AC3 Audio and Quicktime 7.6 Problem

I was wondering if anyone else is having a problem with opening an audio file with the .ac3 extension in the updated Quicktime 7.6?
What I have been doing, for a couple of years now, is that I capture a TV program from my DVR using the firewire port. Once the file is loaded on my Mac, I then open MPEG Streamclip, trim out the commercials, Export to Quicktime using H264 and 2 channel AAC audio, after the export is done, I would then do a Demux to AC3 to get a separate audio only file containing the 5.1 surround sound.
I would open the .ac3 audio only file, open the .mov video file (both in Quicktime). I would then copy the 5.1 audio track from the .ac3 file, Go to the .mov file, perform Edit/Add to Movie. This way I would have 2 audio tracks, AAC a 2 channel track and AC3 a 6 channel track.
But now with Quicktime 7.6, I cannot open the .ac3 file at all, I get "The file is not a movie file." error message with no error code.
Any suggestions?
Thanks,
Bill

POSSIBLE SOLUTION
I think I have discovered a way to workaround the AC3 5.1 sound problem.
I found an old 20GB drive and installed Tiger 10.4 onto the drive. I then downloaded the "MacOSXUpdCombo10.4.11PPC.dmg" file and updated the system to Tiger 10.4.11. I performed all of the updates (System Security updates and the Java updates) through Software Update except for iTunes and QuickTime.
I then downloaded the "QuickTime755_Tiger.dmg" file from Apple and updated to QuickTime 7.5.5
DO NOT UPGRADE TO 7.6
I then opened the TV show in QuickTime 7.5.5, I extracted the audio file from the program and saved as a separate audio file (it saves as a .mov file).
I opened this audio file in QuickTime 7.5.5 and then exported the audio
selecting Export Movie to QuickTime movie,
clicked on the options button,
the sound box should already be checked,
clicked on the settings button,
under the Format drop down I clicked on AAC,
Channels: I clicked on 5.1,
then Rate:48.000,
checked on Show Advanced Settings,
Quality: Normal,
Encoding Strategy: Constant Bit Rate,
Target Bit Rate: 384
(used MediaInfo Mac to gate this information),
clicked OK,
Clicked OK,
then named the file, saved it and then waited for audio to be converted from AC3 5.1 to ACC 5.1.
If you now open up this file in QuickTime 7.5.5 it is an ACC format with 5.1 and plays fine.
I then restarted to my regular drive with QuickTime 7.6 loaded and it plays the audio file without any problems.
I'm sure that there must be a way to repackage the AC3 audio file in an AAC container that will work better and faster, but for now this seems to work, so I am going to try some other shows that I have.
Let me know if this works for others.
Bill
Message was edited by: Boliver
Message was edited by: Boliver

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    In addition, the AVI file container is showing its age due limitations on the data that can be used in it. While patches and fixes have been used to delay the demise of this file container, it is getting harder and harder for players to maintain total and reliable compatibility with latest media compression formats which have evolved/changed over the last decade or more modern file containers specifically designed to support these changes. The main problem here is that the AVI file container has become so popular by PC/Windows users that most now resist any change which, in turn, perpetuates the use of this outdated file type still further without good reason.
    I can say that the file would not play using Lion and Quicktime until I installed Perian, and thereafter it played on my iMac (in Quicktime player and MPEG Streamclip) and burned with iDVD normally. But when I upgraded to Mountain Lion - it all went south again!  I've installed an older version of Quicktime player (7.6.6) into Utilities folder and re-istalled Perian - and I only get video without audio.
    QT 7 v7.6.6 is the only classic version of the QT player that is compatible with Mountain Lion, Lion, and current version of Snow Leopard OS. If the audio was supported under Lion, then chances are good that it should still be compatible under Mountain Lion assuming the proper support is available. Reccomend you either post the "Inspector" window information or post a sample file for examination on my Mountain Lion iMac system.

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