TMPG Encoder - "An Error Occured When The Audio Is Decoded"

Guy's - this is my very first posting.
I'm reasonably new to the world of VCD creation, an experience I could never have managed without the excellent help and guidance from this Afterdawn forum.
I have experienced some problems in my learning curve but, in the main, have nearly always resolved them through this excellent group.
My latest trial has got me stumped however, hence the posting.
I recently tried to create a VCD copy of the epic Das Boot.
As previously I started with Smart Ripper to transfer the film to hard drive. ( I always create a new folder under the film's title and all subsequently created files go in here until I end up with the finished product.That way I can always go back a step or two if problem occur).
I then used DVD2AVI and created the expected two files (.d2v & .wav).
The next step is the one thats giving me a headache.
When I open TMPG Encoder and fill in the neccessary fields and then click "GO", I get the error message window -
"An Error Occurred When The Audio Is Decoded"
I've tried this process 3 times, completely deleting all previous efforts but always end up in the same position.
A trawl through the archives and I saw one which recommended creating a SVCD ( something I've never attempted before).
I followed the guide as above and opened TMPG Encoder to created the required SVCD. When I clicked "GO" this time the programme started to encode but gave a processing time of approx. 41 hours.
I was prepared to endure this and left the machine running. However, when I returned from work last night and checked it's progress I found that it had aborted encoding some 49% through the project and dsiplayed the same audio error message.
To complicate things further, I checked the properties of both the original files created in DVD2AVI and found that the audio .wav file is 2.14GB but the video .d2v file is only 850kb.( The cpacity of the entire Das Boot folder is 9.1GB but this contains all the .vob files from the Smart Ripper portion of the project).
Can any one of you more experienced guy's point me in the direction of a solution. I've been through the archives but don;t think I can see anything similar.
Kind regards......

 

Hi Dela

Thanks for the prompt response.

I saw from the archives that you had previously offered this advice on several other occassions and I did give it a try but with no success.

As far as I could tell, Virtualdub kept asking for the AVI file whereas the files that DVD2AVI had created were .d2v and .wav. and not AVI.(Strange - the software's called DVD2AVI yet produces .d2v & .wav!)

Did I miss something from the instructions or not follow your directions correctly?

regards
Peter

 

Dela

Thanks again for the response.

I'll certainly try this tonight and I'll update you tomorrow on the results.

A thought though - why has this problem waited 'til now to show itself if all my previous efforts were OK ?

Is there something specific about this particular film , Das Boot? It's definately the longest one I've tried yet. The film itself has a run time of 3 hrs 20 mins. not including the additional features.

Peter

 

Well guy's

Looks like it's back to the drawing board for me.
Dela - your very welcomed advise did not do the trick. I followed your instructions but ended with the same audio error code.
Do certain films require different codecs to allow conversion? My thinking is that if this is the first time I've experienced this problem I'm trying to establish what makes Das Boot different from all my other previously successful conversions.
I had another look at the original DVD case this morning and noticed that it is a Sony production and is copy protected. I know that Sony are at the forefront of protection and I'm assuming that this has an effect on what I'm trying to do.
My concerns over the tiny size of the .d2v file that was created in DVD2AVI have been reduced. I checked the similar files from other projects that I've successfully done in the past and they all are about the same size.
However, if at first you don't succeed, try, try & try again.
I won't be put off and will find a solution in the end.
Thanks
peterj

 

An update on my progress to resolve my recent problems. I've been working on this for over a week now but am still no further forward than at the start.
I was convinced that the source of the problems lay in the audio file that was created using DVD2AVI.
The file name was defaulted to the title "DasBoot AC3 TO1_2OCH192kbps48hz".
Windows Explorer identified this file as a Wave Sound file and was 2.14GB large.
When I saw the tag "AC3" I thought I had discovered the route of the trouble and set about to find a cure.
I did a full search through thr archieves and tried a couple of remedies.
Someone had suggested a plug in for Winamp which would recognised AC3 files and convert them but, try as I might , I couldn't get the plugin to load.
I also did a search for an AC3 Decoder and found a small piece of software by that name.
As it transpired, it was a demo version only and would only permit limited functions but it did identify another worry.
When it asked for the source file ( the one I wanted to convert) the selection was greyed out to identify AC3 files only. I pointed it towards my working film file but it refused to recognise any AC3 files at all.
Does this mean that the original audio file IS NOT Ac3?
Dela - you also suggested that I might be missing a codec. Does it still sound like that?
If so, if I use software called Gspot, would that identify the codec that I need?
For the sake of my sanity, as well as the volume of my hard drive, I hope someone can point me in the direction of a solution.

Thanks for your patience

peterj