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Multiple audio tracks in DVD Architect Studio 5.0?

That One Guy

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I've finished the main editing work on my current project and have moved onto authoring the DVDs. For the first time, I want to include an alternate audio track with commentary.

I have my audio streams exported as AC3 files and my video streams as m2v files. I haven't had any luck so far figuring out how to do this, and none of the options I can see for media playback or menu options allow me to choose between audio tracks.

I've foundthis custcenter.com article claiming that it can be done, but it's dated 2004 and shows UI options that I don't have in my version. I suspect this is from the Pro version, or from a version before the Studio and Pro versions were split.

Has anyone had any success with this? If so, how did you do it?
 

Neglify

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It's easy, I've done it a few times. BUT, only in Architect Pro, not Studio. Boo, I know.
 

That One Guy

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Neglify said:
It's easy, I've done it a few times. BUT, only in Architect Pro, not Studio. Boo, I know.

Yeah, what I've seen of the Pro version looks really easy. Not entirely surprising it's unavailable in Studio, I suppose...
 

That One Guy

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OK, it looks like DVDStyler (which I've used before) supports this so I'm going to see if I can do my general DVD design in Studio, then import the menu structure into DVDStyler and add the extra audio stream there. I'll post back with the results when I have a chance to test it.
 

thecuddlyninja

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That One Guy said:
OK, it looks like DVDStyler (which I've used before) supports this so I'm going to see if I can do my general DVD design in Studio, then import the menu structure into DVDStyler and add the extra audio stream there. I'll post back with the results when I have a chance to test it.

Please do. I have run into the same problem. I really love Architect and spent hours trying to add a track before realizing I can't. I would upgrade to Pro just for this if they offered it under $100. My workaround on my Game of Thrones edit was to add a second video file to the blu-ray iso project with the commentary track as the sole audio track. It's not a great method since it increases the size so much. Since I only released it on blu-ray (and mp4 but that's irrelevant here) I think it's okay to have the file size be large but I am definitely going to investigate different programs soon. I really dig Architect and plan on doing commentary tracks for pretty much everything moving forward so this was a huge bummer to find out for me, as well.
 

That One Guy

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I have some good news - some testing with DVDStyler's preview function suggests that adding a title consisting of an m2v videostream and two AC3 audio streams does indeed create a title with multiple audio streams that can be switched at will. I'm finding it a little tricky to create the same kind of DVD structure I would create in Architect, so I'll stick with it and put together some instructions once I've got a satisfactory result.

It's not perfect, but I'm not really in a position to drop three-figure sums on software upgrades that I would only need for a single feature and which are exclusively for hobbyist use, so DVD Styler will suffice for now.
 

thecuddlyninja

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That One Guy said:
It's not perfect, but I'm not really in a position to drop three-figure sums on software upgrades that I would only need for a single feature and which are exclusively for hobbyist use, so DVD Styler will suffice for now.

I'm right there with you. I'm down to use/learn a different program...it just sucks because I paid for Architect and really love it otherwise.
 

That One Guy

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I'm still working on this project - I've temporarily given up on DVD Styler as it seems to really struggle with my source files, periodically freezing for extended periods, sometimes recovering and other times crashing. However, I've had another idea I'm going to test today - reusing the trick Captain Khajiit showed me for working around DVD Architect Studio's lack of 24p output, but also adding a second audio stream along the way. If it works it will be a functional but inelegant solution - it wouldn't allow for an audio-select menu screen, but if it gets me the commentary track available in the film itself, that'll do.
 

Captain Khajiit

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Try using Muxman to mux your source files. If it chokes on them, you have problems: Muxman is very reliable.
 

That One Guy

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The source files are fine - I revisited them in DVD Architect and they all work seamlessly, and I've been able to mux them with Muxman as well. At a guess, I'd speculate that DVD Styler just isn't optimised for working with large files and occasionally runs into caching, buffering or memory management issues. Still, I can't complain - as a free piece of software it's surprisingly good and I have used it previously to author DVDs and its output has always been satisfactory.

Having said that I've also verified that the approach I mentioned in my earlier post is successful. This means I can do all the layout and design work in Architect (including things like setting intro sequences, animated chapter selection screens etc, which is great as many of these functions are not available in free authoring programs), then use the PGCDemux/MuxMan/VOBBlanker approach to replace the video file used and add in the commentary track as a secondary audio stream. I'll write up the process in a bit more detail tomorrow.
 

That One Guy

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OK, a bit later than I'd hoped but here's my write-up of the process. I'll take some screenshots at the weekend and format it a bit more neatly, but the general gist of things should hopefully be clear from this:

Creating a DVD with multiple audio tracks using DVD Architect Studio

DVD Architect Studio is a great authoring tool, but one of its limitations is that it does not allow multiple audio streams. This guide explains a method for working around this limitation, and is derived from advice and guidance kindly offered by Captain Khajiit.

Export your project's audio streams as valid AC3 files, whether stereo or 5.1 surround sound. Create an m2v file for your video stream using your encoder of choice.

Author your DVD as normal in DVD Architect, and prepare the files to a destination folder called INITIAL.

Create three additional folders, named DEMUX, REMUX and FINAL. Create a new folder inside FINAL called VIDEO_TS.

Open PGCDemux, and select as your Input IFO the VTS_01_0.ifo in the INITIAL folder. Select DEMUX as the output directory.

Select the following:
Mode: by PGC
Options: Create CellTimes.txt
PGC Selection: Titles

Click "Process". This will not take long, as you are not actually demuxing the DVD, just generating the CellTimes.txt file.

When the process finishes, close PGCDemux.

Open MuxMan and slect your m2v file as the video stream source file.
Select your primary AC3 file as the first audio stream source file. Set the language for the audio track, and set the extension as "normal".
Click the "up" arrow on the Stream select field to configure the second audio stream, and select your secondary AC3 file. Set the language and extension. Repeat for any further audio streams you want to add.
Select File > Import Chapter, then navigate to your DEMUX folder and select the CellTimes.txt file created by PGCDemux. You should now see that the bottom left button has changed to match the number of scenes in your project.
Select REMUX as your output folder, and click "Start".

When the process has finished, close MuxMan.

Open VOBBlanker, and select the VIDEO_TS.IFO file in INITIAL as your input file.

Select FINAL\VIDEO_TS as your output folder.

In the TitleSet section, you will see several items listed. Select each one in turn, and click the "Menu" button on the right. A new window will open titled "Menu of <item name>". You should have a single entry listed under "Language Units" in this window.

Select this entry, and the PGCs section below will be populated with all the components of that menu. Select them all and click "Keep" on the right hand side, then click OK.

Having taken care of the menu components, we're ready to replace the main streams. In the TitleSet section, find the entry corresponding to your main feature - you will see any PGCs contained within the title set listed in the "PGCs in selected Titleset" window below, which will also show the length of the PGCs.

Select the PGC for your feature, then click "Replace" from the buttons on the right. A new window will open - browse to your REMUX folder, select the VTS_01_0.IFO file and click "Open".

If you have multiple features for which you are adding multiple audio streams, the best approach is to first open your REMUX folder in VOBBlanker and make a note of which titleset corresponds to which feature or element. Then open your INITIAL folder, follow the steps described to preserve the menu screens, then specify the replacement IFO files for each feature.

When you are ready, click "PROCESS!!" and wait for the process to complete.

This process has been tested and works - as long as your audio and video files are DVD compliant (you'll know if they aren't because MuxMan won't accept them as input files) you should be fine.

The main shortcoming of this process is that, although it allows for multiple audio streams on a single videostream in the DVD, it does not allow you to create an Audio Options menu. I consider this a minor issue; however, if I find a solution I will add it to this process.
 

thecuddlyninja

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Thank you so much for writing this up. I'll give this a go with my next project!
 
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