No Audio for half the movie

Sean · Post by **Sean** » Wed Mar 07, 2007 12:52 am

I've had the same problem with MediaFork Version 0.8.0b1 (2007021100).

I was encoding a video_TS folder (off hard drive) of the "Gotti" DVD ( http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0116441/ ) and the audio dropped out around the halfway point. The video was perfect but no audio at all. It also took VERY long to encode - about 3 to 4 times longer then normal.

File Format was "MP4 file" and Codec was "AVC/H.264 Video / AAC Audio". Only other things changed were the bit rate (set to 900 kbps) and the picture size (made it slightly smaller). I am using a MacBook 2.0ghz, 2 GB ram, and Mac OS X Tiger 10.4.8.

I tried it in HandBrake right after and it worked fine and ripped at normal speed, so it appears to be a bug with MediaFork.

fairie · Post by **fairie** » Thu Mar 08, 2007 1:14 am

So I got Handbreak now, not media fork.
I ripped it again. The sound works in Quick time. I can not get it to iMovie..
Now iMovie says that the mp4 that i want to import is too big. It is not. I have checked there is space. When I check the info on the Quicktime file it says that it is 400mgb and I have 14G free in iMovie.
What now?
Also now that i have changed it to 320 will it be possible to burn it to a disk and watch it on TV like a regular full screen size film?
My dad is making his own "how-to" video/DVD.
Now the 4th time ripping this.

losjackal · Post by **losjackal** » Thu Mar 08, 2007 2:45 am

fairie wrote:So I got Handbreak now, not media fork.
I ripped it again. The sound works in Quick time. I can not get it to iMovie..

fairie, if you're trying to import a DVD into iMovie, you shouldn't be using Handbrake or Mediafork. They encode into MP4 format, which is way too compressed to use in iMovie.

Instead, you should be striving to convert to DV format, which is the native format camcorders use, and what iMovie uses. Try this free program:

http://www.squared5.com/

Other options:

http://www.techspansion.com/visualhub/
http://www.miraizon.com/

losjackal · Post by **losjackal** » Thu Mar 08, 2007 2:48 am

I tried ripping Narnia into a couple of more times. 480x wide at a higher bitrate (1400) turned out fine. 640x wide at a lower bitrate (1000) yielded the audio drop.

So this seems to affirm that the h264 encoder in Mediafour does not like larger picture sizes in certain situations.

fairie · Post by **fairie** » Thu Mar 08, 2007 5:04 am

Good god!

5th time lucky. Do wish that some one had told me that in the begining when I asked what to use!

Sean · Post by **Sean** » Fri Mar 09, 2007 5:22 am

Happened again to me. This time on "Master and Commander" - audio stops at around the 45 minute mark and is gone for the rest of the movie. From the HDD and using the H264 to encode.

I noticed that both times this happened, ripping was a lot slower - only around 7 FPS.

stefaanh · Post by **stefaanh** » Fri Mar 09, 2007 11:43 am

I noticed that both times this happened, ripping was a lot slower - only around 7 FPS.

I can confirm that! Forgot to mention this, I noticed that to.

pylon · Post by **pylon** » Sat Mar 10, 2007 5:04 pm

pylon wrote:Using MF with

AVC/AAC/XVID/Main profile

Average Bitrate:1000 kbps

2 pass encoding

Batman the motion picture from DVD

after 50 minutes the audio completely disappears. Using handbrake with these same settings, no problems. I think it made it through without quiting since other titles in my queue went fine. I don't think it is the DVD since HB worked fine and I didn't even pull the DVD out in between.

Sorry for the loooonnnng delay but I meant x264 not XVID of course.

I seems clear that:

The problem has been loacalized to x264 at higher resolutions

The behavior is MediaFork specific since there are no reports of this problem with handbrake

It is very reproducible down to the second.

It is somehow related to new cells or new chapters

It occurs with both homemade and commercial DVDs

At least at somepoint during the encode the encode rate slows down significantly (I have seen this too)

Playback method does not matter. From the beginning, by skipping ahead to the failure point, on Quicktime, on VLC etc.

losjackal · Post by **losjackal** » Sun Mar 11, 2007 10:35 pm

Great summary pylon! I'd just refine it by saying that it applies to MediaFork using h264/AVC. MediaFork using MPEG-4 (essentially what Handbrake is) does work fine.

mallbritton · Post by **mallbritton** » Tue Mar 13, 2007 5:46 pm

I have also noticed this same problem on a DVD I ripped using MediaFork.

I had ripped the eps of Firefly and when I was watching one the audio dropped out with about 5 minutes left to go. There were no other noise, no video artifacts or anything to indicate there was a problem. The audio just stopped. When I checked the other eps they were all that way except the audio dropped out at different places.

My ripping settings are:
File format: MP4
Codecs: AVC/H.264 Video/AAC Audio
Framerate: same as source
Encoder: x264 (H.264 main)
2-pass encoding
Average bitrate 5000 Kbps

Audio
Language 1: English (AC3) (2-channel)
bitrate: 160 Kbps

My setup is that I had the files on an external HDD attached to an new Airport Extreme Base Station (AEBSn)via USB and I was streaming and watching the video in Front Row. However when I tried the video in other players (QT Player, VLC, iTunes) the results were the same regardless of if I was streaming it or watching off the internal HDD

My hardware is a new MacBook Pro purchased in late December:
2.33 Ghz
2 GB RAM
Mac OS X 10.4.8

Best Regards,
Michael

perryp · Post by **perryp** » Wed Mar 14, 2007 7:32 pm

The audio cuts out about a third of the way thru when ripping a DVD that was made using a DVD-recorder. This seems to be the main bug with Mediafork/Handbrake.

Tried various options, but nothing works so far

perryp · Post by **perryp** » Wed Mar 14, 2007 10:29 pm

An update to my last post, I tried using Handbrake instead of MediaFork, and it appears to work.

losjackal · Post by **losjackal** » Thu Mar 15, 2007 2:48 am

Handbrake or MediaFork using MPEG-4 (not h264) seems to work just fine.

If you really want to use h264, choose a smaller frame size. 640x is too big, but 480x works. I'm not sure yet what works in between.

kneeslasher · Post by **kneeslasher** » Thu Mar 15, 2007 3:15 pm

Actually, this has just happened to me using Handbrake at width 640. Never happened before. Encode slowed way down on the second pass, result was audio cutting off after about a third of the film (Alien [Extended]).

pylon wrote:
pylon wrote:Using MF with

AVC/AAC/XVID/Main profile

Average Bitrate:1000 kbps

2 pass encoding

Batman the motion picture from DVD

after 50 minutes the audio completely disappears. Using handbrake with these same settings, no problems. I think it made it through without quiting since other titles in my queue went fine. I don't think it is the DVD since HB worked fine and I didn't even pull the DVD out in between.
Sorry for the loooonnnng delay but I meant x264 not XVID of course.

I seems clear that:

The problem has been loacalized to x264 at higher resolutions

The behavior is MediaFork specific since there are no reports of this problem with handbrake

It is very reproducible down to the second.

It is somehow related to new cells or new chapters

It occurs with both homemade and commercial DVDs

At least at somepoint during the encode the encode rate slows down significantly (I have seen this too)

Playback method does not matter. From the beginning, by skipping ahead to the failure point, on Quicktime, on VLC etc.

dynaflash · Post by **dynaflash** » Thu Mar 15, 2007 3:42 pm

I have been trying to reproduce this audio drop, but to no avail over at least 15 different dvds.

However, in rereading this thread, it occurs to me that in most instances, it is occurring using two pass. All of my testing has been done using one pass, h.264 at 640 x (xxx) for the iPod.

Has anyone had it happen using single pass encoding? I have not. Just trying to narrow down the specific set of settings that is causing this problem.

dynaflash · Post by **dynaflash** » Thu Mar 15, 2007 7:07 pm

Okay just finished two encodes of Talladega Nights (known for being very tricky).

Both had these settings but with the difference being one pass and 2 pass:
h.264 at 1400kbps. 128 bit audio. 640 x 280 picture size.

Both single and 2 pass movies have no audio drop. They work great.

losjackal · Post by **losjackal** » Fri Mar 16, 2007 1:54 am

dynaflash wrote:Okay just finished two encodes of Talladega Nights (known for being very tricky).

Both had these settings but with the difference being one pass and 2 pass:
h.264 at 1400kbps. 128 bit audio. 640 x 280 picture size.

Both single and 2 pass movies have no audio drop. They work great.

Interesting. I wish I had Talladega Nights to try. The failures I've had have been with DaVinci Code and Narnia. I just did Little Miss Sunshine at 480x368, and THAT had audio drop. I wonder if there is some max resolution (multiply width times height) where it eventually chokes. I'll have to try 1-pass on DaVinci at 640x soon.

dynaflash · Post by **dynaflash** » Fri Mar 16, 2007 1:30 pm

losjackal wrote:The failures I've had have been with DaVinci Code and Narnia.

Ran a single pass of Narnia last night. Again, no audio drop. Again, anything I encode has been run through MTR first. Everyone might just as well consider this workflow as Standard Operating Procedure as HB does nothing with any of the newer copyright protection. In fact, it never has.

I can try DaVinci Code this weekend, but TD is known to be the same copy protection as DaVinci according to the MTR folks. So, I am anticipating the same positive results. Both DaVinci and TD are known zero cell movies with some junk IFO's thrown in for good measure. They are tough titles to work with.

cbud · Post by **cbud** » Fri Mar 16, 2007 5:12 pm

I have converted over 100 DVDs and have never had audio drop out. All DVDs were ripped with MTR. Recently, I have converted Borat, Maria Antoinette, and Casino Royale for my iPod at 1500 kbs, 2 pass, h.264, 128 kbs, and they all work perfectly. I also have used higher bitrates on some movies, 3000 kbs, main profile, and again, no audio drop. I have never (and never will) use HB/MF with a DVD disc.

dynaflash · Post by **dynaflash** » Fri Mar 16, 2007 6:50 pm

I did finally get an audio drop on X_MEN_III which I had ripped with MTR 2.6.6.

However, I checked it with dtox and it did indeed have two 0 mb cells. So, I removed them and processed with DTOX Then ran through HB. Now, the fps, cpu utilization and the audio dropped with about at about 96% of the encode. Tried the movie from HB and indeed the audio cuts out about halfway throught he credits. Which should about correspond to when the fps on the encoding dropped to nothing.

Last note: Burned the same fileset with DTOX to a DVD. Guess what, the audio on the dvd dropped at exactly the same place!

So in short, right now, I have to attribute this to the source mastering. At least until I can get a cleanly mastered source to drop audio.

cknyckny · Post by **cknyckny** » Sat Mar 17, 2007 2:50 pm

I am having audio cut out on Little Miss Sunshine. I am using Media Fork and settings are as follows:

AVI
XVID
AC3

2 Pass

Movie was ripped first to hard drive using MTR (newest beta). In addition, encoding took forever as the FPS dropped to around 7 for a while.

pylon · Post by **pylon** » Sun Mar 18, 2007 4:42 am

Although there are issues with mastering, my experience indicates this is a media fork specfic bug. Movies that have this issue in Media Fork do not have it with identical settings under Handbrake.

cknyckny · Post by **cknyckny** » Sun Mar 18, 2007 5:54 pm

for my issue with little miss sunshine I experienced the same problem with handbrake

jsrun · Post by **jsrun** » Mon Mar 19, 2007 12:37 pm

Brand new to Mediafork/Handbrake. Have over a terabyte of ripped movies. Ripped with MTR 2.6.6, 3.0d13 and 14. Very excited about the idea of converting them all to H.264.

First attempt to use MF on Pirates of the Caribbean. (Don't know if this was ripped with 2.6.6 or 3.0d13...)

2-pass encoding. Beautiful video. Just beautiful. No sound after about 20 minutes.

Took all night.

Just thought another datapoint might help. I don't know if I might have the zero cell problems with this if I used 2.6.6, as I don't really understand what that means/does, but the vidoe_ts file plays fine...

dynaflash · Post by **dynaflash** » Mon Mar 19, 2007 1:55 pm

jsrun wrote:Just thought another datapoint might help. I don't know if I might have the zero cell problems with this if I used 2.6.6, as I don't really understand what that means/does, but the vidoe_ts file plays fine...

jsrun, yes, this video has zero cells in it if it was ripped with mtr 2.6.6. 2.6.6 doesnt remove any zero cells, you need to use dtox to remove them if you want.

I have correlated zero cells to dropped audio, and in fact, the mtr folks have even had dvd's burned to disk with zero cells drop audio as well. Realize that zero cells are just some of the mastering techniques designed to fool software rippers and in fact, are combined in some instances with other mastering techniques.

However, having said that, it appears that there is some difference using HB 0.7.1 vs. MediaFork and how the two handle mastering of dvd's. In short, MediaFork shares Instant Handbrakes code and Handbrake 0.7.1 uses an older set of code, that doesnt appear to have as much trouble in some instances as MediaFork/IHB. I am looking into that now.

Realize though, MTR 3.0beta -> HB or MTR2.6.6 ->DTOX -> HB is likely to be the normal workflow for what you are trying to do in the future as I dont believe there are any plans to get HB to handle all of these dvd's. This should just be Standard Operating Procedure from now on, unfortunately.

I will tell you that with zero cells removed PiratesII does work fine with MediaFork.

HandBrake

No Audio for half the movie

Re: No Audio for half the movie

Re: No Audio for half the movie

no audio drop

Same problem

Bug

I have dropout on Pirates of the Caribbean ripped with MTR

Re: I have dropout on Pirates of the Caribbean ripped with M