AE CS5 cannot output AC3

[senderj]

I use AE to add some tracking effects to a h264 ts clip. The clip has 5.1 AC3 audio stream. But after I save the aep file and import it to Premiere, the clip only has stereo audio, no 5.1. How can I set it in AE so that it can retain the 5.1 AC3 audio in Premiere? Can this be done with AE CS5 or must I move to newer version?

[smrpix]

Audio is not AE's strong point. When you import the rendered video into Premiere, just marry it with the original audio in your timeline.

[SameSelf]

Are you sure the audio track in your Premiere Pro timeline is set to 5.1 and not stereo? Also, are you dynamically linking the AE comp to PP or rendering out first?

[senderj]

Thanks for all the replies.

@smrpix, I now separately convert the audio stream into AAC (tried EAC3to with Nero AAC and qaac). Checked with Media Info that the output is a 6-channel AAC. Then put it into Premiere's Audio 4 which is a 5.1 track. But instead of staying in Audio 4 it becomes Audio 7 to 12. Ignore it and open the PP file in Encoder, change audio to 5.1 AAC and fire it, the encoder rejects it with "The source and output audio channels are not compatible or a conversion does not exist".

@Sameself, when I drag my original clip into the Premiere timeline, the audio track appears at Audio 4 which is a 5.1 track. I need not set anything for it. When I import the AE file to PP and drag it into PP timeline, the audio appears at Audio 1 which is a stereo, hence my posting. But see my reply to @smrpix when I separately convert the audio into AAC and replace it in the timeline. So I don't know how to set timeline to 5.1 ch. Please advise.

Any idea how I can proceed? My problem is now turned from AE to AAC encoding, should I open another thread?

[smrpix]

Don't use the audio output from AE. Just use the rendered video and marry it to your original audio in Premiere. No need to convert the audio at all.

[Brainiac]

Like smrpix said. You can import the original clip into Premiere timeline, unlink the audio and the video on the timeline, delete the video portion from the timeline, import the rendered video from AE and drag it onto the Premiere timeline video track. For safe measure link the audio and video again.

Brainiac

[senderj]

That's what I did. Because my m2ts original has AC3 5.1 ch audio, when it comes to the Adobe Media Encoder I only have AAC audio to choose. If I use stereo for output, not problem, the Encoder will do it for me. If I use 5.1 for output, it refused to encode with the msg "The source and output audio channels are not compatible or a conversion does not exist".

That is why I try to recode the audio to AAC before putting into Premiere. But after recoding, the Encoder still reject with the same msg.

[smrpix]

What container settings and what video codec are you attempting to export to? I have no problem using the H.264 Blu-Ray preset from AME (and modifying it slightly) to get a 5.1 AC3 track with h.264 video in an m2t container. (I am using CC, so that may be the issue.)

[Brainiac]

Yes, SurCode for Dolby Digital comes standard with CC. For CS6, you have to pay extra.

http://www.minnetonkaaudio.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=82&Itemid=98&lang=en

Brainiac

[senderj]

Looks like when AME read the PP project file, the audio is read as stereo instead of 5.1 ch. Is there a config setting in PP with which I can ensure the output from PP is 5.1ch? I am only using CS5.

[smrpix]

Go to the last response in this thread:
https://forums.creativecow.net/thread/3/919760