AC3 encoder

[Tom Leylan]

Well this has been asked before... but hopefully it may have been awhile.

What are people doing for AC3 encoders? I'm using Vegas 4.0 for video
editing and DVD-Lab for authoring and just went through a (let's call it
"horrible") time burning DVDs left and right unable to remove a persistent,
periodic background "bleep" in the audio track.

Finally it was tracked down to my using MPEG audio and the moment I
converted it to AC3 the bleep went away. I used BeSweet and their encoder
.dll but even they mention it shouldn't be used for anything but tests. The
price is good though "free" and the alternatives are costly. Sonic Foundry
has a plug-in for $280 or I can upgrade to Vegas+DVD for $400 (it's included
in that upgrade.)

If I have to, I guess I have to but I figured I'd see what other people were
doing first.

Tom

[MD Vid]

Well...You may not be aware that Dolby labs consider BeSweet to be pirated
software. They frown on it's use, and while admittedly BeSweet is free, it
can produce compatibility problems. The AC3 encoder with Vegas is good, and
it alone is worth the upgrade price to Vegas+DVD. Ulead DVDworkshop now
comes with an AC3 encoder, (for a price), as does Premier Pro, and Adobe
Encore. I also have ReelDVD which can encode AC3, accept 5.1, but not
encode 5.1.. Of the above, Vegas is my favorite, and the fastest. I
haven't had any issues with the encoded AC3 or 5.1 files. If you wanna be
honest, you gotta pay the price.

JTH

Post by Tom Leylan
Well this has been asked before... but hopefully it may have been awhile.
What are people doing for AC3 encoders? I'm using Vegas 4.0 for video
editing and DVD-Lab for authoring and just went through a (let's call it
"horrible") time burning DVDs left and right unable to remove a persistent,
periodic background "bleep" in the audio track.
Finally it was tracked down to my using MPEG audio and the moment I
converted it to AC3 the bleep went away. I used BeSweet and their encoder
.dll but even they mention it shouldn't be used for anything but tests.

The

Post by Tom Leylan
price is good though "free" and the alternatives are costly. Sonic Foundry
has a plug-in for $280 or I can upgrade to Vegas+DVD for $400 (it's included
in that upgrade.)
If I have to, I guess I have to but I figured I'd see what other people were
doing first.
Tom

[Tom Leylan]

Post by MD Vid
Well...You may not be aware that Dolby labs consider BeSweet to be pirated
software. They frown on it's use, and while admittedly BeSweet is free, it
can produce compatibility problems. The AC3 encoder with Vegas is good, and
it alone is worth the upgrade price to Vegas+DVD. Ulead DVDworkshop now
comes with an AC3 encoder, (for a price), as does Premier Pro, and Adobe
Encore. I also have ReelDVD which can encode AC3, accept 5.1, but not
encode 5.1.. Of the above, Vegas is my favorite, and the fastest. I
haven't had any issues with the encoded AC3 or 5.1 files. If you wanna be
honest, you gotta pay the price.

This is interesting but if you can give me a bit more information it would
be helpful.

First I didn't know that Dolby Labs considers BeSweet to be pirated
software. Is that "the story" or can such information be confirmed. And
second... lots of companies try to protect their products through
intimidation. McDonald's has sued companies that started with "Mc". Hormel
has sued companies for using the word "spam". That's what courts are for to
decide if the company has a case. Simply claiming it isn't enough. Dolby
sued Thomas Dolby the musician and I believe MIT sued Dolby Labs.

I've read that the encoder used with BeSweet isn't too good, they post that
on the site. I'm not willing to part with $400 for Vegas+DVD since I am
more than happy with DVD-Lab. I (albeit quickly) tried the demo version of
Vegas+DVD and I wasn't happy with it. ULead DVD Workshop was pretty bad in
my view also. That's neither here nor there though, I'm not intent on
arguing about authoring software. I'm just looking for possible solutions
to my AC3 dilemma. And I think I'm honest.

[JoJo]

Post by Tom Leylan
I've read that the encoder used with BeSweet isn't too good, they post that
on the site. I'm not willing to part with $400 for Vegas+DVD since I am
more than happy with DVD-Lab. I (albeit quickly) tried the demo version of
Vegas+DVD and I wasn't happy with it. ULead DVD Workshop was pretty bad in
my view also. That's neither here nor there though, I'm not intent on
arguing about authoring software. I'm just looking for possible solutions
to my AC3 dilemma. And I think I'm honest.

But if BeSweet works for you.......

[Tom Leylan]

Post by JoJo

Post by Tom Leylan
I've read that the encoder used with BeSweet isn't too good, they post that
on the site

But if BeSweet works for you.......

Hi Johan,

Sure but I don't know why they post "use it for testing only" or words to
that effect on the BeSweet site. I'd rather not nearly finish a project
only to find that I've encountered the one time it doesn't work if you know
what I mean. There is nothing to suggest that any other implementation
couldn't fail of course so that's one way to look at it.

Tom

[Samuel Paik]

Post by Tom Leylan
Sure but I don't know why they post "use it for testing only" or words to
that effect on the BeSweet site. I'd rather not nearly finish a project
only to find that I've encountered the one time it doesn't work if you know
what I mean. There is nothing to suggest that any other implementation
couldn't fail of course so that's one way to look at it.

Dolby Labs holds a number of patents covering AC3. Just like there
are a number of patents covernig MP3. Hence, they want to be paid
their royalties for the encoders and maybe decoders.

I've tried BeSweet in the past, and it was incompatible with my Pioneer
DV-333 DVD Player. I've read that a number of Pioneer models are
incompatible.

Sam

[Tom Leylan]

Sam,

Wow that is really uhhhhh.... boring me. :-)

Post by Samuel Paik

Post by Tom Leylan
Sure but I don't know why they post "use it for testing only" or words to
that effect on the BeSweet site. I'd rather not nearly finish a project
only to find that I've encountered the one time it doesn't work if you know
what I mean. There is nothing to suggest that any other implementation
couldn't fail of course so that's one way to look at it.

Dolby Labs holds a number of patents covering AC3. Just like there
are a number of patents covernig MP3. Hence, they want to be paid
their royalties for the encoders and maybe decoders.
I've tried BeSweet in the past, and it was incompatible with my Pioneer
DV-333 DVD Player. I've read that a number of Pioneer models are
incompatible.
Sam

[Pat]

I have read where the BeSweet is not 100% AC3 compatible. I've used it and
personally had no problems, but the word is that BeSweet does not guarantee
its AC3 compatible. Also, you don't have Dolby approval if you use your DVD
commercially. With Sonic Foundation's Soft Encode and their V4 plugin, you
have a certified Dolby audio.

Post by Tom Leylan

Post by JoJo

Post by Tom Leylan
I've read that the encoder used with BeSweet isn't too good, they post

that

Post by JoJo

Post by Tom Leylan
on the site

But if BeSweet works for you.......

Hi Johan,
Sure but I don't know why they post "use it for testing only" or words to
that effect on the BeSweet site. I'd rather not nearly finish a project
only to find that I've encountered the one time it doesn't work if you know
what I mean. There is nothing to suggest that any other implementation
couldn't fail of course so that's one way to look at it.
Tom

[MD Vid]

Following is from a thread posted by BJ_M (moderater on forum for
DVDrhelp.com, the thread is from one of the Vegas forums, don't remember
which, that I copied)
"if you are doing comercial dvd's -- you should know that encoding ac3 with
besweet (other than the fact that it is not 100% compliant, iv'e tested it)
is illegal ... Just ask Dolby (we did) .. and they take a very dim view of
it and will not permit you to use the Dolby Logo for one thing ..why not
just get the vegas dvda - even just for the ac3 encoder ... then you can do
not only compliant ac3 , but at some point 5:1 ... "
I have never used DVDlabs, but, I have also read on various forums that
they don't conform to the DVD spec, (I don't think that they claim to), so
there have been various posts about incompatiblities with DVD's produced
using their software. If you are producing DVD's for production/sale or
consumer use, you will probably want to be as close to spec as you can get.
I have had great luck with DVDA and find it extremely easy to use. If all
you want to do is create a 'first-play' video, or simple menu/video, it
can't be beat in ease, and speed. For more complex DVD's DVDSP (MAC), and
ReelDVD have been a mainstay. I got my copy of Encore last week, and it
looks like a pretty great product.

JTH

Post by Tom Leylan

Post by MD Vid
Well...You may not be aware that Dolby labs consider BeSweet to be pirated
software. They frown on it's use, and while admittedly BeSweet is free,

it

Post by MD Vid
can produce compatibility problems. The AC3 encoder with Vegas is good,

and

Post by MD Vid
it alone is worth the upgrade price to Vegas+DVD. Ulead DVDworkshop now
comes with an AC3 encoder, (for a price), as does Premier Pro, and Adobe
Encore. I also have ReelDVD which can encode AC3, accept 5.1, but not
encode 5.1.. Of the above, Vegas is my favorite, and the fastest. I
haven't had any issues with the encoded AC3 or 5.1 files. If you wanna

be

Post by MD Vid
honest, you gotta pay the price.

This is interesting but if you can give me a bit more information it would
be helpful.
First I didn't know that Dolby Labs considers BeSweet to be pirated
software. Is that "the story" or can such information be confirmed. And
second... lots of companies try to protect their products through
intimidation. McDonald's has sued companies that started with "Mc".

Hormel

Post by Tom Leylan
has sued companies for using the word "spam". That's what courts are for to
decide if the company has a case. Simply claiming it isn't enough. Dolby
sued Thomas Dolby the musician and I believe MIT sued Dolby Labs.
I've read that the encoder used with BeSweet isn't too good, they post that
on the site. I'm not willing to part with $400 for Vegas+DVD since I am
more than happy with DVD-Lab. I (albeit quickly) tried the demo version of
Vegas+DVD and I wasn't happy with it. ULead DVD Workshop was pretty bad in
my view also. That's neither here nor there though, I'm not intent on
arguing about authoring software. I'm just looking for possible solutions
to my AC3 dilemma. And I think I'm honest.

[ata]

Forget Besweet.

It has compatibility issues with dvd players. My Pioneer dvd player
won't read the audio--I just get a silent dvd. Audio is audible only
on my computer.

Besides, the Besweet GUI sucks ass. Just a huge jumbled mess. I truly
hate the interface--cluttered, confusing, and unusable. It feels like
it was designed for autistics or aliens, instead of for normal
thinking human beings.

If Besweet can't create compatible AC3 (and look how long it's been
out) why even bother with this crappy audio encoder at all, especially
with pain in the ass interface?

Just forget Besweet and never look back.


On Tue, 09 Sep 2003 05:11:04 GMT, "Tom Leylan"

Post by Tom Leylan
I've read that the encoder used with BeSweet isn't too good, they post that
on the site. I'm not willing to part with $400 for Vegas+DVD since I am
more than happy with DVD-Lab. I (albeit quickly) tried the demo version of
Vegas+DVD and I wasn't happy with it. ULead DVD Workshop was pretty bad in
my view also. That's neither here nor there though, I'm not intent on
arguing about authoring software. I'm just looking for possible solutions
to my AC3 dilemma. And I think I'm honest.

[Jan Panteltje]

On a sunny day (Tue, 09 Sep 2003 07:45:52 -0700) it happened ata

Post by ata
Forget Besweet.
It has compatibility issues with dvd players. My Pioneer dvd player
won't read the audio--I just get a silent dvd. Audio is audible only
on my computer.

hey, use AC3Machine, BeSweet works great here, no compatibility problems,
tried on SEVERAL DVD players.
Guys do not pay hundreds of dollars for things freely available in open source.
Use of these coders for personal use is OK.
BeSweet guys, thank you for porting the Linux source to windows, and fixing
the bugs.
Now if I could only find the BeSweet complete source, so I can port it back to Linux...
hehe
JP

[HighPeaksVideo]

Post by Tom Leylan
Sonic Foundry
has a plug-in for $280 or I can upgrade to Vegas+DVD for $400 (it's included
in that upgrade.)

Upgrading from Vegas 4 to Vegas4+DVD is $299.00. You were looking at the
price of upgrade for ANY version of Vegas.

http://www.sonicfoundry.com/shopping/category.asp?id=10&PRCat=30

Craig H.

[Tom Leylan]

Post by HighPeaksVideo
Upgrading from Vegas 4 to Vegas4+DVD is $299.00. You were looking at the
price of upgrade for ANY version of Vegas.
http://www.sonicfoundry.com/shopping/category.asp?id=10&PRCat=30

Thanks Craig, that's good to know. I'm not going to use the +DVD features
though (in all probability) so what I would need to confirm is that the
encoder will integrate into Vegas 4 such that it can render the ac3 stream.
In other words if the encoding feature can only be accessed when using +DVD
for authoring it won't work for me. The plug-in for $280 would work from
Vegas 4 as I understand it.

Tom

[Jerry Jones]

I've opted for the Ulead StudioQuartet bundle...

http://www.ulead.com/products/studioquartet/features.htm

- MEDIASTUDIO PRO 7.01 (AC-3 enabled)

- DVD MOVIEFACTORY 2 (LE version) (AC-3 enabled)

- COOL 3D PRODUCTION STUDIO

- PHOTOIMPACT

- DVD WORKSHOP (AC-3 Enabled)

- GIF ANIMATOR

I also have the latest version of BorisFX, which I use as my
compositing application...

http://www.borisfx.com/products/FX/new_features.php

All of the various ULEAD professional-level digital contect creation
programs can be downloaded - FREE OF CHARGE - on a trial basis.

- MediaStudio Pro 7.0:

http://www.ulead.com/msp/trial.htm

- DVD Workshop 1.2:

http://www.ulead.com/dws/trial.htm

- PhotoImpact 8.0:

http://www.ulead.com/pi/trial.htm

- Cool 3D Production Studio 1.0

http://www.ulead.com/c3ds/trial.htm

- DVD MovieFactory 2

http://www.ulead.com/dmf/trial.htm

- GIF ANIMATOR

http://www.ulead.com/ga/trial.htm

***ALL*** of the above programs are included in the ULEAD
StudioQuartet bundle for $795.

Download the trials and compare them to the trial versions offered
elsewhere.

Jerry Jones
http://www.jonesgroup.net

[Tom Leylan]

Post by Jerry Jones
I've opted for the Ulead StudioQuartet bundle...
http://www.ulead.com/products/studioquartet/features.htm

<snip>

Jerry... just so you know we have all read your advertisements in the form
of a response to almost anything posted here. See:

http://groups.google.com/groups?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&threadm=_0gEa.19728%24rf.7745425%40news4.srv.hcvlny.cv.net&rnum=4&prev=/groups%3Fhl%3Den%26lr%3D%26ie%3DISO-8859-1%26q%3Djerry%40jonesgroup.net%26sa%3DN%26tab%3Dwg

I don't particularly like the ULead tools (I own some) and as has been
pointed out (see the thread above) you are probably impacting their sales
negatively to some degree. Believe me we aren't as dumb as I imagine you
think we are.

[Jerry Jones]

Post by Tom Leylan
I don't particularly like the ULead tools (I own some)

My message is simple.

All of the various ULEAD professional-level digital contect creation
programs can be downloaded - FREE OF CHARGE - on a trial basis.

- MediaStudio Pro 7.0:

http://www.ulead.com/msp/trial.htm

- DVD Workshop 1.2:

http://www.ulead.com/dws/trial.htm

- PhotoImpact 8.0:

http://www.ulead.com/pi/trial.htm

- Cool 3D Production Studio 1.0

http://www.ulead.com/c3ds/trial.htm

- DVD MovieFactory 2

http://www.ulead.com/dmf/trial.htm

- GIF ANIMATOR

http://www.ulead.com/ga/trial.htm

If you have them and don't like them - that's your decision.

But others here might wish to give them a try and come to a different conclusion.

These demos are offered FREE OF CHARGE.

Period.

Jerry Jones
http://www.jonesgroup.net

[Tom Leylan]

Post by Jerry Jones
My message is simple.
All of the various ULEAD professional-level digital contect creation
programs can be downloaded - FREE OF CHARGE - on a trial basis.
But others here might wish to give them a try and come to a different conclusion.
These demos are offered FREE OF CHARGE.

Jerry be a human for a minute. Everybody here could post lengthy replies
listing website links to the products they personally believe are the
greatest thing since sliced bread but only you are doing it.

I am not the first and I won't be the last to mention it. You needlessly
(see the word needlessly there) repeated all the links once again. If I
were selling snake oil I would look for somebody just like you to hype the
living hell out of it but I just can't bring myself to do that.

On the other hand if you want to ruin usenet news go ahead and keep it up.
We'll get the people who like competing lines of products to respond in kind
with long lists of pointers to websites and they will be sure to mention
there are free demos available. Who except for Roxio doesn't have free
demos these days?

Your turn to respond in sales-speak again and don't forget to list all the
websites one more time.

ULEAD PRODUCTS STINK!!!!

I'm going to place that at the end of each response to you and will
encourage others to do the same. In fact if they wrote that for each one of
your unrelated links to a Ulead product you might eventually (but nobody is
holding their breath) understand.

Are you happy now?

[Sasha]

Post by Tom Leylan

Post by Jerry Jones
My message is simple.
[...]

Jerry be a human for a minute.

Are you sure that `he' is a human. Likely `he' is just a program (at least most
of the time).

Post by Tom Leylan
[...]
Are you happy now?

It is waste of the time to try to make a computer happy, OTOH you can write a
program that will automaticaly respond to `his' messages, but is it really
usable for human readers of this newsgroup?

[Pat]

Tom,

I have the same setup. V4 + DVDLAB + SF's Soft Encode for AC3. The SF AC3
5.1 plug in is the way I eventually will go.

Post by Tom Leylan
Well this has been asked before... but hopefully it may have been awhile.
What are people doing for AC3 encoders? I'm using Vegas 4.0 for video
editing and DVD-Lab for authoring and just went through a (let's call it
"horrible") time burning DVDs left and right unable to remove a persistent,
periodic background "bleep" in the audio track.
Finally it was tracked down to my using MPEG audio and the moment I
converted it to AC3 the bleep went away. I used BeSweet and their encoder
.dll but even they mention it shouldn't be used for anything but tests.

The

Post by Tom Leylan
price is good though "free" and the alternatives are costly. Sonic Foundry
has a plug-in for $280 or I can upgrade to Vegas+DVD for $400 (it's included
in that upgrade.)
If I have to, I guess I have to but I figured I'd see what other people were
doing first.
Tom