So, I'm starting to author my own DVDs now that I have a DVD-burner; what I want to do is encode my video files from stereo to 5.1 surround. When using Nero recode to convert my video files to Nero Digital files, in the box to the right of the video preview screen, where it has the "Audio #1" options, there is a checkbox for "stereo" and "5.1 surround." When I load a file into the program, the stereo box is checked, and it will NOT let me check the 5.1 surround box instead. How can I encode my video files to 5.1 surround, or DTS, for purposes of burning them to a DVD??? Thanks so much for all of your help... Regards, -Kevin.
You gotta HAVE 5.1 audio in the file, in order to re-encode to 5.1 You cannot get 5.1 dolby out of a 2 chan stereo file.
Thanks for the reply; I guess the next logical question is: is there a program that can convert the 2.0 stereo audio of a video file to 5.1 surround???
Ok, I guess that makes sense now that I think about it... However, what perplexes me is that how are all of these homemade bootleg DVD concerts that were recorded in the 80's and early 90's with VHS camcorders that I've downloaded all in 5.1 surround??? So, you're telling me those old cameras recorded 5.1 DD???
No. Someone has ripped the Dolby 5.1 track from a dvd or audio CD, and matched it up with the video. This is fairly simple to do, and is done all the time on remasters.
Ok, this is starting to make a lot more sense, and thank you for your input. So, take Pearl Jam, for example; if someone had a video of one of their concerts, and they had the official audio CD bootleg from that same show, they could extract 5.1 surround from that CD and match it up with the video? Sorry if this sounds redundant, but I just want to clarify so I can figure out how to make my own 5.1 surround DVDs...
Exactly. If you have a video, with very poor audio, and you've got the same concert on audio CD, you can rip the .wav from the audio CD, match it up with your video, and remaster it. In a professional studio, this can be done in about 5 minutes, for a home hobbyist, it's a little more complicated, depending on how close the two files are in running time length. If they're identical, it's simple. If not, one must cut bits of audio and/or video, from the start, to make it sync up.
Awesome, now I'm really getting it; but one more question: using my above Pearl Jam example again, doest the 5.1 come entirely from the official bootleg CD, or is the eventual 5.1 surround a product of combining the crappy audio from the video with the official bootleg audio? What confuses me is that if you were to rip the .wav from the CD, it would be a 2-ch. stereo source, which you would be combining with the other 2-ch. stereo source(the crappy audio from the video); so, are you saying that you can "remaster" two 2-ch. stereo sources into 5.1 surround? If so, I think this is getting to the heart of what I'm after: if you can combine two different audio sources to get 5.1 surround, then why couldn't you take one audio source, duplicate it, and combine it with itself to achieve 5.1 surround???
Here's where it gets complicated for the hobbiest. In order to get a 5.1 or DTS track, one would have to buy the DVD, as audio CD's are usually only 2 chan. There's no combining at all. The original crappy audio is discarded completely, and the REAL 5.1 track is then muxed with the video during the authoring phase, so as little transcoding and/or intermediate steps are used. When I said remaster, that is to create a new movie, using the OLD video, and NEW audio from a true 5.1 source. There are free aps that can save a 2 chan audio from any CD, and a few that can save DD5.1 or DTS from a DVD (not an audio CD).
Ok, pretty much all cleared up here on my end; thanks so much for taking the time... Anyway, there's just one thing that still confuses me. I understand everything you're saying about how exactly the new 5.1 surround is created on the bootleg videos, however I'm not sure what you mean when you refer to the people authoring these projects "buying the DVD." That's what I'm stumped about; there is NO DVD that you can buy for these shows, and thus no already-put-together 5.1 source to mix with a video they may have. Furthermore, if there was a DVD to buy, why would they need to make their own bootleg!?!?! ) The bottom line is this: I have a Pearl Jam DVD bootleg, among many other bootleg DVDs, in which the video is obiviously shot from a fan in the crowd, but the sound is mixed in DTS!!! How is this possible, since there is obviously no 5.1 source for this show that one could buy???
Then someone had a really nice cam, and/or used a separate audio recording source, probably plugged right in to the mixing board at the concert. Commonly known as a telesync.
The quality of the video would denote that it was probably no better than your average camcorder, and this was in 1995, too... Anyway, you're probably right; probably a SBD hook-up of some sorts... Thanks again for all your input; being a newbie at this stuff is never fun!
ok.. well heres my question maybe you cant get true 5.1 surround but can you have the stereo sound converted so it will at least play on all speakers of a surroing sound system.. sounds totally duable to me theres gotta be some conversion software out there.. gonna check and ill be back
Awesome; definitely make a post if you find anything good. It makes sense to me, too; there's gotta be something that can just duplicate and adjust the levels of a stereo source to work through 5.1 surround... It may not be "true" surround, but that's not the point...
Do some digging around at doom9. http://www.doom9.org/BeSure.html You could get something like Steinberg ($400) that will create a sort of 5.1 from 2 chan stereo.
I found a audio forum that should have the answer but might take some time.. I found it in another section of this site.. I searcged google "2.0 to 5.1 file converter" and it found a post here that sent me to: www.dtsac3.com
Hey Taint, Not that I actually know much, but I've been recently interested in 5.1 sound (got a surround sound system and would like to hear my stuff too) Here's stuff I know (not that it really helps much): There are 2 minidv camcorders coming out by SONY that record 4-channel and convert to 5.1 audio. Sony DCR-HC90E and the Sony DCR-PC1000E. Both in a couple of months or such. not sure on price. You can "try" out the 5.1 professional creation software from ADOBE. There's Encore, and the sound one called Audition. Fun to create surround sound with those! just my 1/2-cent worth.
Thanks for the replies everyone! I'm definitely more interested in the software-side of things concerning this, so I'm going to have to check out some of these programs... Isn't Audition the "new" version of Cool Edit Pro??? If so, I wonder if my Cool Edit Pro program could help me out?
