DVD-A Authoring

WaveLab
1

Hi There,

Can’t seem to find much on the internet about DVD-A authoring in Wavelab9 Pro - I appreciate it can do it but:

  1. Can I create a master for commercial duplication?
  2. Can I have DVD -V content on the disc as well i.e. .ac3 & DTS audio? Or can this be created within Wavelab?
  3. If the answer is no to the above can anyone recommend any software for a Mac?

I am fully familiar with all aspects of DVD-V authoring it’s the DVD-A bit I am struggling with!

Thanks

Appreciate any help!

Thanks
Gringo

2

I’m not going to be much help, but I remember making a DVD-A reference disc a long time ago, with surround and stereo on the disc. As I recall I had to convert to 48k because 96k 5.1 and stereo wouldn’t fit or stream without MLP compression (which Wavelab doesn’t have). But the 48k was fine for a reference. You might ask a duplicator what they require in a master. Are you doing surround?

I could be wrong but I thought most players don’t support DVD-A anymore, so you might want to consider Blu-Ray instead (that should eliminate the need for compression). I’ve asked if Wavelab could switch the DVD-A setup to Blu-Ray Audio, but I don’t know if that’s ever going to happen.

3

Thanks Bob99…

Unfortunately you have confirmed my worst fears…BLU-Ray software even more expensive…

All the best…

4

I would still ask a duplicator what they require in a master. There’s a dirt cheap program on Windows called Cirlinca that can make pcm Blu-Ray audio, possibly including AC3 and DTS too, I’m not sure. I’ve used it to create discs from Wavelab 5.1 and stereo 96k wav cue renders (it supports cue sheets). If you’re audio only it might be cheaper than you think. The duplicator could probably help you out with program suggestions too.

5

Gringodan, if you’re just doing stereo, the DVD-A authoring in Wavelab will do at least 90 min. of stereo 96k 24bit without MLP I think. If you have Wavelab Pro, you should try it out, it’s nicely done. You can add multiple montages to the project (like I added 48k converted 5.1 and stereo montages), and it creates AUDIO_TS (for the DVD-A) and VIDEO_TS folders. I would think you could add video content with audio streams like AC3 to the VIDEO_TS folder but I don’t know how, and don’t remember the structure.

6

fwiw, Wikipedia says DVD-A has been described as extinct by 2007. Another reason to switch to Blu-Ray Audio.

There is a list of DVD-A programs at the bottom, but I think the Sonic products were probably the only ones to incorporate MLP. The Sonic products were quite expensive I think.

7

I’m in a similar situation. Am writing a piece for 5.1 and want to burn it to disk, as that’s probably the best way to portable-ize it. Or,play it at all, really.

Only luck I’ve had with DVD-A, and will probably have with either DVD or BluRay playback, is to create a “movie”, even if the image is a static cover-shot or something, and have the “songs” be “chapters”.

If you guys have any other suggestions, I’m all ears.

Cheers

8

If youre doing this in Nuendo, and you have Wavelab Pro, the easiest way (if your files are 96K), is to convert the files to 48K, make a multichannel DVD-A montage, (and a stereo montage if you have a stereo mix), put in track markers, and add the montage(s) (5.1 and Stereo) to a DVD-A project. There’s a DVD-A section in the manual and it’s pretty easy.

The only thing Wavelab can’t do is 96k 5.1 on a DVD-A. That required Meridian Lossless Packing (MLP).

I think the only program maybe still around (?) with MLP might be Minnetonka Chrome II with MLP bundle, and I think that was about $2500 total.

Blu-Ray Audio is an option for 96k 5.1 and stereo, if you use Wavelab to create wav/cue (or individual track wavs), and get Cirlinca (about $80, but I think they have a demo) to burn them to Blu-Ray Audio. Wav/cue is the most efficient way from Wavelab because you just render the wav/cue image with markers and drop that into Cirlinca and it recognizes all the track points. Or you could probably just take track files directly from Nuendo into Cirlinca.

What program did you use when you created the DVD-A before, with the movie?

9

Hi, this post is almost a year old.
But I’ve the same situation: releasing a piece of music in stereo and in 5.1 that is now ready for a CD in 44/16.
Perhaps I’ll ask how to move all markers and fades from the CD audio montage to DVDA in a different thread.

But:
Cirlinca and Minnetonka DiscWelder and many more disappeared. Sonic products I did not find either. There was
a surcode mlp encoder I’ve read. Disappeared too. Cannot be bought anymore.

I wonder how DVD-A today are done today (if). Searching the internet showed nothing interesting.

Years ago I started with Wavelab 6. As far as I remember this version contained some kind of
DVD-A authoring even with menus. I’ll try to make a DVD-A with 2.0 + 5.1 in 44/24 (max. 48/24 is possible in 5.1).
Unfortunately this was never implemented in later versions of Wavelab nor blu-ray audio was integrated.
May be WL6 runs under WIN10. I’ll try.

Question: did somebody try to import an WL9 DVDA montage in WL6 for authoring?

May be surround in high fidelity will have a come back similar to vinyl. But I don’t believe it.

If you have some tips, hints or an affordable solution to author an blu-ray audio (48, 96, 192 but not 44.1, 88.2, 176.4)
please let me know. Then I will think to switch to this format in future.

Thank you.

10

I don’t think you need to do the DVD-A authoring in Wavelab 6. According to the manual it’s still there in 9.5, and has been in all the intervening versions as well, afaik.

But I’d go with Blu-Ray audio if I were you. Many more current players if you have to have a physical disc. Unless you really really want DVD-A for some reason.

11

Thanks for the news about Cirlinca. Really a shame because it is a great little inexpensive program for burning 96k 5.1 and Stereo Blu-Ray Audio discs. Hope they come back. What’s really strange is High Fidelity Review had an article just this September about the program, but they’ve apparently been “missing” for a couple of years. Very strange. It would be really nice if Wavelab could burn to Blu-Ray Audio because Wavelab is probably the best for DVD-A (48k 5.1), and there’s nothing left for Blu-Ray without Cirlinca imo.

12

I don’t think you need to do the DVD-A authoring in Wavelab 6. According to the manual it’s still there in 9.5, and has been in all the intervening versions as well, afaik.

Yes, but simple and without any menu. WL9/9.5 has less features than WL6 regarding authoring. But I could install WL6 on WIN10 and it seems to work stable.

BTW: I did not find any working free/open source solution to author an additional DVD-V part that contains a mpeg2 video + 9624 Stereo wav file. AC3 is no problem, but hires wav is. So the disc could play on an DVD player if it contains DVD-V part. WL6 is capable to integrate this.