No sound for VOB files with VDubMod

[VideoBeginner]

I have tried reading through many of the encoding and help files from the site, and the more I read the more lost I get. All I usually understand is what is simple and right in front of me.

My problem: when I load a VOB file in VirtualDubMod (dragging it into the shortcut or other ways), no sound ever plays. I've tried both protected and unprotected (DVD+RW) discs.

I have a series of video clips recorded from my TV onto a DVD+RW disc (so there are no "protected disk" issues) that I want to transfer to my computer. This was my first time recording onto a DVD through the television, so I did not know that the clips would get split evenly between different VOB files. This means that I need to join files together that split a clip between them, remove the excess, and save. Because I am basically a beginner at this, when VirtualDubMod was mentioned on another forum as "good and free", I tried it and it seems to do everything else correctly. With no sound, though, it's pointless.

I'm lost, and since it's the only program I know of that works (I'm on a very slow connection, I can't waste hours downloading programs to test them and HOPE that they MAY be able to do everything I mentioned above), I need to find a way to fox the problem.


If it helps, I am using "version 1.5.10.2 (build 2540/release)".

[CWR03]

Just to clarify what's in question, there's no sound in VirtualDubMod during playback. VirtualDubMod doesn't work on the audio embedded in a .VOB either - it must be demuxed beforehand and added separately under Streams > Stream List or your output won't have sound.

[mgh]

You need ac3 acm codec
http://www.videohelp.com/tools/AC3_ACM_Decompressor
if the audio is ac3.

[VideoBeginner]

Thanks, mgh. That seemed to be my problem. I'm just as clueless about codecs as everything else, so I never would have assumed that to be the issue since sound did play using other programs.

CWR03, I don't even understand what "demuxing" does. I can only assume it strips the audio out or something. Thanks for the help, though.

[LoRd_MuldeR]

I'm just as clueless about codecs as everything else, so I never would have assumed that to be the issue since sound did play using other programs.

Codec is not equal Codec :p

There are different types of so-called "Codecs", which are not compatible at all. VirtualDub uses VfW Codecs (Video for Window) for decoding/encoding the video and it uses ACM Codecs (Audio Compression Manger) for decoding/encoding the audio. In contrast Windows Media Player as well as other DirectShow-based players (e.g. Media Player Classic) use DirectShow Filters for decoding. To make things even more complex: DirectShow-based players can fall back to VfW Codecs, in case no suitable DirectShow Filter is available. At the same time applications that use VfW Codecs, such as VirtualDub, can NOT use DirectShow Filters at all! Last but not least there are even players, such as MPlayer or VLC Player, that do not use any Codecs at all, because they have their own "built-in" decoders. So in short: If a Video plays in a certain player, this doesn't mean it will open in VirtualDub too ^^

CWR03, I don't even understand what "demuxing" does. I can only assume it strips the audio out or something. Thanks for the help, though.

Demuxing is the process of getting the audio and video streams out of the container. For example AVI is container, which contains audio and video streams. Before a player can send the audio and video streams to the decoders, they need to be split (demuxed) from the container first. This means, for playing a video you need: a suitable splitter (demuxer), a suitable video decoder and a suitable audio decoder. In contrast Muxing is the process of putting audio/video streams together into the container. That's one of the things which happen when you create a video file...

[VideoBeginner]

An exceptional explaination, LoRd_MuldeR. I understood everything (quite a feat on your part! :lol:)

I downloaded VLC Player months ago because I heard it could play "almost anything", I was having problems with WMP playing some files that earlier versions played well (lagging, much longer loading times, among other things), and receiving conflicting opinons on whether or not I should install some ultimate codec pack as I read through a few forums did not help. I often wondered why it was able to play videos easily -- even AVI files while in mid-download -- when others acted like they were struggling.

Thanks for all of that.

[LoRd_MuldeR]

If you like VLC Player, then give MPlayer (http://tinyurl.com/2vq8nw) a try ;)