Audio sync problems in TMPGEnc DVD Author using VOB files

[marknyc5]

Hi,

I use DVD Author to make DVDs of movies I've burned off TV with my standalone DVD recorder. I like to make them directly from the VOB files to avoid re-encoding.

But in my latest project, the audio gets out of sync by the end of the film. How can that happen when I'm working from the VOB files, with no conversion to MPEG, etc.? And how can I fix it?

Thanks for any help,

Mark

[wwjd]

Are you sure the audio was in fact in sync in the TV broad cast? Most of us assume the audio is in sync when we record a TV show but it frequently is not. I was watching a show, not a recording, the other night and noticed that the audio was in sync at the start of the show but about a 1/3 of the way in it went out of sync!

You may be able to re-sync using videoredo or at least get it a little closer.

[generaljoy]

I'm not sure if this will work but this is what I do -

It's involved but it works I've had similar problems and this is how I solved them -

You'll need ReJig
And possibly DVDShrink and GoldWave

Rejig might just do the trick -

Rip the DVD to your hard drive using whatever ripping software you use. I use DVD Decrypter (this also removes any +/- formatting as well as region codes).

Then open Rejig ~> IFO Mode

Then once the screen pops up it select "Add." Then find the VTS_01_0.IFO for the DVD you're having the trouble with.

Check off both the video and the audio in the lower left box.

Then click the radial that says "Demux Video" on the right.

Check off "Correct AC3 Delay" then pick where you want the files to be saved too.

Hit Process and try it out.

If that doesn't fix it go on to the next steps:

The audio part of the file you ripped can be decompressed with GoldWave.

Open GoldWave and then audio part of the file you ripped. It will decompress it. Play it to make sure the audio is working. Then save as a wav.

Now using whatever DVD authoring program you should be able to use the video source from above and the new WAV file you've made. However, the WAV file may large so you might have to compress the video a little.

This really does not effect the quality of the video. Maybe very very slightly. It's nothing I've ever noticed.

You'll have to use DVDShrink for this. Load the program then pick open files and select the file the DVD you originally ripped is in.

Click the Re-Author button.

Drag over the move file from the right to the left, then click the "Compression Settings"

Use Custom Ratio from the drop down box.

Then move the bar until it's the size that will fit on the DVD with the audio and the menus etc.

Then click "Back Up" and select where you want to save your new VOB file.

You can try and resample the audio to make it fit, but that can mess it up. I always mess with the video a little as audio problems are a pain.

So then you should be able to use the new VOB file you created with DVDShrink for the video source and the WAV file you made with GoldWave.

I strongly suggest using TMPGEnc DVD Author. It's the best so I've used. You can check the sync with this program when you go to make chapters. ALWAYS CHECK THE BEGINNING AND END of the file to make sure it's synched.

If you're still having problems then I know other ways to mess around with the audio to fix it but it's involved.

Try this and I hope it works!

[marknyc5]

Thanks much for all the detailed suggestions. I tried most of them with no luck, unfortunately. In the end, I converted the VOB files to MPEGs using MPEG Video Wizard, and the sync problem went away. I wanted to work directly from the VOBs though, and don't understand why they would be out of sync when the MPEG made from them is not! Weird.

Thanks again,

Mark

[generaljoy]

Thanks much for all the detailed suggestions. I tried most of them with no luck, unfortunately. In the end, I converted the VOB files to MPEGs using MPEG Video Wizard, and the sync problem went away. I wanted to work directly from the VOBs though, and don't understand why they would be out of sync when the MPEG made from them is not! Weird.

Thanks again,

Mark

You're welcome. I have a lot of trouble with VOB files when the file is more than 1 GB. The sound never works directly from them so I have to use the wav. It gives you a louder sound which is good at least for me.

[mats.hogberg]

Keep in mind that even tho a VOB is what you find on a DVD, it's not the best thing to use when creating a DVD. Most (if not all) authoring apps are most happy if you feed them DVD compliant elementary video and audio streams (m2v + ac3/mp2/lpcm).

/Mats

[marknyc5]

I guess you're right. So what's the best program for creating the separate elements? Video Wizard seems to do a pretty good job, but are there others that are better? Is there an advantage to using separate elements rather than a combined MPEG?

[mats.hogberg]

Yes, since the authoring app has to separate audio from video anyway, before multiplexing it as VOB together with subtitles and perhaps other audio streams.
I use ReJig to demux VOBs to their elementary streams.

/Mats

[generaljoy]

Yes, since the authoring app has to separate audio from video anyway, before multiplexing it as VOB together with subtitles and perhaps other audio streams.
I use ReJig to demux VOBs to their elementary streams.

/Mats

I agree. I love ReJig. You can slice and dice DVDs using DVDShrink. That way if you want only one hour of something or just part of one DVD you can rip it using DVDShrink, then use Rejig to put it onto another DVD comp or what ever you're making.