I want my AC3!

[mbaker_jr]

Hello all! I have been making my own DVDs for just under a month now. I would like for my video to be accompanied by AC3 sound because it is highly compatible with players and doesn't take up as much space as PCM (which I have been using).

That's the brief rundown, now here's the saga (my method & concerns):
I capture analog video to an MPEG2 file using my ATI AIW 7500 with the latest version of ATI MMC. I then Import the captured MPEG2 file to TMPGEnc DVD Author, edit, make menus, author, and then burn with Nero.

Unless I tell TMPGEnc DVD Author to make my audio PCM, it uses the default MPEG2 Audio, which my reciever can not play unless I set my player to convert the digital output to PCM. My current method of using PCM in the authoring process works fine but I am concerned that I am sacrificing space that could be used for better quality video by using hefty PCM files instead of AC3.

Please help me figure this one out. Is there a setting in ATI MMC or TMPGEnc DVD Author that will let me have AC3 sound? Will I need to go through a complicated process of extracting the audio to a WAV, converting to AC3, and then re-encoding my video file to use the AC3 rather than PCM or MPEG2 or is there a simpler way?

Your help is appreciated.

Michael

[Poppa_Meth]

From your original Mpeg2. extract the audio with Virtual Dub to Wave. encode it to AC3 with FFMpeg GUI. the whole process takes me about 20 minutes. now in TDA load your video file as normal and select the AC3 file as audio instead of using the same file as you use for Video. TDA can't currently process AC3 but it can let it pass through untouched and simply mux it with the Video stream. no need to reencode anything. you add roughly 20 minutes to your time, which isn't bad considering the added versatility of AC3. and the audio extraction and encoding to AC3 is actually very simple.

[hudsonf]

Just Curious! The few times I used ffmpeg; I converted the audio to ac3 directly from the mpeg file. Is there a difference in using Virtual Dub to convert to wave first?

[Turtle49]

I just started using FFMpeg GUI to convert my audio to AC3 and I have to say it is extremely simple.
What I do is get the MPEG2 file and do a simple De-multiplex using TMPGEnc giving me a .m2v and an audio file typically a .mp2. Then I use FFMpeg GUI to convert the audio to AC3.

I pull the .m2v (video) into TMPGEnc DVD Author and tell it to use the .AC3 file for audio. Works great for me.

Hope this helps...Good luck!

[Poppa_Meth]

not sure on direct conversion. most of mine has been from DivX, which I always extract with VDub.

[Darr1960]

Vegas 4.0 with DVD Archictect has setting for 5.1 encoding during rendering

[Soulman1]

I use WinDVD Recorder along with TMPGEnc DVD Author. It offers MPEG2 compression and AC3 (2.0) encoding during the capture process. I use Pinnacle PCTV as my capture card but I'm quite sure it also supports ATI cards.

[MavDVDR]

Will I need to go through a complicated process of extracting the audio to a WAV, converting to AC3 etc. ?
Michael

There are 2 options.

Option 1 is essentially as you've described above ... I would use Goldwave to extract and maximise the audio https://www.videohelp.com/forum/userguides/160649.php
ie. Effects->Volume->Maximize, to Full Dynamic Range (or default). This is a particularly useful process to maintain a good volume in the ac3 you're about to create.

Then create the ac3 with Besweet's GUI
https://www.videohelp.com/forum/userguides/129419.php
for use in the TMPG DVD Authoring process.

The above 2 steps should take 15 minutes for a standard length movie.

Option 2: Use Goldwave as above to extract the PCM wave and "maximise" the volume but instead of converting to ac3 with BeSweet, you can use the PCM wave file as your source audio file in Sonic DVDit! which will convert it to ac3 dolby digital during the vob creation process.

Both methods give good results but bear in mind that when using Option 1 above, Win DVD Platinum and some standalone DVD players might not be able to play the sound. See this Thread
https://www.videohelp.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=194280

Option 2 doesn't have this problem.

PS. Is there any reason you use Nero to burn instead of the Burning tool in TMPGEnc Author?

[MavDVDR]

What I do is get the MPEG2 file and do a simple De-multiplex using TMPGEnc giving me a .m2v and an audio file typically a .mp2. Then I use FFMpeg GUI to convert the audio to AC3.

If you're interested in better sound quality, you might consider using TMPGEnc just to create the .m2v file (ES video only setting)
http://dvd-hq.info/Compression.html

and extracting the audio from your source file with a tool more geared toward audio, eg Goldwave or something similar.

This should give you better sounding DVD's.