Audio + Video same length, new type gradual sync problem

[Veronica]

I am having a problem with audio gradually going out of sync throughout the video after a certain point.

I have read 110 posts (searched on "audio sync", "audio sync nandub", etc., etc.) and all the guides but none address my problem or offer any information that has helped me.

Ripping to DivX3.11alpha+vbr mp3 on windows XP Pro, Pentium III as follows:

decrypting DVD with smartripper.
demuxing audio/making d2v with dvd2avi.
encoding video with nandub and vfapi
encoding ac3 into mp3 with headac3he
combinding audio and video with nandub

(followed doom9.org guides to the letter)

*mp3 and avi are exactly the same length.
*when played in wmp the mp3 shows a length of 54 minutes but plays for the entire length equal to the avi
*when played in sound forge the mp3 shows a length equal to the avi length
*when played in winamp the mp3 shows a length equal to the avi length

The finished movie plays perfectly on windows XP with no audio sync problems. When played on windows 98 the audio goes out of sync right at a certain point and stays that way for the rest of the movie. It may continue to gradually go out of sync from that point, it is too hard to tell.

***IMPORTANT NOTE: I COPIED ANOTHER DVD RIGHT BEFORE THIS ONE AND AFTER, IN THE EXACT SAME WAY, AND THERE WERE NO AUDIO SYNC PROBLEMS ON EITHER OPERATING SYSTEMS (98 OR XP) SO IT WOULD BE SAFE TO ASSUME THAT THIS IS NOT AN OPERATING SYSTEM/CODEC PROBLEM.

I have read a lot and I am yet to find a guide or a post that offers a way to sync audio for divx rips when the audio gradually goes out of sync (video and audio same length). I have seen many posts about using mystro for various sync problems but that program is for copying DVDs to DVD media (I assume it cannot be used for avi/divx/mp3). I am copying DVDs to my hard drive in divx/mp3 format.

In the past I have encountered audio sync problems where the audio is off by a certain amount of time from start to finish (not gradual) and that was easily fixed using nandub's ctrl+i options.

I have never encountered an audio track that is too short or too long so I have never had to use timestretch in soundforge.

Above I stated the audio stays in sync for a while then suddenly falls out of sync. I would appreciate any direct solutions for this but I would also appreciate any solutions to audio gradually going out of sync from the start. Remember, these questions apply to a scenario where audio and video lengths are equal.

*using timestretch via soundforge is irrelevant.
*using nandub interleaving is irrelevant

Please do not tell me to "just use XP". Other movies play fine in XP and in 98 so I know there is a solution.

Thanks

[Didée]

Welcome to the forum, Veronica, and enjoy this very nice place.

To make a long story short:
You mux a VBR MP3 into AVI with Nandub. Though this is "common", it is no reliable solution!
AVI was never intended to hold VBR audio. Nandub plays bad tricks to do it anyway. It works in most cases - but if you encounter a problem, then it is simply bad luck, and little chance to do something about.

Easy solution: use CBR MP3

Recommended solution: use OGG Vorbis as audio codec, and mux it into an OGG container.
- no sync problems any more
- Vorbis is far superior to MP3!

Find information to this in the "New A/V formats" forum.

And while you're at changing things, I would suggest to drop div3/nandub also. Divx5 is the easy replacement, XviD the better replacement (from my point of view).

Kind regards, and a happy new year

Didée

[Shayne]

I have never had a problem with sync and nandub. Or 3.11 to xvid and lame.

1) Try demuxing in smart ripper (demux to extra file) and then use the mv1 in nandub and the ac3 with headache. This should work every time.

2) There is a new program in the avisynth forum section (try YV12 FAQ) ModVirtualDub that has alot of nice audio features.

Cheers

[ChristianHJW]

What DirectX version is installed on your Win98 ? Make sure you have DirectX 8 or newer ...

[Veronica]

ChristianHJW - I have directx 8 or newer.

Didée - Thanks for all the info. I encoded the ac3 to CBR mp3 and the sync problem was fixed. I was going to mess around with vorbis but I don't have the DVD here at the moment so I will not be able to get the chapter info. Vorbis and OGG look very interesting and I will have to try that out next time. Thanks for bringing it to my attention. I prefer DivX3.11. On a different note, the CBR mp3 has no volume control in windows 98. I was having this problem with VBR mp3s made in headac3he and besweet but I guess it affects every mp3. mp3s made with commercial programs don't have this problem.

Shayne - I don't undertsand what you mean. I tried your method but it creates mpeg2 files and not mpeg1 like you describe. Also, no ac3 file was extracted. Nandub does not support mpeg2 video. I would think that if what you say is possible then there would be no need for dvd2avi and frame serving, am I missing something? Thanks for the info about the mod, I will have to check that out.

[Shayne]

I remember my brother having the same problem and this is what worked for him.

In smartripper

1) Click the stream processing tab

2) Click none bottom right corner

3) Check video 720x480 (???)

4) Check demux to extra file for the video (right side)

5) Check audio 6 ch

6) Check demux to extra file for the audio (AGAIN right side)

This will give you vobs of size Zero and 2 files an m2v video file and an ac3 audio file.

These will be in sync and smartripper will show you the audio delay if any in the ac3 file name.

I have never had a sync problem like this in 100's on encodings.

Encode the m2v file through dvd2avi and avisnyth like you would the vobs.