Occasional Sound issues with a burnt DVD

[Al Slitter]

Greetings All;
I have a problem that I hope someone might be able to assist me with. The problem is when I am burn movies to a DVD the video is perfect however in some cases the audio breaks up or stutters when there is heavy base sounds or when the movie produces intensive audio.

The catch here is that the DVD’s plays well when played on my DVD inside of my computer but when the DVD is played on a standalone DVD player the audio is distorted.
I have been using Princo DVD-R media (Yes I know not the best), I have order a bunch of Japanese manufactured DVD’s and will try them once they arrive.
The DVD burner I am using is a LG GH20LS15, my system has a dual processor and 2GB of ram.
The video that I want to burn is stored on my hard drive in AVI format, I use WinAVI Video Converter to convert the movies to DVD format then use Magic DVD Copier to burn the disks. I have tried burning with DVD cloner and 1 click DVD software and the results where the same. I have changed the burn speeds to 8X, 4X and finally 1X and the results where the same. I have modified the audio bit-rates (bds) within WinAvi to both a higher and lower number and there was no improvement.
As mentioned earlier the DVD’s play well on the computer but on standalone DVD player the sound breaks up, what are your thoughts?

Thank you in advance.

[hech54]

The video that I want to burn is stored on my hard drive in AVI format

There is your problem.

[Al Slitter]

Thank you for the quick reply but am confused?
Why is storing a file in AVI format a problem?
As mentioned I changed the format to DVD (MP2) prior to burning. I was able to view the movie fine in this DVD format with my media player, then after burning a DVD I then ran the movie again using the created DVD and my systems DVD reader/writer and it was fine as in no garbled sound. The problem only occurs when playing the DVD on a stand alone DVD system!

Please clarify you response and give me an example please.

Thank you in advance.

[manono]

Don't use WinAVI. Use a decent conversion program, ones such as Avs2DVD or DVDFlick.

The reason the source of your problem is the AVI is because maybe you downloaded some garbage from the internet made by someone that didn't know what he was doing. Show us a MediaInfo printout of one of these AVIs that results in a problem DVD, one showing us the type of audio it contains. And I don't know that I'd use MP2 audio. Is there any reason you're not using AC3 audio?

[jagabo]

Decrease the audio volume by 20 dB before authoring.

[neomaine]

Have you tried in multiple standalone players or just the one? Could be that your DVD player can't handle the audio or has some other harware issue when playing that particular brand of disc.

If the finalized DVD is playing fine on your computer, shouldn't be any problem on the standalone. A Mediainfo/Gspot of the MPG file before you Author and Burn, and one of the VOB file afterwards would be helpful.

I'd also recommend only using ImageBurn for burning and Taiyo Yuden or Verbatim discs for your DVDr5 media. Anything else tends to introduce problems.

[Al Slitter]

Thank you all for the replies, I will attempt to respond to the last replies in the one message.

Regarding: The question (Have you tried the DVD in more than one stand alone DVD player?)
The answer is yes however only in one other unit as of today! The result where exactly the same!

Regarding: (If the finalized DVD is playing fine on your computer, shouldn't be any problem on the standalone. A Mediainfo/Gspot of the MPG file before you Author and Burn, and one of the VOB file afterwards would be helpful.)
I agree this should not be an issue and has me perplexed, I will try and figure out how to do this then post the result a little bit later.

Regarding: (I'd also recommend only using ImageBurn for burning and Taiyo Yuden or Verbatim discs for your DVDr5 media. Anything else tends to introduce problems.)
I will get a copy of Image Burn and give it a try.

Regarding: (Don't use WinAVI. Use a decent conversion program, ones such as Avs2DVD or DVDFlick.)
I have down loaded both of them and will try each one out then reply with results.

Regarding: (Show us a MediaInfo printout of one of these AVIs that results in a problem DVD, one showing us the type of audio it contains. And I don't know that I'd use MP2 audio. Is there any reason you're not using AC3 audio?
Hear again I will try and figure out how to do this and will post results later. Regarding my usage of the term MP2, that was I suppose an error on my part I had thought that DVD format was in fact MP2, The audio used in the compilation is AC3 at a bit rate of 192,000 bps.

Finally, my longer term project is to finish off a home theatre system supported by a computerized system where all of my movies will be run from disk.
However I am still a few months away from this completed system, I have a large quantity of DVD’s that I own and they are being ripped and stored to disk, in addition I am adding to this database older movies that I do not possess and am incapable of getting due to my location in SE Asia.
Please bear with me as when it comes to this as I am a mere novice and I gratefully will take my lead from you who are vastly more experienced than me.

Thank you all again for your assistance and patience.

[jagabo]

Decrease the audio volume by 20 dB before authoring.

AC3 should be at a nominal -20 dB. Your source was probably normalized to 0 dB. The DVD player is boosting the audio by 20 dB and blowing it out. It's not happening on your computer because your player or audio mixer has a peak limiter that is automatically reducing the audio level.

[Al Slitter]

Bingo, I think we are on to something here!

However, how do I do this or rather what application should I be using to change my audio to a negative db?

I will use whatever you suggest.

Thank you again.

[jagabo]

Audacity with the ffmpeg plugin can import the audio directly from your source file. Then you can adjust the volume and export.

[Al Slitter]

Thank you for the information, am unsure how this all works but I will give it a try!
If I have problems I will come back to you and then we can go from there.

Thank you again!

[Al Slitter]

Hello jagabo;
OK, I have Audacity with the ffmpeg plugin installed and have loaded the audio from the movie into the application and it is working; however I cannot figure out how to adjust the audio by a negative 20db. I must admit that I am a bit over-whelmed by the functionality of this product. I have concerns that I might make things worse with the audio so if you could please lead me along a bit.

Thank you in advance!

[Al Slitter]

Hello jagabo;
After some hunting around I think that I figured it out, using the "mixer" was able to lower the db to the specified -20db.
I then tried to export the audio file back to the AVI file that it came from. However I could not get this to work properly as the Export function merely created new audio files in the sub directory that the movie resides in. What I need to do is have this modified AC3 file and replace the audio file located within the AVI file on my system.
I have tried I believe all of the export options and none integrated the revised audio file into the movie/AVI file.

Suggestions please!

[jagabo]

Use the Effects -> Amplify in Audacity.

Export from Audacity as WAV, MP3 or AC3. Then use VirtualDub to mux the new audio with the old video:

File -> Open Video File
Audio -> Audio from another file
Video -> Direct Stream Copy (remux, don't reencode)
File -> Save as AVI

[Al Slitter]

Hello jagabo;

Thank you for the reply

As recommended by you I down line loaded VirtualDub to my system.
I then went back to Audacity and imported the sound file, then I changed the db to a -20db as recommended then exported the sound file in AC3 format to a sub directory that I set up.
I then opened up Virtualdub and as per your instructions imported the Video file into the Virtualdub program.
However when doing this I received an error that read (Could Not Locate Decompress or Format Format Xvid .

This surprised me as I was unaware that the movie had been ripped and saved as an Xvid file.

What are your suggestion now?

Best Regards


Al

[jagabo]

Install Xvid.

If you're working on a 64 bit windows system be aware that 32 bit programs and 64 bit programs cannot access each others resources. Ie, 64 bit programs can't access 32 bit codecs and 32 bit programs can't access 64 bit codecs. So if you are using 32 bit Virtualdub you need 32 bit Xvid.

[Al Slitter]

Hello jagabo;

Here is the final result after installing the Xvid codec.

Was able to get the output file exported from Audacity, I then converted the file from AVI to DVD and burnt it.
On viewing the movie the sound was much lower as expected, however the choppiness of the audio was still apparent.

I am unsure if this can be fixed/repaired?

Thank you again for all of your assistance.

[jagabo]

If the problem is the same (except for the lower volume) maybe there's something wrong with the AC3 encoding or the muxing? Can you post a short sample of the video you made?

[Al Slitter]

Hello jagabo;
Sorry for the delay but needed to get other things done!

My question is how do I post a short sample of the video on this website?
As mentioned I am a total newbie but I learn fairly quickly.

Thanks in advance

[jagabo]

The easiest is to use Mpg2Cut2. Open a VOB file, use the mark-in (left square bracket) and mark-out (right square bracket) tools to mark a section, then select File -> Save This Clip. That will create an MPG file that you can upload. That's not perfect our purposes here because it doesn't retain the original muxing of the data. But at least we'll be able to see if there's something wrong with the MPEG 2 video or AC3 audio.

[Al Slitter]

Hello jagabo;


Here we go again; I down line loaded Mpg2Cut2 and installed the program. I then launched the program and had to go back to Audacity to save the audio from the AVI file as a Mpeg2 file as AC3 is not supported. When I finished this I added the Mpeg2 audio file to Mpg2Cut2 and receive a error message, it read ( No Mpeg Pack/Seq header at start ). I went to the help area and found nothing there to indicate the next step.

Your thoughts?

[jagabo]

Use Mpg2Cut2 to open a VOB from from the DVD you made -- the one that's giving you problems. The file it saves will be an MPG file with both the audio and video.

[Al Slitter]

My mistake, I had thought a VOB file was the audio file from the AVI. As I had deleted the VOB I am now making a new one up for testing and will respond soon.
One question though, I have been using "WinAvi Video Converter" to do this maybe I should also try another product? A fellow earlier in the post suggested that I do this, what are your thoughts?

[Al Slitter]

Hello jagabo;
First off how did you become so smart, you are light years ahead of most people you really know your way around audio video construction and dis-assembly!

I have the MPEG now and will try up loading it, hopefully this works?
Please note the the breaking up occurs during high activity scenes and if viewed on my computer they are fine but when played on stand alone DVD players the breaking up occurs.

Oh my the file I tried to up date failed I received a message saying "Bad Request

Your browser sent a request that this server could not understand. ". Please note the Mpeg is 24.8Mb. well below the 30Mb limit.

Thoughts as to what is wrong?


Thank you again!

[jagabo]

I would try a smaller file. The 30 MB limit may be on the size of the BinHex data transferred (which is typically about 25 percent larger), not the size of the file itself. Don't use the Insert Video button, use the Upload Files/Manage Attachments button.

[manono]

Or upload to a third party filesharing site, one such as SendSpace or MediaFire, and provide the link.

[Al Slitter]

Hello and everyone who responded to my request for assistance.

The issue I had with the garbled sound on burnt a DVD’s is now in my mind over.
I finally received some new DVD’s so I was able to try some recommended programs for encoding of the AVI files. I did this using DVD Flick and burnt a DVD. This is the same AVI that I have been using for testing though out this process. The result was a clean DVD that performed well without the sound break-up, this then points the evil finger at WinAVI as the culprit; which (manono) had suggested.
So out with the old and in with the new, I want to thank all that replied to my call for assistance especially “jagabo”.
The effort put into this by jagabo is much appreciated and the knowledge that I have gained by following his recommendations is invaluable.
Thanks again to all!

[jagabo]

I'm glad to hear you got it worked out. I'll have to keep in mind that WinAVI Video Converter is crapware!

[Al Slitter]

Thank you again for all of you help is is much appreciated.