joining 2 avis problemz.

[nick_gr]

I wanted to join 2 .avi files with Virtualdub or Nandub. The first error I got when I tried to open the second .avi file was "Cannot append segment: The audio streams have different data formats". I googled for it and found out that I have to open each .avi, select audio->full processing mode, then change audio->conversion and compression settings to mp3 etc, save as .avi and finally try to join the 2 new .avi's. I did, but avis' audio got out of sync. It starts ok but as we move to the end audio messes up.

I tried to open the avis with AVI-Mux_GUI-1.17.7 and it found no delay...

any clues?

[NormaJ]

It's because the audios are VBR. If you really need to join both avi, you will need to take a workaround. This is what I usually do in these cases:
VirtualDubMod to save each audio as wav, using full processing mode.
Goldwave to join both audio.wav.
VirtualDubMod to join both avi without audio, just the video. You click on Stream, stream list and disable audio. Then Direct stream copy for video. Then you append the second one and also disable the audio for this one.
Anyway, is you are planning to make a dvd with this material, yo don't need to join them, because when authoring, TDA will do the job of joining both.

Cheers.

[nick_gr]

thanks mate!

[fscarpa]

Please, how do I join the audio and video together again after that?

[cesardom]

MENCODER is your friend. This is an audio/video tool included with MPLAYER from www.mplayer.hu.

To answer your question, all your AVI files, have to share both audio and video characteristics , in order to glue them together. With MENCODER, you could create a small batch file that would make a pass at every file in question, just reworking the audio stream so all would be equal.

for /f %%i in ('dir/b c:\xxx\movie*.avi.') do mencoder %%i -o %%i-NEWAUDIO.avi -ovc copy -oac mp3lame -lameopts cbr:br=160

Then, you combine all your files (the ones created as %%i-NEWAUDIO.avi), as such:

mencoder movie1-NEWAUDIO.avi movie2-NEWAUDIO.avi movie3-NEWAUDIO.avi -o complete.avi -ovc copy -oac copy

In case your video pieces don't share the same video properties, then you would have to re-encode them while you're doing the audio portion above mentioned. This will, of course, increate processing time.


Hope that helps.

[fscarpa]

I've already made it in another way.

But thanks anyway!

[redwudz]

If you decide to join two AVIs together, check the sync afterwards, especially after the join point. Some AVIs from the net are cut improperly and there may be missing frames at the end of one and the beginning of another.

If you plan to make a DVD of the two files, instead of joining, you can add them separately into an authoring program, as mentioned, and the sync should be fine. You might see a little jump in the video or audio as it skips over some missing frames, but the sync should maintain. This is usually the better choice when making a DVD from those type of files. But watch out for VBR audio or you may end up with major sync problems with either method.

[fscarpa]

The problem of making a DVD directly from the separated files is that I use to add a permanent subtitle to the video, and I don't think there's an authoring program that allows me to join the files and add the subtitles simultaneously (is there?). So, I have to join them, filter to add the subtitle and only then make a DVD.
And... as mentioned above, what if there's a problem with the sync? How can I fix it?