m2t file, any way to transcode and preserve ac3? (tried Streamclip/ffmpegX)

[Zimdvd]

I've got some .m2t files using the Apple Firewire SDK from my cable box. The m2t files contain 5.1 sound.

I've tried Streamclip and now ffmpegX, and have yet to be successful in converting the video to another format and preserving the 5.1 track.

Both seem to be able to downconvert to 2-ch mp3.

I've tried selecting audio passthru in ffmpegX, but no luck.

A minor oddity (and possibly un-related/extraneous), I noted that if I select "Play" inside ffmpegx, there is no audio, but if I use mplayer from the command line, there is audio. Obviously ffmpegx can access the audio since it is there to be down-converted, but that's not what I wanted.

Or is there another program I should try (and I'm more than comfortable installing/using any unix utils that might exist).

Thanks,
Mike

[live4ever]

Demux to m2v and ac3 with Streamclip will leave the audio untouched. I use Toast to convert to DVD with 5.1 audio from HDTV transport streams.

What do you want the video codec to be?

[Frobozz]

I choose Convert to MPEG with Streamclip and it retains the 5.1 audio. I drag that to Toast and it re-encodes the video to 480i but leaves the audio intact. So I get an anamorphic 16:9 DVD with 5.1 audio from a HD program extracted with Virtual D-VHS.

[Zimdvd]

I choose Convert to MPEG with Streamclip and it retains the 5.1 audio. I drag that to Toast and it re-encodes the video to 480i but leaves the audio intact. So I get an anamorphic 16:9 DVD with 5.1 audio from a HD program extracted with Virtual D-VHS.

I'm not looking to export to DVD video (Video_ts)... I'm looking for any variety of video codec into an avi container, with 5.1 sound.

with a sample 15 minute clip I have, 528x480 video, 5.1 sound, ffmpegX will transcode (with mp3 audio), in 5-10 minutes (1.42 G4 DP).. mpeg streamclip looks to take several hours to transcode

The ts->MPEG is very fast, but all other export options are like molasses

Mike