AC3 audio

[aussiealan]

Hi. Can somebody tell me what AC3 audio is, and how it helps. I have DVD Author and downloaded AC3 audio, but as a beginner I am still trying to work it out.

Thanks Alan.

[LT. Columbo]

http://www.afterdawn.com/glossary/terms/dolby_digital.cfm

keep it!

it's dolby digital, if you have a surround setup you'll notice of course, otherwise not too much. in either case keep it!

i've created a guide on how to convert it to wav to allow encoding, yet keep the ac3 for authoring.

[aussiealan]

http://www.afterdawn.com/glossary/te...by_digital.cfm

keep it!

it's dolby digital, if you have a surround setup you'll notice of course, otherwise not too much. in either case keep it!

i've created a guide on how to convert it to wav to allow encoding, yet keep the ac3 for authoring.

Thanks Lt. you're always very helpful, but you must get tired of answering all these beginners question.

I don't have surround sound, so will it just automatically cut in when I am authoring a movie (if so, how do I know ?), or do I have to manually set it up? Alan.

[benbryant]

Here is something you should know about AC3:

Dolby Digital provides five full-bandwidth channels, front left, front right, center, surround left, and surround right, for true surround sound quality. A low frequency effect (LFE) channel is included that provides the sound needed for special effects and action sequences in movies. The LFE channel is one-tenth of the bandwidth of the other channels and is sometimes erroneously called the subwoofer channel. This multichannel scheme is known as 5.1 channel.

Because not everyone has the equipment needed to take advantage of Dolby Digital's 5.1 channel sound, developers included a downmixing feature that ensures compatibility with any playback device. The decoder in the playback device delivers the audio signal specific to that particular device's ability. For example, a 5.1 channel audio signal is delivered to a mono television. The playback device's decoder downmixes the 5.1 channel signal to a mono signal allowing the television to use the received audio signal. Because the playback device does the downmixing, producers do not have to create multiple audio signals for each playback device.

Regards

[LT. Columbo]

Thanks Lt. you're always very helpful, but you must get tired of answering all these beginners question.

I don't have surround sound, so will it just automatically cut in when I am authoring a movie (if so, how do I know ?), or do I have to manually set it up? Alan.

hi

like ben has mentioned you can still play it. converting an ac3 file to wav or any other format still will not sound as good on a regular tv in my experience. specifically the normalizing. gunshots will throw you into the rafters, yet you have to increase the volume for dialogue (after processing). some not all. it's always better to keep the ac3 IMO, i sure do. only on the odd time i do an audio sync correction i must keep the wav-no biggie to me. unless you use dvd author 2.0