Problems reading or converting a 5 channel ac3 file

[zanos]

I've downloaded a number of avi files that contain 5 to 6 channel ac3 audio and I have successful authored these to dvd but for some reason I have been unable to read this one particular one. I hear the audio if I play the file on my computer but cannot read or convert the audio file. Anyone have any suggestions? Is the file damaged? If it is can it be repaired? I've extracted it to a wav file using virtualdub absolutely nothing happens when I open it in besweet or any other program to convert or repair it.

[Baldrick]

tried extract the ac3 with virtualdubmod, avimuxgui?

[Soopafresh]

Can you demux the AVI ? Open it in Gspot and make certain it is indeed an AC3.

Download this command line app and run it on the AC3 file. The syntax is easy. This is the best AC3 fixer I've found (so far).

http://vidphiles.com/AC3%20Cutter%20v0.1.zip

[zanos]

Baldrick, I just tried that and the file extracts fine but other programs don't recognize it which pretty much prevents me from muxing it or dumping it into an authoring program.

Soopafresh, according to gspot it is an ac3 file. I'm not sure how you use ac3cutter though. I'm used to using programs with a gui.

[spiderlegs]

Hey, does that ac3cutter separate all the different tracks into separate wave files? I'd love to take some of these 5.1 files I run across and remix them for video. Don't they re-engineer the sound for home viewing on DVDs? SOmetimes, if I'm watching a movie while someone else in the house is sleeping, I'm constantly having to adjust the volume up so I can hear what the characters are saying, then adjust it down for action sequences. If you're wayching a film with lots of scene cutaways, that gets to be annoying as hell. I would love to just normalize all the Dolby 5.1 files I come across.

[guns1inger]

spiderlegs - do you have an amp to decode AC3, or do you just use the stereo output from your DVD player ?

Most amps, and many DVD players, have a mode to normalise the audio from AC3 sources. It can save you butchering the track for no reason. Look for either DNR or midnight listening mode or similar.

[spiderlegs]

We have a 5.1 system but it's about 5 years old and all the different sound adjustments are canned. Iwind up watching movies late at night just with the TV volume, that's why I have to adjust. I get insomnia from time to time, and I've just fed it by watching movies at night.

[guns1inger]

I know the feeling (all too well). I end up turning on the subtitles and only adjust for the big things, like explosions. Check out your DVD player menu though. I know my Pioneer can do it.