If DVD Architect is correctly installed, the AC3 encoder WILL be installed.

Are you rendering to an MPG file? or an M2V file. DVD Architect and Vegas will not open elementary stream files.

Thanks jetdv....
I am rendering the project file as MPEG2 with the DVD Architect NTSC video stream settings. Any hints??????
thanks a lot.

By the way, now the AC-3 thing works out, on the other hand I've got an error message for the video file. I can only open it with the Windows Media Player. That means:
1.I can render a project as MPEG2 DVD Architect NTSC video stream.
2.I can render the same project as AC-3.
4.The file rendered as MPEG2 only can be opened with the Windows Media Player (I've got the MPEG decoder installed), I can't open it with DVD Architect = error message;
5.The AC-3 file can be opened with the DVD Architect.
That's it. What a mess!

I wish someone colud help me please.
THKS

> JohnnyRoy, where are u???

Sorry, I just built a new PC and I was debugging some memory timing issue which were making it unstable. (lots of random reboots) I’m back now. ;-)

> I can't open it with DVD Architect = error message;

What error message are you getting? Did you give the mpg and ac3 file the same name? (they should be the same for DVD Architect to pick up the audio) Is it possible that you have another application installed on your system that also comes with the MainConcept MPEG2 encoder and that the files have become corrupt somehow? Try rendering with the DVD NTSC template (which includes audio) in Vegas and see if DVD Archutect will accept that. (just to get AC3 out of the picture) This is puzzling since you seem to be doing everything right.

~jr

Thank u very much to have taken time to respond, Johnny. I've found out that the problem is with my platform. I've sent an MPEG2 video file to Kelly, and it could be opened well with DVD Architect. Meanwhile, as I was waiting for your answer, some users told me how to render to MPEG2 with the audio option checked (while you told me not to do so). I was just wondering whether I render this way, I'll still be able to join both MPEG2 (audio option checked) + AC-3 file with DVD Architect.
By the way I've found a sript file at Sundance...

http://www.sundancemediagroup.com/help/kb/kb_files.asp?page=2&sort=4&cat=20&sw=2&author=0

...in order to do that kind of rendering at the same time (only one process - AC-3 + MPEG 2). Is that difficult to render this way? That'd be nice if u could tell me how to do it.
Thank you for your help ;)

Cunhambebe,
You keep saying you cannot OPEN the file in DVDA.
You are NOT meant to OPEN the file in DVDA.
This may just be a question of semantics or you're trying to do the wrong thing totally which is why none of this makes much sense to everyone.

You've sent the mpg file to Kelly and he can put it into a DVDA project and it's OK. This doesn't mean his system is OK and yours isn't, it may just mean he's using the file the right way and you're not.

I don't think how you render the files is an issue at this stage, the issue is how you are trying to use them in DVDA.

OK OK, I beg your pardon Sir. Let's say....I'm not even able to preview the file. Is that OK now? By the way, sorry for my semantic problem lolll..........Anyway, thank u very much fella...I'm having a great time with Vegas and u all. What a nice forum this one !!!!! ;)

Glad we cleared that one up!
So you drag the mpg file into the workspace and then go to preview, click on the button to play that file and then you get the error?

I'd say it's most likely a problem with the mpg codec(s) installed on your PC. This has come up before and I don't remember the exact details but I don't think even uninstalling and installing DVDA will fix the problem. The offending codec has been installed as part of some other app and maybe even uninstalling that will not remove the codec from the system. Try doing a search in the DVDA forum under "codec" in the message body, look for posts from one of the Sonic guys. You may find how to fix it there.

Another problem thatthrew me or a while. DVDA will not "Prepare" a DVD with a program with no audio. I do a lot of silent movies so this really threw me. You have to create a dummy ac3 or wav file and let DVDA mux that into the stream during "Prepare". I don't think this relates to your problem though but still might be worth a look. In the object properties for the mpeg clip is there an audio file associated with the video file? In the workarea click on the button and then click object properties in the RH pane.

As a newbe myself, and "following" the discussion here -- question: Is this thread for real???

I use the script from the Sundance site to do my DVD renders. It saves you a step and selects the proper templates for you. You will need to have the .NET Framework installed in order to run scripts. I didn’t want to complicate things by having you install .NET and running scripts but if you want to try it, you should be able to go to Windows Update and install the .NET Framework 1.1, then in Vegas use the menu options Tools / Scripting... / Run Script... to run any script you’ve downloaded or written.

You can certainly render your MPEG2 files with audio. DVDA will encode the audio to AC3 for you. If you want to encode the AC3 files in Vegas, what you’ll have to do in DVDA is manually set the audio to pick up the AC3 file. You do this by dropping the MPEG file on the menu. Then double click on it to open it, and in the Media properties on the right side of the screen change the Audio: property to be the AC3 file. So you can have it either way.

~jr

Thanks again my friends ;)

This is to farss: I can render my projects as MPEG2 files and AC-3 for the soundtrack. I can see both files iside my folder through the DVDA Media Explorer.The error message pops up everytie I try to drag the file into the Main Menu or preview it. Thanks for your effort, farss. I'll try to fix this.

This is to PainterPaul: dear fella, the learning process doesn't have to be necessarily painful, so, answering your question: yes, this thread IS for real.

Very special thanks to Johnny (I know the .NET Framework issue). Sorry to bother, but let's see if I've got that right......

1 - You said : "You can certainly render your MPEG2 files with audio. DVDA will encode the audio to AC3 for you".
That means:
If I decide not to run the script and render a project only as MPEG2 with the audio box checked (not rendering the wav file in a second process as AC-3), by following your instructions, you meant that DVDA can pick up this MPEG2 file and encode it or whatever its soundtrack to AC-3???

2 - You said: "If you want to encode the AC3 files in Vegas, what you’ll have to do in DVDA is manually set the audio to pick up the AC3 file. You do this by dropping the MPEG file on the menu. Then double click on it to open it, and in the Media properties on the right side of the screen change the Audio: property to be the AC3 file. So you can have it either way".
That means: I can render a project separetly (once as MPEG2 and later as AC-3) or with a script after installing NET Framework. Will DVDA will pick both files up by itself (as many users have said) or I'll have to follow your instructions up?

Sorry if I seem to be so ignorant, but I am still trying to learn the whole thing .....
Thanks again for the excellent job fellas!

Very special thanks also to jetdv: what a terrific site; congratulations!

OK so I could well be correct, this is really starting to sound like a codec problem. Even when you drag the file into the work area DVDA will invoke the codec to get back a frame to use as the thumbnail.

You've probably been asked this or told us this before but just in case. Can you drop the mpeg-2 file created by Vegas back into a Vegas project and play it?

I thonk you're going to waste a lot of effort with scripts and things and going to get the same results. I believe the issue is the codec being used by DVDA is not the MainConcept one used by Vegas to create the file.

Thanks for answering, farss. For this question: "Can you drop the mpeg-2 file created by Vegas back into a Vegas project and play it?" - the answer is negative, that means, I can't do it! By the way, the discussion about scripts have nothing to do with this problem. This issue was introduced along with the video capture one. Thanks again.

> you meant that DVDA can pick up this MPEG2 file and encode it or whatever its soundtrack to AC-3???

Yes. DVDA can take an AVI file and render an MPEG2 and AC3, or it can take an MPEG2 and render the AC3 file or you can give it an MPEG2 file and AC3 file that you have rendered. The advantage of giving it an MPEG2 and AC3 file is that it will take less time to compile your DVD because less work needs to be done. (you could argue that rendering your audio direct to AC3 will also be higher quality than double rendering to MPEG2 and then AC3)

> I can render a project separetly (once as MPEG2 and later as AC-3) or with a script after installing NET Framework

Yes

> Will DVDA will pick both files up by itself (as many users have said) or I'll have to follow your instructions up?

No. DVDA will only automatically pick up AC3 audio if the MPEG2 stream does not have audio. If you render the MPEG2 with audio it will use that audio as the default and you will have to use the procedure I outlines to override that.

~jr

Thank u very much Johnny. You've helped me a lot lately.

So from what you're saying neither Vegas or DVDA will play the mpeg-2 files created by Vegas, right.
Then this has to be a codec problem.
Vegas is most likely using the MC codec to create the files but neither DVDA or Vegas are using the same codec to decode the file. Which ever one they are using it's not compatible with either of these applications.
So I'm pretty certain I know what the problem is but I'm at a loss to tell you exactly how to fix it aside from a complete reformat and system build and I'm certain you'd like to avoid that. I know removing a codec can be quite an issue.
I'll do a bit more of a search around here, I know this has been discussed before, as it didn't affect me I didn't make much of a note of it.

First, let me thank everyone for all answers to this thread. I rendered my first project and I still
have some doubts, or better yet, "questions". Let's see them:

- I've got a project made up with 2, let's say "clips" (JPEG files or whatever); 1 (the intro), and 2 (the rest). Each clip has its own wav file. With a right click on the mouse on each wav file, I select properties; re-calculate and ok. When I render as MPEG1 or WMV there's absolutely no problem with the soundtrack (it fits or let's say, match, completely the video, for the final result ). When I render as AVI or MPEG2 (with the option "include audio stream" checked), the soundtrack doesn't match the video, I mean, there's, let's say, a kind of delay. Furthermore, I've noticed that if I select "insert audio track" and press record, another wav file is recorded, but bigger than the original ones from each clip. Ok, now please, let's take a look at the questions;

1. After following the procedure described above ( right click on the mouse on each wav file, select properties; re-calculate), when I render as MPEG2 or AVI, is that necessary to select "insert audio track" (and on the track opened, checking out the 3 plug-ins -Track Noise Gate; Track EQ and Track Compression - selecting "default" for all, adjusting the output fader and finally selecting "record" to have another wav file (bigger than the original ones) to fit (or match) the entire project for the final result?

2.Is it mandatory to do that when I render as MPEG2 or AVI (independently from the AC-3 issue, previously discussed around here) ????

3.Am I doing everything right??? ;)

Thank u for your help. Maybe Johnny, Chienworks or farss can help with that.

Where's everybody?????

Nobody to help me?

Hi there! I'd really like to get some help...plss.....