[ExtractStream] Re: Audio Synchronisation - Does Anyone have the Answers ?

[Roger Merchberger]

--- Don Starr <don@s...> wrote:
> How does one get VirtualDub to accept MPEG2 files? In attempting to
> load my .m2v file, I see "VirtualDub cannot decode MPEG-2 video
> streams".

Start by buying it a drink... oops... sorry; wrong joke. ;-)

Haven't worked with VirtualDub, but I have done a little work with
NanDub, it's progeny... AFAIK (but it ain't much) NanDub is designed
"primarily" to create DivX files; but does offer some editing
functions to that end. It's editing functions I find much easier to
deal with than TMPGEnc, but NanDub doesn't create a final result
that's usable on SVCD/DVD (again, AFAIK) so I don't use it much
anymore...

VirtualDub & NanDub work with AVI's - either the "real thing";
uncompressed video (read: huge) or "fake AVI's"... hard to describe,
but it's like an "AVI driver to MPEG" - Nandub can take a .d2v
project file from DVD2AVI and create a "pull the video info from a
.mpg/.d2v file as if it's an .avi" .avi file... it's quite small and
it _does_ rely on the original .m2v file (I once deleted the
underlying .m2v file and the video portion of the .avi file ceased to
function quite readily) for the video information. Once I found the
"fake .avi" file creation was extraneous to normal SVCD production, I
sidebarred that portion of my SVCD creation webpage...

In short, DVD2AVI is a *necessary* step in using NanDub/VirtualDub to
edit MPEG files... the long story is "DamFino how it does it."

> Is that what you meant by "uncompressed mode" (i.e. get away from
> MPEG-2 first) ? If so, do you have a suggestion for a tool to do
> this? I'm really trying to avoid transcoding (or decoding, editing,
> re-encoding). Going back and forth between lossy compression
> formats doesn't seem like the right way to archive video.

I'd concur with you, at least when going to DVD; which contains much
more video information than what the Tivo stores... but transcoding
from Tivo format to SVCD which has a lower bitrate than "High
quality" I really don't think there's a problem going from "lossy" to
"even more lossy"... I _speculate_ that you won't gain enough video
information going to AVI to lose even more to SVCD to make a
difference going straight to SVCD... [especially to warrant the 10+G
per hour of video storage you'd need] but with DVDs I can't say. I
blew my wad on a dual-Athlon monster; now I have a house payment, so
it'll be a *long* time before I have a DVD burner, if my checkbook
has any say in the matter...
HTH & Laterz,
Roger "Merch" Merchberger

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