DVDLab: No audio preview when setting chapter points?

[MrMungus]

I'm checking out DVDLab. In TMPGEnc DVD Author I could hear the audio while previewing a file and finding chapter points. In DVDLab, I have no audio while adding chapter points. Is this normal?

[mastersmurfie]

from the DVD-Lab website:

The Preview window shows video content. For audio content, DVD-lab hands off the audio file to whatever application the Operating System thinks is associated with that file type (WAV, AC3, MPA). Whatever plays that file on your system outside of DVD-lab gets called when a preview of that audio file type is requested

my version 1.3 BETA 1 does NOT do this...maybe the newer versions do???

just a thought

mastersmurfie

[awlchu]

I'm checking out DVDLab. In TMPGEnc DVD Author I could hear the audio while previewing a file and finding chapter points. In DVDLab, I have no audio while adding chapter points. Is this normal?

yes, no audio preview

[Sillyname]

Oh crap. I'm making a concert DVD and I bought DVD-lab. I position my chapters by what's going on on the audio!!! There's got to be a fix to this. It's the elementary stream shite! I just know it! Maybe if I demux after setting chapter points...

[SaSi]

Oh crap. I'm making a concert DVD and I bought DVD-lab. I position my chapters by what's going on on the audio!!! There's got to be a fix to this. It's the elementary stream shite! I just know it! Maybe if I demux after setting chapter points...

Be thankful you haven't purchased Scenarist. With it, you set chapter points on a timeline, no preview facility whatsoever.

Which has forced me to find a way out of it. I use VirtualDUBMPEG, open the mpeg-2 video stream and scan it from there. I then copy the time stamp from VirtualDUB's status line to Scenarist's chapter point.

Perhaps the same technique can be used with DVDLab, although you don'r really type in the time but scroll through the movie.

[Josef K]

I position my chapters by what's going on on the audio!!!

You can preview audio in DVD-lab - but would you want to...?

What you have to do is drag your audio asset to the preview window. However, the catch is that the video will go blank.

I haven't seen the need to set chapter points according to audio cues before so I don't know if you can do it just by audio alone - I suspect you can, though. If all you need is to hear:

End of song 1 <Insert chapter> Beginning of song 2

Then you should be fine. Expect a lot of blind scrubbing, though, unless you find approximate timecodes in another media player prior to authoring.

[housepig]

what I've done for concert video, is compile the audio & video with generic chapters, like 1 every 3 minutes. I keep this on the hard drive.

then I open it with PowerDVD, scrub through it and find the timings for all the songs, I just make a list on paper*.

then open DVD Lab back up, reopen the project, remove the dummy chapters and replace with the correct chapter times.

( * - now that I think of it - if you have Notepad open, and you write the times down one-per-line in the proper format, you can just cut and paste that in the chapter window, or import it as a chapter file when you reopen the DVD Lab project.)

[Sillyname]

I position my chapters by what's going on on the audio!!!

You can preview audio in DVD-lab - but would you want to...?

What you have to do is drag your audio asset to the preview window. However, the catch is that the video will go blank.

I haven't seen the need to set chapter points according to audio cues before so I don't know if you can do it just by audio alone - I suspect you can, though. If all you need is to hear:

End of song 1 <Insert chapter> Beginning of song 2

Then you should be fine. Expect a lot of blind scrubbing, though, unless you find approximate timecodes in another media player prior to authoring.

Why is there an Audio Synch Tool? If Mediachance is so worried about how they will look if they allowed you to actually "hear" what is going on at the same time that you are previewing it, then why are they trying to make up for synch issues? Their FAQ says that I would need special hardware to synch the stuff for preview but every other program I have worked with ran just fine on the computers I have. Are they grooming their program for 386s?

[DaveS]

Why is there an Audio Synch Tool? If Mediachance is so worried about how they will look if they allowed you to actually "hear" what is going on at the same time that you are previewing it, then why are they trying to make up for synch issues? Their FAQ says that I would need special hardware to synch the stuff for preview but every other program I have worked with ran just fine on the computers I have. Are they grooming their program for 386s?

I think 'they' is only one guy - not sure how one person could crank out all that s/w, but that's what the site says. Actually it says he opened an office in Europe w/ 3 people in it. I don't think they are worried about anything...would be useful to get a real answer via email on it.

[Sillyname]

Why is there an Audio Synch Tool? If Mediachance is so worried about how they will look if they allowed you to actually "hear" what is going on at the same time that you are previewing it, then why are they trying to make up for synch issues? Their FAQ says that I would need special hardware to synch the stuff for preview but every other program I have worked with ran just fine on the computers I have. Are they grooming their program for 386s?

I think 'they' is only one guy - not sure how one person could crank out all that s/w, but that's what the site says. Actually it says he opened an office in Europe w/ 3 people in it. I don't think they are worried about anything...would be useful to get a real answer via email on it.

And to add to the madness, How does one set subtitles if they cannot hear the audio in realtion to the video?

[Safesurfer]

Nobody seems to have mentioned it, but chapter points can only be set on an I-frame, so you are not going to be able to perfectly set a chapter point by the audio. The following is taken from the DVD-Lab manual:-

"To speed-up the authoring process, DVD-lab uses MPEG GOP timecode to set Chapter Points. An common error factor on such finding Chapter Points is about +/- 0.5 second, which is quite acceptable for most projects. To gain better accuracy, DVD-lab can use also more precise frame-indexing. The usual error for frame-indexing is about +/- 0.25 second. This is the best DVD can offer since Chapter Points must be on an MPEG I-frame marker which comes every 15 frames or so."

So, as you can see, even using Frame indexing the best you can get is within 0.25 secs.

[Sillyname]

Nobody seems to have mentioned it, but chapter points can only be set on an I-frame, so you are not going to be able to perfectly set a chapter point by the audio. The following is taken from the DVD-Lab manual:-

"To speed-up the authoring process, DVD-lab uses MPEG GOP timecode to set Chapter Points. An common error factor on such finding Chapter Points is about +/- 0.5 second, which is quite acceptable for most projects. To gain better accuracy, DVD-lab can use also more precise frame-indexing. The usual error for frame-indexing is about +/- 0.25 second. This is the best DVD can offer since Chapter Points must be on an MPEG I-frame marker which comes every 15 frames or so."

So, as you can see, even using Frame indexing the best you can get is within 0.25 secs.

Hey Safesurfer? Listen to the Butthole Surfers?

That's who I'm doing this for. It's an Official Bootleg of sorts. 6 angles over 2 days. I just wanted everything perfect. 'Specially since I'm so damn poor and not getting paid for it.

[awlchu]

@sillyname,

If Oscar could reliably write s/w to play back sync'ed audio with video he would do it.

I think it has alot to do with the fundamentals behind DVDlab. The program works well with elementary streams, ie, separate ES for audio and video. From what I have heard/read from power-programmers that syncing two or more files in a PC environment is a programming nightmare.

As far as subtitles go, I also wondered why Oscar put so much effort into the subtitling 'process' in DLP. It appears he provided a very rich set of tools for subtitles but no real way of validating your work afterwards (within DLP). I do recall Oscar saying that he suggests people use more dedicated tools for subtitles and just import the output into DLP.

In my mind, I feel that subtitles are part of the video editing process and not necessary part of the authoring process. With that mindset, I do all my subtitle work in an editing tool (I use Editstudio) and just import the .sub file into DLP for authoring. All lip-sync is done in Editstudio and I just import the results in DLP to be compiled.

[Sillyname]

@awlchu

I've never had the use for subtitles but I was just giving an example. I guess he's just giving the ability to change the font with all the text info being from another program. I wonder if my MediaStudio does it?

How's EditStudio?

[awlchu]

Editstudio is a gem of a program!! And you can buy their mpeg encoder for $39 which is mainconcept's core encoder!

And their supports rivals anything I have experience with any other 3rd party support.

I do all my subtitle work in Editstudio and output it into a .sub format that reads in directly intoi DLP.

[hiptune]

Oh crap. I'm making a concert DVD and I bought DVD-lab. I position my chapters by what's going on on the audio!!! There's got to be a fix to this. It's the elementary stream shite! I just know it! Maybe if I demux after setting chapter points...

Hi Silly,

You may have found a solution by now, but I thought I would give you a good quick cheap one.

tmpgenc dvd author plays the audio while you set chapters during authoring. In fact it does more precise chapter marks than dvd lab does.

I also do a lot of concert material to dvd. I also started out with dvd lab abd paid for it. Cool menus, but a slightly flawed program from a pro standpoint.

tmpgenc has a free 30 day trial I think. So you could finish it for free while you are broke, and perhaps pay later.

Feel free to email me if you are still having problems with chapters.

For dvd lab, using written notes on paper will be the best way to place chapters. But tmpgenc will get you a more solid dvd in the long run.

Jeff
hiptone@aol.com

[Sillyname]

Oh crap. I'm making a concert DVD and I bought DVD-lab. I position my chapters by what's going on on the audio!!! There's got to be a fix to this. It's the elementary stream shite! I just know it! Maybe if I demux after setting chapter points...

Hi Silly,

You may have found a solution by now, but I thought I would give you a good quick cheap one.

tmpgenc dvd author plays the audio while you set chapters during authoring. In fact it does more precise chapter marks than dvd lab does.

I also do a lot of concert material to dvd. I also started out with dvd lab abd paid for it. Cool menus, but a slightly flawed program from a pro standpoint.

tmpgenc has a free 30 day trial I think. So you could finish it for free while you are broke, and perhaps pay later.

Feel free to email me if you are still having problems with chapters.

For dvd lab, using written notes on paper will be the best way to place chapters. But tmpgenc will get you a more solid dvd in the long run.

Jeff
hiptone@aol.com

I've got tmpegenc DVD Author... I bought it at the end of last year. Did not get the AC3 update, as it requires that you have the computer logged on to the Internet. I keep the editing machine as far away from this damn filthhole as possible. I always get viruses and shtuff.

I'm pretty new to DVD-lab, though...

Is there a way I can do work on the project in DVD Author and then add to it in DVD-lab?