DVDMaestro AC3 Muxing Problem?

[slk001]

I've encountered a problem with DVDMaestro that has really got me perplexed. My step-by-step proceedure is as follows:

1) Capture laserdisk at 9.5Mbps.
2) Transcode using CCE to VBR (lowering bitrate) and applying IVTC using frameserving.
3) Apply 2:3 pulldown, using these options:
a) -framerate 29.97
b) -prog_seq p
c) -prog_frames p
d) -drop_frame TRUE
4) Create .AC3 audio using Scenarist's AC3 Encoder from the captured .MPA file.
5) Import files into Maestro (all are "blessed" OK).
6) Author as usual, set chapter points then burn using NERO.

The movie compiles fine in Maestro (no errors or warnings), it plays fine on the HD using PowerDVD. The burned disk also plays fine on the computer.

The problem, is that the set top DVD player drops out the audio at about a 1 second rate all throughout the movie (well, the parts that I watched). The DIGITAL light on my player also flashes at the 1 Hertz rate. NOTE: The video plays fine throughout the entire burn (no pixelation, etc.). Also, the audio (that which plays, anyway) stays sync'ed with the video.

This method is a variation of my standard "tried and true" method - before, I just kept the video at 29.97fps (interlaced). The only difference is the IVTC and the applying of the PULLDOWN (but, the resulting .M2V file looks very good and reports as 29.97fps).

I also noticed, that Maestro is NOT giving me a warning about there being "NO SUBTITLES FOUND - USING DEFAULT BLANK FILE" with this modified method, where before, I always got this warning when I didn't give Maestro subtitles to import.

Anyone have any idea as to what I am missing / overlooking here?

[TRILIGHT]

First, you might want to check the "-prog_seq p" setting. I don't know of anyone who uses it as I am fairly certain some have reported certain players having trouble with that setting. I do not remember the specifics of the problem though.

You should check your AC3 file after you have created it also. Try playing it back by itself. Just because Maestro says it adheres to the proper format does not mean the anomaly is not being introduced anyway when you use Scenarist to encode it. Have you tried doing your whole project in Scenarist? Did it make any difference?

[slk001]

It was the "-prog_seq p" setting. I would guess that this should only be used for a true "progressive sequence" (I am also guessing that all of my sequences are really interlaced, since my TV only reads interlaced sequences - ie, top field, then bottom field). I checked the headers on some commercial DVD's and they had PROGRESSIVE SEQUENCE 0, while my DVD'S had PROGRESSIVE SEQUENCE 1. This means that I should be able to salvage the 5 DVD's that I used this setting on (fortunately, I still have them on DVD-RW's) by simply re-running PULLDOWN with this flag set to "i".

Didn't get that desperate to fire up Scenarist, so I can't report on its reation to this file.

I guess that I am learning new lessons everyday.

[TRILIGHT]

Never stop learning! :) I learn new stuff all the time. The "journey" is half the fun. ;)