4ch audio on a MPGE2

[BIGBANGBUZZ]

Hi Audio gurus,
Can you embed 4 channel audio on to a mpge2 movie file, ie a Stereo English mix and a stereo M+E channel and also easily decode the file.

We are delivering more and more TV programs via mpeg2 over the Internet, our clients and Editors are having problems getting 4ch audio, so have to make 2 movies one with English mix and the other the M+E.

Any Ideas?

Cheers

Marky Mark.

[paulo m]

TV programms MPEG2 over the internet? Guess audio and picture quality are up to the highest standards huh?

[BIGBANGBUZZ]

Originally Posted by paulo m

TV programms MPEG2 over the internet? Guess audio and picture quality are up to the highest standards huh?

That's what clients want :(
These are low budget weekly sports highlight programs, for Asia, Middle East and Europe.

The cost of Satellite are pretty pricey, so this is an alternative.
Would be nice to send an uncompressed file but the Internet in a lot of places around the world is so damn slow.

[danijel]

MPEG2 with four channels (stereo mix + ME, just like you say) is the usual way we get the material for dubbing. I don't know how they make it, though.

BTW, MPEG2 is not a bad delivery format at all (if done well), since it is broadcast as such, without additional re-compression, at least where I am, by most TV stations.

[paulo m]

Hi Mark, I understand. I guess that it´s all about cuting costs, that´s all.
I heard of studios getting mp3 as well for docs. Really nasty.

From my experience, I found that MPEG4 is a much better format for the audio as it´s coded in AAC or HE-AAC format. Although a compressed format, the sound quality is pretty close to the uncompressed version. We ran AB tests here and most people can´t tell the diference when compression settings are above 320 kbs. And the video is better too(IMO) as is coded in H.264. The container is MPEG 4. Extracting the audio is no problem either as there are lot´s of apps to do it, some even free. At the studio we use VCubes and they ingest the MP4 format with no problem.

I guess that it will take some time until broadcasters adopt this format, but eventually it will get there as terrestrial TV is MPEG 4 based, so...

[BIGBANGBUZZ]

Originally Posted by danijel

MPEG2 with four channels (stereo mix + ME, just like you say) is the usual way we get the material for dubbing. I don't know how they make it, though.

BTW, MPEG2 is not a bad delivery format at all (if done well), since it is broadcast as such, without additional re-compression, at least where I am, by most TV stations.

How do you go about extracting the 4channels?

Another reason we use internet and Sat to deliver programs is back in the old days we would deliver Digi or SP tapes. The problem there is they get caught up in customs, especially in the middle east, they probably check to make sure there is no porn on them? Our shows are based on weekly sports events and date within a few days of being produced.

[danijel]

Originally Posted by BIGBANGBUZZ

How do you go about extracting the 4channels?

I don't remember exactly (I'm not doing the dubbing myself), but I think they have some small free utility that demuxes the two stereo sound streams and the video stream to separate files. You can usually find stuff like that at doom9.net

[paulo m]

Usually I use my Pyramix/VCube to ingest MPEG or whatever. When something goes wrong I use a free app:

Free Audio Extractor, Extract audio from video, Convert AVI to MP3, Audio Converter, Sound Recording