Keeping AC3 audio in AVI2DVD - A guide

[Nick]

A few people have expressed disappointment that the latest release of DVD2SVCD does not support source audio in AVI2DVD when an AC3 AVI file is used.

The author has already stated that this is on his "to do" list but as yet it has not made the "readme" file which details features and fixes anticipated in the next build. So it could be a little while before we have it "built in".

A couple of you have posted workarounds for this. I find the method below is probably most versatile and retains most of the automation. For this guide you will need BeSliced (http://dspguru.notrace.dk/BeSlicedv0.2.zip)

1. Launch DVD2SVCD and configure as normal, ie load up your avi file, select any subs streams etc etc. Hit Go and allow audio extraction to take place.

2. When BeSweet launches, right click it on the taskbar and shut it down. Let your chosen video encoder launch, then immediately close this down and close DVD2SVCD.

3. Launch BeSliced. A small window opens with a face in it. Drag and drop the file "Extracted_Audio_1.ac3" from your movie folder onto the face. Select "Fix" from the menu which appears. This creates a fixed AC3 file in your movie output folder.

4. Open the file "dvd2svcd project file.d2s" using Notepad. Very near the top (hit your cursor down button 5 times :) ) you will see the variable "MP2FileName0=". Change the filename from "Encoded_Audio_1.mp2" to "Extracted_audio_1_Fixed.ac3".
NOTE: It is critically important that you get this filename exactly correct.

About the 60th line of the project file, you will find a variable "AudioBitrate0=". Change the number after this to the bitrate of the AC3 file. If you do not know this you can check it in VDubMod - open the AVI file and select "File Information" from the file menu. Alternatively it can be calculated by right-clicking the Fixed AC3 file and selecting Properties. Find the size in bytes.

(size in bytes*8) / (movie length in seconds*1000) = bitrate

Note this is formula is engineered to slightly overestimate, preventing oversizing of the video. If using a figure from VDubMod you way wish to up it a little (say 2%) for the same reason.

Now quit Notepad, saving the changes to file.

5. Relaunch DVD2SVCD. Go to the Misc tab and crash recover from video encoding. It should work from there.

Give it a test, folks, and let us know how you get on, any issues etc. Or if you have an easier way, or a way you feel is better, post it!

Cheers
Nick

[hoozdapimp]

yep this is pretty much what I do already...good post Nick :)

[Mtz]

In other thread I said if I renamed the "Extracted_Audio_1_Fixed.ac3" to "Encoded_Audio_1.mp2", and authoring with Scenarist, IFOEdit show me that I have mp2 file even this is the real AC3. If I made the authoring part with DVD Author, IFOEdit show me that I have AC3. That's because DVD Author is smart and analize the file. If the audio is an mp2 renamed AC3, it will author the IFO with AC3 information.

I found another solution regarding "Extracted_Audio_1_Fixed.ac3" and forcing Scenarist to make an IFO file with AC3 in description:
in "dvd2svcd project file.d2s" I made this change:
- from "MP2FileName0=Path...\Encoded_audio_1.mp2",
- I changed to "MP2FileName0=Path...\Extracted_audio_1_Fixed.ac3

The only thing I didn't found is to modify something in d2s files for displaying the language of the audio. Still appear "Not Specified", even if I change in "dvd2svcd project file.d2s" from "AudioLanguage0=Unspecified" to "AudioLanguage0=English" in the both places where is present.

Regarding audio kbps, you can see that in VirtualDubMod at File > File Information.

[Nick]

Thanks for your input.
@ Mtz - I have tested your findings and edited my guide accordingly.

It has actually even made the process slightly easier :D

What I plan to do is hone the guide over a few days based on users' input/experiences, then copy and paste the guide into the faq's and delete this thread.

Thanks again
Nick

[LHB]

First, VERY good guide. THANKS
And, I gave it a try, AND IT WORKT!!
I have seached for this option for a long time.
This is a feature I hope will be a part of DVD2SVCD some day.

Keep up the good work, and this great forum too.

LHB.