Sound Missing in Transferred .mpg Clip (Converted from .flv)

frank1492 · Post by **frank1492** » Sat Mar 10, 2007 4:46 am

I wanted to make a DVD of a YouTube video. I converted the
.flv file to both .avi and .mpg, using www.media-convert.com's facility.
Both play fine with Windows Media Player. However, when I tried to import the .avi file into the VS8 library, it "could not be accessed." The .mpg clip could be accessed, but when I went to play it, it had no sound! My WinDVD player wouldn't play the sound either.
Any ideas as to what might be happening? I know some .avi files
can be tricky (lacking codecs, etc) but the .mpg problem really
baffles me.
As usual, help greatly appreciated!
Frank

Post by **Ron P.** » Sat Mar 10, 2007 3:09 pm

Hi Frank,

I'm testing this by just choosing a video on YouTube. I've converted one to MPEG-2 format. However could you provide a link to the specific video that you are trying to use, and I'll try that one also. I still have VS8 installed so I'll check it with VS8, 9 and 10+ to see if it may be something specific to VS8.

First thing that comes to mind when audio is not heard in VS8 is the Dolby issue, however not knowing what audio the FLV uses it is hard to say...

Edited
I have tried the clip I had converted to MPEG-2 and Windows avi. I could not hear the audio in VS8, however in VS 9 and 10+ the audio plays. The clip I converted however is a DivX file originally. VS8 does not support DivX. The "AVI" however used the Lame MP3 audio codec so I could here the audio in VS8. With the MPEG-2 file, the audio codec used of course was Dolby, so VS8 does not support Dolby, thus the audio can not be heard.

frank1492 · Post by **frank1492** » Sat Mar 10, 2007 4:25 pm

Thanks Ron. I figured it was a codec issue.
You should note that I can't get the avi to play at all!
Should I try another conversion site other than media-convert? Or perhaps
another file type. How about wmv?
What site are you using for conversion?
The youtube was the file of Hillary singing our anthem. (She has great pipes, believe me.)
The link is: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bfZ_gXCHaMw
Thanks again for your help.
I'll wait to hear from you before proceeding.
Frank

Post by **Ron P.** » Sat Mar 10, 2007 5:46 pm

I was using the MediaConvert website you provided. I want to replicate as closely as possible to what you are doing. I'll go try the Billery video...(I hope she has great pipes, cause that's all she's got)..

Post by **Ron P.** » Sat Mar 10, 2007 6:04 pm

Frank,

Same results, the MPEG conversion does not play the audio in VS8, the reason is that the converter uses Dolby audio for the MPEG-2 conversion. I didn't try converting to MPEG-1, which maybe it should be considering the video quality is poor anyway. When converting to the AVI format I chose Windows, and then PCM instead of MP3 for the audio. Try using the Windows avi, PCM and then if you desire to waste a DVD on her at least you should have that horrible voice included. (I'm sorry but she does not have a musical voice..)

frank1492 · Post by **frank1492** » Sat Mar 10, 2007 10:01 pm

Hi Ron-
So far no success. I tried your suggestion to change the sound codec
on the .avi, but that did nothing. The "can't access" problem continues for the entire .avi file. I also tried converting to .wmv. In that case the image was screwed up, but the sound was OK. (Maybe when you have a chance you could see what happens with the .wmv conversion.)
I'm not really certain whether the .mpg conversion was to 1 or 2. I'll try 1 to see if that does anything.
One thing we do know is it is not the .flv file itself as Win Media Player
has no problem with the .avi or the .mpg, right? NOTE: The distortion with
.mpg DID show up using Win Media Payer- looked the same as in VS8. That tells me there might be something wrong with the conversion algorithm in media-convert. Will try another site.
Hope you guys in Kansas and other mid-westerners will put a stop to Hillary and Barack as well! I'm the lone conservative from MA!
Frank

Post by **Ron P.** » Sat Mar 10, 2007 10:19 pm

Sure Frank, when I get another minute or two, I'll try the wmv format, and MPEG-1. In VS8 when I check the properties, the video compression shows Not Accessible, however will still play.

Maybe she should have had Monica stand in for her to sing the anthem too..

frank1492 · Post by **frank1492** » Sat Mar 10, 2007 10:31 pm

I tried converting the .avi file which played fine on Win MP to .wmv. The
.wmv has the same distortion that occurred when I converted the .flv file directly to .wmv. What do you make of that?
Frank

Post by **Ron P.** » Sun Mar 11, 2007 12:30 am

That's not surprising.

I've tried the wmv and MPEG-1 conversion. The wmv of course was terrible, and the MPEG-1 lost the audio altogether. I then used the on-line converter and just choose the same flv format. Then on my PC I tried to convert the flv using Super. That didn't work either. The only successful conversion which kept most of the quality and audio was from flv to swf, which is really not any different.

The problem with trying to convert a swf or flv back to a traditional video format, is that a lot of the data is simply not there. FLV is a very highly compressed format, that is meant for one thing, to view/stream via the internet. There's just not any way to cheat it like you can with mpeg, or divx. The servers at YouTube certainly do not maintain the original clips that were uploaded, so once the conversion is done and it is served up for viewing, the quality is gone forever.

Maybe email the person that posted the clip and see if there is a way you can get at least an MPEG-2 version.

railroadguy · Post by **railroadguy** » Sun Mar 11, 2007 2:29 am

What are you guys trying to do?

I took the flv file from Youtube, converted it using http://w4.media-convert.com as suggested into a avi file. Brought it into VS10+ with full audio and video. Then converted to a mpg2 file. No problems. If you really, really, really want this, let me know what format and I'll run it through again.

Post by **Ron P.** » Sun Mar 11, 2007 2:48 am

I was trying to help Frank with this. He only has VS8, and had a problem with the audio on the converted files. Since I still have VS8 installed I offered to see if it may be a problem with his install. However what we found out was the audio in the NTSC DVD MPEG-2 was dolby, so VS8 will not recognize it. Frank wants to create a DVD with it.

I too am able to use VS10+ to convert the video...

railroadguy · Post by **railroadguy** » Sun Mar 11, 2007 2:55 am

OK, did not understand that he only had VS8. Well, I'll be happy to convert for him or he can DL VS10 for this job

frank1492 · Post by **frank1492** » Sun Mar 11, 2007 3:08 pm

Ron, thank you for all your work on this.
One thing puzzles me still, though. As I said, the .flv to .wmv conversion doesn't seem to work on anything! The .wmv file looks
exactly the same when played with Win Media Player as it does when
in VS8! (Image is broken up into misaligned horizontal bars.) What else
would one conclude except that the problem is with the conversion algorithm on media-convert?
Frank

Post by **Ron P.** » Sun Mar 11, 2007 3:23 pm

That does seem to indicate a problem with their conversion algorithms for WMV. Do you have SUPER by erightsoft? If so try using it to do the conversion. I have it but due to a sudden lack of brain cells

, I have not tried it. It does a fairly good job of converting several formats..

frank1492 · Post by **frank1492** » Sun Mar 11, 2007 9:53 pm

Hi Ron-
At some point I think you mentioned that you did an .flv to .wmv conversion of Hillary and you said it was poor. But was it poor when you played in on Win Media Player? If you say "yes" then I will try another converter.
I don't have SUPER but will go there and have a look.
Frank