Question about importing AC3 files

Steve Mann wrote on 11/12/2008, 1:26 PM
I am trying to drop some of my MPG / AC3 file pairs into the V7 timeline. No problem with the MPEG, but some of the AC3 files will not open in V7. Some will. All are created the same way using the Vegas DVDA profile in the "Render As" menu.

I still have the original AVI tapes, but I wanted to avoid recapturing them.

Any ideas why some AC3 files load and some don't ??

Comments

MSK wrote on 11/12/2008, 3:01 PM
AC-3 files can be saved but not opened in Vegas.

http://www.sonycreativesoftware.com/vegaspro/techspecs

Opens: AA3, AAC, AAF, AIF, ASF, AU, AVI, BMP, BWF, CDA, DIG, DLX, DV, FLAC, GIF, IVC, JPG, M2T, M2TS, MTS, MOV, Sony MXF, MP3, MP4, M4A, MPEG-1 and MPEG-2 video, MPEG-4, OGG, OMA, PCA, PNG, PSD, QT, SFA, SND, SWF,* TIFF, TGA, TS, VOX, W64, WAV, WMA, WMV

Saves: AA3, AC3, AIF, ATRAC, AVC, AVI, FLAC, MOV, MP3, MPEG-1 and MPEG-2 video, MPEG-4, M2T, M2TS, Sony MXF, OGG, PCA, RM, W64, WAV, WMA, WMV

DVD Architect will open these files, so one workaround that you could try would be to import the files into DVD Architect (Via Insert / Media ...), go through Make DVD and then take the prepared .vob files and import into Vegas. I have tried this and it works on my tests.
musicvid10 wrote on 11/12/2008, 3:08 PM
[Edit]: See two posts down.

Credit where credit is due -- I got this tip from johnmeyer.
blink3times wrote on 11/12/2008, 3:28 PM
"1) Rename the file from .ac3 to .vob

Doesn't work for me. All I get is "Could not open"


I've always assumed that the only way to get AC3 files into Vegas is either through a M2TS file or directly from a disk import. I don't even think Vegas DIRECTLY opens a vob... does it?
musicvid10 wrote on 11/12/2008, 7:50 PM
Blink,
I stand soooo corrected! I had forgotten the step of creating the VOB in DVDA. Just renaming it won't work.

Just so I don't screw it up again, here is the link to johnmeyer's original post on the technique. This is the procedure that works for me.
http://www.sonycreativesoftware.com/forums/ShowMessage.asp?ForumID=4&MessageID=527775

Humble pie for dinner tonight . . .
blink3times wrote on 11/12/2008, 8:09 PM
Yup... that's the one I recall... it works too.
johnmeyer wrote on 11/12/2008, 8:42 PM
Thanks for posting my old workaround. It really does work.

Yeah, Steve, AFIK, V7 cannot import AC3 files unless they are part of something. What I'd like to know is how the heck you got any of them to show up. That's something I've never been able to do.
musicvid10 wrote on 11/12/2008, 9:20 PM
Some things are just worth reposting (especially with a memory like mine) . . .
Steve Mann wrote on 11/13/2008, 11:43 AM
"What I'd like to know is how the heck you got any of them to show up. That's something I've never been able to do. "

That's why is is so puzzling to me. I have always saved the MPG and AC3 files in case I needed to make a new DVD from the DAR file. I needed a few seconds of a few of the projects and to my surprise, some of the AC3 files just dropped into the timeline. I hoped that this was a new feature that no one had found yet..
johnmeyer wrote on 11/13/2008, 1:11 PM
The whole MPEG-2 / AC-3 thing in Vegas is still a puzzle at times, especially when you then add the VOB version into the mix. I have posted in these forums all sorts of ways to deal with these in Vegas, including using DVDA to mux the AC-3 into a dummy video file that was posted earlier in this thread.

Each time I think I've finally got it nailed, I get another curve. Right now, I'm trying to import an non-encrypted DVD into Vegas, but using the Camcorder import, I get audio dropouts at the join points between the MPEG-2 files that result from the import. If I do the DVD Shrink import that I described a few weeks ago:

How to edit VOB files in Vegas using DVD Shrink

I don't get any audio problems, but I also only get a few minutes of the video on the timeline, which is one of the reasons for doing this in the first place. I plan to spend the next hour trying to finally nail this one down and figure out a conclusive was to make this work all the time.

I sure wish Sony would have done their homework and put this capability into Vegas five years ago when I first wrote to the development team and asked for it. News flash to Sony: MPEG-2, VOB, and m2t files are here to stay, and Vegas should be able to deal with them without all these horrendous glitches !!!