5.1 surround not coming out as 5.1 surround

neonbob · Post by **neonbob** » Tue Jul 04, 2006 4:49 am

I am trying to do a sort of simple surround sound effect.

My template is set up for 5.1 surround. I copy my original stereo soundtrack and paste it to another audio track. I then pan the original soundtrack forward to the front speakers (with center speaker on and active)... Pan the copied soundtrack to the rear speakers and supress the center speaker (subwoofer active on all tracks). I then use the voice supression filter on the rear channels.

It sounds good on the time line (voices coming from the front, and all other sounds are all around). But somewhere between the time I create the mpg. file and the time the actual disk is burned, the effect gets lost.....

Any ideas on what's going on would be great!

Devil · Post by **Devil** » Tue Jul 04, 2006 12:15 pm

I doubt whether you will get a useful answer a) because you haven't acted on the "Before you Post" thread and b) uou haven't told us a blind thing how you rendered and encoded your audio and how you burnt your DVD.

neonbob · Post by **neonbob** » Tue Jul 04, 2006 2:56 pm

The test strip I am usung is a couple minutes of imported mpeg2 @ 5000k cbr, mpeg audio, 384k

Rendered to mpeg, 5.1 sourrond, (same compression as input) then imported to videostudio10. output to disk was setup the same as the input.

The final disk has all speakers working but the voice supression is no longer on the rear speakers. It's like I simply panned to the mid point of all speakers... nothing more.

Any more info needed... just ask!

Thanks.

ADDED Just tested this in both Pinnacle studio 9 and 10 and it works fine and sounds good... but I can't seem to get it going in MSP8

Devil · Post by **Devil** » Tue Jul 04, 2006 3:13 pm

1. If you play back the encoded mpeg-2 file, how does it sound?
2. Why not do your authoring in MSP8; why switch applications?

neonbob · Post by **neonbob** » Tue Jul 04, 2006 3:16 pm

It seems to come in like plain stereo... not even the rear spekers are active.

MSP8 disk author does not seem to support dolby 5.1... it supports dolby 2 channel.... Is this right??

Devil · Post by **Devil** » Tue Jul 04, 2006 4:06 pm

neonbob wrote:Is this right??

Not at all. Create your 5.1 MPEG-2. Make sure you have "Do not encode compliant files" checked and import your MPEG. It will be authored with 5.1 sound, provided that it was encoded correctly.

I just did a quick check, as I use WS2 for authoring and not the MSP8 authorer, and it came out nicely.

You cannot encode 5.1 in the authorer, though, you MUST do it in VE.

neonbob · Post by **neonbob** » Tue Jul 04, 2006 5:09 pm

Thanks.

To tell you the truth, I am not at all happy with the MSP8 disk authoring!

I played with the trial and enjoyed it, but hesitataed on buying because of the lack of a disk author. But then I read that disk author is not included with the trial, so I figured GREAT... I'll buy the program!! Come to find out, it's not a real integrated disk author system. I still have to export as an mpeg (or other) then import to what amounts to be dvd movie factory. I'm feeling a little conned!

Ulead needs to get serious about a REAL integrated disk author program, especially with this kind of price tag! I believe this is partially resposible for my 5.1 woes... when you export a mpg... it comes out as MPEG AUDIO 2 CHANNEL STEREO. You end up having to use another program to decode the 5.1.... a little silly!

Oh, well... inspite of this, it's a good program compared to others.... I have (among other programs) Avid Liquid... and GEEEZ, what a hardware hungry program!!

Devil · Post by **Devil** » Wed Jul 05, 2006 7:01 am

neonbob wrote: I believe this is partially resposible for my 5.1 woes... when you export a mpg... it comes out as MPEG AUDIO 2 CHANNEL STEREO. You end up having to use another program to decode the 5.1

I'm not sure what you are saying. If you encode an MPEG-2 file as 5.1, it IS 5.1, not 2.0. If you then author it as a compliant file, it remains 5.1. There is no way it reverts to 2.0 unless you re-encode.

Yes, MSP8 uses a modified MF4 as an authoring module. MF4 is not a pro authorer, for reasons of cost. They could have added DVD WS2, but that would have added an extra $200 to the cost: would you agree to that?

Remember also that all the parts of MSP8 are modular. This is deliberate to allow maximum flexibility, because each module can be used as a stand-alone application. Tight integration causes a loss of flexibility, and is heavier on the requirements of hardware resources. I suspect that this is deliberate, on the part of Ulead, so as to allow things to works on lower-cost computers. Horses for courses.