AC3 Pro Stereo and 5.1 again on VEGAS with Voukoder 10.2

joelsonforte.br wrote on 12/17/2021, 12:48 PM

The latest version of Voukoder encoder supports audio AC3 Pro Stereo and 5.1 Surround. This Voukoder update is a good early anticipated Christmas and New Year gift for many users who work with video and audio editing.

Voukoder is FREE, download here:

https://www.voukoder.org/forum/thread/783-downloads-instructions/

I made a short video showing how to install Voukoder on VEGAS Pro and render the audio in AC3 Pro format. For that, I simulated creating a Bluray with AC3 Pro 5.1 Surround audio in Vegas Pro 19 to be used in DVD Architect.

The DVD Architect message list says there are no messages to display. DVD Architect users know that this message means that DVD architect will not need to re-render the video or audio because the files that were imported are already in the correct format and this is a huge time-saver. (This is shown at 4min 11sec in the demo video)

If you use "MediaInfo" or import the final files generated by DVD Architect into the VEGAS timeline, you will notice that the audio AC3 Pro Stereo or 5.1 will be perfectly compatible and recognized, with all audio channels distributed correctly. (This is shown at 4min 38sec in the demo video)

If you want like to contribute any amount financially to the Voukoder project, just enter the Voukoder website and leave your contribution. It's just a way to say thank you and encourage the developer to continue with this project that has helped many users who work with video and audio editing.

Thanks for your great job @Vouk!

Comments

andyrpsmith wrote on 12/17/2021, 1:21 PM

That's really great as I have made many Blu-Ray discs using AC3 Pro (the last Vegas version I could use for this was V16) I have always found AC3pro to offer great sound quality. (How do we know it is Dolby pro?)

Musicvid wrote on 12/17/2021, 1:56 PM

Thank you for that information @joelsonforte.br

Does this mean I can finally retire my VP 8.0c?

joelsonforte.br wrote on 12/17/2021, 2:31 PM

(How do we know it is Dolby pro?)

@andyrpsmith

Just render an audio file in AC3 format using Voukoder and use MediaInfo to display this information. Also, the fact that DVD Architect doesn't need to re-render the audio already shows that it's Dolby audio. I showed this at 4min and 50sec in the demo video.

Here is a screenshot of MediaInfo showing the properties of AC3 audio rendered with Voukoder showing that it is Doby Digital audio.

MediaInfo too is free, download here:

https://mediaarea.net/en/MediaInfo/Download

wilvan wrote on 12/18/2021, 12:58 AM

That is just great for some projects

Is the volume of the rendered sound loud enough when playing such in a DVD or blu-ray player connected to a TV ? In the sony's vegas pro versions we had to :

Change the dialog normalization to -31

PreProcessing tab, change both the Line mode profile and RF mode profile to NONE

In order to get a decent volume when playing the final DVD or blu-ray . Otherwise the volume was way too silent.

joelsonforte.br wrote on 12/18/2021, 6:03 AM

@wilvan

The sound is OK. It is exactly the same volume as the timeline audio. There isn't the low volume issue that existed at the time of the Sony version.

rraud wrote on 12/18/2021, 11:47 AM

Thanks @joelsonforte.br

set wrote on 12/18/2021, 4:34 PM

I'm surprised to check my installation of Voukoder is very old one 7.2! 😅

Thanks for the post - just updated it.

Musicvid wrote on 12/18/2021, 9:43 PM

The sound is OK. It is exactly the same volume as the timeline audio. There isn't the low volume issue that existed at the time of the Sony version.

That issue was caused by the default DialogNorm value being 4 dB too low.

Here's your blast from the past:

Reply by: musicvid
Date: 9/10/2008 10:45:10 AM

If you're doing AC-3 Stereo, you can ignore everything I say about the Phase Shift option, it's greyed out of course.

Dialog Norm = -31 (this sets it at unity gain)
RF and Line Mode DRC = OFF (WYHIWYG)
DC High Pass Filter = ON (this operates at <=3Hz and takes DC bias out of the mix)
Bandwidth High Pass Filter = ON (this takes aliasing noise at >20kHz out of the encode, but it also lowered the final volume by -0.1dB in my tests)
90 Deg Phase Shift = ON (makes it easier for Pro Logic decoding on older equipment, Dolby says it is inaudible in 5.1 except in "very rare" cases)

Everything else can be left just as it is in the 5.1 DVD template; the only difference I can determine compared to the Studio encoder is the 90 Deg Phase Shift, but turning it off replicates the downmix pan bug I reported in the Audio forum. Interesting, huh?"

Steve_Rhoden wrote on 12/18/2021, 9:54 PM

Tremendous work Daniel is doing with this versatile encoder!

Musicvid wrote on 12/18/2021, 10:37 PM

I check VK, and DialogNorm is indeed set correctly at -31.

psg8064 wrote on 6/7/2023, 10:46 PM

Found this thread as I was looking to make a 5.1 Bluray. I followed the video posted above and configured Voukoder as described. I rendered an AC-3 file that according to MediaInfo has 6 channels of audio. When I bring it in to a Bluray project in DVD Architect (preferences set up as 5.1)and create the ISO, it still only has two channels of audio.

I must be missing something. Appreciate any suggestions on what to try next.

psg8064 wrote on 6/14/2023, 5:17 PM

Solved the problem. Had to reset my PC to output 5.1. Rookie mistake 😄