blocky videos/sound issues with MP4's edited audio in MF?

[username]

I have edited an MP4 video's audio for MF7- I extracted the audio (using powersoundeditor, and edited it successfully) - then (using avidemux) added it back into the original MP4 video file, replacing the original sound with this new audio (now wav). I have just found that using an unedited MP4 with a changed main soundtrack as wav causes the MP4 to be very blocky with alot of noise on the final MF dvd. The audio can be heard, but the video is a mess. On the dvd main screen menu, a black screen is showing for my thumbnail-instead of what it should contain. I have tried adding my edited MP4's audio as standard MP4 audio format (M4A/AAC), using daniusoft video converter (which can convert to M4A/AAC), but MF refuses to play the sound if I do this, and playback is also slow. I have made no modifications to the MP4s video, it is always set to "copy" in my editing programs. All my edited audio is still of the exact same length as the original video also. No doubt all my original MP4s (recorded with camera) must have MP4 audio (m4a/aac), which all work fine in MF7......until I try editing the audio! lol.

So I am wondering - if I have an MP4 video, and I also have my seperate edited audio (wav), whats the best way to add my new audio, ensuring I can add my MP4 with no compatibility issues into MF7- should I add the new audio as AAC/M4A, or stick with my WAV? I chose WAV as its hard to find tools that will output MF7 compatible AAC/M4A for my MP4 video. Is M4A the most compatible format that MF7 accepts within MP4 videos? Can anyone recommend any tool that will output my wav to an audio format within an MP4 that MF7 accepts, and perhaps a better tool to add this audio to my MP4 video? I know its not entirely/strictly an MF question, but I have not found a way to make any MP4 with edited audio work with MF. thanks

[DVDDoug]

...a changed main soundtrack as wav causes the MP4 to be very blocky with alot of noise on the final MF dvd.

Are you sure the audio is causing the problem? Are you making a standard DVD? If you are making a standard DVD, what are your audio & video settings? What's the playing time?

Standard DVDs are MPEG-2. You always loose some quality when converting from one format to another, and MPEG-2 is not as efficient as MPEG-4, so in order to mantain quality you have to use a higher bitrate (bigger files) when you go from MPEG-2 to to MPEG-2. And if your original file is high-definition, it will be converted to standard definition for a standard DVD.

alot of noise

Video noise or audio noise?

I extracted the audio (using powersoundeditor, and edited it successfully) - then (using avidemux) added it back into the original MP4 video file, replacing the original sound with this new audio (now wav).

This kind of thing (extracting audio & re-combining/re-multiplexing) can usually be done with a video editor. And, it's done on a "higher level" than simple multiplexing/demultiplexing so that all of the headers & formatting get taken care of. I can't say for sure if Video Studio can do it with your MP4 files (MP4 files can be nasty), but generally it's no problem to import a WAV file and convert the audio to some other format for the A/V file.

Maybe you can feed-in a separate audio track to Movie Factory, but someone else will have to help you with that since I only have an old version of MF.

[username]

large blocks of video noise appear on the final dvd, but it is only with this single MP4 video (with edited audio) that I have the problem with, as on the exact same final dvd, the menu shows as normal, and all other MP4 videos that are untouched play absolutely fine, as normal. The video noise (in the same single video with edited audio) shows up clearly in MF's preview mode. I have managed to create a couple of standard pal dvds with MF, unrelated to this one - but this is the only one that im having trouble with. The video with its edited audio is only 30 seconds long, and I have not changed the length of the audio during or after editing-I have only edited the audio to silence some areas of the track, and then re-saved it, to be added to the video once again. If I leave the audio alone, as an untouched MP4 with its original MP4 audio, it will play fine and convert to dvd fine in MF, but I really want to find out what is causing MF to add noise to my file, if I decide to edit its sound. My edited MP4 with its 'new' audio track plays fine in VLC Player, so its definately an MF issue.

I am right clicking on all my added video files now to view their properties. From within MF, with all my unedited MP4 files that work flawlessly, MF recognises them as:- MPEG-4 format, with MPEG AAC audio at 128kbps, with video running at 23fps. Although it does state MPEG-4 as the container format, The video properties itself (aside from fps and bitrate)is listed as "unknown", which runs at 24bits/roughly 3000kbps. Instead of showing up as "unknown", I thought they would be stated as "MP4V" or something similar, but all these files do work fine. With my single video with edited audio track that Im having problems in running in MF, Ive just noticed one single difference compared to the files that do work, and thats in its own audio properties list (shown within MF). The audio bitrate is stated as being "1Kbps"! The audio in my file does work however, and its of good quality. Perhaps the program I have used to either edit/convert the audio (or add it as AAC audio to the original MP4 video) may not include some basic initial information whilst saving-that may be necessary for MF to use the file correctly?

If so, Ill probably have to search for other tools that might do a better job in extracting the audio from an MP4 video (and/or also adding this audio back into the MP4 video after editing it)- despite my edited files working ok in all MP4 compatible players, such as VLC. This audio issue does not seem to explain why I might be having problems with my final video and edited audio with its questionable added video noise and blank/black preview on the dvds main menu, noticable on MF's own preview screen before dvd creation, and also on the final dvd. I have no noise whatsoever in any audio. I do not think MF7 allows me to add seperate audio to any video track. thanks for the reply. good MP4 tools are hard to find!