New Toolset: AudioOnVideoDVD

[mikeathome]

Hi,

I want to introduce a toolset which should help you putting Audio-CDs on DVD-Video in a compressed format, including Cover and Track Marker.

1) What is it for:
- Back-up your Audio-CDs on regular DVD+-R

2) What is it not:
- complete ;-)
- high sophisticated, not yet

3) Features:
- one-click solution to grab, resample and encode a regular Audio-CD ready for import into any DVD Authoring Program
- Spruce Maestro based project setup (pls. see howto below)
- creates Audio/Video-DVDs playable on ANY SA-DVDPlayer (!)
- shows Tracknames, times
- supports skip tracks back and forth
- menu based selection of your AudioCD collection (on this DVD)
- upto 50 Audio CDs on a DVD+-R in high quality, foresure
- SEAMLESS playback of Live and/or Yes-monsters (I love Yes !!!) CDs
- the FFWD and FBWD function may create issues on some SAP since the Maestro created DVDs are NOT 100% compliant with the spec., function tested on:
* Yamakawa 713 - FFWD/FBWD @ 2x only
* Pioneer 444 (with codefree FW) - FFWD/FBWD @ 2x only
* Medion 7457 - FFWD/FBWD @ 2x only
* Software DVDPlayer IfoEdit/WinDVD - fails on FFWD/FBWD
- show the cover of the Audio CD
- can show add'l information, nearly unlimited, your creativity
- you name it...

4) Tools and Software needed:
- Spruce Maestro 2.9b2915a (latest, the earlier versions have probs with still shows)
- Office/Excel XP (sorry, I am not a software developer and do not own a VBA development system, I do not have any C/C++ experience), I offer support to anybody who's willing to put the set into a standalone application
- Audiograbber (Jackie de Franck) Ver. 1.83 Freeware
- Besweet latest (at least 1.5b26), incl. ac3enc.dll (ffmpeg-Version), see doom9 news
- Picture edit soft, e.g. Paintshop, for cover edition

5) Howto (I decided to put it here to give you an overview about the function, you choice whether it is worth to download or not !):

5.2) Preparation
- audioonvideodvd.zip - download - unzip
- Besweet + AC3Enc.dll + ssrc.dll install
- Audiograbber install and setup, see Word document, put focus on the 'MP3' settings
- CD Audio with Audiograbber in AC3 rip (complete CD in one big AC3
2.0, 48kHz, 224kbps), HINT: mark only the first track in Audiograbber,
get the last frame of the last track, double-clicking tracks will give you the details - this should set the first track to the length of the entire AudioCD, for some CDs it is necessary to set the first frame to 0 (zero) in case it isen't, otherwise timecodes may differ a bit !
- cover scan and import in scen.bmp - Copy into Selection,
this is to pay attention to TVs overscan ! save at new name

5.3) Excel Job
- start and load convert.xls
- Button No.1 - Import Discs from Audiograbber - in Filedialog navigate to file 'discs.txt' in Audiograbber folder, which contains data of the ripped Audio CDs, Audiograbber will get his data from (freecddb.org), no need to manual edit, in case of an error message you may have some garbage in discs.txt due to a freecddb-import failure, use Notepad to clean-up discs.txt (sorry I can't solve that one, but's not a big deal, you see the last imported CD and easily find the garbage, just cut it off and you're done)
- now select a CD by putting focus on the appropriate CDDBID - in column no.1
- press Button Nr. 2, do a quickcheck and pls. report errors !
- press Button Nr. 3 and select in the following dialog a folder where you want the program to put the .stl (subpicture script), HINT: just select (highlight) the folder, do NOT open it !)

*** !!! FOLLOW THIS PROCEDURE EXACTLY !!! ***
- minimize Excel
- start Maestro, if not already open
- create new Movie, name doesn't matter, HINT: rename it like Artist - Titel; will make it easier later on when it comes to link to menues
- activate Timelineview, doubleclick on your new Movie, maximize this window
- switch on first Video + first Audio + first SubPicture track (click the square just in front of the track so that it becomes red)
- import AC3 and cover-picture into asset bin
- import AC3 in Audio track-timeline
- import a cover picture per AudioCD-track (means: if you AudioCD has 14 tracks, import the cover picture 14 times, got it ...)
- switch to Video Clip List View Mode (CTRL-i)
- click the very first track icon with right mouse button and choose small, not absolutely necessary but gives you full view over all tracks
- it should now look like the second Word attachement
- save your project !!!
- do NOT minimize Maestro, but switch to Excel
- pressing Button no.4 should now result in import of the track timecodes, HINT: in the unlikely event of an failure just doit again on a CLEAN table, means re-load your project, importing timecodes into a half-filled table fails, Maestro behaves very strange when you try to overide timecodes which are not exactly in sequence (bastard !)
- back to Timeline View (CTRL-i)
- you'll see the track breaks now exactly as they are on the Audio CD
- right-click in the SubPicture track and import SubPicture Script
- right-click on any SubPicture brings up the subpicture edit dialog where you can setup overlay colors etc. I attached two samples of overlay color tables for your convinience, a color overlay table is responsible for all SubPictures where changing the individual transparency does only affect the actual subpicture
- last but not least you need to click just above every track break to create a chapter marker, this will introduce the chapter breaks for navigation, HINT: it is not necessary to exactly click the break, the near vicinity is sufficient since the chapter marker will snap in the corect location, you can set chapter markers in slide shows only at asset borders
- you do this for every CD you like
- create a main menu for switching the albums, max. 99

6) Notes:
- With Audiograbber always import start at sector 0, otherwise the timecodes may not be correct (some Audio CDs do not start at 0)
- Warning: about the scan function FFWD/FBWD may not function as expected, pls. see remarks above
- you need about 10mins per CD (with a litle experience), incl. rip and AC3 encode, 2.5GiG machine, 60min CD

7) ToDo:
I am almost ready in reverse engineering of the Maestro .dvd project file structure (at least as far it is required to write a project file on your own). Once ready, I will write the project file directly, making the remaining clicks obsolete.

Right-Click + Save as: http://mpegencoderfreak.tripod.com/files/audioonvideodvd.zip

P.S.
I did check a lot of different Authoring programs, among them Scenarist. I did not find a better solution for a highly automated AudioOnVideoDVD procedure. One could think of Scenarist, where you can build a complete project via a script, but be alarmed, Scenarist won't let you set-up seamless cell jumps in slideshows !!! This was quite a surprise for me as well. Ok, in case you do not have a seamless AudioCD, like the Yes-monsters or live CDs, this does not make a difference. I found it quite disturbend that you always get a little sound gap while jumping to the next track.

Add:
If you don't be satisfied with the AC3Enc output, you're welcome to post your solution to incorporate another encoding engine. It is easily possible with the Audiograbber commandline feature, as it is possible to call .cmd / .bat / .vbs batches or scripts. Possible would be e.g. BeSweet+Softencode (where BeSweet resamples to 48kHz using Shibatch.dll and SoftEncode encodes to AC3 2.0 following this thread:http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?s=&postid=383110#post383110) or (not my preference) MP2Enc.
I'll rather put my focus on a Maestro Project file writer, which will take quite some effort.

Essential finding !
Avoid clipping of the input wav at any cost. A peak level of 100% will already lead to considerable distortion when using AC3Enc (looks like an overflow of a variable, maybe a float to long or something). Found that by chance. I had purchased a MP3 Album from AllofMP3.com. They seam to boost peak levels upto 100% which lead to distortion while re-encoding with AC3Machine (new AC3Enc.dll Ver. 1.20).
With Audiograbber it's easy to avoid. Goto Normalize Settings and set as follows:
- check Use Normalizing = ON
- Peak Level to 98%
- But only if it is under 91% or over 99%
- Compression = Never
That's it, no more distortion.

regards, mike

[DSPguru]

1. i doubt that BeSweet works with DA's ssrc.dll, as this is a modified-interface module of my original ssrc.dll written espically for BeSweet.
2. before any of you decide to use ac3enc.dll as an ac3 encoder, i suggest you to read the BeSweet FAQ and search for old threads discussing this encoder.

[mikeathome]

Hi,

Originally posted by DSPguru
1. i doubt that BeSweet works with DA's ssrc.dll, as this is a modified-interface module of my original ssrc.dll written espically for BeSweet.

Did you try? I've done two DVDs until today. I am currently listening to one of them (Mike Oldfield TB 2003 is running in the mo; it's a very good master). I did not find a ssrc.dll on your homepage, the only one I could find was the one from DA's page, I don't know, may be it's your's. As long as it works I don't care...

2. before any of you decide to use ac3enc.dll as an ac3 encoder, i suggest you to read the BeSweet FAQ and search for old threads discussing this encoder.

I used the old and since a few days the new BeSweet, which is based on the ffmpeg ac3enc.dll as far I understood from the doom9 news.

What's wrong with my approach? I appreciate your qualified comments to further improve the quality.

regards, mike

P.S.
I am listening to these DVDs playing on a Pioneer high qual DVD player connected to a class AB tube amplifier driving Quadral Amun 100ltr. 3way - incl. band's in the high band - speaker. Until now I do not have any issue with the process.

[DSPguru]

BeSweet's ssrc module, for quite a long time, is called shibatch.dll. check your logfile, and report back whather BeSweet is using shibatch.dll or ssrc.dll .

what's wrong with your proposed method ?
you're using a premature ac3 encoder.
read the faqs. use the search function.

[jcsston]

Originally posted by DSPguru
what's wrong with your proposed method ?
you're using a premature ac3 encoder.
read the faqs. use the search function.
The new ac3 encoder is supposed to be using an updated version of ffmpeg version has had some fixes with AC3 encoding.
It works well here, the previous version had caused the dvd player stutter badly.

BTW Nice guide mikeathome :)

[DSPguru]

Originally posted by jcsston
The new ac3 encoder is supposed to be using an updated version of ffmpegit does, and it indeed includes a bugfix for the famous playback error. that doesn't change the fact that ac3enc is still in a very premature state as an encoder.


let's put it that way :
if I, personally, had to choose between using ac3enc or mp2enc for authoring a soundtrack of dvd/vcd, i would defenitely choose mp2enc.

[mikeathome]

Hi,

Originally posted by DSPguru
it does, and it indeed includes a bugfix for the famous playback error. that doesn't change the fact that ac3enc is still in a very premature state as an encoder.

let's put it that way :
if I, personally, had to choose between using ac3enc or mp2enc for authoring a soundtrack of dvd/vcd, i would defenitely choose mp2enc.

I had to agree with you! It's still possible with the solution described above. Even incorporating a SoftEncode-Call should be possible. My intend was not to raise again the silly Ac3Enc-did-not-deliver-discussion. It should give you a handy toolset for creating Audio/VideoDVDs with minimal manual interaction. That's why I won't put more effort into AC3/MP2 creating solution. I'll rather try to prog a Maestro Project File writer.
A word on MP2: I definately would NOT recommend MP2 on DVD's. It's a compatibility issue. MP2 has been included for PAL DVDs usage only as a compromise. I found a few SAP which are not capable to play MP2 sounded DVDs properly. Not only in conjunction with slide shows.

And last but not least you were right on the Shibatch.dll. I'll correct above.
BeSweet v1.5b26 by DSPguru.
--------------------------
Using hip.dll v1.19 by Myers Carpenter <myers@users.sf.net>
Using Shibatch.dll v0.24 by Naoki Shibata & DSPguru (shibatch.sourceforge.net).
Using AC3enc.dll v1.20 (Feb 18 2004) by Fabrice Bellard (http://ffmpeg.org).

Logging start : 04/10/04 , 13:49:12.

P:\tools\audiograbber\plugins\BeSweet.exe -core( -input E:\My Music\Road Runner.mp3 -output E:\My Music\Road Runner.ac3 -logfile P:\tools\audiograbber\plugins\BeSweet.log ) -ssrc( --rate 48000 ) -ac3enc( -b 224 ) -profile( The AC3Machine v0.4 )

[00:00:00:000] +------- BeSweet -----
[00:00:00:000] | Input : E:\My Music\Road Runner.mp3
[00:00:00:000] | Output: E:\My Music\Road Runner.ac3
[00:00:00:000] | Floating-Point Process: No
[00:00:00:000] +------ Shibatch -----
[00:00:00:000] | Source Sample-Rate: 44.1KHz
[00:00:00:000] | Dest. Sample-Rate: 48.0KHz
[00:00:00:000] | Attenuation : 0.0db
[00:00:00:000] +------- AC3ENC ------
[00:00:00:000] | Bitrate method : CBR
[00:00:00:000] | AC3 bitrate : 224
[00:00:00:000] | Channels Mode : 2.0
[00:00:00:000] | Error Protection: Yes
[00:00:00:000] +---------------------


mike

P.S. Taken from the Audio FAQ: (http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?s=&threadid=68300)
(...)
The only free encoder is part of the ffmpeg project and is generally considered to be not as high quality as a commercial encoder using the Dolby libraries. However, incompatibilities with AC3 specs should be solved now, and using BeSweet 1.5b26 or later is a good choice for free, multichannel AC3 encoding. (...)

[JoJo12]

Mike,
Thanks you for your nice working tool.
It works fine for me. I've been looking for someting like this for a long time. I have made a nice DVD with menu's from my Melissa Etheridge CD's.
Here is something that is very handy.
- Make with Nero an image on your HD from MP3 songs.
(Nero converts them to 44,1kHz)
- Open the image with Daemon tools
- Open te virtual CD with Audiograbber and convert to AC3 (48kHz)
- In Audiograbber you can choose CD - Get tracknames from CD-text
next CD - Store disc for later freedb query.

I wonder if you have some new developement (reverse engineering)

[mikeathome]

Originally posted by JoJo12
Mike,
Thanks you for your nice working tool.
It works fine for me. I've been looking for someting like this for a long time. I have made a nice DVD with menu's from my Melissa Etheridge CD's.
Here is something that is very handy.
- Make with Nero an image on your HD from MP3 songs.
(Nero converts them to 44,1kHz)
- Open the image with Daemon tools
- Open the virtual CD with Audiograbber and convert to AC3 (48kHz)
- In Audiograbber you can choose CD - Get tracknames from CD-text
next CD - Store disc for later freedb query.

I wonder if you have some new developement (reverse engineering)

Hi,

thanks for your interest.
No new development, sorry, no time, but more hints:

1) Use EAC - Exact Audio Copy for extraction, better 1:1 copy, got some difficulties with rotten CDs.
2) Set normalization down to 96%. I really got difficulties with some Mike Oldfield CDs and clipping. Try TB 2003 @ 98% and you'll hear, especially track 8.

I've got a modified XCel sheet to support EAC's DB-Text export format to have absolut the same functionality as the Audiograbber disc export. In EAC set the external MP3 encoder the same way as in AG. Works great, I've done 10 DVDs so far.

regards, mike

P.S. Send me an email to request the new XCel sheet.

[hbbq]

mikeathome: I've PM:ed you about helping you with creating a standalone application and maybe some more development