audio synch

[Usagi]

I have been trying to convert DVD's to .avi's without much success. The major problem is that the .avi output file has an audio sync problem. The .vob's are fine. To me it seems that the vob has information contained within it to tell the audio where is belongs. I'm not a PhD video person. I frankly don't begin to comprehend why the .vob is perfectly fine but when it is converted the audio is a few seconds off. It seems to me that converting programs are not finding the sync information that has to be within the .vob.

I've tried several of the dedicated conversion programs and find that they all produce pretty crappy video. AutoGK seemed to be the best choice but it produces this audio sync problem.

The specific conversion that I am doing is about a 2 hour performance of a musical. I want the output to be a single .avi file which I expect will be about 1.5 gig to get the quality I want. I want some method that is not too complex to make this conversion while giving me excellent quality video.

Any help ?
Thanks in advance,
Usagi

[Baldrick]

What file are you using as source in autogk? Open the .ifo file and autogk should be able to fix everything. Follow a guide like http://www.divx-digest.com/articles/autogk_page2.html#step1

[Usagi]

I used DVD Decrypter to get the DVD onto my hard drive. It might be ok to directly copy the DVD to my Hard drive but I got this method from a guide, I believe here. Then in AutoGK 2.45 I selected the .ifo file and accepted the default settings. I clicked "Preview" and after about 5 minutes I got this alert:
"A field order transition was detected. You may need to use the FixD2V tool to repair this stream. Refer to the DGIndex Users Manual for details. I then installed DGIndex and found the fix under "tools." I ran that then clicked on "Start" in AutoGK. after a few hours the result was an .avi file with the audio off by 2-3 seconds.

(I don't have a clue what a "Field Order Transition is)

I have used the guide you suggested but I can't find anything in it that would get the audio to be in sync.

Looking at 1 of the 5 .vob files with GSpot I see the video is MP-2 and the audio is DVD_LPCM_Audio. The "container" section of GSpot says:
DVD "VOB" format
MPEG-2 Program Stream << {1 vid, 1 aud, 1 other}
SYS Bitrate: 10080 kb/sec VBR

(the 'other' is probably the subtitle stream.)

Usagi

[redwudz]

One thing that may have a bearing on the 'fix'. Does the audio gradually go out of sync or does it have the same amount of sync error thoughout the video?

The second can be cured fairly easily by applying a audio offset equal to the error. The first can be it bit more complicated as it can be caused by corrupted files, bad joins or other reasons, and the end product can be that the video and audio files have different lengths.

But both are better to prevent most times than to repair. I'm afraid I don't know what a 'field order transition' is either, but someone here should.

[Usagi]

The sync is not constant. Having a better original is not an option. I have some DVD's which are what they are, for better or for worse.

I tried using MPEG Mediator and that produces a file that has no sync problem. However the file is 2.05 gig for a 1hr, 30 min performance. GSpot shows:
Container:
File Length Correct
Multipart OpenDML AVI (2 parts)
(157518 frames in first part 3934 frames follow

User Data/Metadata:
[JUNK] MPEG Mediator OpenDML AVI Plugin Release
[USER] XVID0047

Audio:
PCM Audio
info 48000Hz 1536kb/sec tot(2chnls)

Video:
Codec XVid Name Xvid ISO MPEG-4

I suspect that the large file length is due to the audio (PCM Audio) so I tried to change it to AC3 with virtualdub. However no matter how I set virtualdub I get the same output file as the input (according to GSpot and file size)

What am I expecting? I believe I should get a very good quality output file that is between 1 and 1.5 Gig.

Help ?

Usagi

[aslan]

I've had similar problems with AGK on some DVD's strangly, not al. On the out put files for instance on one movie it says on the .mp3 and .ac3 file (the ones that are rest producs in the agk folder) T01 3_2ch 448Kbps DELAY 333887ms.ac3.
But since it looks lite the delay is not constant Virtual dub delay mode wont help.
I've tried again and again but it does not work. But like I said it just happen to some certain movies, wich is strange since I use the same procedure for all dvd's.
I will try to put all the movie in one vob file with v-strip and then use agk. I'll return with info when I tried...every rip takes over 5!! hours so it takes a while.
I had one rip that took over 11 hours, nad no my computer is not a slow one.