eac3to - audio conversion tool

[Sephiroth0000]

To the countless geniuses on here I have a question,

I currently use EAC3TO for pretty much everything (even converting the EVO to MKV). However I would like to know what video codec is used within the MKV container and if it is possible to use H264 as the video codec within the MKV.....anyone got any advice?

[Beastie Boy]

To the countless geniuses on here I have a question,

I currently use EAC3TO for pretty much everything (even converting the EVO to MKV). However I would like to know what video codec is used within the MKV container and if it is possible to use H264 as the video codec within the MKV.....anyone got any advice?

eac3to muxes the existing video into a mkv container, there is no transcoding. If h264 goes in, h264 comes out. Same for VC1 and MPEG2.

Cheers, Beastie.

[Sephiroth0000]

eac3to muxes the existing video into a mkv container, there is no transcoding. If h264 goes in, h264 comes out. Same for VC1 and MPEG2.

Cheers, Beastie.

Anyway to force out H264?

Cheers Beastie really appreciate this.

[Beastie Boy]

Anyway to force out H264?

If the source isn't h264 (as can be seen in eac3to stream listing) then load the mkv into meGUI avisynth script creator, or RipBot264. Then convert the video to h264 and mux with your audio into the container of your choice.

Sorry, but re-encoding is the only way to change video codec, and it can be very slow. It usually takes my machine 20-24 hours for 1080p video.

Cheers, Beastie.

[Sephiroth0000]

If the source isn't h264 (as can be seen in eac3to stream listing) then load the mkv into meGUI avisynth script creator, or RipBot264. Then convert the video to h264 and mux with your audio into the container of your choice.

Sorry, but re-encoding is the only way to change video codec, and it can be very slow. It usually takes my machine 20-24 hours for 1080p video.

Cheers, Beastie.

No no no you get me wrong....I want it to be H264 within an MKV container. The file im starting with is EVO.

[Beastie Boy]

No no no you get me wrong....I want it to be H264 within an MKV container. The file im starting with is EVO.

Yes, yes yes, I am understanding correctly :)

If the EVO contains VC1, then the only way to get h264 into an mkv file is to re-encode. How are you playing the file? VC1 works perfectly well in mkv. Do you need h264?

Cheers, Beastie.

[onesloth]

No no no you get me wrong....I want it to be H264 within an MKV container. The file im starting with is EVO.

That's exactly what Beastie described. It sounds like you don't know exactly what "h.264 within an MKV container" means. EVO and MKV are containers. An EVO file ripped from an HD disk might have video encoded to either the MPEG2, h.264, or VC-1 video standards. eac3to can take your video from an EVO container and put it in a MKV container but it can't transcode the video from VC-1 or MPEG2 to h.264. Like Beastie said, you would have to use an encoder, like meGUI, to transcode an EVO file's contents.

[tman24]

I've been backing up my blu-ray disks to mkv containters using eac3to (latest build).

I've had plenty of success with PCM audio tracks, and even extracting DTS Core audio from DTS-HDMA tracks. I'm now trying to convert DTSMA tracks to FLAC format using the Sonic decoder before muxing to MKV. Trouble is, when eac3to starts the job, it just seems to hang. Plenty of CPU activity, but hardly any disk I/O. Here's any example of the output if I use eac3to to demux;

C:\Temp>eac3to 00001.m2ts 1: 00001.mkv 2: 00001.flac
M2TS, 1 video track, 6 audio tracks, 1:31:50
1: h264/AVC, 1080p24 /1.001 (16:9)
2: DTS Master Audio, 5.1 channels, 24 bits, 48khz, -9ms
3: DTS, 5.1 channels, 24 bits, 768kbit/s, 48khz, -9ms
4: AC3, 5.1 channels, 384kbit/s, 48khz, dialnorm: -27dB, -9ms
5: AC3, 5.1 channels, 384kbit/s, 48khz, dialnorm: -27dB, -9ms
6: AC3, 2.0 channels, 224kbit/s, 48khz, dialnorm: -27dB, -9ms
7: AC3, 2.0 channels, 224kbit/s, 48khz, dialnorm: -27dB, -9ms
[v01] Extracting video track number 1...
[a02] Extracting audio track number 2...
[v01] Muxing video to Matroska...
[a02] Decoding with DirectShow (Sonic Audio Decoder)...
[a02] DirectShow reports 5.1 channels, 24 bits, 48khz
[a02] Applying RAW/PCM delay...
[a02] Encoding FLAC...

There's no progress bar or anything. I normally use xport to split the raw video/audio, but that doesn't make any difference even if I just try and recode the audio.

Here's the output of eac3to -test

D:\Movies>eac3to -test
Nero Audio Decoder (Nero 7 or older) doesn't seem to be installed
Sonic Audio Decoder (4.2.0.102) works fine
Haali Media Splitter (2008-3-29) is installed
Surcode DTS Encoder doesn't seem to be installed
MkvToolnix (v2.2.0) is installed

CPU is a dual-core Athlon. Am I missing something here?

[nautilus7]

Sonic Audio Decoder (4.2.0.102)
I don't know why, but this is the problem. Update to version 4.3 and you'll be fine.

[Sephiroth0000]

That's exactly what Beastie described. It sounds like you don't know exactly what "h.264 within an MKV container" means. EVO and MKV are containers. An EVO file ripped from an HD disk might have video encoded to either the MPEG2, h.264, or VC-1 video standards. eac3to can take your video from an EVO container and put it in a MKV container but it can't transcode the video from VC-1 or MPEG2 to h.264. Like Beastie said, you would have to use an encoder, like meGUI, to transcode an EVO file's contents.


I am aware of what video codecs are and how they work. I just thought maybe EAC3T0 could of given me that option....apparently not. Thankyou for your input though.

[tman24]

I don't know why, but this is the problem. Update to version 4.3 and you'll be fine.

Thanks for the tip. Any idea where I can get this from now? PM would be appreciated.

[nautilus7]

I am working on it! :D

[Inventive Software]

I am aware of what video codecs are and how they work. I just thought maybe EAC3T0 could of given me that option....apparently not. Thankyou for your input though.

eac3to does NO video re-encoding, only audio. ;)

[inmetzi]

Hello madshi

I´m using a self written DOS script. Now I have the problem that eac3to founds gaps and want me to recall script line. With this eac3to did´nt find the file, DOS did it:

IF EXIST "*ac3*english*5*1*.gaps" (
EAC3TO "*ac3*english*5*1*.ac3" english.ac3
)

But if I rename it for example to english.gaps and english.ac3 eac3to did´nt find again the gaps file.

In DOS I can use the "*" but eac3to ignores it. Can you give me an alternative joker?

:thanks: Bernd

[tebasuna51]

Hello madshi

I´m using a self written DOS script. Now I have the problem that eac3to founds gaps and want me to recall script line. With this eac3to did´nt find the file, DOS did it:

IF EXIST "*ac3*english*5*1*.gaps" (
EAC3TO "*ac3*english*5*1*.ac3" english.ac3
)

But if I rename it for example to english.gaps and english.ac3 eac3to did´nt find again the gaps file.

In DOS I can use the "*" but eac3to ignores it. Can you give me an alternative joker?

If you have DOS extensions you can use the FOR command:
FOR %%V IN (*.gaps) DO eac3to "%%~nV.ac3" "%%~nV_2.ac3"

Now DOS supply the full name to eac3to.

[Mark_A_W]

Madshi

Version 2.46 didn't seem to add FPS value to MKV header for a VC-1 HD-DVD (Syriana). Playback was jerky.

Version 2.36 did (yes it's been that long since I bought a disc..), and playback was smooth.

Am I missing something? Sorry, I'm 80 pages behind, I've skimmed them, but things move so fast. I've read about some pulldown changes, but I don't think that's the issue (?).

Thanks

Mark

EDIT: I tried it again with 2.46 and the FPS were added. Sorry, please ignore.

[Thunderbolt8]

hm I remuxed the monster blu-ray with 2.46 (which is VC-1 as well) and I have no playback problems

[nautilus7]

I also used v2.46 for H.264 and Mpeg-2 video recently. Fps value was written to the mkv header.

[rica]

Today, i've met with a problem. The default audio is Japanese on Red Dragon HD-DVD.
Normally i directly demux audio of HD-DVDs with EAC3to but it selects the first audio. (AFA i understand)
I gave it a go with TSRemux which seems to recognize some audio files but after demuxing , TSMuxer doesn't accept this re-created ac3 file.
Is there any way to select any audio with eac3to?

[Thunderbolt8]

of course, when specifying the .evo file(s) or also the playlists with corresponding evo files you can manually choose the single track with 1: 2: 3:... and then choose what to do with it

[rica]

Thanks Thunderbolt8 but i'm using eac3to conv. gui v2.00 and haven't seen any option?
Do i need another gui or shall i have to make this on command line?

[Thunderbolt8]

im not really familiar with the gui, as working with the command line is much more fun for me :P

[rica]

Can you pls give me the command line?
An SS i mean?

[rica]

This is the command line which gui creates:
"C:\Users\rica\Desktop\EAC3to\eac3to.exe" "F:\RED_DRAGON_G41\HVDVD_TS\FEATURE_2.EVO" "C:\Users\rica\Desktop\feature_2.ac3"

How should i modify this?

[Thunderbolt8]

im not sure if I understood you correctly what you want to do. do you only want to demux another .ac3 track from the disc other than the standard track?

btw. from the screenshot it looks to me you are only treating the 2nd .evo file, leaving out the 1st one?

[saint-francis]

@ rica,
Just use this (http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?t=135095)tool.
If you are fond of command lines and repetitive typing you can learn the eac3to syntax from the command lines the GUI makes.

[rica]

btw. from the screenshot it looks to me you are only treating the 2nd .evo file, leaving out the 1st one?
correct.

The answer of your question BTW:
I am trying to demux english core ac3.

@ rica,
Just use this (http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?t=135095)tool.
If you are fond of command lines and repetitive typing you can learn the eac3to syntax from the command lines the GUI makes.

Thanks i know this gui but it didn't seem to me user friendly.

[Thunderbolt8]

I am trying to demux english core ac3.from which track?

[rica]

from which track?

From this track:

http://img515.imageshack.us/img515/7986/tbff7.jpg

[Thunderbolt8]

is it possible to extract a core from a DD+ track? i only know this from DTS-HD or trueHD tracks. I guess you just want to convert DD+ to DD ?
then type it like that "....\eac3to feature_2.evo 3: ...\file.ac3" and if you want to specify a certain bitrate, for 640 kbits for example "-640" at the end of it like"....\eac3to feature_2.evo 3: ...\file.ac3 -640"

[rica]

Tnx, i gonna try.

[Mark_A_W]

Madshi

Version 2.46 didn't seem to add FPS value to MKV header for a VC-1 HD-DVD (Syriana). Playback was jerky.

Version 2.36 did (yes it's been that long since I bought a disc..), and playback was smooth.

Am I missing something? Sorry, I'm 80 pages behind, I've skimmed them, but things move so fast. I've read about some pulldown changes, but I don't think that's the issue (?).

Thanks

Mark


Well I tried it again with 2.46 and it worked, FPS were added to the MKV header. I dunno what happened last time, sorry.

Mark

[LessThanJake]

madshi,
which aften-commandlines are used internally in eac3to for 5.1-AC3-encoding for the different audiostream-types.
It is just for my personal interest.
Thank you.

greets
LTJ

[rica]

No success in command line...
I demuxed english audio stream with EVODemux; i got *.mpa.
Renamed it to *.ac3.
Opened it with eac3to and converted to ac3.
It worked this time.

[Yraen]

This is the command line which gui creates:
"C:\Users\rica\Desktop\EAC3to\eac3to.exe" "F:\RED_DRAGON_G41\HVDVD_TS\FEATURE_2.EVO" "C:\Users\rica\Desktop\feature_2.ac3"

How should i modify this?

No success in command line...
I demuxed english audio stream with EVODemux; i got *.mpa.
Renamed it to *.ac3.
Opened it with eac3to and converted to ac3.
It worked this time.

The above command should have probably read:

"C:\Users\rica\Desktop\EAC3to\eac3to.exe" "F:\RED_DRAGON_G41\HVDVD_TS\FEATURE_1.EVO"+"F:\RED_DRAGON_G41\HVDVD_TS\FEATURE_2.EVO" 4: "C:\Users\rica\Desktop\feature_2.ac3"

Eac3to doesn't automatically join the files, so you were only looking at half of the movie. That's probably why TsMuxer had problems with it. You'll notice I chose track 4 instead of 3. This is because eac3to will list track 1 as "Joined EVO file", moving all of the tracks down one on the list.

An easier way to do it in the future is to do:
eac3to "path\to\movie\folder\"
which in the above movie would read:
"C:\Users\rica\Desktop\EAC3to\eac3to.exe" "F:\RED_DRAGON_G41\"
This will get you a listing of titlesets.
1)
2)
etc.

"C:\Users\rica\Desktop\EAC3to\eac3to.exe" "F:\RED_DRAGON_G41\" 1)
This will get you a listing of all of the tracks in that movie. Just add the tracks on after the above command line to demux.

[Thunderbolt8]

does anyone know if certain characters in chapter files (like ? / or such) are forbidden? because I get a mkvmerge error now when I try to add chapters to a file which worked fine previously

[richard99uk]

Thanks for everyone's help so far, but I'm still having problems decoding the audio. Here's the log.

eac3to v2.46
command line: eac3to 01.evo+02.evo 4: appleseedac3.ac3 -libav
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
EVO, 2 video tracks, 3 audio tracks, 2 subtitle tracks, 1:44:12
1: Joined EVO file
2: h264/AVC, 1080p24 /1.001 (16:9) with pulldown flags
3: h264/AVC, 480i60 /1.001 (15:11), -17ms
4: TrueHD, 5.1 channels, 48khz, dialnorm: -27dB, -83ms
5: E-AC3, 5.1 channels, 1023kbit/s, 48khz, dialnorm: -27dB, -83ms
6: E-AC3, 2.0 channels, 384kbit/s, 48khz, dialnorm: -28dB, -83ms
7: Subtitle
8: Subtitle
[a04] Extracting audio track number 4...
[a04] Removing dialog normalization...
[a04] Applying RAW/PCM delay...
[a04] Encoding AC3...
[a04] Creating file "appleseedac3.ac3"...
[libav] No restart header present in substream 0.
[a04] The libav decoder reported an error while decoding.
Aborted at file position 12588386304.


I'm using the latest version of eac3to, as posted on the first page, and I'm using the command prompt. I have used the GUIs, but the result is the same.

This is the command I'm entering:
eac3to 01.evo+02.evo 4: appleseedac3.ac3 -libav

I'm not using a rebuilt file (although I have tried it, and tried using a .evo where the audio track is thre only track in the file).

Thanks in advance for the help.

[rica]

Thanks a lot @Yraen, that was a great explanation; i'll give it a go.. :thanks:

[rica]

First i got the track info:

http://img515.imageshack.us/img515/4923/001rs6.th.png (http://img515.imageshack.us/my.php?image=001rs6.png)

The track i needed was the third one.

Here is the command line:

http://img396.imageshack.us/img396/9451/002sr0.th.png (http://img396.imageshack.us/my.php?image=002sr0.png)

Thanks to thunderbolt8 and yraen :thanks:
(BTW: i might have made a spelling mistake yesterday.)

[Yraen]

You're close, but not quite there yet. Your first pic is correct but it's not the track listing, this is a list of the titlesets and the tracks contained within said titlesets. Madshi pointed out somewhere back in the thread here that the titleset listing is not always in the correct order, this is just the order they are listed in inside the .xpl files.

In your second pic, you only got about half of the audio you wanted. You only linked to one of the two .evo files that make up the movie. In the first pic, look to the right of the 1), you'll see the files that are joined by eac3to to demux the audio/video.

The actual command line you want is:

"C:\Users\rica\Desktop\EAC3to\eac3to.exe" "F:\RED_DRAGON_G41\" 1) 4: "C:\Users\rica\Desktop\trial.ac3"

If you're wondering why I changed it to track 4 instead of track 3 run this command line and you'll see why.

"C:\Users\rica\Desktop\EAC3to\eac3to.exe" "F:\RED_DRAGON_G41\" 1)

The folder option is better than the file option in my opinion. It offers more information and options. You could change the titleset number 1) to 2) and get the "a director's journey - making of red dragon" audio and video. Very handy if you want to back up some of the extras on the disc.

[rica]

I got this already:

http://img515.imageshack.us/img515/2236/yaaren01nv9.png

But the right track info has been given in the first SS.

Track 3 was what i wanted.

http://img167.imageshack.us/img167/69/trialdu1.th.jpg (http://img167.imageshack.us/my.php?image=trialdu1.jpg)

[saint-francis]

I suggest we split the eac3to thread into two separate threads; one for development and related topics and one for general questions. This thread is getting enormous and finding answers by using search is surely difficult if not like trying to find a needle in a hay stack.

[nautilus7]

Totally agree with you.

[Joniii]

I've got one .ddp track that won't decode to DTS. EAC3TO gives error (this track is not clean...). I've tried DelayCut (selected fix crc errors), I always end up with file that is only about 100 Mb, original is about 1 Gb. Am I doing something wrong or is this file unrepairable?

[asarian]

I'm new to eac3to, and am having some trouble converting DTS-HD to AC3 for my 'Sunshine' Bluray disk. Using tsRemuxeR, I demuxed the main audio stream first, then I used the following command to convert the demuxed DTS-HD stream:

eac3to.exe 00001.track_4352.dts 00001.track_4352.ac3 -640 -down6 -8ms

When I remux the lot, what I get is a file that will not stream at all: very jittery, that is; like it's < 10 fps (TwonkyMedia). But the sound is okay! If I stream the original .m2ts file, I hear no sound (which is logical, as I use the Optical Cable on my PS3, which doesn't support DTS-HD). So, it's not a bandwidth issue; at least, none that I can think of. The new AC3 track is only about 500MB, when done. Seems fair to me; but apparently it's not. :) The new, remuxed, .m2ts file plays just fine from my hard-disk, btw.

So, what could cause this to happen? This is the output of eac3to:

DTS Master Audio, 5.1 channels, 24 bits, 48khz
The Sonic decoder doesn't seem to work, will use libav instead.
The libav DTS decoder doesn't decode the full DTS-HD information.
Extracting DTS core...
Remapping channels...
Loading white noise (needed for dithering)...
Applying RAW/PCM delay...
Encoding AC3...
Creating file 00001.track_4352.ac3...
eac3to processing took 2 minutes, 37 seconds.
Done.

Thanks.

[nautilus7]

I've got one .ddp track that won't decode to DTS. EAC3TO gives error (this track is not clean...). I've tried DelayCut (selected fix crc errors), I always end up with file that is only about 100 Mb, original is about 1 Gb. Am I doing something wrong or is this file unrepairable?

Make sure your delaycut version is 1.3.0.0. If you get a lot of errors, then your track might be severely damaged.

Where did you get that ddp track and how did you demux it? Re-ripping the disc might solve the problem.

[nautilus7]

I'm new to eac3to, and am having some trouble converting DTS-HD to AC3 for my 'Sunshine' Bluray disk. Using tsRemuxeR, I demuxed the main audio stream first, then I used the following command to convert the demuxed DTS-HD stream:

eac3to.exe 00001.track_4352.dts 00001.track_4352.ac3 -640 -down6 -8ms

When I remux the lot, what I get is a file that will not stream at all: very jittery, that is; like it's < 10 fps (TwonkyMedia). But the sound is okay! If I stream the original .m2ts file, I hear no sound (which is logical, as I use the Optical Cable on my PS3, which doesn't support DTS-HD). So, it's not a bandwidth issue; at least, none that I can think of. The new AC3 track is only about 500MB, when done. Seems fair to me; but apparently it's not. :) The new, remuxed, .m2ts file plays just fine from my hard-disk, btw.

So, what could cause this to happen? This is the output of eac3to:

DTS Master Audio, 5.1 channels, 24 bits, 48khz
The Sonic decoder doesn't seem to work, will use libav instead.
The libav DTS decoder doesn't decode the full DTS-HD information.
Extracting DTS core...
Remapping channels...
Loading white noise (needed for dithering)...
Applying RAW/PCM delay...
Encoding AC3...
Creating file 00001.track_4352.ac3...
eac3to processing took 2 minutes, 37 seconds.
Done.

Thanks.

Not sure what's wrong, but you can try the following:

* Use the original .m2ts file as input in eac3to and don't demux the track with tsmuxer.
* Don't use the -down6 switch, since both sonic and libav decoders output 6 channels.

I also suggest you use the sonic decoder (if you don't have it, buy it :p ), since it decodes the full dts-hd info, and your ac3 track will (theoretically) sound better.

[asarian]

Not sure what's wrong, but you can try the following:

* Use the original .m2ts file as input in eac3to and don't demux the track with tsmuxer.
* Don't use the -down6 switch, since both sonic and libav decoders output 6 channels.

I also suggest you use the sonic decoder (if you don't have it, buy it :p ), since it decodes the full dts-hd info, and your ac3 track will (theoretically) sound better.

Thanks for your extensive answer. :)

Sonic works, but, sadly, the result was the same: video drops to < 10fps. I also tried to take the original m2ts file as input, but I get

1: Chapters, 32 chapters
2: h264/AVC, 1080p24 /1.001 (16:9)
3: DTS Master Audio, English, 5.1 channels, 24 bits, 48khz, -9ms
4: AC3, English, 5.1 channels, 384kbit/s, 48khz, dialnorm: -27dB, -23ms
5: DTS, German, 5.1 channels, 24 bits, 768kbit/s, 48khz, -9ms
6: DTS, Spanish, 5.1 channels, 24 bits, 768kbit/s, 48khz, -9ms
7: AC3, English, 2.0 channels, 224kbit/s, 48khz, dialnorm: -27dB, -23ms
8: AC3, English, 2.0 channels, 224kbit/s, 48khz, dialnorm: -27dB, -23ms
Track 4 is used for destination file "00001.ac3".

Uhhm, no, I don't wanna use Track 4 (which seems to be commentary track). I want Track 3, converted to AC3, instead. Is there a way I can force eac3to to use a specific track? I couldn't find a switch for it.

I'm still baffled, though, as to why the video framerate drops so significantly in the stream. Interestingly enough, if I actually DO use track 2 + 3, within tsRemuxeR, the resulting m2ts file streams just fine (but you get the Director's Commentary dubbed over the sound). So, it almost must be related to the new AC3 stream, but I don't know why.

[nautilus7]

You command line should be:

eac3to input.m2ts 3: output.ac3

This way you'll get a perfect audio track. Regarding video, i can't really help since i don't use tsmuxer (your output is .m2ts, right?). I believe you should ask there (tsmuxer's thread) for an answer.

[asarian]

You command line should be:

eac3to input.m2ts 3: output.ac3

This way you'll get a perfect audio track. Regarding video, i can't really help since i don't use tsmuxer (your output is .m2ts, right?). I believe you should ask there (tsmuxer's thread) for an answer.

You're a brilliant man! :) It's solved now!

Actually, I don't think it was the AC3 stream at all. But taking your advice a bit further, I decided NOT to demux the video first, either, and instead just to click away everything but the H.264 VC-1 stream, and then to add the new AC3 stream. And voila! now it's perfect again.

I guess something in the demuxed video stream gets screwed up (even though it would play just fine from harddisk) that is required for proper streaming; that's why the original stream + DTS-HD would play well streamed too: because it wasn't demuxed first (and why I mistakingly thought the new audio must be at fault).

Ok, well, thank you again very much! And I'll go talk to the tsRemuxeR folks about the demuxing weirdness.

:thanks: