ROFLMAO - MPEG2 export issues

Ethan Winer wrote on 8/22/2007, 11:47 AM

Folks,

I usually Render As from Vegas as AVI files because I thought that gave the highest resolution. Then I read in the DVD Architect Help that exporting as MPEG2 is better because DVDA won't have to recompress. Okay, fine - last night I rendered my current project as MPEG2, which took more than ten hours.

This morning I went to view the file. It launched automatically in Windows Media Player, but both the video and audio played at what sounded like half speed. Say what?! So I used Open With to open it with the Creative Labs player. The video was fine, but there was no audio and the volume control was grayed out. Then I tried to Open it in QuickTime but QT doesn't know MPEG2. As a last resort I tried RealPlayer. The audio was fine, but the video was ... upside down! It also played the video very slowly, updating maybe one frame per second.

Bringing the file into DVDA it played fine in Preview mode, but the video was delayed by what seems like a few hundred milliseconds. And the DVD I burned also was slightly out of sync with the video lagging.

I'm still laughing at the upside down video, but I have to assume SOME program can play these files properly, no? More to the point, if MPEG2 really is better for Render As meant for a DVD, how do I get rid of the sync delay without wasting time experimenting with delay times manually? Why are they not in sync to begin with?

Thanks.

--Ethan

Comments

TGS wrote on 8/22/2007, 12:04 PM

I have no answer to the problems you've experienced. I've never had problems rendering mpeg2s using Vegas or TMPGEnc. I also thought rendering directly from the timeline gave the best/clearest product.
Normally, I loop the area that needs to be rendered, then render your ac3 (just like the mpeg2, but choose ac3), I'll then bring up DVD-A and check the ac3 to make sure it works. (usually it works or you get nothing)
Then using the exact same loop (to the exact frame) render the mpeg2. I've never had any sync issues. I only care about the end DVD, so I don't check with every player on my computer. The DVDs have all been good.
If you render your mpeg2 with the audio at the same time, you have no control over the ac3 and have to rely on the default settings, which aren't the best.
I have no clue as to why the audio and video were out of sync on yours. Or why you saw one upside down.
There are threads about ac3 settings or you could ask here and probably get an answer if you need one.
My understanding is that rendering from the timeline to mpeg2 is the best. It does work for me.

DavidMcKnight wrote on 8/22/2007, 1:00 PM

If you're using DVD Architect to author the DVD you'll want to do two renders from Vegas:
<edit - thanks TGS>

1. Render to mpeg-2 using one of the DVDA templates.
2. Render as dolby digital ac-3, also with a DVDA template. There is a setting you have to change for the audio for ac-3, I"m not in front of it now, but do a search here and it has been documented many times. I've saved this as a preset and use it all the time.

TGS wrote on 8/22/2007, 1:42 PM

I'm under the assumption that you have to render from Vegas, not DVD-A. You bring the files into DVD-A after the render, and then author. But yes, once you create a new template, you can name it and save it and it will appear in the dropdown list until erased.

Ethan Winer wrote on 8/24/2007, 12:36 PM

Thanks guys. I still don't know why RealPlayer showed the video upside down, or Windows Media Player plays MPEGs at half speed, but it turns out the audio and video weren't out of sync after all. I just thought they were because I did a crappy job syncing the audio and video manually inside Vegas for the one clip I happened to spot. Sorry for the false alarm!

--Ethan