Why, exactly, do VirtualDubMod's timings not agree with the data?

[Colmino]

You look at VirtualDubMod's information for an audio stream imbedded in a video file, and it says it's 5:51:488 minutes/seconds. You extract that audio, load it back up as a stream, and now it says it's 05:56:441. You load that extracted audio into Adobe Audition, convert it into an OGG, verify that the new OGG file is the exact same length as the original audio right down to the length measured in samples, and you load that OGG into VirtualDubMod, and VirtualDubMod is telling you that, no, your OGG is 05:51:501 - a result which not only does not match the 05:56:441, but it's not even an acceptably close match for the original imbedded duration of 05:51:488.

Is this app simply fubared?

[redwudz]

Different apps use different methods of determining the running time of a video or audio file. Try the same file in TMPGEnc encoder and you will likely see a entirely different running time. MP3 VBR audio can also really mess it up. With VDMod, I doubt you have VBR audio, or it would warn you. VBR audio or sometimes VBR video can be very difficult for determining the actual running time.

Generally, what you see is not changing the time of either the video or audio, just reading it differently. You usually need to compare playing time for video and audio within the same program, then you may have a fair chance that, if they match. they are really the same length. Ogg is another format that can be difficult to read for length.

I'm afraid I don't have a better answer. It's a fairly common problem.