot expect the program to solve that for you.

Another very very good solution is to avoid using Divx Doctor and Divx validator at all if the video is giving you problems. I can verify that i have had sync problems on Xvid encoded .avi files when run through Divx Doctor. The program is a good idea, but it is also very old and i feel that it is losing its place as newer codecs are being used since it was last [anf first] updated.

The workaround i have found best is to convert to a different divx format using the "mencoder" command in the terminal. The resulting file you will get will be a quicktime friendly .avi without the need to run through Divx doctor at all. Just open it up and select EXPORT and choose Toast VCD. I suggest reading the how-to in this thread:

https://www.videohelp.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=148457

It is lengthy but it explains everything you need to know using that method.

Hope this helps.

[NifTBean]

Hmmm, i tried using mnencoder, but this is the crazy stuff it gives me in the terminal...

[MAChine:~] critchie% mencoder -ovc lavc -oac pcm /Users/critchie/Desktop/Movies/AVI/XXX1.avi -o /Users/critchie/Desktop/Movies/MPG/XXX1.avi
dyld: mencoder can't open library: /usr/local/lib/libvorbis.0.dylib (No such file or directory, errno = 2)
Trace/BPT trap

Whats wrong there? I feel as if I might have not installed mencoder properly or something...

[ZeroSix]

is the audio on your Divx Ogg format? I wouldnt know what to do if it is. Maybe get an ogg vorbis library for mencoder???

try using the same command on a different inpout file, such as a .mpg or different .avi and see what you get.

Major, if you read this could you please comment?

How does mencoder handle ogg vorbis audio streams... I have NO experience in this department.