Is there a way to convert 2.0 Stereo to Dolby Digital 5.1? Because i have video that is in 2.0 stereo that i would like to convert to 5.1 DD. Please help. Like is there any software that can help move certain parts of the audio to certain channels for 5.1?
Okay - this one belongs in the DVD-R forum, as this is high resolution sound, not DVD-Video, but having done this a few times I will try & help. It is difficult, as you need to extract extra channels from a stereo image. Try going over to the DTS-AC3 forums at http://www.dtsac3.com/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.pl where there are guides posted as to how you do this using freeware such as Plogue Bidule etc. I personally repurpose usimng dedicated tools, and then re encode using professional encoders, but that is no good to you. If you go to the forums mentioned, there are folks there who do this all the time & guides with step by step instructions too, making it quite painless. You will need a surround capable soundcard - genuine discrete channels, not a matrixed version, and surround speaker system too. LOL
I'm sure you realise though that you can never create a "real" 5.1 mix from 2 channels of audio. That would be magic (literally). I author DVDs for many of the major studios and I'm amazed how many "fake" 5.1 tracks are used. The public just don't realise I suppose. They see 5.1 on the box, they hear audio from their rear speakers etc and they're happy. Personally, I'd rather have an un-messed-around-with good quality stereo image than a processed surround mix. I actually find surround audio a bit annoying even when it's done properly!
True. You can do a very good, almost indistinguishable version, although it will naturally never be discrete. Trouble is, if the original multitracks don't exist any more, what option do you have? Personally, I love surround. Much more natural than stereo when done well. Our ears use directional information too, you know.
Hello, I recently purchased Cubase SX 2.0 and am eager to convert my 2.0 stereo files into DVD-A. Can anyone help me get started?
You need much, much more. A DVD-A Authoring program is a must, also a way of taking a stereo file and turning it into a 5.0 surround file too. As a bare minimum, you need to work out if you are going to author DVD-Audio, which uses uncompressed PCM audio as opposed to Dolby Digital and can get very expensive as you need Authoring applications, such as WaveLab if basic DVD-A will do - or DTS-CD which is surround sound on CD. This also needs a DTS encoder, which for DTS-CD is available from SurCode at around $500. As for repurposing, or "upmixing" from stereo into surround, it is an extremely complex subject about which more gonads has been spouted than just about any other subject in Computer usage. It is perfectly possible, with practise & patience, to produce very high quality upmixes from a stereo source, and while they will never, to my mind, be the same as a discrete remix, they can also be better than a badly done remix from multitracks. For anyone to say that stereo is better is like saying that we should have stayed with Mono, as the centre image in stereo tracks is of course a phantom image. It is a very complex subject.
