Help! I'm going crazy trying VirtualDub to encode to Xvid

[hdnine]

Hello everyone,

This is my first post and i'm somewhat of a beginner so please have patience with my questions. It is not from lack of searching or trying to find my answers, but i just can't figure out why encoding to Xvid doesn't produce the result i want. Here is my situation...

• I have a DVD Recorder (European Pioneer DVDR-545H) which i am trying to use as a VHS to XVID converter.

• I use VirtualDub 1.7.7 with Xvid 1.1 codec

I started off recording the material (in this case some old commercials) with the highest setting available called LPCM (which is 720x576 resolution at a bitrate of 9.96 Mbps according to the machines settings in the menu). As you can imagine, this produces a fairly large file (approx 35 min takes up 2,5 GB of space) which i wanted to reduce significantly. After burning these to a DVD+RW disc, i then copied the three VOB-files over to my PC hard drive.

I load the first VOB into VirtualDUB (which is 14 min and 47 sec in length) and select FULL PROCESSING MODE and then COMPRESSION->XVID->CONFIGURE and try to set them as best as i can. Among other things i use a 2-pass encoding and the second pass is set to an average bit rate of approx. 800 to 1000 kbps. I also lower the resolution to 640x512.

Audio is set to FULL PROCESSING MODE and LAME MP3->48khz128kb ABR quality.

I put both the 1st pass and 2nd into the Job Cue and then let the computer do it's thing.

At the end, my 1st pass file is approx 15 MB in size while my 2nd pass is a 119MB. This looks fair i guess? After watching a TV-rip sample that someone else made, they managed to put 1 min of excellent quality audio and video into approx 6 MB of space. So i recon that my file should be somewhere around 90-100 MB.

So the problem i am having is that the audio is going out of sync as the clip progresses. In the beginning everything is fine, at the end i have something like a seconds delay. What is causing this? Both source and encoded versions are at 48khz and 25 fps. Also, can i lower the audio to 44khz128kbit and still keep it in sync somehow?

Please help me if you can! I'll try and answer any question you may have and since there are so many settings, i'm not sure which ones i should post here? Also, if you have a general purpose Xvid setting that i can use, please post it here.

Thank you in advance!
Krister Nielsen
Stockholm, Sweden

[Baldrick]

Try rip the DVD to one VOB file using for example dvd decrypter ( Set File Splitting NONE) or use VOB2MPG on the DVD source and it may fix the sync problems.

Or use AutoGK and convert directly to AVI XviD

[hdnine]

Yeah... i think i have depleated all options now. I tried the two programs mentioned and also AutoGK - no luck. The strange thing is that my rip, now made through DVD Decrypter, is one large VOB file and it plays fine in any player. It's when i load it into VirtualDub that the audio goes out of sync?!? The problem is still the same - it's in sync at the beginning and gradually goes out of sync. I tried saving the audio seperatly and using the WAV AUDIO option... still doesn't work.

I tried VOB2MPG on the one single VOB i have and it outputted a 0 byte file within 4 seconds, so nothing happened?

[hech54]

Simply playing a file like that in VDub...you will see (or hear) the audio go out of sync eventually...that is normal. Pressing STOP then START again will fix the problem.
If the audio is still out of sync after processing the one large VOB through VDub to Xvid...you're right..you still have a problem.
Try running the VOB through FixVTS....the proceed with Vdub to Xvid?
Can't hurt right?

[redwudz]

I tried VOB2MPG on the one single VOB i have and it outputted a 0 byte file within 4 seconds, so nothing happened?

VOB2MPG needs VIDEO_TS folder contents to work from, not just a single VOB, AFAIK. And it also needs the output on a different drive than the source, which would be normal when converting from a DVD. I would also try it a second time if you get the 0 bit file, as I have seen that happen on the first use occasionally

But for your purposes, AGK should work better.

If VD still has problems after FixVTS, you may have some bad cuts/pastes in the file. Or it just has interruptions in the video. Your players may not see them, but digital conversion may show them up. Check the running times of the audio vs the video tracks in VD.

[Ai Haibara]

Also, keep in mind that - as hech54 indicates - VirtualDub isn't really meant to be used as a player, so videos may not always play correctly on it, IIRC. It's probably a good idea to verify it using a true software player as well.

[hdnine]

Well okey... thanks guys!

I'll give it a shot tomorrow and let you know what happens. I did try and encode the whole thing and the result had sync problems. I also tried the VIDEO->FRAME RATE->"Change so video and audio durations match"-option. Maybe it became a bit better, but still out of sync... can't be sure?

ADDED (23:13):

WoW! I can tell you right now that using VOB2MPG (directly from my DVD+R to the PC) wrecked total havoc with the sound. The file produced was indeed a MPG-file, so that worked, but the audio was just high-pitched random static... so i have no idea what happened?!?

[Midzuki]

I would try using Avisynth to frameserve the VOB into VirtualDub.

*****

[hdnine]

I would try using Avisynth to frameserve the VOB into VirtualDub.

Hmm yeah, i really would give it try but i am a total blank on how to use this program? I downloaded and installed it a couple of days ago but i never got it to work... It would be nice if it had a GUI or a front end so it would be easier to use. I tried searching for a tutorial but with no luck. I'm not even sure what Avisynth is supposed to do since the term "frameserve" doesn't tell me much?

Like i said before, i'm a newbie, and it's tough being one in situations like these i'll tell ya. I really want to solve this problem since i have hours of recorded VHS stuff on my DVD Rec's hard drive. The one thing that confuses me the most is that the ripped VOB plays absolutely brilliant... no lag or anything. When i load it into VirtualDub and encode it to Xvid the whole thing gets messed up with audio desync as a result... now how can this be?

Is there a step-by-step tutorial on how to set up and use Avisynth for the purpose of fixing sync issues? Or maybe one for AutoGK?

[redwudz]

The 'high pitched random static' could be because you don't have a proper audio codec installed for playback. Probably AC3. Maybe AC3 Filter would help.

VOB2MPG just extracts what's already there, and shouldn't change anything. It may have problems with multiple audio tracks, but I haven't ran into that.