dVDLab newbie question - audio

[falberni]

Hi all,

I got the courage to try DVDLab. I had 11 mpeg files that were enough to nearly fill one DVD disk. Had no problem making a menu for 11 movies and linking the movies to the menu objects. After compiling the DVD, found out that four of the 11 movies had no audio. The movies do not have primary streams. The video and audio is already muxed. I made some of the mpegs with TMPGEnc and some of them with Pinnacle Studio 8. I don't remember which one is which. How can I proceed to find out what's wrong with the audio in the mpeg files that don't play the audio? By the way, each mpeg file can be played individually in PwerDVD and they all have sound.

Another question... Is there a way to preview the DVD in DVDLab before it is compiled? It seems like the simulator only lets you check the navigation but it does not actually play the titles in the DVD, like DVD WS does.

[housepig]

you want to make sure that all of your audio streams are the same - same format, same frequency, same bitrate.

as far as previewing in DVD Lab, that might come in a future version, but I wouldn't count on it - the best bet is to compile and preview in PowerDVD or WinDVD from your hard disc.

[falberni]

Which SW could display the audio info? I'm sure I have everything I need but I don't use them often enough to know what each SW does exactly.

[housepig]

you can use MpegProperties (look in the Tools section) to find out.

Or you can take the safe route - demux all your files, take all the audio and convert it all to a uniform format.

basically you want to avoid having one file with AC3, another file with MP2, a third file with PCM WAV, etc... you want them to all be AC3, or MP2, or PCM.

[Megahurts]

falberni

Even though DVDlab uses 1 titleset, it will save the different audio formats in the VOB files but only play the first stream. You will need to edit the VTS.IFO file with IFOEdit to access the other audio stream. Since your files made with TMPGEnc are MPEG-1 audio, I'll assume the files made with Pinnacle Studio 8 are PCM. I believe DVDlab defalts to PCM files as 1st audio stream, if so then the 2nd stream will be MPEG-1.

If you're still interested, try this:

1) Note the clip numbers that have audio.
2) Open DVDlab and select Tools/IFO Editor-Audio.
3) Choose folder with the DVD files and select Number of Audio Streams = 2 then close.
4) Open VTS_01_0.IFO and click on Audio 2: and specify the attributes. (Mpeg-1, PCM, etc.)
5) Double click VTS_PGCITI. Each VTS_PGC = a clip. Choose a PGC that has no audio.
6) There will be a value for Audio stream 1 and stream 2 status. Transpose the 2 values.
7) Scroll down to the 1st Post command and right click. Choose 'Add Pre Command'.
8) Right click on Pre Command and select Edit Command, choose (SetSTN) Set Audio Stream Nr, Stream = 1. (This will start the clip with the correct audio stream without having to use the remote)
9) Repeat step 5 to 8 for all the PGC's with no audio.
10) Do step 7 to 8, except Choose a PGC that has audio and enter Stream = 0.
11) Save file. You're done.

Looks complicated but only takes a few minutes. I've tried this with 3 audio formats (PCM, MPEG-1, and AC3 6ch) and any menu audio format and it works.

Hope this helps,

Chas

[lal]

Hi Megahurts,

I have the same problems with DVD Lab. I don't hear any audio when I
Play my second title. I've compiled my dvd with two vob files (one with
ac-3 audio and other with LPCM audio). It just plays the first vob file
correctly.

I tried to follow your procedure but my DVD Lab (trial download
version 1.1) doesn't show "IFO Editor-Audio" in tools menu.
How can I proceed further?

Appreciate your help.

Thanks.

[turk690]

With no IFO-edit two procedures are possible for one objective (that is to create a consistent audio format for all clips): either make all AC3 or all LPCM. If there is space on the DVD-R I will make them all LPCM; the *.vob with the ac3 track will be opened with DVD2AVI with save to wav file audio option chosen. Then vob is demuxed (with TMPGEnc, for example) to get the *.m2v, to now be paired with the *.wav made by DVD2AVI. Or, to convert the LPCM vob to ac3, again this vob is demuxed to get the *.wav, which can be encoded (with BeSweet, for example) to obtain an *.ac3 file. Converting the LPCM to ac3 is trickier because the resulting ac3 should match EXACTLY the characteristics of the other ac3, which, if 5.1ch will require said DD encoders. Lumping all tracks into a single VTS is one of DVD-labs weak points. Other DVD authoring programs out there sidestep this by creating a separate VTS for every video clip submitted as asset (such as DVDit!, DVD Workshop, TMPGEnc DVD Author, etc.). Those DVD authoring programs' menu creation capabilities pale beside DVD-lab's, however. You really can't have it all.

[lal]

turk690,

Thanks for the explanation. I tried your second suggestion, converting
LPCM to AC-3 using BeSweet (demuxed using TMPGenc). But when
I created DVD there is still no audio for the second clip. I alson tried
ac3fix tool to fix any header issues but it reported the file is fine.
I am lost now.

Thanks.

[turk690]

Converting the LPCM *.vob to ac3 does not guarantee it's identical in specs to the existing ac3 *.vob. Not all is lost, though. You can still demux the ac3 vob, to a *.wav file by way of DVD2AVI. Then you reencode it to *.ac3, using the exact same settings used in BeSweet for the first one u did. For 2.0ch Dolby digital bitrates best used according to experience are 192, 224, & 256kb/s. Going above these do not produce audible improvements, and at least in the case of BeSweet, sometimes create unspec DD streams (whatever that means, which it must be when audible glitches get introduced, and DVD-lab is not able to compile due to "cannot parse DD stream" errors).

[Skynet107]

Just a word of caution. Besweet seems to have problems creating AC3 2 channel audio, or maybe as mentioned the spec does not like anything above 224kbits. I did serveral wave to AC3 2.0 using Besweet and the DVD had no audio. Converting them to mp2 using another app gave me my audio back. Keep this in mind.

[lal]

I converted LPCM to AC-3 using BeSweet and when I burn a DVD there
is no audio. As Skynet107 said, it is not working.

Is there any other tool (free) which can convert LPCM to AC-3?

[mastersmurfie]

Try AC3Machine for converting. It's a front end for BeSweet, and seems to work better than BeSweet alone. I think you can still get it from www.Doom9.org

[lal]

mastersmurfie - I tried AC3Machine but still there is not audio in the resulting DVD. If I play the .ac3 file seperately, it plays fine.

Skynet107 - Can you pls tell me which tool you used to convert to mp2?

[Megahurts]

lal, sorry for the late response.

If you're using AC3 and LPCM audio, you should have 2 audio tracks in the 'Title Set (Movie) attributes' (VTS overview page).

1) Click on the 2nd audio and change it to AC3, 2 channel
2) Choose VTS_PGCITI and select the VTS_PGC that uses the AC3 audio
3) Transpose the Audio stream 1 & 2 status values
4) Add a Pre Command (SetSTN) Set Audio Stream Nr =1
5) Choose the VTS_PGC the uses the LPCM audio and add a Pre Command Set Audio Stream = 0
6) Save file

Hope you find this useful,

Chas