Loss of audio when authoring dvd

[Calle]

I authored a dvd with Red Dwarf episodes....The total leght exceeded the length of the disc (according to TGENC, but it was just above 4.5 GB...). The final vob-files burned into the disc without any error messages from Nero....

But when I play the dvd in my stand alone DVD player - Some of the episodes have no audio!!! two of them display both audio and video just fine....

When checking the mpeg2 files used for the authoring, Gspot shows them as being ok.

Can the excessive length of the compilation result in loss of audio??
Can I convert the mpeg2 files to avi and shorten them ( by reencoding them in lower bitrate)? How can I display the mpeg2 files? Neither Nero Media Player nor WMP can handle them....

ta for your pointers...

Carl

[ormonde]

"When checking the mpeg2 files used for the authoring, Gspot shows them as being ok."

What type of audio stream is contained within the mpeg 2 files? Also, I'm assuming that you used "TMPGEnc DVD Author" to compile the DVD. (Not the regular TMPGEnc)

[Calle]

"What type of audio stream is contained within the mpeg 2 files? Also, I'm assuming that you used "TMPGEnc DVD Author" to compile the DVD. (Not the regular TMPGEnc)"

Ta Ormonde for your attention....

Yes... I used TMPGEnc DVD Author...

Audio stream? Gspot states that as n.a (see enclosed screen dump).The original file was an avi (xvid) with AC3 audio.....how can I see the audio stream of the existing file?

[ormonde]

"The original file was an avi (xvid) with AC3 audio.....how can I see the audio stream of the existing file"

Open the "Original" AVI/Xvid in VirtualDubMod. Go to "File" > "File Information". However, as you have already stated that the audio file is Ac3, TMPGEnc DVD Author can sometimes be "Picky" about handling Ac3 files. If you don't have the audio equipment necessary for the playback of Dolby 5.1, I would convert the audio stream to mp2. (mpeg-1 layer 2, 2-channel stereo)

[Calle]

"I would convert the audio stream to mp2. (mpeg-1 layer 2, 2-channel stereo)"

With TMPGENC? Can you convert the audio to mp2? Thing is I deleted the original avi file and I am stuck with the resulting mpeg file....

[ormonde]

"With TMPGENC? Can you convert the audio to mp2? Thing is I deleted the original avi file and I am stuck with the resulting mpeg file...."

Not with DVD Author, but the "Regular" TMPGEnc or TMPGEnc Plus will allow you to. Go to "File" > "Mpeg Tools" > "De-multiplex". this will give you a separate video (.m2v) and audio (.ac3) file-double-click on each of the video and audio streams individually to output them. I would use another program called "ffmpeg" to convert the Ac3 to mp2-it’s fast.

[Calle]

Thanks ormonde - I´ll try that

Carl

[Calle]

Do i have to splice the audio and video to one file, before authoring the dvd??

[ormonde]

"Do i have to splice the audio and video to one file, before authoring the dvd??"

That would be the best way. Again, TMPGEnc can accomplish this with the "Mpeg Tools" feature. (use "Multiplex" to join them)

[reboot]

Why?
If the authoring program is simply going to demux them again, just import the audio and video separately and author/burn.
If the authoring program can take separate audio and video streams, again why?

[Calle]

got a point there, Reboot....

But i am faced with a slight problem.

When checking the mpg file in TmpEnc, it shows the audio stream to be mpeg layer 2 already!?!?!?

It seems that the conversion from avi to mpg was ok, yet the audio does not play in the dvd...

Puzzled is the wors of the day...

Calle

[reboot]

Get Audacity. Import the mp2 audio, extract as wave (.wav).
Import into your authoring prog.
There are some dvd players that just can't handle mp2/mpa and it must be encoded into .wav or .ac3
ac3 would be better, if your authoring program will accept it, if not, you gotta use a .wav
Another reason to pay a little more for good software. I use DVDLab exclusively to author, and it will take mp2, mpa, ac3, wav, ogg, whatever I got, without burping.
If you have the original avi still, simply extract the ac3 (I forgot the name of the program that does that), or extract/convert it to .wav in virtualdub.

[ormonde]

"If you have the original avi still, simply extract the ac3"

Re-read user "Calle's" 3rd post. The original AVI file was deleted.

[ormonde]

"It seems that the conversion from avi to mpg was ok, yet the audio does not play in the dvd"

Did you ever check the DVD output from your HD on a "Software" DVD player first such as WinDVD or PowerDVD before you burned to disk to see if the audio was present?

[Calle]

"Did you ever check the DVD output from your HD on a "Software" DVD..."

Actually no; I did not see cause for alarm besides the total output being a little too long...

What I cant understand is that the audio seems to be present in the final mpg file., yet it doesnt play. I´ll try to extract the audio to a single file to test it...