VS10 Trial - no audio output

Steve80 · Post by **Steve80** » Thu May 25, 2006 8:54 pm

XP/SP2 - plenty of HD space - P4 1.8GHz, 1.5 GB ram.

I captured video from my camcorder using a DVDXpress USB adapter into an MPG file. I start VS10, open the file and edit it - I can review my edits (cutting dead air and adding Titles) and everything looks fine (except SLOW). I do Share/Create Video File and save it (takes a while) in MP2 format.

On replay with an external player (Real Player V10.5), everything again looks just fine, however, there is NO AUDIO.

I have spent many hours poring over this forum looking for anyone with a similar problem. I have recreated the file several times (over DAYS of work), each time with the same result - NO audio.

I find NO .chm file for help, and the tutorials don't address opening existing files. No mention of any possibility of NO audio unless the audio is intentionally stripped using the 'Split Audio' option and I didn't do that.

Everything I can find says the audio should be there and it plays nicely from within VS10 (insert video to timeline) - just not externally.

What's wrong??
Steve

Post by **Ken Berry** » Thu May 25, 2006 9:16 pm

I tend to be biased against Real Audio, so bear with me.

But surely you have one other program to test out your file with? With XP/SP2, you should have at least Windows Media Player 9 and may have updated that to WMP10... Try that, or some other player. Since VS10 can actually play the file with audio, it is pretty obviously not a codec problem -- unless for some reason Real Player has some difficulty with the mpeg layer 2 audio codec being used.

If you have a rewritable RW disc, you could also test the file on that and see if it plays in your stand-alone DVD player.

Steve80 · Post by **Steve80** » Thu May 25, 2006 9:28 pm

Just tried WMP and got exact same results - it would appear that the audio is simply NOT in the file for some reason. Real Player has succesfully played everything else I've tried lately.

Thanks for the thought - next thought, please

.

Post by **Ken Berry** » Thu May 25, 2006 9:41 pm

Do you have a RW disc or can you buy one quickly?

DVDDoug · Post by **DVDDoug** » Fri May 26, 2006 12:36 am

...in MP2 format.

You mean MPEG-2 right? The file has a .MPG suffix, right?

I can review my edits (cutting dead air and adding Titles) and everything looks fine (except SLOW).

Is it slow while you're editing? Like it freezes-up for a few seconds? That sounds like symptoms of a bad MPEG file. Does it ever crash? ...Another sign of a corrupt MPEG. Sometimes a corrupt MPEG file will play-back OK, but cause trouble when you try to re-code it, or try to make a DVD out of it. I call that "sneaky corruption". You can get all kinds of strange symptoms with bad MPEGs... The most common problem is the little "lip-sync" problem that inspired my "signature" below.

(I don't think I ever lost audio completely.)

I do Share/Create Video File and save it (takes a while)

That's a little strange too... unless you are re-coding to a different bitrate or something. Since it's already in MPEG format, it should save almost as fast as it can copy a file of the same size. (Some edits, like applying a video filter to the entire project will require a full decode/re-code cycle.)

...into an MPG file. I start VS10, open the file and edit it...

Try a short unedited project. MPEGs are not supposed to be edited, and editing them can cause corruption! I made the mistake of buying an MPEG-only capture card, and I had to by a special-purpose MPEG editor. (You may not get problems every time you edit an MPEG... some people seem to get-away with it.)

Steve80 · Post by **Steve80** » Fri May 26, 2006 12:31 pm

Yes - I do mean MPEG-2 format.
I have tested the original mpg file (and a second one) and both are displayed correctly with audio by either WMP or RealPlayer. Any time I do ANYTHING with VS10 and save (BTW - I'm saving to NTSC DVD - 4:3 format), the audio is not in the output file. There is an audio OFF button, but I have tried with it both on and off (shows up along the bottom of the video track line) with same results.

Maybe I shouldn't be saving to a DVD file? I want to (eventually) transfer this to DVD (family videos - WITH AUDIO) and be able to send copies to remote family members. If VS10 won't do this for me, I won't be upgrading to the 'bought' version

.

Yes - it is slow while editing and the picture often STOPS while the computer 'thinks', but - as I said - it plays nicely in the preview window AFTER all edits have been done and it's been rendered to the output file. In a new test this morning, 10 minutes of transferred video, took about 30 minutes to render to the output file. That doesn't seem too outrageous to me (this computer isn't really configured for VIDEO editing) - maybe it is (too long)?

The only problem with the output file is there is no audio in it.

tks,
Steve

Post by **Ken Berry** » Fri May 26, 2006 9:31 pm

This is a very outside chance, but I can't think of what else might be the problem. If you otherwise have Dolby codecs on your computer, it could be that you have inadvertently selected an output format for your DVD which uses Dolby as the audio. You have told us the output file is an mpeg-2, but you have never given us the audio component of the mpg, and it can be LPCM, mpeg layer 2 audio or Dolby. Mind you, since you are using the trial version of VS, I did not think Dolby was even a choice. But as I say, this is the only other thing I can think of. As you are probably aware, the trial version does not include the ability to handle or produce Dolby. In the burning module, have a look in the first of the icons in the bottom left of screen and see what format is set by default.

sjj1805 · Post by **sjj1805** » Fri May 26, 2006 11:21 pm

Steve80 wrote:this computer isn't really configured for VIDEO editing - maybe it is (too long)?
Steve

Probably will make no difference to the audio issue but you may be interested in this article dealing with configuring your computer for video editing
http://phpbb.ulead.com.tw/EN/viewtopic.php?t=13950

Steve80 · Post by **Steve80** » Sat May 27, 2006 12:09 am

Steve J - thanks for the info. I'll look into these settings if I ever get this thing working well enough to go there

Ken - Not sure what you mean by 'Burn module', but I went to SHARE, then Create Disc - then clicked on PROJECT SETTINGS to get this info... Does that help?
---------------------

MPEG files
24 bits, 720 x 480, 29.97 fps
Lower Field First
(DVD-NTSC), 4:3
Video data rate: Variable (Max. 8000 kbps)
Audio data rate: 256 kbps
Dolby Digital Audio, 48 KHz, 2/0(L,R)

Do not convert compliant MPEG files is CHECKED
Auto repear when disc playback ends is CHECKED
----------------

tks,
Steve

Post by **Ken Berry** » Sat May 27, 2006 12:12 am

Yep -- that's it. And yep -- that seems to be the problem. You are trying to burn a disc with Dolby stereo, yet the trial version does not support Dolby, so that is why you are not getting audio. Try selecting a template which uses either LPCM or mpeg layer 2 audio instead. If you have the space, since you are in an NTSC country, I would recommend LPCM audio. But you could still try mpeg audio as well.

Steve80 · Post by **Steve80** » Sat May 27, 2006 12:21 am

Hmmmm ... trial version doesn't support Dolby, huh? Wonder why it's listed as an option - and the (missing) HELP mentions NOTHING about it? Nothing about that ANYWHERE ('cept your email) that I can find.

Not that Dolby is important to me for this project - just wonder how Ulead expects people to try out their software with the Trial version - burn a CD? Select the defaults - you get Dolby - it doesn't WORK!!

Does this make sense ??

tks, Processing under way at this moment - we'll see in a few minutes

Steve

Post by **Ken Berry** » Sat May 27, 2006 12:25 am

In a sense, it is not Ulead's fault. Dolby refuses to let its software be used in free versions of ANY program, not just Video Studio. Dolby requires a licence fee for any use of its product, and it is understandable that other companies, including Ulead, are unwilling to pay such fees on free (trial) programs.

And yes, RE Help/the Manual -- it is particularly strange that Dolby and AC-3 are neither mentioned by name at all. The nearest it comes is in the section on 5.1 surround sound which of course relies on AC-3, though again this is not mentioned!!

Steve80 · Post by **Steve80** » Sat May 27, 2006 12:52 am

Ken - thanks for your help - it works!

Sure could have saved me a LOT of work if Ulead had bothered to tell me that the Trial version was crippled!

Guess the next problem is to figure out how to get it on a DVD without using Dolby

Steve

Post by **Ken Berry** » Sat May 27, 2006 1:17 am

If you first produce a DVD-compatible mpeg-2 using Share > Create Video File > NTSC DVD, and use either LPCM or mpeg layer 2 audio, then go to Share > Create Disc > NTSC DVD (i.e. the burning module), if you click on the second icon in the bottom left, the one with the cogwheel on it, then a screen will come up which shows the properties that will be used for burning the disc (it is headed MPEG settings for conversion). That is where it will list Dolby by default. But below that screen there is a button where you can change the MPEG settings. Click on that and a list of other alternatives will come up. I use the Customise button at the very bottom. If you click on that, you will be able, on the compression tab, choose another audio format.