Making DVD videos from mpeg and avi sources, bad files and audio/video sync issues

M

Mikademus

New member
Hi!

I'm new to making my own Video-DVDs, I've been at it for a week and I have come to understand what a complicated procedure this is. This was a very suprising experience to me for I thought what I want to do to be both simple and standard proactice.

Basically, I want to make Video-DVDs of the .mpeg and .avi files I've got on my hard disc. That this would entail adapting those files to DVD specifications, or at least a format manageable by DVD authoring software, was something I had assumed. Now, some of my files are easy enough to adapt with software like TMPGEnc and VirtualDubMod, however, some are a bloody living hell, to say the least, to get to work.

First of these are .mpeg files with a audio bitstream other than 48 khz. These must be resampled, which almost inevitably leads to audio/video sync issues, quite gruesome ones as well. I have yet to resolve this problem.

Secondly, .avi files need to be converted into MPEG-1 before used as DVD tracks. However, some .avis have, quoting the popup VirtualDubMod gives me when loading one of these, "improper VBR audio encoding". If I try to extract the audio stream from these files with TMPGEnc I get a silent audio track. If I generate a new .avi with VirtualDubMod I get an avi with audio/video sync issues. I have yet to resolve this problem too.

Please, are there anyone out there with solutions to these problems? What I am wanting to do must be one of the most common usages of DVD burning today!

Regards, Michael
 
M

Mikademus

New member
The-poacher said:
Go here & spend some time browsing U will find your answers

Tips

Tutorials

:)
Click to expand...
Thank you for the links, I have read through the topics that I though addressed the issues I'm experiencing, but I'm still at a loss - perhaps I'm dense, if so please forgive me...

I did extract the audio track from a MPEG with DVD2SVCD but the resulting stream differed in length from the original, this I've understood has to do with the loss of sync signals. Further, similar problems happen when I attempt to extract the audio streams from the avi files with bad headers i refered to in my post above.

Perhaps this is a common problem and there are tools to fix just such errors in avi files, or extract a correct audio-stream considering sync signals from mpeg-1 files?

Again, thanks for the quick reply,
Regards, Mike
 
ChickenMan

ChickenMan

1
TMPGenc does NOT handle VBR MP3 audio commonly found in divx files. VirtualDUB and VirtualDUBMod also does not handle VBR MP3's either, you need Nandub to extract & convert the audio to a WAV file, then it will be in sync. This is all explained in the Tutorials.

"I did extract the audio track from a MPEG with DVD2SVCD but.." hmm.. DVD2SVCD cant load in an MPEG file so not sure what your doing here.

If your audio is at 44.1 in the MPEG file, demux the file to Video & Audio streams and then use GoldWave to Re-Sample to 48 khz, save as a WAV and then convert that to AC3. Again, all this is in the Tutorials. Read the DivX to VCD and DivX to SVCD as well as they have tips on how to convert and fix the audio.
 
M

Mikademus

New member
Just thought I'd sum up what I have learned, perhaps it could help someone else. Feel free to correct any errors I've made!

Regards,
Mike



1.0) Objective: Create a settop DVD player compatible Video-DVD from MPEG and AVI sources.


1.1.0) Basic procedure: Use TMPGEnc to convert source files into DVD compliant MPEG-1 or MPEG-2 streams. This includes resampling video into suitable size and framerate and audio into a proper sampling frequency.

1.1.1) DVD compliancy and output format: If creating a widescreen DVD then the output format need to be MPEG-2, at least if you plan to use TMPGEnc DVD Author for DVD authoring.
For making PAL DVDs, use 25 frames per second (fps) for frame rate and any of these video resolutions: 352x288; 352x576; 704x576; or 720x576.
For NTSC DVDs, use a frame rate of 29.97 fps and any of these resolutions: 352x240; 352x480; 704x480; or 720x480.
The DVD-video standard specifies an sampling frequency for audio of 48 khz. Some players support other common frequencies, like 44.1 or 32 khz, but these will likely not work on many other standalone players.

1.1.2) Programs required:
VirtualDubMod for testing validity of AVI files' audio stream
Nandub for extracting invalid AVI audio streams
TMPGEnc for converting MPEG and AVI files to DVD compliant MPEG files
TMPGEnc DVD Author (recommended) for authoring DVD-videos.


2.0) Issues:

2.1.0) Problem: MPEG generated from AVI source has no sound.
2.1.1) Solution: AVI source most likely has an invalid VBR header. Check is so with VirtualDubMod which will give you a popup complaining about this if so. If this is the case, then use Nandub to extract the audio as a wave file (File-->Save WAV), then use TMPGEnc with the original AVI file as video source and the extracted wav file as audio source to generate the mpeg file.

2.2.0) Problem: Audio/video out of sync in MPEG file created from AVI.
2.2.1) Solution: This is most commonly manifested as a linear progressive error where the sound is increasingly ahead of the video. The most likely cause of this problem is thrashed frames in the avi video stream which cause playback glitches only discernable during actual playback, which is why audio extraction or demultiplexing will result in a "more perfect" audio stream compared to the video stream. If you cannot get an error-free source, backup the source avi file and run it through DivFix's error check with "remove bad frames" switched on. The file should now be useable, but with visual and audial artifacts at the processsed frames' positions.

2.3.0) Problem: Audio/video out of sync in MPEG file created from a MPEG source.
2.3.0) Solution: Similat to 2.2.1, above, this is due to sync signals in the source stream which are lost when recoding audio, i.e. extracting it or resamling it for DVD compliance, or multiplexing the stream. I have no good solution to this problem so far, though some suggestions have been put forward at
http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?threadid=54615&highlight=vcd+sync
http://forums.afterdawn.com/thread_view.cfm/40101
http://www.dvdrbase.com/showthread.php?t=10651

2.4.0) Problem: Video of generated file is jerky.
2.4.1) Solution: Most likely you've recoded the source file into PAL framerate. The source files used are likely to be coded in 23.97 frames per second (fps), while PAL uses 25 fps and NTSC 29.97, which necessitated frame fills in the generated stream. Since PAL has higher resolution and lower framerate than NTSC, i.e. higher picture but lower animation quality, the frame fills, which are animation artifacts, becomes less frequent and in consequence much more perceptivly apparent then under NTSC's higher frame rate and lower resolution. If your DVD and TV can support it, generally prefer to output NTSC files than PAL.

2.5.0) Problem: TMPGEnc DVD Author uses an aspect ration or 4:3 even though the stream file is in 16:9.
2.5.1) Solution: You have converted the file into MPEG-1, TMPGEnc DVD Author only recognises 16:9 in MPEG-2 streams.
 
J

Jola

New member
Hi Mike
You might get this twice as my connection dropped halfway through typing.
Anyway, I am new too. I started about three months ago with less than no knowledge. Thanks to the tutorials I have improved immensely to a new level of nearly no knowledge!
In my desperation I discovered a couple of very easy ways to convert your files:
1) I use DVDLab to convert Mpegs to DVD. It's an abousolute cinch to use and a free d/l, just follow the instructions. You don't need any other app if you're ok with it, as it can encode, author, compile and burn all in one program. I'm not sure if the DVD's are compliant though. The results aren't excellent but I wonder if they ever would be from Mpegs - I'll leave that to the experts.
2) My preference is avi's/Divx's for the quality. I d/loaded Cucusoft AVI to DVD Converter (http://www.cucusoft.com/), cost about £12.00. It also converts to VCD and SVCD too but I generally only use AVI's now. Just follow the instructions. Load up the avi, go to the pub for 3/4 hours and it will probably be cooked. No need to worry if it's widescreen or the audio frequency differs or if it's PAL or NTSC, just tell it you zone preference and it will sort the rest itself. It suggests using IfoEdit (free) to encode which is fine but if the avi is in two parts, I don't know to join in Ifoedit so I use DVDLab again and it's a seamless result. I then burn with Nero 5.5 which was free with my PC. I use it because it's fast.
Also you'll probably not need much spare room for this, maybe 4-5gb at most.
I know that CM et al have produced some very good tutorials on this subject and I would never suggest this method as even coming close to the quality they probably achieve but for the novice and impatient ones (like me) this is an easy way out and gives some very good results provided you use a file with a video data rate of at 128kbps.
Let me know what you think - works for me:)
Cheers
 
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