As per Changeset 738, This issue is pretty much done with. Thanks to eddy for figuring out where/what the issue was and how to combat it.
NOTE: This being said, you should still run a Full Disc Extraction with MTR, due to success with Main Title is not 100% still.jbrjake wrote: And here's his explanation of how it works/what the problem really is (short answer: it *is* caused by incorrectly mastered DVDs despite what 90% of the people in this thread have claimed):
http://handbrake.m0k.org/irclogs/handbr ... 2_pg1.html
How do I get the fix?
You could either wait for the next public release (not that far off), or you can compile the latest SVN.
For those of you that want to wait for the next public release, but need a "work-a-round" now...please keep reading.
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Ok, I know this is a Monster of a thread to be reading through, so I decided to put together a summary of sorts:
Issue at hand: No Audio – Stopped Audio – Missing Audio
When encoding some movies with HandBrake (either from DVD or ripped DVD folder on Hard Drive), one will notice a significant CPU utilization drop (from high 90% to around 30% or less). There will also be a drop in fps (Frames per Second). When this happens, the file produced by the encode will most likely have Audio completely drop out at some point in the movie.
Best Practice is for one to always check the encoded file by playing back in your preferred Player and skip through the file to verify sound. Typically, if you hear sound at the end (during the credits), your encode is fine. As once sound is dropped, it won’t come back again later on.
What causes this? / When will Handbrake fix this?
For 20+ pages there are plenty of opinions on both “who’s at fault” and “why it’s happening.” I will do my best to list what has been assessed:
1. Not everyone who uses HB run into this issue.
There have been plenty of reports that …”DVD xyz audio drops outs when encoded…” While someone else reports that the same DVD works fine for them.
2. My abc DVD reader give better results than reader xyz
This has very well been the case for some. Some would assess that some readers are more tolerant to the Protection Schemes / Mastering nuances of said DVDs. This too can be attributed to different Firmware/Chipsets. The following post covers this issue:
--Mind you, stated above are possible Work-a-Rounds and not solutions. Due to the fact for some, hardware wasn’t an issue.dynaflash wrote:One other thing you should all take note of, the type of dvd drive you have can (and for me has, on at least two occasions) make a difference.
I suggest reading this thread: http://www.ripdifferent.com/phpbb2/viewtopic.php?t=5097 over at the mtr forums ( you need to be registered on them, I believe). Since they are probably currently the foremost authorities on ripping for the mac.
If you dont want to register there, I will paraphrase parts of this post here from dvdrexer, one of the developers there regarding the [Censored] drives so common in Powerbooks and MacBooks:He seems fairly qualified...I work for an Apple Service Provider/Mac Shop, and I see more problems from these drives than any other component of any Mac other than the Pro desktop.This is one of a list of 7 problems he sees with them.3) They generate RIP and burn errors in huge quantities compared to an internal Pioneer, NEC, Plextor, or other excellent quality drive
There is alot more regarding this very subject if you do a search on their forums for "[Censored]". As a previous PowerBook and now MacBook Pro user I went ahead and bought an excellent Pioneer external firewire dvd drive and enclosure for a total of about 78 dollars. There are two disks (frankly, cant remember which ones right now) that I could not get mtr to rip using my internal [Censored] drive in my PowerBook. Popped em in the Pioneer drive and bang, ripped fine and encoded in HB no problem! I do not pretend to know the technical reasons for this, but I do know it worked.
That may possibly explain the reason why using a different machine worked, even if they were both [Censored], maybe different model numbers. Just an idea.
Now, if indeed, on the same machine, same drive, h.264 drops audio but ffmpeg doesnt, that is a clue for us and we will look into that as soon as we have time.
What I am trying to say is that there are a huge number of factors in trying to defeat copy protection, and that trying to narrow it down is like finding a needle in a haystack. If there is indeed a problem with HB we are looking into it as best we can. But it is very hard with dvd specific issues as developers do not have an inexhaustible supply of dvd's to test with, nor an inexhaustible supply of time with which to test.
HandBrakes Description:I am not speaking for the development team, but personally I feel it is fair to remove the "Ripper" part of HandBrakes description with the new copy protection schemes we are seeing. Again, just my opinion.HandBrake is an open-source, GPL-licensed, multiplatform, multithreaded DVD to MPEG-4 ripper/converter, available for MacOS X, Linux and Windows.
One other thought to ponder which rhester alluded to. The windows version requires that you run a separate dvd ripper for windows for HB to work. Using the latest version of AnyDVD, they have had literally no audio drops and the windows version uses exactly the same HB core that the mac version uses. You be the judge.
3. Software abc produces a proper encode where as HB drops audio.
I’ve looked for a good post to summarize this statement, and came across this:
--Basicly, “One mans garbage, is another mans treasure.” What HB doesn’t like with certain MTR rips (especially Main Feature rips) other encoders are tolerant. There has been plenty of examples were people tried to encode a MTR rip without success, but were able to rip AND encode with HB with success. As well as the fact that MTR Full Disk Extraction (basically copy of DVD) works majority of the time vs. a manipulated Main Feature Only rip.bhaal wrote:This shows that the way in which MTR uses the drive to rip the data that MF doesn't like and produces problems but the way in which MF uses the drive to rip the data is a way it likes.
It shows that the problem is not a fundamental flaw in MF's encoder.
The fact that it still happens when I use fairmount and DTOX to rip shows that it is not an MTR issue or at least not exclusively so…
…and just keep in mind:
4. This is all fine, but how do I get a proper encode?bdkennedy1 wrote:God I hope this is figured out soon. I've only been able to use my AppleTV to watch TV shows.
And for those interested, I have the same audio dropouts with VisualHub.
Maybe it's ffmpegx? After all it hasn't been updated in over 6 months.
That’s the $10,000 question. As there are no “solutions” per se’, there are a few recommendations that worked for others (but not some):
1. Get an External ripper. Rather its MTR, AnyDVD, etc., you will be better off. HB can, and does, allow you to rip and encode DVDs (in some cases prevents the No Audio issue). But were external (read standalone) rippers must continually focus on new Protection Schemes, HB does not. HBs main focus is to take a “stable” DVD source and encode it (four ways from Sunday ). I reiterate, Developers of the project, aren’t in any way actively trying to combat DVD Protection.
2. In the case of MTR, it is highly recommended that you use the Full Disk Extraction. One thing you must remember/realize is the fact the MTR was/is being develop for a different niche of folks. Folks on the MTR Forum mainly use MTR for duplication of DVDs not encoding. Which is why, sometimes, a DVD rip may not encode correctly, but will transcode to DVD-R and play in DVD Players just fine. There are different processes for the 2 applications.
3. When need be, use DVD2OneX ver2 (DTOX2) you get rid of Zero Bite and/or Zero Duration cells. This will get one a more “stable” (read workable) source to begin with. In addition, exporting Movie Only in DTOX2 has worked wonders.
In closing, the purpose of the above summary/consolidation is to avoid the same question, statements, etc. being posted over and over again. At this point (22 pages later) I believe it is safe to say that there is very little new in terms of “I got No Audio when…” that can be posted. Almost every possible combination has been posted. I believe we should focus the next 22 pages on testing Work-a-Rounds, or even solutions.
By all means, please let me know if more should be added to this, or if things should be expanded on. I would like for this post to be a “one stop” for this thread, so people wouldn’t have to filter through nth pages of posts.
Software:
HandBrake
Mac the Ripper
DVD2One
Thanks,
~Cav