Nick's plugin for DVD output with AC3 audio

[stenews]

Hi Nick,
I read about your plugin to output AC3 audio while encoding for a DVD using d2s.
I had look all the threads in this post http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?t=102291 and I realized that the final build has been made after several releases.
So my question is:
Which is the most updated link where to download the most stable version? :helpful:
Is there others packages I have to install to properly configure it (I see around additional package by manolito...)?

Hope you or someone else will point me in the right track.
Thanks in advantage,
Stefano. :thanks:

P.S.
I use d2s with CCE 2.50 and MuxMan authoring plugin by Sir Didymus

[manolito]

Hi Stefano,

here is your "private teacher" again :)

The most recent and stable versions can always be found in the first post of the thread. Whenever a new version comes out, Nick will update the links in this first post.

You can only choose between the BAT and EXE versions. Both represent the same state of development and have the same functionality.

There is no need to download any other package. The early versions of the plugin had a problem that in AVI2DVD mode when fixed chapters were selected there would be no chapters at all in the final DVD. My package adressed this problem.

But later on Nick improved my idea and integrated it into his plugin, so now this plugin works without any problems. It does not matter which encoder you use or which muxing and authoring application you prefer. Just install the plugin and enjoy...


Cheers
manolito

[stenews]

Hi manolito,
I'm more than thank to you for your help.
I'll give it a try as soon as I can.

Bye and thanks again,
Stefano. :thanks:

[stenews]

Sorry mate,
I was nearly forgotten to ask you that question:

After the installation is complete can I always decide use d2s as in the past?
I mean, Is it always possible to use both the MP2 and the AC3 audio as output for my DVD? or I'll be forced to always use AC3 for all my conversions :confused:

Bye and thanks again,
Stefano.

[manolito]

You can always change the audio encoder back to BeSweet under D2S' audio tab. If your target format is SVCD, then you have to use BeSweet, because SVCD does not support AC3 audio. But for DVD output IMO it does not make much sense to use MPEG audio instead of AC3 audio. AC3 offers both better quality (at the same bitrate) and better compatibility (for NTSC).

Cheers
manolito

[ChickenMan]

Also, if I can remember right, when you install Nicks AC3 plugin, it sets your Authoring to use DVDAuthor, just reset it back to Muxman. I use the EXE version myself and find it substantially faster on my quad core PC than the BAT version.

[stenews]

@ manolito

Again... Many thanks.
You know you're really ---> :cool: (cool)
What can I say to you... I'm really appreciating your great help.

Bye,
Stefano. :thanks:

[stenews]

@ ChickenMan :p

Thanks to you too ChickenMan.
So, in others words, will I need to take care by myself to reset back to the DvdAut_hack.exe on the DvdAuthor tab?
Is it right?
I mean, Is there nothing more to remember?

Bye,
Stefano. :helpful:

[ChickenMan]

Yes absolutely, just check and if necessary, link back to DVDAut_hack.exe in the DVDAuthor line. Also check the Multiplexer tab for linking to Mplex_hack.exe & SpuMux_hack.exe

[manolito]

Hey ChickenMan, it has been a while...

Also, if I can remember right, when you install Nicks AC3 plugin, it sets your Authoring to use DVDAuthor, just reset it back to Muxman.
This was only true for earlier versions of the plugin. The current version checks during installation if the BatchMux plugin is present. If it is then the authoring executable is not altered, only if BatchMux is not detected then the authoring executable will be changed to AC3_DVDAuthor.

This means if you have set up D2S to use BatchMux instead of Mplex / DVDAuthor then Nick's installation procedure will leave it that way.


Cheers
manolito

[ChickenMan]

Good to see you to manolito ( I have been watching some old High Chaparral of late also :) ) it has been to long.

Yes I know Nick's installation procedure will leave it that way if you had Muxman hack stuff installed, it just didnt work that way for me. Takes 5 sec to check and 5-10 sec to fix if needed so no big deal really :)

Maybe not the right thread but while I have your attention :D , how would I go about writing a batch file or whatever to rename the outputted AC3 file Encoded_audio_1.mp2 to match with the encoded video file, say Encoded_Video_QuEnc_PAL.mpv or Pulldown_Encoded_Video_NTSC.mpv. The reason I ask is when I'm putting a number of files on 1 dvd, I use TMPGEnc DVD Author and it would auto load in the audio file when I load in the video file if they both have the same name. With different extensions of course. Is this possible do you think ?

[stenews]

Hi to all mates,
thanks for the moment to both manolito and ChickenMan to have replied me :)

In any case, I'll always stay in touch to read about your further threads.

Bye,
Stefano.

[manolito]

@ChickenMan

should be pretty easy. Just 2 questions before I start hacking it in and testing:
I use TMPGEnc DVD Author and it would auto load in the audio file when I load in the video file if they both have the same name.
In case we have 2 audio streams, will TMPEnc DVD Author also automatically load audio streams with file names like "Video_Name_1.mp2" and "Video_Name_2.mp2" ? If yes then I can implement the renaming for both audio streams (if present).

Second question is about the audio extension. Nick's plugin always gives the .mp2 extension to the AC3 files, and DVDAuthor and BatchMux have no problems with this wrong extension. Should I stick with the .mp2 extension, or would you prefer that the audio streams get the correct AC3 extension? In this case you will have a problem if your encoded audio really is MP2.

Let me know what you think....

Cheers
manolito

[ChickenMan]

TMPEnc DVD Author will automatically load one audio stream only, if you ever want more than 1 then you need to manually load them. I cant remember the last time I ever had 2 audio tracks.

As for the extension, it doesnt really matter as TMPEnc DVD Author has no issue recognizing a *.mp2 file as a *.ac3 as produced by Nicks plugin. If I had 3 files called filename.mpv, filename.mp2 and filename.ac3, when I load in the filename.mpv it autoloads the filename.ac3 in preference to the filename.mp2 but if the filename.ac3 was NOT present, it would load in the filename.mp2. But I suppose an AC3 extension would look better simply because thats what it is.

The problem I see is the multiple names the mpv file can have, as it depends on the encoder used, if its PAL or NTSC or if Pulldown was used or not. There are also more than 1 mpv file present in the output folder when you use D2SRoba. Would be fantastic if you could sort that out :)

EDIT: I only use CCE and HCEnc (via Qenc) and ONLY to DVD output.

EDIT2: Also, the Audio file can have different names, if the original file I was converting had ac3 already, then I tend to retain that. So the audio file ends up called Encoded_audio.ac3 rather than mp2.

[manolito]

OK, I really got to go to bed now, so I had no time for testing. But basically this very simple approach should work:

rem ************************** RenameAudio.bat *************************
rem
rem *** Renames the resulting audio stream so the file name is identical ***
rem *** to the name of the video stream. Enables authoring software to ***
rem *** automatically load the audio stream after selecting a video stream ***
rem
rem *** Copy RenameAudio.bat to your DVDAuthor folder and select this file ***
rem *** under the DVD2SVCD Multiplexer tab as your muxing executable ***
rem ---------------------------------------------------------------------

:loop
IF !%1 == !-f GOTO continue
SHIFT
GOTO loop
:continue
SET video_name=%~n5
REN %6 %video_name%.*

Save this as "RenameAudio.bat" in your DVDAuthor folder and use this batch file as your muxing executable.


Finetuning tomorrow...

Cheers
manolito

//Edit//
Just finished some tests here. Seems to work alright, I could not break it. So no finetuning today...

[ChickenMan]

Thanks a heap manolito. I ran quite a few test runs last night and all worked without fault. I had PAL, NTSC and Pulldown NTSC, all with MP3 or AC3 audio.

So now my authoring is so much easier and quicker, a big :thanks: