HD-DVD to DivX with AC3 multichannel audio

[olivierdb]

Required software:

1) AnyDVD HD or BackupHDDVD
2) EVO Demux
3) DTS/AC3/DD+ source filter
4) Sonic Cineplayer Decoder Pack 4.2
5) AC3 filter (http://ac3filter.net/index.php?name=Sections&req=viewarticle&artid=5)
6) AC-3 ACM Codec for Windows (http://www.digital-digest.com/dvd/downloads/showsoftware_ac3acm_529.html)
7) DivX Pro 6.6.1 bundle (http://www.divx.com/divx/windows/download/) (recommended for best results)
8) Avisynth 2.5.7
9) graphedit
10) VirtualDub (http://virtualdub.sourceforge.net/)
11) DirectX 10.0 (not required, but recommended)

You may find links to download most of the above software in my other thread in the Newbies section entitled "HD-DVD (EVO files) to WMV HD (http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?p=978291#post978291)". Both graphedit (which is part of a Windows SDK) and DirectX 10 may be found on Microsoft's web site.

Install instructions:

To install DTS/AC3/DD+ source filter, extract “dtsac3source-full.ax” to C:\Windows\System32 then register the filter using Start>Run and entering “regsvr32 C:\Windows\System32\dtsac3source-full.ax” (without the quotes!)

To install the AC3 ACM Codec, simply right-click on the "AC3ACM.inf" file, and choose "Install" from the popup menu. If you get a warning that the codec has not passed "Windows Logo testing", choose to "Continue Anyway."

The rest is pretty straight forward!

Conversion Guide

STEP 1: Rip HD-DVD
Use AnyDVD HD or BackupHDDVD to rip the contents of your HD-DVD to your Hard Disk.

STEP 2: Demux main EVO files
In this step, you will demux the EVO files previously ripped into DD+/DTS HD audio streams and VC-1 video.
In the "Options" tab, make sure “Count Frames” and “Continue with second EVO” are checked. Next, chose the “Status” tab, browse to and select your first main EVO file. Your file will first be analyzed and the total number of “calculated frames” will appear at the bottom. Write this number down.

STEP 3: Create GRF files for the audio and video

Use DTS/AC3/DD+ source filter for the audio source.

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/198/461797004_17c10b57f0_o.jpg

In the control panel, ensure that, under "Sounds and Audio Devices", you have selected your speaker system to be 5.1. Also, under "CinePlayer DVD Decoder Options", ensure that, under the "Audio" tab, the check boxes "Use system settings" and "Enable LFE if available" are checked.

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/242/461797008_80d2c1c368_o.jpg

STEP 4: Create the corresponding AVS files

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/231/461797012_4f3c164879_o.jpg

To prevent the end of the movie from being cut off, you should consider changing the VideoSonic.avs script to:
Directshowsource("C:\Path to\VideoSonic.GRF", fps=23.976, audio=false, seekzero=false, seek=true, framecount=xxxx)

where "xxxx" should be replaced by the number of calculated frames obtained from EVO Demux.

STEP 5: Convert AVS file containing both audio and video to DivX + AC3 using VirtualDub

1) Open the AVS file containing both audio and video with VirtualDub
2) Select Audio>Full processing mode
3) Select Audio>Compression...
4) Chose the AC3 ACM Codec and whichever bit rate you fancy!
5) Select Video>Full processing mode
6) Select Video>Compression...
7) Select DivX 6.5.1 codec and hit the "Configure" button to chose parameters

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/185/461802204_e71ff5cfff_o.jpg

5) File>Save As AVI and name the file ending with extension ".divx"

Enjoy!:)

[mr soft]

If this is newbie stuff , I´ll eat my keyboard .

[NHRaider]

I'll have to try it out. On the video_only.avs, are you missing framecount = 125084 in the directshowsource function?

[olivierdb]

@mr softie: Would you like some mustard with it? Believe me, it's not complicated... I discovered all this a month ago... try things out... you'll end up getting the grip of it!

@NHRaider: Good observation! I left out the ".trim(0,framecount)" because I'm not sure if it is needed. To be on the safe side maybe you should add it (and use the framecount from EVO Demux).

[NHRaider]

@mr softie: Would you like some mustard with it? Believe me, it's not complicated... I discovered all this a month ago... try things out... you'll end up getting the grip of it!

@NHRaider: Good observation! I left out the ".trim(0,framecount)" because I'm not sure if it is needed. To be on the safe side maybe you should add it (and use the framecount from EVO Demux).

When I used directshowsource().trim(0,xxxx) on Discover Brazil, I got a 50 minute video duration while if I use directshowsource(... framecount = xxxx) I got 1:40. So I've been using framecount with the value calculated from Evo.

Also, have you tried using DivX converter using the same process? Converter will take an .avs file as input.

[strider01]

I'll give this a try! :)

Just wondering, where do I download Sonic Cineplayer Decoder Pack 4.2 from?

Thanks in advance!

[olivierdb]

@NHRaider: Regarding framecount, thank you for the tip. I guess your method is more reliable. And yes, I did try the DivX converter first, but it wouldn't stop analying the AVS script I fed to it and wouldn't actually start the encoding process. Shame, I guess it still requires some tweaking!

@strider01: I'm afraid I may only suggest you Google it! That's how I found it! Good luck.

[NHRaider]

@NHRaider: Regarding framecount, thank you for the tip. I guess your method is more reliable. And yes, I did try the DivX converter first, but it wouldn't stop analying the AVS script I fed to it and wouldn't actually start the encoding process. Shame, I guess it still requires some tweaking!

@strider01: I'm afraid I may only suggest you Google it! That's how I found it! Good luck.

the AVS crashes when I try to encode in Converter. I get past the analysis then get an error code after a few moments of attemped conversion.

[NHRaider]

I'll give this a try! :)

Just wondering, where do I download Sonic Cineplayer Decoder Pack 4.2 from?

Thanks in advance!

Yeah...it's downloadable so you just need to do a google search..

[ideas_man69]

nice guide mate - following it gave me perfectly matched audio & video which i wasn't able to obtain before.

i've got the final.avs with audio and video, but how does the audio get processed within audio dub.

does it need to be set to direct stream copy? and if so, does it simply copy the DD+ stream? or does the DTS/AC3/DD+ source filter + ac3filter down sample it to a normal ac3 file (448kbps)?

not sure what settings need to be set in ac3filter - but when ever i try to encode it fails before it starts. if i just encode the video its fine - so it must be something with ac3filter

[olivierdb]

@ideas_man69: I used "direct stream copy" and it worked fine. Have you left out the Sonic Cinemaster Audio Decoder on purpose in your post above?

[bgbop15]

graphedit freezes when i try to drop in my demuxed video (.mpv)... any suggestions?

I also tried .vc1 as the extension

I am able to open the stream in cyberlink powerdvd... ??????

[ideas_man69]

@olivierdb: yeah yeah, i've got it exactly the same as yours.. could you right click on your AC3filter in graphedit and goto filter properties and post your settings?

i managed to encode the video overnight, im just converting the audio seperately now..

edit: and if you could load in your .AVS script into virtual dub -> then post a screen shot of the file information (file -> file information) that would be great!

thanks again

[killerhex]

too lazy to do all those things

[Evilution]

Hmm I get this error trying to open the audio part in VDub
An out-of-bounds memory access (access violation) occurred in module 'MSVCR71'...
...writing address 025D0000. any clues?

[Evilution]

Hmm Seems to be when the audio is loaded thought i didnt make the graph correctly. So I went back opened up graphedit and selected dd+ filter to open up the dd+ stream and then inserted the other filters, but when I import it in Vdub it crashes everytime oh well it late will check back tommorow tkz guys.

[olivierdb]

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/189/465922864_e21012b294_o.jpg


http://farm1.static.flickr.com/227/465922866_cd0aa0db6b_o.jpg

[ideas_man69]

ok.. so i've got the audio to come through now..

BUT i wouldn't recommend to anyone to do that. It's uncompressed PCM 5.1 audio @ 1536kbps - not AC3. So you'll end up with a big fkn movie. My suggestion is to convert JUST the video.avs in any program you want. Then use BeHappy to convert the audio.avs to 448kbps AC3 audio. Then you just use virtualdub to mux them together @ 128ms interleaving.

[olivierdb]

@ideas_man69: Good point! Any idea why the AC3filter is spitting out uncompressed PCM instead of AC3?

[foxyshadis]

You can try the disable PCM in SPDIF option, but I'm not even sure if it's possible to trigger SPDIF at all loading into VDub. Doesn't the application have to handle SPDIF or it'll automatically fail?

I agree with processing video and audio separately; just load the audio into aften and the video into whatever you like.

[olivierdb]

Unfortunately, it would seem that the Sonic Audio Decoder 4.2, or any other DirectShow audio decoder currently available only support 2 channels. Therefore, my understanding is that the above solution produces an upmix and until somebody comes up with a DD+ and/or Dolby TrueHD audio decoder that preserves 5.1 channels we're limited to upmixing. As a matter of fact, Nero has such a decoder (with their HD-DVD plugin) but I don't think there's a DirectShow version. Why do engineers never get things right first time round! (or maybe they do it on purpose so we constantly have to upgrade or buy new hardware). :(

[Evilution]

Hmmm do you think the smeg/x360 releases is upmixed audio? or maybe they really know a way to get 5.1 out of it?

[ideas_man69]

Unfortunately, it would seem that the Sonic Audio Decoder 4.2, or any other DirectShow audio decoder currently available only support 2 channels.

nah, just go into control panel, then sounds and audio devices and set your speakers to 5.1

now in the sonic decoder control panel it lets you choose 5.1

easy

[olivierdb]

@ideas_man69: Thanks for the info. I have updated the guide to reflect this and added a download link for the AC3 ACM codec that will allow encoding to AC3 using VirtualDub.

[kemac]

Thank you for this great guide first off!

The Process works great for me except I noticed that over time the audio and Video drift out of sync. After about 2 hours into a title I can notice about a 1/4-1/2 second delay. Anyone else having this problem?

Thanks!

[BHK]

I use this guide, but the last 5 or so minutes are cut off? Anyone know what I' am doing wrong?

[kemac]

I had to add framecount=XXXXX to my avs script to get the correct length. Where XXXXX = the number of calculated frames from EVODemux.

[BHK]

Where do i add that in the avs script?

[kemac]

Directshowsource("X:\Video_Only.GRF", fps=23.976, audio=false, seekzero=false, seek=true, framecount=XXXXX)

When you load your avs into virtualdub -File-->File information should report the correct length.

[BHK]

alright :) thanks for helping me out :) now I can enjoy these on my ps3 after I get done converting them.

[kemac]

Glag I could help, let me know if you have any issues with audio/Video sync. Good luck!

[winkgood]

Wow, the five days wait to post seemed like an eternity. Before I get into the issue I have, let me first say thanks for the great guide put together by the op as well as the other contributions to this thread. This thread helped me get started into the HD-dvd backup scene.

Here's my question though.

I was able to successfully encode V for Vendetta and Troy into 1080p and 5.1 using the ops method and while encoding both sound and video in virtualdub. I do have to manually configure the AC3 Filter to 5.1 every time though to be able to get 5.1 then change it back afterwards for playback. (I have stereo speakers hooked up to my main computer) I don't think the guide specifically mentioned changing the AC3 codec settings so you may want to add that.

I ran into a problem with batman begins hd-dvd though. I've encoded it twice using the same method that I used for the other movies and both times the result has the audio and video off sync slightly. The audio is about 1/2 second ahead of the video. (Just an estimate). I read in another thread in these forums that the problem could possibly be related to the Sonic video encoder. Does anyone have suggestions as to how to fix this and still encode into divx or xvid? I still have the demux'ed files on my hard drive but already deleted the .evos so a method of encoding using the demuxed files would be preferable so that I don't have to rerip the hd-dvd.

That leads to another request of mine. Could someone post screen shots of their xvid settings using this same method with an exception of choosing the xvid codec to render the video. There's so many options within the codec that I have no idea what option does what.

Here are the settings I have setup with the xvid codec. They are mostly the defaults.
http://img440.imageshack.us/img440/6365/xvidsettings1jm2.jpg
http://img440.imageshack.us/img440/3975/xvidsettings2si8.jpg

Final question. (Sorry for all the noob questions). What are the recommended bitrate settings for very nice high def quality? Space isn't a huge issue but I would like to keep the files to a reasonable size (~10 gigs or less). At first I was following the guide exactly and encoding my video into 1080p at 6000Kbit for the video bitrate. Upon reading through some of the other threads in these forums it would appear that this is extremely low for 1080p so I started doing 720p with around 7000kbit. Any suggestions for 1080p bitrates? How about 720? What audio bitrate are people using too? I've been using 512 Kbit (5.1 channel) audio so hopefully this isn't overkill.

[ideas_man69]

over the last few days i've converted 6 of my hd movies.. 5 out of the 6 ended up perfect.

clerks 2 - was AVC 264, used nero's decoders to decode.
apollo 13 - was VC1, used sonic vid decoder.
payback - was AVC 264, used nero's decoder.
the matrix, reloaded & revolutions - all VC1 - used sonic decoders.

all movies worked perfectly and the sound matched up 100% except for the matrix revolutions. i did encode batman begins aswell and had the same problem but i thought i must have done something wrong.

i've used eac3to to convert the audio using the switches:

-448 -orbitlee

not sure what to do about the audio sync with revolutions and batman tho :(

edit: come to think of it, revolutions was synced perfectly at the start but was out near the end of the movie.

[laserfan]

I want to try this but before I buy an HD-DVD player I wonder what CONVERSION TIMES people are experiencing--I assume it is many hours???

[winkgood]

Now having sync issues with Van Helsing. Wasn't really noticable until late in the movie where Dracula and the girl are dancing. I would really appreciate some help on these sync issues. Its mainly been with Batman Begins and Van Helsing but I'm sure to see more problems in the future if I don't find a foolproof solution to this.

@laserfan: It usually takes me about 3-4 hours depending on the length of the movie to do all the encoding in virtual dub. This doesn't include demuxing time or prep time making the graphs and avs files. I'm using a Core 2 Duo OC @ 3.2 Ghz. and I usually set the divX encoder to "Better quality" and around 7000-8000 video Bit rate in 720P.

[NHRaider]

Now having sync issues with Van Helsing. Wasn't really noticable until late in the movie where Dracula and the girl are dancing. I would really appreciate some help on these sync issues. Its mainly been with Batman Begins and Van Helsing but I'm sure to see more problems in the future if I don't find a foolproof solution to this.

@laserfan: It usually takes me about 3-4 hours depending on the length of the movie to do all the encoding in virtual dub. This doesn't include demuxing time or prep time making the graphs and avs files. I'm using a Core 2 Duo OC @ 3.2 Ghz. and I usually set the divX encoder to "Better quality" and around 7000-8000 video Bit rate in 720P.

I've had some synch issues...not much but basically there are two ways to fix...if the audio is out of synch the same amount through the movie, then you can load the file into VirtualDub and then audio>interleaving>Delay audio track (+/-)xxxx ms. Save AVI...

For synch issues which change over the duration of the movie...Load the file into VirtualDub. Video>Framerate> ...then check "change so audio and video durations match". Save AVI...

This has worked a majority of the time I had synch issues...

[winkgood]

I've had some synch issues...not much but basically there are two ways to fix...if the audio is out of synch the same amount through the movie, then you can load the file into VirtualDub and then audio>interleaving>Delay audio track (+/-)xxxx ms. Save AVI...

For synch issues which change over the duration of the movie...Load the file into VirtualDub. Video>Framerate> ...then check "change so audio and video durations match". Save AVI...

This has worked a majority of the time I had synch issues...

If I change it so that the video and audio durations are the same, virtual dub shows a warning that changing durations will cause audio and video desynchronizations. Is this alright? Plus it says the framerate will be 23.992. Is this going to be a problem?

[NHRaider]

If I change it so that the video and audio durations are the same, virtual dub shows a warning that changing durations will cause audio and video desynchronizations. Is this alright? Plus it says the framerate will be 23.992. Is this going to be a problem?

You're already out of synch so the warning at this point doesn't matter. Plus you are not going to overwrite the file so you can save an another filename and review.

It was a month or two back so I can't recall the warning...but it's only a 7 minute test to save the avi file

I didn't have any issue after saving with duration same for audio and video...

Did you check file information in VirtualDub re: lengths of the audio and video?

[laserfan]

It usually takes me about 3-4 hours... encoder to "Better quality" and around 7000-8000 video Bit rate in 720P.Thanks for your complete reply; it is very clear!

:thanks:

[winkgood]

Question for anyone: How does the quality of DivX6 compare to other codecs such as XVid or x264? Does two pass encoding in Xvid or x264 make a big difference?

[foxyshadis]

Both of them are very similar on the size/quality front. Their defaults are a little different; xvid is between divx's normal and slower (but not slowest) on its default, I believe. (Maybe preset 6 or "better" quality in the current version? Haven't tested.) Two pass in all the codecs is very important for quality at specific sizes, but isn't important if you use a quality mode and don't care about size.

x264 is totally different, and for low-to-mid rate encodings usually vastly superior to xvid/divx. At high rates you have to tweak both of them, but either can deliver sharp, crystal clear video. (Divx can, but you need custom matrices to get the most out of high bitrates, and I don't know how to use those with it.)

[winkgood]

Both of them are very similar on the size/quality front. Their defaults are a little different; xvid is between divx's normal and slower (but not slowest) on its default, I believe. (Maybe preset 6 or "better" quality in the current version? Haven't tested.) Two pass in all the codecs is very important for quality at specific sizes, but isn't important if you use a quality mode and don't care about size.

x264 is totally different, and for low-to-mid rate encodings usually vastly superior to xvid/divx. At high rates you have to tweak both of them, but either can deliver sharp, crystal clear video. (Divx can, but you need custom matrices to get the most out of high bitrates, and I don't know how to use those with it.)


Thanks for the response. So just to clarify, at a high bitrate such as 7500 Kbit (720p) two pass encoding isn't extremely important?

And for high bit rates, they all have the capability of looking very good? Are there any good threads that show exact settings for x264 and xvid encoding at high bitrate??(specifically for backing up hd-dvds) I've looked around quite a bit but most of the information was in bits and pieces throughout different threads so very hard to make sense from. I've read on various threads that it isn't recommended to using virtual dub for x264 encoding. Is this still the case or is the newer version capable of doing the encoding correctly? I think I remember reading in a thread a few months old that there were problems because vdub used a VBR with it.

[foxyshadis]

Xvid: http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?t=119399
x264: http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?t=121304

The Virtualdub version of x264 won't give you access to all the option recommendations in that thread, and it also causes problems editing, wereas it works fine in mp4.

1-pass bitrate based mode is almost always inferior to 2-pass bitrate mode until the codec starts to saturate. That's why I suggested 1-pass quality (or quantizer) mode.

[winkgood]

I'm trying to figure out the best way to do the audio for a particular HD-DVD. There are two choices within behappy. There's an Aften AC3 and a ffmpeg AC3 option. Does it make a difference which one I choose? Are they different codecs as far as playback is concerned?

Also, earlier in the thread, oliverDB mentioned that using this method actually doesn't produce true 5.1 sound but that its actually upmixing it. Is there a way to produce true 5.1? As of now I have my graph setup like this:

DTS/AC3/DD+ Source (demuxed file) ----> Sonic Audio Decoder 4.2 ----> AC3 Filter

Windows and the AC3 codec are both configured to 5.1.

[Prophecy650]

I open graphedit and select dts/ac3/dd+source filter then select the dts file keep getting this

Filter failed to load file.
unspecified error (Return cod:0x80004005)

[olivierdb]

Prophecy650, What is the extension of your audio file? You should be using .ddp.

If this doesn't fix your problem, pls copy-paste your .grf and .avs files so that we may look into it to help you.

[dman_lfc]

Hi,

This does not work for me at all (with Chronicles of Riddick) unfortunately - no audio.
If I try to play back the audio graph I made with a renderer attached I get no sound. and CPU % is high.
It seems I may have an old version of the dtsac3source filter or something is wrong there.
If I don't use the dtsac3source filter then I have sound ok playing the graph however VirtuaDub doesn't see the audio frames correctly and thus when re-encoding the audio doesn't get muxed in :-(.

Any help would be appreciated.

DMAN

[dman_lfc]

OK sorted it

The correct source filter is from here..

http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?p=974218#post974218

Works now however it needs a very fast CPU for audio & video to stay in synch as it very dependant on low CPU% playback performance.

DMAN

[sxt173]

Have 3 simple questions regarding settings in VirtualDub (olivierdb, your response is as always appreciated!):

1) If my source content is 2.35:1 aspect ratio, what should I set the "Output Pixel Aspect Ratio" in DiVX codec to? I want to maintain the movie aspect ratio, i.e. maintain the top/bottom black bars on my 16:9 screen. I have it at 1080HD mode. all my attempts end up 16:9...

2) When I choose the AC3-ACM codec, I only see stereo options. If I select "show all options" and pick one of the 5.1 channel options, VirtualDub will not start and gives an error regarding audio not being correct format. Works fine with Stereo. Have it set at "use system settings" and 5.1 speakers selected.

3) Rate Control: I guess (from posts above), 1-pass is fine for 1080HD?

any help? please.

[sxt173]

ok, here is the specific error I am getting related to point #2 above:
"Error initializing audio stream compression:
The audio codec cannot compress the source audio to the desired format

Check that the sampling rate and number of channels in the source is compatible with the selected compressed audio format."