AC3 audio encoding problems

Have been encoding ac3 without any problems until recently. Now all ac3 encodes just play back as digital "noise", and the problems exists with default as well as modified versions of the standard ac3 preset.
I'm using latest versions of Compressor and Quicktime. Anyone seen this issue and know how to solve? I'm considering reinstalling Compressor, but that seems to entail a complete FCS2 reinstall...

UPDATE: I rebooted my mac using my backup system disk, which has quicktime 7.1.6 installed. I found that under this configuration my ac3 files could be played back. So it's NOT an encoding problem after all. It seems to be a decoding problem. So next up I'll try reinstalling my current version of Quicktime on the main system disk (that's QT 7.2 of course.) If that doesn't work, I'll have to try reverting to Quictime 7.1.6 I guess...

Similar Messages

Has Apple fixed the audio encoding problem?

As many other people seems to have experienced before me, iDVD6 stops working when encoding audio. Everything works before that step but when it reaches the "Audio Encoding" sequence iDVD stops working. Did Apple fix the problem? What else can we do?
Thanks for any reply.
Frank
iMac G5 Mac OS X (10.4.5) PowerMac G4

I followed your advice and restarted at 6:00 pm last night - this morning it was still going on - over 13 hours! The funny thing this time is that I got the 'rainbow ball' encoding audio at the beginning of the 3rd step, 'Processing movie' after only 1-1/2 hour. The last time I burned the same project, I got the 'rainbow ball' encoding audio message at the end of the 3rd step - in other words, it had processed the entire movie (which took 6 hours) and then began the encoding audio phase. I'm letting it run while I'm at work, but do you think there might be something else going on?
Here are some facts which apply to both times that I have tried burning the DVD project:
1. I have iMovie project (26Gb) on my external drive with about 15 Gb available space
2. and the iDVD project is on the internal hard drive with about 50 Gb of available space
The reason I moved the iMovie project to the external drive was because I would have only had about 24 Gb of available space if I left it on the internal drive (less than the movie itself).
Which drive is doing all the encoding and needing the most space - the internal or the external? I was assuming it was the internal drive. Should I move the iMovie project back to my internal drive and start over?
Thanks again - I'm a new member of this site and so far, it has been very helpful and informative!

Audio encoding problem

Hello,
I've successfully burned a half dozen iMovie projects with no problems but this time I am having a new problem.
Each time I attempt to burn an iMovie project to iDVD it progresses fine through the various stages, but when it gets near the end to the "Audio Encoding" stage it just sits there and never seems to finish.
I've been seraching through earlier postings but haven't found this specific issue.
Any ideas?
Much obliged.

I am also having this problem. iDVD gets to the end of the audio encoding and stops responding. If I leave it for a few hours it does finally finish but there is an error "timed-out" message on the screen. Very annoying. I've read elsewere that the problem may be caused by the latest QuickTime update (7.1.0) which I did install this week. Several threads suggest downgrading QT. I tried it via the suggested links, it mildly crashed the OS. I was able to recover after reinstalling the lastes QT. Coincidentally, I've since read the downgrade does not work with Intel iMacs. Come on Apple, let's get this FIXED.
Which version of QT are you running?

Solution to audio encoding problem achieved

I was using clips from my Sanyo Xacti Camcorder, imported into iMovie as mpeg 4 files and unable to finish the project in iDVD as the error would come in the audio encoding stage.A quick test is to export the iMovie files through Quicktime and it would stop cold, saying something is wrong with the file.
Going through the forum here,many had posted reasons is because iDVD cannot handle audio files with deviations from sampling rate of 48k, and somehow the audio files may work if it is converted to aiff , with sampling rate of 48k.I found a way to do it last night.
Export the imovie to GarageBand. When GarageBand finished the video track and sound track imports, adjust the volume of the sound track as desired.
Make sure the GarageBand preference to set export movie in full quality, not ipod or email quality. Then export the movie to disk, and the resulting Quicktime movie must have the original audio tracked enabled before it is used in iDVD. Check the Quicktime movie by quicktime player, and under movie property, you can check that enable box.
The finished product is a Quicktime movie that has both video and audio files that iDVD can handle and use.And it saves time in audio conversion by doing it in GarageBand first.

I was unable to export the imovie to quicktime, as the error message came within seconds , saying about something wrong with the file. The only way I could export the file to quicktime format is through GarageBand.
GarageBand is the application to add another sound track , and it preserves the whole imovie and could be exported directly to iDVD, instead of exporting to
Quicktime format first. The only reason I did this "extra" step was because I already knew if the Quicktime movie would not fail in iDVD, and it is quicker to check it this way then to wait 10 hours for iDVD time.
It was already recognized that iMovie does not do audio conversion, and when the audio files are not native to iDVD(i.e. 48 Hz sampling), the iDVD would crash.
See
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=800972&tstart=30

Audio Encoding problem at burn step...

working at high school...fair newbies here, have had about a half-dozen successful movies completed so far..
Issue right now (end of year so help is appreciated)...
all is good to go, but the process gets hung up up at the third stage..."Process Movies" where it appears to work to the end about to finish, and the burn icon ceases to move, the time signal comes up spinning and nothing happens.
Go to hit alt, open apple and esc and the window comes up saying iDVD quit..
at one point, the first attempt thru...something said an "audio encoding" issue...
so close to burning...any idea what is going on???
thanks...
Larry

Hi Larry!
This question is one of our 'most popular'!
It is probably not 'hanging'. Disregard any messages that iDVD is not responding. It is. Ignore the spinning beachball of death. Do not force quit.
Encoding audio is the slowest part of rendering, and can take many hours. Great patience, even an intermittent alternative hobby, is called for.
Make sure no other application is running, make sure you have not set the hard disk to go to sleep and that the screen saver will not come on. Leave it overnight, or have a 36 hole game of golf.
Sooner or later iDVD will finish!

Audio encoding problems

When my burn gets to the end of encoding, the process seems to freeze up and I get the rainbow disk that doesn't stop turning. This starts to happen as soon as the video encoding stops and goes to encoding audio. All my audio brought in for the project is from within i movie. Can anyone tell me what may be happening? Thank you.

Hi
Three things comes to mind.
- Long audio parts deleted (but still fragments left far away at right end of timeline) but residues that iMovie can't handle
- under 10 Gb free space on hard disk
- moved from iMovie to iDVD by Share/Export to iDVD from within iMovie.
Close iMovie and drop project icon (Star on it) into an new open iDVD theme
window. Might help. iDVD doing the rendering better.
Yours Bengt W

Audio Encoding and iTunes update

iTunes has just released an update. Maybe it will fix the audio encoding problem???

Hi Milton
If you create an iMovie, e.g., 1 hour movie, and insert audio, such as music from iTunes, then take the project into iDVD, and then begin the "burn" process, it will take many hours to encode the audio
Not on every machine, not for everybody. This afternoon I finished 'assembling' a 102 minute iMovie project which included 3 music tracks imported in AIFF format via iTunes, and 13 chapters. I imported this into iDVD, picked a theme, and burnt it to disk image.
I burnt the disk image at 2x to DVD using Toast. The entire process (from saving the iMovie project to ejecting the DVD) took a little under four and a half hours.
Search the iDVD forum, you'll find lots of discussion on this audio encoding problem.
I don't need to search, I read all the threads, and I am mystified, and very sympathetic, to those people who have a really bad experience, like the guy who took 4 days to complete a project with music.
But I don't think we should generalise about how long these things take. We all have our own modus operandi. What works for you, works for you. What works for me works for me.
We should all try to find out what works for the others - or why it doesn't.

Audio Encoding Spinning Beachball

I have had the same problem for over a month now. As I am typing there is a spinning beachball going during the audio encoding process. What is a reasonable amount of time? I started to burn a DVD at noontime , it is now 7:00 pm and still spinning. The project is 48 minutes long with chapter markers, ten transitions, a slow motion clip, sound effects, and a song in the drop zone. I have even upgraded to 10.4.6, purchased Quicktime Pro 7.1.1 and reloaded the latest iLife update 6.02. I used to burn a DVD with the same content in about six hours before the update. I don't know what else to try other than a new Mac........ I even re-imported the original movie from my camera-but the same beachball is spinning!!! I have tried every solution that was offered in the discussion area but the beachball keeps spinning. I'm at my wits end-somebody please help. After twenty years with Apple, this is the first problem I have ever had-I hope they fix this bug soon..... I am ready to drink heavily.......Have easily spent a hundred hours trying to fix this problem....

I have tried every solution that was offered in the discussion area
Well then this is probably stuff you've heard before but here goes anyway -
Audio Encoding problems come in three flavors:
1) Vanilla - This is the most common - the "freeze" when encoding audio is normal, you get a spinning beachball, and even when looking at activity monitor iDVD and its helpers are "not responding." Solution? WAIT....and WAIT some more, wait at least as long as it took to encode the video, and iDVD will still often produce a great DVD. I agree it shouldn't work this way, but that's the way it works.
2) Chocolate - Still pretty common, but a bit more trouble. Often caused by 12 bit audio, iDVD needs 16 bit audio. Try "extracting audio" in iMovie or export and reimport to tape after setting the camcorder to 16 bit.
3) Pistachio - much less common. Could be other problems with your audio, such as CBR MP3s or who knows what....this is sort of the catch-all for other audio issues. Again, try extracting audio and/or exporting your iMovie to full quality DV. Convert CBR MP3s to AAC format.
Check other things in your project against this list:
http://discussions.apple.com/click.jspa?searchID=-1&messageID=2466511
What is a reasonable amount of time?
As I said above wait at least as long as it takes to encode the video. But if I were you, I'd wait overnight just to rule out waiting as a solution. Definitely look at that sound file you dropped into the iDVD menu, make sure it is not a CBR MP3, and that your CMs and transitions follow the rules in the link I provided. Make sure you are using "save as disk image" and have 20GB for free space..........
And since you do have transitions & special effects(slow mo) and sound effects, you might try exporting your iMovie back to your camera or to full quality DV. This will render all the sound and effects, and then you can re-import to iMovie, add chapters, and use that movie in iDVD. This simplifies iDVD's and QT's job during encoding.
I am ready to drink heavily
Well just skip the heavily part, and this is a good activity to do while waiting on the beachball.......
John B.

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

Ac3 Audio problems

Hello all.. As we are all aware camcorders that record in Mpeg2 format using Ac3 Audio cannot be imported into PPCS4.. I know this subject has been covered but i need an answer to this simple question...
Premier Elements 7 is a slim down version off PPCS4, PE7 costing like 90% less than PPCS4 (£70 Vs £700) So how is it that my BUDGET version (PE7) can import my mpeg2 files with ac3 audio at ease but my expensive version (ppcs4) cannot...? Adobe am i missing something here, I mean if it was the other way around then i could understand but I'm at a total loss here as to why my £70 package works better than my £700 package.
Is there Any files i can copy from PE7 to PPCS4 that will solve this problem...?
Many thanks.... Levi

Levi Ferdinand sez ---> Do you run the Video and audio as separate files within PPCS4
Yes, the video and the audio are two seperate files, and when the AC-3 is DD 5.1, then six mono tracks.
The only instance where I have to edit MPEG-2 video is when a DVD-VIDEO has to be re-authored and where the original source footage is not available.
In case you have one of this cameras which records to miniDVD, you can demulltiplex the camera miniDVD to MPEG-2 video and AC-3 audio, then transcode the AC-3 to WAV 48Khz and import the WAV into the video editor. The demultiplexing software (e.g. SmartRipper.exe) analyses the container format for offset between video and audio.
Typically the offset is 0 millisecond (no offset) to 80 ms; one PAL frame at 25 FPS is exactly 40 ms (1000ms:25f = 40ms/frame), so if the offset is for example 80 ms, then you displace the video against the audio by two frame on the timeline before you start editing. The MPEG-2 video itself gets transcode to HUFFYUVv2.1.1, this in order to cut the footage frame accurate and to obtained the picture quality until the video is re-encoded to MPEG-2 again as well to have transparency available. That's the professional way of re-authoring DVD-VIDEO, or how to edit MPEG-2 with Dolby Digital AC-3 in general.
Of course I don't know if that all helps, or if your workflow is completly different.

Premiere CS4 - Audio sync problems, Encoding Problems

Hi,
I've been using Premiere CS3 for encoding 20-25 minute videos to deploy on a Flash Media Streaming server.
Today I upgraded to CS4 and everything that I render to FLV/FV4, H264 or Quicktime format has serious audio sync problems when I use AAC as the audio codec. Unfortunately for me, AAC is the codec that I need to use for the streaming server. The audio is synchronized to begin with, but it gets progressively unsynched as the video progresses.
Has anyone else had this problem? I'm using bitrates of 256 kbps, 512kbps for the video and 24 kbps / 32 kbps for the audio.
Another thing that I've noticed is that many of the options that I used when encoding videos are no longer available!! For instance, I cannot generate hinting tracks for Quicktime, and most of the audio frequencies are gone for Quicktime as well.
What a disappointment:(
-Chris

Seems to be an on going issue with no response from Adobe. Have the same issue with the audio running ahead of the video. (Cool if this was an old Japanese monster video).
Running CS4 PP & AME all updates are current. Nvida Quardro CX (current drivers 4.20.006) used several formats (Elemental h.264 to MPEG-2) same issue.
PC Intel Xeon CPU 3.20GHz 16GB RAM – Prof Win XP x64 Ser Pack 2
Any help from Adobe would be appreciated.

Audio Encoding & Ken Burns Problems Persist - More Help Please.

My previous thread (10/27): Encoding Audio in iDVD for 41 hours. Is there any hope?
--72min iMovie, many high res photos, iTunes music, voiceovers, sound effects (20.9G)
Since then:
I reimported Music Store songs from CD and tried iMovie to iDVD again , menu took 50min, video encoding took 4.5hrs, audio encoding went 12 hours till I force quit. (Should I have waited longer?)
I then was able to create a Quicktime Movie (Full Quality) in 36hrs, but the Ken Burns photos were so horrific (shimmering) that I decided to try creating a Disk Image. Is there any chance the results will be better? (Burn w/Toast6)
I also tried exporting iMovie to my JVC GR-DVP3 video camera. Only got colored checkerboard patterns.
If the Disk Image approach doesn't work, I'll be back at square one. Anything else I might try?

Wow, this sounds like a long time. Is this DV? Or
H.264?
The extension is .dv What is H.264
Remember that iDVD will create standard resolution
video, even if you are feeding it HD material. So
use Export> Quicktime> Full Quality DV.
I did.
The shimmering might improve once it is burned to
disk, but it might not. I also find it is different
on different players. PhotoToMovie does a better job
than iMovie/iPhoto of avoiding shimmers.
I heard that, but it took me 2 weeks to make my movie and at present I can't bear the thought of redoing all my KB photos.
I also tried exporting iMovie to my JVC GR-DVP3
video camera. Only got colored checkerboard
patterns
Check the iMovie forum for this one, but it sure
seems that something must not be hooked up right.
Was it in VCR mode?
I have a post on the iMovie forum, iMovie recognized the camera and it recorded, but all I got was sporadic patterns. The manual shows DV to DV operations but no computer to DV. Maybe my camera isn't compatable.

Sync AC3 Audio to Video function problem

Hi there,
I have an AC3 audio track with embedded time code and a video mpeg-2 segment with embedded timecode that I want to sync together. I use DVD Studio Pro 4.0.3.
In the help file it tells me to drag the audio from the Asset tab to the track editor while holding down the OPTION key.
But, when I do this, the track doesn't synch automatically and I have to do it manually anyway. Any thought on why it won't work ? It works on the Scenarist stations we have here and the tracks are made on profesionnal-grade encoders.
Audio track (AC3)
start time: 09:59:55:00
end time: 10:59:36:12
Video track (Mpeg-2)
Start Time Code:09:59:59:00
End Time Code: 10:02:41:07
I have searched the forums and support pages without finding any hints. Your help would be very appreciated. Thanks !
Arnaud
4 x 2.5 Ghz PowerPC G5 Mac OS X (10.4.8)

Thank you Colin. Yes indeed, I have read that part in the help file, but it just didn't make any sense to me at the time.
After running some test to figure it out, I found out that DVD Studio Pro will only sync my audio when the audio starting Time Code is later than the Video starting Time Code.
So in other words, DVDSP only adjust audio start time automatically but does trim the audio automatically, which is just a partial sync function according to me.
I sincerely hope that the development team will add this functionnality in a near future. As it is right now, the DVDSP auto-sync function is almost useless for us here. Moreover, the ability to sync AC3 audio to multiple video segment in the same track would be a great plus. I don't think it would be that hard to implement, but who knows ?
Well at least we can do it manually ! Thanks again Colin !

AC3 audio not compressing properly

I am compressing under the DVD selection. Everything was working great, until today. The compressor audio output for the AC3 audio has changed (different icon like a itunes file) and the DVD shuts down when I try to import the asset.
I cannot preview the audio. I went back and looked at earlier projects and I could always preview the audio in Finder. Any suggestion? I need to deliver the DVD on this project in 4 days. Help!
Thanks!

Presuming you are making an SD DVD you will most likely need to lower your video data rate.
If compressor is giving you problems this could be done in DSP.
Preferences/Encode/ If your show is under 70 minutes I would do average 6.5/max 7.7 and motion est. -best / background encoding. If your source is longer duplicate compressor data rates based on length settings. Drag your source movie from FC into assets.
This will create a MPG folder where your project is. Create an AC3 from the aiff and see how that works. Mac DVD player app is a good way to check and see how your burned disc will look. Build/check/burn from DSP or Toast.

Exporting files with AC3 audio

Forgive me if this is not the right place to post this question.
Using QT Pro, I want to trim and edit some files containing AC3 (Dolby Digital) audio. When I export or save the edited video, will they retain the AC3 audio?
More specifics: These files contain both AAC audio (in the default track) and AC3 audio (second track). These files were encoded using Handbrake, and I will be playing them on my AppleTV (hence the desire to retain the AC3 audio). The source files come from my DVR, and I want to trim some commercials. I tried to trim them prior to encoding, but I'm having trouble finding reliable software for editing MPEG2 streams on a Mac. Thus, I'm trying to figure out whether or not I can trim them afterwards using QT Pro and still retain the AC3 audio.
Any thoughts would be appreciated. Thanks!

Aaah, I wish I could help! I have exactly the same problem! I was going to post about it, but since there's this workaround, I didn't want to take up bandwidth with a problem that was not a total showstopper.
Indeed. I have stopped doing what I used to do before. Before, I used to select "All" in compressor - the files generated were the video, the aiff, and the ac3. Well after burning a few coasters through DVDSP 4.1 where there was picture but no sound, I realized that I needed to drag the aiff file to compressor again, and use that - at that point everything is fine. So, right now, my workflow is to export just the video from FCP through compressor, let it encode. Then export the aiff separately and encode it to a3 in compressor, then import the video and ac3 to DVDSP for good results. In short, no more exporting "All" from FCP through compressor, it's a waste of time.
But as to why, I have no idea, and I'm eager to hear what folks have to say! Anyhow, just letting you know you are not alone. Btw. my set up is: FCP 4.5 HD, compressor 2.1 and DVDSP 4.1.0... what's yours?

AC3 audio encoding problems

Similar Messages

Maybe you are looking for