DVDA 4.5c Studio and audio inputs

ggrussell wrote on 6/26/2008, 8:54 AM
Although I own Vegas Studio, I don't use it for editing. I bought it for DVDA. I know I've asked this before, but I can't find the thread using search.

When using another video editor, DVDA doesn't seems to like MPEG 2 files with AC3 audio. I get no sound. I also tried MPEG audio with no results. So is PCM the only choice?

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I'm a bit confused. LOL Appears DVDA just doesn't like the MPEGs for Roxio, but seems to work fine with other MPEGs. Rather odd!

Comments

MPM wrote on 6/26/2008, 10:18 AM
Quite commonly I'll take DVD std spec files, which everywhere else are m2v, & mux them without supplying an audio track - this alters the file structure slightly, & DVDA likes them better than m2v files. Regular AC3 files have never given me any problems, unless they were out of spec or damaged. I've never combined mpg2 & ac3 partly out of habit - used to always need separate files - & partly because I don't like doing things twice, & any dvd authoring app will demux audio & video before making a DVD.

Roxio files will work, at least in my experience, but I've played with them first, taking a few minutes to demux & then re-mux without audio. I don't have a lot of experience though - I just tried it once or twice out of curiosity when I picked up EMC9 a year ago - so take that with a large grain of salt. ;-)

FWIW... The bundled videowave is the best I've found for quick conversion from DVR-MS, but otherwise found it lacking terribly in aspect ratio & field order support, plus rather than cut editing at I frames, it'll make a mess of things repeating a single frame 15 or so times.

In your situation I'd suggest creating a short test file, then de-muxing it to see what happens on import into DVDA as is. If it works, then adding a demux step to your workflow only adds a couple minutes, since DVDA would just demux it anyway, & now it doesn't have to. If it won't import the ac3, you can try taking a look at it using one of the utilities at Videohelp.com, check to see if it's even playable, and maybe track things down that way. Watch out for a Roxio/Sonic Direct Show filter called CinemasterAudio - where other software is concerned it can be evil incarnate!
ggrussell wrote on 6/26/2008, 10:25 AM
Well this is just for family video and I don't like all the fuss with muxing/demuxing/remuxing. I simply have my video editor output a MPEG file with AC3 audio and DVDA should accept it. In fact, Roxio uses MainConcept encoder so I don't know why it's not working.

I've installed and uninstalled a couple of trial video apps so I'm thinking something as corrupted the DVDA registry entries. I'll probably uninstall and reinstall DVDA.

I've tried MPEG 2 with AC3, MPEG 2 with MPEG audio, MPEG 2 with PCM and a DV AVI file output from Roxio Videowave 10. DVDA brought in the video just on all four, but no audio on any of them.
MPM wrote on 6/27/2008, 9:33 AM
Sorry... I guess I was just putting down whatever info I thought might be useful for you, might give you an idea or 3 tracking down your problem, since I can only guess at possible solutions. A very quick render of an avi clip to DVD mpg in V/Wave 9 (EMC9) imported and seemed to work just fine in DVDA.

If you've installed other Video/DVD-related apps, I suspect they might have changed the audio &/or ac3 handling in Windows. Long story short, in Windows several Direct Show filters are often chained together to encode, decode, & well just play media files. It can be a mess sometimes with conflicting filters & support files, & it can be a real pain trying to determine if some files installed in Windows are preventing a program from working properly. Tracking down and removing anything left over from uninstalled video apps might help.

Reinstalling either or both Roxio & DVDA can't hurt, but if it doesn't cure your problem then I don't see a way out other than finding out 1st if Roxio is outputting good audio tracks since DV avi isn't working for you either - will the files play with audio in whatever media player? If not then V/Wave's broken.

Then if you are getting a playable sound track, will DVDA accept it separately? If not, then either your install of DVDA is broken, or the audio file while playable, is somehow not right or off-spec.

If DVDA will accept the audio track separately, then I would think either the part of DVDA that demuxs (splits) the audio & video streams is broken, or V/Wave 10 is putting the 2 (audio & video) together improperly.
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"...so I'm thinking something as corrupted the DVDA registry entries...."

It could be something along those lines, but it doesn't necessarily have to be in the DVDA keys -- one of those apps might have changed keys/values controlling how Windows works with video/audio.

"...Roxio uses MainConcept encoder so I don't know why it's not working..."

Quite a few companies license code libraries from MainConcept, but they often use different versions, portions of the code, &/or do their own modifications. In fact, I've seen more conflicts between different MainConcept encoders than I have from different brands - brand x registry entries are unlikely to overwrite brand y's, just as brand y encoder isn't going to try to use an incompatible version of a brand x file.
ggrussell wrote on 6/27/2008, 1:26 PM
"Roxio is outputting good audio tracks since DV avi isn't working for you either - will the files play with audio in whatever media player? "

Yes, ALL the files that are output by EMC 10 playback fine in Windows Media Player and work fine in other video editors. I own several. :) Just really strange.

Reinstalling DVDA didn't solve the problem. Things were working fine a few weeks ago so it's got to be a conflict somewhere.

Oddly enough, I took the DV AVI file from EMC into Serif's Movie Plus 5. Output to MPEG 2 with MPEG audio and that worked. oh well, the project got done!

LOL
MPM wrote on 6/27/2008, 2:46 PM
Well, that's the main thing, that you got it done! ;-)

Only *if* you wanted to pursue if further...

If it helps make sense of it all... I'm not suggesting you do this (it probably wouldn't help fix anything), but in similar situations I've used Restream & similar programs to compare the file's flags and *inner* attributes, in this case it would be between the Serif & Roxio outputs. Mpg2 specs only call for decoding by std players, so there's an awful lot of leeway when it comes to whats stuck in the actual file - how it's put together. If V/Wave or DVDA was using a different DS filter to put the mpg file together or take it apart, that could account for the changes.

To cause it to use a different file (or files), one or more of the files Roxio uses could have been overwritten, or the registry might have been changed so that Windows no longer wants to use Roxio's files. A program called Filmerit might help in the latter case, allowing you to reduce the importance of files competing with Roxio, & if necessary, increasing the priority of Roxio's DS filters. Reducing the priority of some filters might also help DVDA in splitting the mpg files into video and audio, & decoding the results.
http://www.videohelp.com/tools/Filmerit

Another technique is to use Filmerit or similar software to list the related DS filters installed, then hunt them down in Windows Explorer and rename them, one or a few at a time (some_name.dll -> some_name.dl_). It's a pain, but sometimes the only cure outside of re-installing Windows (as per some Microsoft folks).

Graphedit & Gspot are 2 very different programs that can help by showing you the chain of DS filters used with your mpg files. Process Explorer from System Internals (part of Microsoft) can show you just what files programs like V/Wave & DVDA use.

If I had EMC 10 I could give you more info, but I have no idea what-so-ever what's changed between 9 & 10 under the hood - Roxio's finally dropping their prices & if it get's low enough I'll upgrade and know more (I only use it for general disc burning in Vista & converting dvr-ms files).
TOG62 wrote on 6/27/2008, 11:57 PM
That's curious. I've never got the sound to work when output as MPG from MoviePlus. I always have to output as LPCM!

I also use Cyberlink PowerDirector, mainly when handling DVR-MS files. I find the MPG files it creates automatically work in DVDA, but sometimes have sound sync problems. If I export as MPG with MPEG sound they work fine in DVDA, but if I export with Dolby Digital the sound doesn't work. However, if I export the sound separately as DD I can import that into DVDA and it works OK.

I just stick to what works, but it's a puzzle. It would be really nice if the industry could nail down these formats really tight, so that we get consistent results with all software. Pipe dream.

Mike
Edit: Actually MoviePlus output with MPEG sound does work with DVDAS 4.5. I'd not tried it as it didn't work with 4.0.
ggrussell wrote on 6/28/2008, 9:13 AM
I agree - it wold be nice if the industry could agree on formats.

Another thing that changed in DVDA is the messages when I'm ready to burn. DVDA used to tell me which files would be transcoded ,etc. , and now it doesn't. I think I might just restore a system image and reinstall Studio 8.