AC3 in MP4 errors

[ChrisBensch]

The only suitable method I've come across was because of a Doom9 post that said MeGUI could mux MP4 and AC3. I however cannot seem to get it to work, MeGUI keeps erroring out. Is there a tried and true method?

[MeteorRain]

AC3 in MP4? or should that be AC3 + MP4 -> MKV?

[Doom9]

because of a Doom9 post that said MeGUI could mux MP4 and AC3.link please? Either I didn't say that, or I must've been dead drunk because AC3 in MP4 doesn't work, period.

[ChrisBensch]

Forgive me for not putting the link, I'm trying to find it now. I'm hoping I just misread the post because I can't get it to work ;). If so, please accept my apology. I was certain that I read that. It was where somebody was looking for a GUI to insert AC3 tracks in MP4 container with MP4 video and I *thought* I had read that you offered up MeGUI to do it. still looking...

[ChrisBensch]

@Doom9: Please forgive me, I can't find that damn thread, I'll keep looking, but please ignore what I said for now.

[sazanon]

The only suitable method I've come across was because of a Doom9 post that said MeGUI could mux MP4 and AC3. I however cannot seem to get it to work, MeGUI keeps erroring out. Is there a tried and true method?

Insert your mp4 (video only) in an avi container using Mp4ui (http://mp4ui.sourceforge.net)

Then load your avi and your AC3 (stream list) in VirtualDubMod (http://virtualdubmod.sourceforge.net/)

Select Direct Stream copy for your video and save the new muxed avi as you like

That's it

[Doom9]

Select Direct Stream copy for your video and save the new muxed avi as you likeAnd that gives you an AVI.. he wanted an MP4 file ;)
Bond is away so perhaps nobody will nitpick about my comment.. theoretically it's possible to put AC3 into MP4 via private streams.. the thing is.. you need a player that knows how to handle those private streams and there's none so far. Still, please do not start asking for this to be developed now because it will create a hell of a mess (you end up having one combination of players and filters that can handle it and a whole lot of others that cannot, and then there's standalones, etc etc). If you want AC3 audio, stick to AVI or MKV.

[ChrisBensch]

First of all thanks to all of you folks for the info. I decided to try a full MP4 setup in Recode using the NicAudio plugin to downmix my AC3 file in the avs script. Recode sees the video and audio correctly (PCM 5.1 48KHz) and I do a full encode. The *only* downside I found is that my hardware player doesn't support multichannel (more than two channels) audio. So, I'm kinda partial to my multichannel surround so I've decided to just stick with DivX 6 and AC3 audio for now. I suppose I can give the mp4ui solution a try (mp4 video and ac3 audio in avi container...we'll see).

[ChrisBensch]

I may have found a solution to my multichannel issue on my hardware player. While searching through Google about mp4ui, I came across a link to Doom9's site in Portuguese: http://portuguese.doom9.org/index.html?/mp4.htm that states that "Note that it's important to add audio before video, otherwise the file will be written but cannot be played back properly." So I need to go back and retry all of my tests just to make sure.

[MeteorRain]

you may think of 5.1ch aac

[SeeMoreDigital]

you may think of 5.1ch aacIndeed...

An should you decide to play your MPEG-4 video with 6Ch AAC audio in .MP4 files in a software player. There are ways you can transcode the 6Ch AAC stream to an 6Ch AC3 "on-the-fly" so it can be decoded by an external DSS amplifier!

There are even a few stand-alone players now that can play encodes with 6Ch AAC audio (via analogue outputs).


Cheers

[celtic_druid]

Could also use an X-Mystique sound card which has hardware encoding.

[ChrisBensch]

Well, it's true that my hardware player does in fact *NOT* support 5.1 AAC. 2.0 is fine of course. All of my software players work fine. I'm just trying to "future proof" my encodes, tyring to make smart decisions to preserve as much quality as possible while thinking about future compatibility. When HD-DVD/BluRay become standard devices in homes, I want my stuff to be able to be dropped in and played from day 1. So far, the only combo that works well in *my* consumer devices while preserving quality is DivX/AC3. My HDTV encodes with DivX6/Vdub run at about 4fps. Using Nero ASP or MeGUI ASP the fps is almost twice that...but won't play multichannel AAC audio. So...for now, I'm just sticking with DivX6/AC3 until I get a perfect solution for both my hardware and software players.

Thanks for all of the info guys!

[movax]

I plan on purchasing a Bluray drive as soon as it comes out, just for its massive backup usefullness. I use my computer as my media center, so I can dump 30 some gigabytes of AVC+(enter audio here) onto it, and watch it, hopefully using my card to output PCM to my amplifier for audio. If you can afford it, invest in equipment that can support what you want, rather than being forced to comply. (Switching to AAC if you're not that much of an audiophile will allow you higher bitrate video.)

[ChrisBensch]

I agree about getting the right equipment, it's just so expensive sometimes. I would like to be AVC+AAC, and all of my software would work fine, just my hardware players will have to wait...I'm guessing a firmware upgrade can fix some of these things...

[movax]

Yep, I feel your pain about the expense part. :( That's why I use my PC for most everything, and I will definitely have too when I move into my college dorm. With cheap 19" CRTs/17" LCDs, you can't complain about image quality.

[bond]

Bond is away so perhaps nobody will nitpick about my comment..hrhr, guess whos back ;)

theoretically it's possible to put AC3 into MP4 via private streams.. the thing is.. you need a player that knows how to handle those private streams and there's none so far. Still, please do not start asking for this to be developed now because it will create a hell of a mess (you end up having one combination of players and filters that can handle it and a whole lot of others that cannot, and then there's standalones, etc etc). If you want AC3 audio, stick to AVI or MKV. yeah, i couldnt have written it better

[SeeMoreDigital]

Nice to see you again :D

[Elias]

Insert your mp4 (video only) in an avi container using Mp4ui (http://mp4ui.sourceforge.net)

Then load your avi and your AC3 (stream list) in VirtualDubMod (http://virtualdubmod.sourceforge.net/)

Select Direct Stream copy for your video and save the new muxed avi as you like

That's itPlease don't use mp4UI for creating mp4 files (it only generates b0rked mp4 files). Use only mp4UI for looking inside an mp4 file. If mp4UI ever gets an update, it'll probably be safe for use, but as of now (and the past 2 years), it shouldn't be used for creating proper MPEG-4 streams because it's not capable of it. Use MP4Box instead.

[bond]

well he meant mp4ui can be used for demuxing the video from .mp4 to .avi

but i doubt that this will work for avc mp4 files

[Elias]

well he meant mp4ui can be used for demuxing the video from .mp4 to .avi

but i doubt that this will work for avc mp4 filesmp4UI shouldn't be used for any kind of editing at all, not even changing meta tags. It should be removed off the internet until it gets an update. I'm not trying to bash the tool, I really like it, but it's not safe for use.

And as far as I know it can't handle AVC.

[SeeMoreDigital]

mp4UI shouldn't be used for any kind of editing at all, not even changing meta tags. It should be removed off the internet until it gets an update. I'm not trying to bash the tool, I really like it, but it's not safe for use.Well it ain't that bad....

You've just got to be more careful with the type of MPEG-4 stream you feed into it (ie: don't feed it with packed bit-stream). And don't bother checking the ISMA compliance. And it seems to be fine with Simple Profile streams

And as far as I know it can't handle AVC. It can't... However, mp4UI will allow you to add or delete audio streams to an existing NeroDigital AVC MP4 file with VOBsubs ;)

[Elias]

Well it ain't that bad....

You've just got to be more careful with the type of MPEG-4 stream you feed into it (ie: don't feed it with packed bit-stream). And don't bother checking the ISMA compliance. And it seems to be fine with Simple Profile streamsNo, it is exactly that bad. Just tried it out with Simple Profile. Just as b0rked as ASP.

[Pirks]

There are ways you can transcode the 6Ch AAC stream to an 6Ch AC3 "on-the-fly" so it can be decoded by an external DSS amplifier!


How? Via ffdshow? Or using nVidia SoundStorm (or similar) audio hardware? Or is there a special directshow filter for that?
I have external AC3 receiver and playing AAC through it is tempting.
How much is the quality degraded after recoding from AAC 5.1 to AC3?
Can I set AC3 bitrate, say force it to 448kbit?

[SeeMoreDigital]

How? Via ffdshow? Or using nVidia SoundStorm (or similar) audio hardware? Or is there a special directshow filter for that?
I have external AC3 receiver and playing AAC through it is tempting.
How much is the quality degraded after recoding from AAC 5.1 to AC3?
Can I set AC3 bitrate, say force it to 448kbit?I'm currently using FFdshow to carry out the transcoding.... If you search around on the forum you should find a post I made about how to set everything up.... And I think our very own KpeX was going to write an "How to...." about this subject also ;)


Cheers