Surround sound Vegas 5

leitri wrote on 11/25/2004, 11:47 AM
Hi,
I'm new to this forum so maybe this is a very " stupid " question ?

I'm using Vegas 5.0 b with DVD Architect 2.0b

The problem is that I made a test video with surround sound but when I put the DVD in my new Pioneer home cinema sytem the sound is stereo without center and rear speakers.

This is what I did ;

I opened a mpg video file [ stereo music video ] ,
the sound of the video is in the second track.

Added a short sound effect in the 3 th track
Added another short soundeffect in the 4 th track

Video sound is set to bus A
sound effect 1 to bus B
sound effect 2 to bus C

With the Surround Panner in Bus A I placed the knob about in the center, between the front speakers.
Panned the sound of Bus B at Rear Left
Panned the sound of Bus C at Rear Right

In File > Properties Video is set to PAL DV
Audio is set to 5.1 Surround
Number of stereo busses : 3
Low Pass filter : enabled

Rendering :

I have chosen for the video : save as Main Concept MPEG-2
Template DVD PAL

and after rendring for the audio :save as Dolby Digital AC-3
Template 5.1 Surround DVD

In DVD ARchitect in the Explorer there are 2 rendered files now :
test-surround.ac3
test-surround.mpg
I double clicked them both

Selecting test-surround.ac3 says :
Audio: 48.000 Hz;5.1 Surround Dolby AC.3

selecting test-surround.mpg says :
Video : 720x576x32 ; 25.000 fps MPEG-2
Audio : 48.000 Hz, Stereo Mpeg Layer2

In DVD Architect File > Properties > General
Project Video Format PAL ( 720x576 )
Project Audio Format AC-3 5.1 Surround

I go to Make DVD > Prepare DVD and Burn
the message says :
" The audio on track 1 of "test-surround will be compressed "

next > next > rendering > Preparing > Burning.

What do I do wrong ??

After starting the DVD in the player it switches to Dolby Digital but as I said I can hear all the sound + effects but it's only stereo form the left and right front speakers, rear + center are silent.

Help is very much appreciated.

Piet.
The Netherlands.

Comments

scottshackrock wrote on 11/25/2004, 11:52 AM
although I havn't ever made a 5.1 video yet, I think this is your problem:


selecting test-surround.mpg says :
Video : 720x576x32 ; 25.000 fps MPEG-2
Audio : 48.000 Hz, Stereo Mpeg Layer2


You need to render a VIDEO ONLY stream from vegas. What you rendered is a mpeg-2 file, with stereo sound (stereo mpeg layer 2).
So, that is overriding your ac3 that you imported (that's my guess).

So, you have 2 audio tracks, and DVDA doesnt know what to do with that, so i assume it's using your stereo sound from the mpeg, and NOT the ac3 5.1 file you created. OR perhaps you can try pressing the audio button on your dvd player remote, and it'll switch for you? haha. doubt it, but yeah - just mix down your video as video stream for dvda or something.

leitri wrote on 11/25/2004, 12:04 PM
Thanks for the quick reply.

OK so I choose

save as : Main Concept MPEG-2 (*mpg)

Template : DVD Architect PAL Video Stream
from the drop down template menu.

There is no DVD PAL Video Stream, only the DVD Architect PAL Video Stream.
Strange, there is DVD NTSC Video Stream no DVD PAL Video Stream.

Piet.
scottshackrock wrote on 11/25/2004, 7:49 PM
I think that that is kind of the same thing. And, since you'll be using DVDA anyway, I wouldn't worry about it. Make sure you go to custimize, and make the quality slider where you want it - sometimes Vegas is default to "medium" quality, not "full/best."

Also, try this out, make sure it works - make sure your audio is synced up in DVDA correctly!
Spot|DSE wrote on 11/25/2004, 9:15 PM
If you render the 5.1 AC3 file separately and name it the same as your PAL Mpeg or AVI stream, AND it's stored in the same folder as the MPEG stream is, DVDA will automatically pick it up. You can STILL use the already rendered PAL MPEG stream, just render a 5.1 AC3 file in Vegas, and in DVD Architect, specify the 5.1 stream as your audio for that particular file/button. You can do this by dragging the 5.1 file to the DVDA timeline window, by drargging the 5.1 file to the DVDA Properties window when the related file is open, or by using the dropdown menu to select the 5.1 audio file to replace the existing MPEG audio file that came over with the rendered media.
HTH.
leitri wrote on 11/26/2004, 8:23 AM
Hi,
Well I rendered the video and audio part seperately [ video only ]

In DVD Architect I opened the 2 files :

test-surround.ac3
test-surround.mpg

and burned them to DVD.

In the DVD player it indicates it's Dolby Digital but the rear speakers are still
completely silent and the soundseffects are coming from the front speakers.

Forgot to say that I have a 5.1 soundcard but no 5.1 speaker-set on my computer, does that make a difference [ I think not ]

Help ! What am I doing wrong ?

Jaap.
scottshackrock wrote on 11/26/2004, 9:17 AM
well, NOW I would look to the cause as being in your project. Are you SURE you set it everything up correctly? It would help to have a monitoring system set up with your computer, so that you can really find out if the problem is in the project or not. If the problem's NOT in your project, maybe I'd check my tv/5.1 setup where you are watching the dvd.
leitri wrote on 11/26/2004, 10:09 AM
Set up is as my first post.
What do you mean by a " monitoring system " ?
About the set up of the cinema system, what should be changed ?
All of my 5.1 dvd 's plays the surround sound correct without changing the settings of the player.
leitri wrote on 11/26/2004, 10:13 AM
Forgot something.
I'm using Vegas 5.0b now [ latest update ] maybe There are more updates to solve this problem ?
In my opinion the update site is not that clear.

Piet.
Spot|DSE wrote on 11/26/2004, 10:28 AM
There is, and never has been a 5.1 "problem" in Vegas 4 or 5 that I'm aware of.
Trying to author 5.1 without a 5.1 monitoring system is like shooting ducks in the dark. How do you know you've got rear audio? Maybe the meters are moving, but maybe their routed incorrectly. Maybe there are plugs in the routing? There are any number of issues you have that without a monitoring system you'll not hear.
leitri wrote on 11/26/2004, 11:21 AM
Do you mean by a monitoring system a 5.1 speaker system connected to the computer ?
Sorry I don't understand all of the expressions in the text but I'm Dutch.
busterkeaton wrote on 11/26/2004, 11:03 PM
Yes, in this case a monitoring system is referring to a 5.1 speaker system.

In the audio engineering world, you use audio monitors which are speakers designed to give an accurate sound. Speakers (computer or stereo) are designed to make your stuff sound good. So the out put is colored in one way or another. (Think of all the speakers that offer "Mega-bass" ) So if you don't have 5 speakers hooked up, how do you know you are getting 5 separate channels of sound?
leitri wrote on 11/27/2004, 5:51 AM
OK, thanks for the info, I understand now what you mean.
For now it worked for me without a surround speakersystem on my computer.
I changed the settings in Vegas and burned on DVD-RW and tried playing in my dvd player, more work but it works.

I changed the setting in the mixer [ top left icon and pointed it to my soundcard, it's Soundmax Digital Audio now and guess what ?
The music is stereo - front [ left, right & center ]
and the soundeffects are left & right rear !

Thanks .