No audio on burned SVCD mpg

[dannyc]

I have an SVCD MPEG-2 file which plays perfectly on PC, but as soon as I burn it the resulting disc has no audio - whether I play it on standalone or PC.

I've tried burning with both Nero 6.6ultra and VCDEasy 2.0.1 and always the same result.

I've checked with Gspot and the audio of the source mpg file is: 44100 Hz, 224 kbp/s, 2channel

Any ideas why it won't burn? Am I missing something really obvious?

Thanks in advance,
Dan

[reboot]

How did you acquire your SVCD MPEG-2 file?

[uspilot]

I am having the same problem and have yet to resolve it. If anyone has the answer I would appreciate a reply also.
Thanks.

[dannyc]

Posted: 02 Feb, 2005 21:14

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How did you acquire your SVCD MPEG-2 file?

Not sure I can answer that without incriminating myself

Is that important?

[reboot]

Not really. I just wanted to know if it was something YOU encoded, or something that came that way.
Odds are the audio is of a sort that you don't have a codec for.
Try demuxing it in tmpgenc. See what happens.
It should output a video file (m2v) and an audio file (mpa).
If it does, then we can work on getting it back onto a disk.

[dannyc]

Oh right - no, definitely not something I encoded myself.

I wondered about the codec thing but came to the conclusion that if it plays on my PC, I must have it (also, Gspot says I have both audio & video codecs installed for the file).

Anyhoo, demuxed the file in TMPGenc. End result = 'videofile.m2v' and 'audiofile.mp2'

Is .mp2 different to .mpa? Could that be the reason..?

[sanjayk]

Hi dannyc,

try this out using TMPGEnc. Demux both video & audio stream to respective .m2v & .mp2 files. Re-encode the .mp2 file to .wav file using TMPGEnc (select stream type=Audio only). Then re-encode the .m2v file and .wav file to mpeg stream using SVCD template.

[mats.hogberg]

Your source seem fine - at least as far as codecs goes. Try just to multiplex the m2v and mp2 (mp2 and mpa is the same thing here) as SVCD using TMPGEnc mpeg tools. Author as SVCD (Preferably using VCDEasy) and burn (to a CD-RW, until youy're sure it works). Reencoding video at this point will only give you a drop in quality.

/Mats

[dannyc]

Thanks for your replies, I will try your suggestions and let you know the outcomes.

Cheers,
Dan

[dannyc]

Ok guys, tried both suggestions. Even uninstalled/reinstalled codecs.

Still exactly the same thing is happening.

What the hell could be doing this?!? It should work!!

[David K]

The audio on a SVCD could either be mpeg 1 audio, or mpeg 2 audio.
(In contrast to VCD where the audio can only be mpeg 1 audio.) In theory, decoders are supposed to be able to handle them both, but I've run into programs that cannot read one of them when muxed as a SVCD.

So you could try converting the audio you demuxed into a wav file and then encode the wav to both types (mpeg 1 audio and mpeg 2 audio) and then remux into two different mpeg system files and then reauthor each as a new SVCD and then try each one.

Or you could just play the original file on your computer!

[mats.hogberg]

The audio on a SVCD could either be mpeg 1 audio, or mpeg 2 audio.

mpeg1 layer 2 (AKA mp2) is the "standard".

/Mats

[David K]

[/quote] mpeg1 layer 2 (AKA mp2) is the "standard".[quote]

Quite correct. Given the dubious origin of the SVCD file in question, it might be non-standard. Anyway, that was the only thing I could think of that might be off about the audio. The other thing could be the structure of the SVCD authoring itself. You would need to demux it and then re-author it with a known standard SVCD authoring program like VCDEasy.

[js1701]

Hi All,

First timer here. I am having the same problem. I have an mpeg file. It plays fine on the pc but when I burn a vcd, picture quality is great BUT i get no sound. Any specific suggestions?

[mats.hogberg]

What's the audio codec in the source file, and what do you use when authoring it as VCD?

/Mats

[js1701]

What's the audio codec in the source file, and what do you use when authoring it as VCD?

/Mats

Thanks for the reply. I'm not sure where to get that info but this is what I have: In my source folder on my hard drive, I have 4 files with the following extensions:

file.mpg (this I assume is the movie file in mpg 1 format)
file.pmf
file.pmf.info
file.pmf.thumb

I don't know what the other are.
I used Nero Express. It had to convert the files to "VCD compliant mpeg1 format".

Pls let me know if you need more info (and where to look for it). Thanks.

btw, its ver 5.5.9.9

[mats.hogberg]

file.mpg (this I assume is the movie file in mpg 1 format)

What makes you do this assumption?

I used Nero Express. It had to convert the files to "VCD compliant mpeg1 format"

Obviously, the audio in file.mpg is in a format Nero doen't understand (or gets wrong) so it simply just creates a new audio track with what it "hears" - nothing.
Chances are, that file.mpg is already in a format suitable for VCD or SVCD without further conversion - Nero is known (infamous) for reencoding already compliant sources "just to be sure" it seems, unnecessarily reducing the end quality. If your sorce isn't compliant, reencode with a real mpeg encoder - TMPGEnc is free for VCD use. Then author with VCDEasy (the last free version is quite good). If VCDEasy can't burn the VCD to disc, just create the cue/bin with VCDEasy, and use Nero to burn the cue/bin.

/Mats

[js1701]

What makes you do this assumption?

I assumed file.mpg was the video file for 2 reasons: it's size compared to the other files and that when I double click it, the video plays.

Obviously, the audio in file.mpg is in a format Nero doen't understand (or gets wrong) so it simply just creates a new audio track with what it "hears" - nothing. Chances are, that file.mpg is already in a format suitable for VCD or SVCD without further conversion - Nero is known (infamous) for reencoding already compliant sources "just to be sure" it seems, unnecessarily reducing the end quality.

So does that mean that when the file was originally created onto the PC, it was ready to go straight to VCD?

If your sorce isn't compliant, reencode with a real mpeg encoder - TMPGEnc is free for VCD use. Then author with VCDEasy (the last free version is quite good). If VCDEasy can't burn the VCD to disc, just create the cue/bin with VCDEasy, and use Nero to burn the cue/bin.

I think you just lost me. I should use TMPGEnc to convert to VCD? And can you tell me what is the difference between encode and author. Is encodeing converting from one format to another while authoring is the actual burning process? I also don't understand the part about creating the "cue/bin with VCDEasy, and use Nero to burn the cue/bin. " Thanks and sorry to be such a newb.

[mats.hogberg]

I assumed file.mpg was the video file for 2 reasons: it's size compared to the other files and that when I double click it, the video plays.

Fair enough, but what makes you think it's mpeg 1, specifically?

So does that mean that when the file was originally created onto the PC, it was ready to go straight to VCD?

Might be, not necessarily VCD, but most of the time, an mpg is encoded for some other higher purpose than just creating an mpg, often as source material for VCD, SVCD or DVD.

And can you tell me what is the difference between encode and author. Is encodeing converting from one format to another while authoring is the actual burning process? I also don't understand the part about creating the "cue/bin with VCDEasy, and use Nero to burn the cue/bin.

Encoding is (mostly) converting from one format to anouther - it could also be the same format, byt with different properties. Authoring comes between "encoding" and "burning". The authoring is the process where menu structure, what happens when you press different buttons on the remote and such things are created. For a DVD, the mpgs and audio are wrapped as VOBs, IFO and BUPs are created... then the output from authoring is written (burned) to disk. To make it even easier for the burner app, many authoring apps can further wrap all it's out put in an ISO or a CUE/BIN pair, that's essentially the CD/DVD ready to be "stamped" onto a CD-R or writable DVD.

/Mats

[js1701]

Fair enough, but what makes you think it's mpeg 1, specifically?

That's what the nero message said... that it would be converted to vcd compliant mpg 1 format. I will give it a go w/ TMPGEnc and VCDEasy. Thanks.

[mats.hogberg]

the nero message said... that it would be converted to vcd compliant mpg 1 format.

You get that message because you told Nero that you wanted to create a VCD. Nero tries to take whatever you shove into it, and create whatever you tell it to. You told Nero to create a VCD, so Nero has to create a VCD compliant mpeg 1.
OK, time to try latest version of GSpot (that supports mpeg) on your mpeg to really find out what you got on your hands, I'd say.

/Mats

[js1701]

mats.hogberg,

I ran it thru TMPGEnc and burned it in Nero again. I did not get the warning AND now the VCD has sound. All id well. But this was a 1 hr video and TMPGEnc took about 3 to run with it!

Once it was done, I imported this file into MovieMaker and it broke it up into clips where I could remove unwanted sections. I have another video that I haven't run thru TMPGEnc but when I import that into WMM, it's not broken up into different clips. Is this because one file is encoded as a VCD (split up) and one is regular mpeg (not split when imported)?

[mats.hogberg]

Well, encoding time is determined by TMPGEnc settings and your processor. Avoid highets motion search precision - it takes forever and doesn't improve (noicable) on High. I'd dare to say you can even set this to fast. IMO, your better off doing all your edits before encoding. mpeg is the final stage, and not meant to be edited. Why MovieMaker breaks the clip up I have no idea - regular and VCD mpegs are pretty much the same in most respects (except for how it's multiplexed).

/Mats