help with dvdit pe and ac3

[suerpflysocal]

I started using dvdit for authoring and have really liked it's interface.

However, i am running into a problem:

I have a mpeg2 file with an ac3 stream. however, dvdit has a problem with it. when it did accept it, after the finished product is produced, no sound is heard. I am also using wav files for menu background music but have tried removing those with still problems.

So what i tried was demuxing the mpeg2 with tmpg into ac3 and m2v, converting ac3 to mp2 with besweet and then remuxing with tmpg.

now dvdit has no problem with this new mpeg2 file. however the finished product is now much bigger than expected. original mpeg2 file was about 3.9 gig. remuxed mpeg2 with mp2 audio is still only 4.05 gig. however finished authored product is 5.1 gigs!! i only have one main menu, one chapters menu and wav songs for each of those menu. also, original authored product with the ac2 mpeg2 file was still under the 4.3 gig mark. What happened? why such a big difference in size? I don't want to have to reencode and lose so much bandwidth to fit this on 1 dvdr.

if i can't find a solution, then i have to go back to dvd wise which itself had a lot of bugs.

[fossil]

if i remember correctly. dvdit convert any audio to PCM format which takes alot space.

[suerpflysocal]

yes, but how come a mpeg2 file with ac3 produces no sound in the final product. There is also, an option to convert all audio to ac3..i will try my mpeg2 file with mp2 audio and let dvdit convert it to ac3 and see if file size will be manageable and still get sound!

[damnim]

If you can get rid of DVDit PE and get DVD Architect http://www.sonicfoundry.com/.

I have believe I have used every major DVD authoring program and find DVD Architect an excellent program.

What this has to do with your problem; I had to many problems with Sonics low end authoring programs on different OS platforms and systems with varying configurations and dumped DVDit, My DVD and have only kept Scenarist which is out of range in price for non pros. Ac3 was the biggest problem and headache and found DVDit was to picky and not very stable.

[suerpflysocal]

i think i figured it out:

demux into m2v and ac3 with tmpeg

convert ac3 to mp2 with besweet gui

remux with tmpeg

use these mpg in dvdit, mak sure background music is 48k wav

finally, under audio option, check convert audio to ac3 (DD), otherwise you will another 800 to 1 gig in size!

Nevertheless, tell me more about dvd architect. Is it as easy to use as dvdit but more stable with ac3? Another complaint of dvdit is that building dvd folder takes way too long. is it any shorter? Are there motion menus and motion (movie clips) buttons options?

[damnim]

Wow budd by the time you get done with all of that mess I would have been able to author and burn and watch an entire 2.5 hour movie.

The answer is definitely yes!!! DVD Architect will take an .ac3 file direct and to top that off will convert just about any audio to a stereo or 5.1 .ac3 file through drag and drop from its explorer window.

DVD Architect is an extremely solid program. It locked up on me once but that I believe was because I was doing some serious multitasking.

It is real easy to use and you can do some really cool stuff with it. You can get a demo over at sonic foundry. Try it you'll like it.

[spidey]

DVDit does not convert all to PCM, you're thinking of MyDVD. It is however limited to only 2 channel AC3.

The only seemingly big negative to Sonic Foundry's DA, is that it wants system files, so all your stuff must be muxed.

If you're still overshooting your disc size, highlight all the discs components, and right click and check properties. The number you should worry of is in parantheses (size on disc) - that is often much higher than the stated number next to it, which is what you may have seen before.

Size-wise your mp2's if they're 48 khz will not be that much bigger - about 20 meg per movie

However in using DVDit I strongly recommend getting all your clips encoded prior to using it, as well as using elemnetary streams, not muxed system ones.

Hope this helps.