Dolby 5.1 and VS9 clarification

[dtracy]

I have been using VS9 with great success for quite awhile. I recently inserted a clip from a DVD-R and found that the audio will not play, although properties apparently shows that a video track is present (audio type: Dobly Digital Audio; total samples: 15,913,514; attributes: 48000 Hz; layer: none; bit rate: 256 kbps). I do not know if the DVD-R file is Dolby 5.1. However, I used VS9 to create an MPG from this file, then played the MPG using a different video viewing software and the sound played successfully.

By the way, all other files I use in VS9 play audio properly, so I assume I can rule out some kind of audio setting as the culprit.

As I understand it, VS9 does not handle Dolby 5.1, but does this mean that it simply cannot edit Dolby 5.1, but will in fact copy it (blindly)? I'm a little confused on this and would appreciate any insight from anyone who knows more about this.

Also, is there any way to determine from a DVD-R if Dolby 5.1 is the format?

Thanks in advance for any help.

Doug

[GeorgeW]

It should pass through a 5.1 DD track (that is part of a compliant source file). But once you modify the source in any way, I believe it will get converted to 2-channel stereo AC3 (if AC3 audio is in your project settings).

If you have PowerDVD, you can right-click in the preview window, and it should give you info for the video/audio.

You can also view the properties hitting the info button during playback (in PowerDVD).