issues with Gordianknot and DVD2AVI

[katharos]

Hey guys. I've only just started trying to learn about all of this...The other day I was attempting to use Flask as my encoder, but got sick of swarms of unintelligible error messages. I read Uncas' and Doom9's GKnot guides, and was inclined to switch software. However, I'm having difficulty using DVD2AVI (v1.76)...when I save a .d2v file, then go into my winXP explorer, the stored AC3 files won't play. Rather, they will play, but there is absolutely no sound, for *any* of the tracks. On top of that, when I try to load the .d2v in GKnot, I'm told that the file is not even a valid .d2v project. I've double checked all the standard settings...made sure it was YUV, etc. I even tried making a .d2v with "none" checked for the audio, as per Uncas. Still nothing.

Thanks for pointing out my likely obvious error.

-K

[khp]

Did you move the d2v or the vob files after creating the dv2 file ?
You must not do that.

[katharos]

I moved nothing. Strange thing is, the AC3 files (four of them), though they have a Delay of 0ms, and though they have no sound, all take up different amounts of memory. Three of them are stored at 192kbps and are each 3.4 megs, and the fourth stored at 384kbps for 7.3 megs. What caused them to differentiate into different bitrates, and why so large of a bitrate at that? I was planning to encode the audio at ~96kbps...

[UncasMS]

1. there's nothing wrong with your ac3 having different bitrates!
a 2.0 surround file takes less than a 5.1 digital stream and streams like directors comments wont be 5.1 for example.

2. for your d2v problem: which version of dvd2avi did you use?
if it was any other version than 1.76 (though different version run on some systems - they might cause troubles on others) then try again with 1.76

[katharos]

that's not it, I'm using DVD2AVI 1.76......could it be something to do with the way I ripped it? I used the most up to date version of smartripper, but I noticed that no .txt file was created in the target directory like some guides mention (Nicky's, I believe). Also, I selected the second .vob in the list because the first is just menu options and such, which I do not want.......can that kind of thing screw up .d2v?

-K

[UncasMS]

trons 'latest' smartripper is 2.41 and the version is fine (except its d2v creation, which is buggy, but you're creating a proper d2v anyway - or at least you're trying to)

did you use it with those settings i mention in my guide?

how come you know that the first vob contains ONLY menue etc???

like i said before: you did not seem to have stuck to the guide.

[katharos]

I'm guessing the first vob is only the menu (list of DVD features) because A) it's only 14megs and B) when I use the DVD2AVI preview feature with that vob selected it runs through the menu and assorted slides (language choices, etc) and then stops...
How am I diverging from the guide? Sure I tried some tactics from the Doom9 guide, but I also tried following your (Uncas) protocols strictly...

[UncasMS]

did you use the movie mode in smartripper?

to be honest i havent got any idea as to what is going on in your case.
i have never had ripped datea, that contain the menue as you describe it. maybe using a different ripper might be an idea if you DID use movie mode in smartripper already.

[katharos]

Hey, thanks for all the fast replies. I reloaded all my codecs and started over, and am now able to open my .d2v and tool around. I still can't run a 5% compression check, though. it looks like everything is fine when I hit "now", and even says finish at the top of the status bar. But no stats pop up in the main screen. I checked the compression .log file, and it says an unknown error has occured, and then spouts off something like "Compression Check: Divx4" which is odd. I don't have the Divx 4 codec, nor is it even an option back under the bitrate tab. (Using Divx5, of course) The .log does say it finished a 2second Divx first pass, so I don't know why there are no values in the main screen boxes for the comp. check. Also, do I need to manually input a value into the "Bits/pixel*frame" box before I run the first pass check?