On a whim, I bought a DVD-Video hoping that the TL would play the audio. I know now that DVD-Video and DVD-Audio are two different formats, try not to castrate me for it, I just bought this car a week ago..

Anyway, I used the following process to Rip the audio from DVD-Video and get it to DVD-Audio. The basic idea is to demux the audio tracks from the DVD to AC3 files, their native format. Then convert them to WAV files needed to make the DVD-Audio.

The DVD-Video I was using has 24 music videos, they are Chapters 1 - 24 in Title 1 on the DVD.

To start off, I used MacTheRipper to independently rip each of the 24 chapters' audio tracks directly to AC3. It's a simple process, though tedious to repeat 24 times
Just insert the DVD-Video, click on the Mode tab.
From the drop down box, select Chapter - Title Selection.
To the right, there's a small D button, click that.
Next click the Streams button.
Deselect the Video stream, Deselect the 2CH Stereo Stream, one should be left with a 6CH Dolby Digital stream, assuming the DVD-Video has a 5.1 track.
Click Go (24 times, incrementing the Chapter selection for each track).

At this point, one should have a series of AC3 files, which in theory are in 5.1 Dolby Digital.

The next step is to convert the AC3 files to WAV files.
I used bd4go, a simple, hard to find, poorly designed gui program that converts the AC3 files to 44.1KH WAV files. The program isn't complicated enough to need more explanation than this. Though I will say I suspect it of converting the audio from 5.1 to stereo.

After converting to WAV, just use the program that those of you that have already been making DVD-A are probably using: DVD-Audiofile.
I put the WAV files from the DVD in group 1, and then WAV files from the accompanying Audio CD into group 2 (ripped from CD using iTunes).

Create the ISO and burn it with Disk Utility.

Other problems/issues/concerns/whatever:
The wave files I ended up with are in stereo. The AC3 files that MacTheRipper created should have been in 5.1. I'm assuming that bd4go converted the AC3 audio to stereo WAV files, but at this point have been unable to verify it as the culprit.

The DVD-Audio plays in my TL, but I only tested it for a minute (had to go to work, chose to ride the bike).

I intend to figure out a better way of doing this, to retain the full 5.1 surround, and also to cut down on the amount of user interaction required. But for now, it worked for me.

Sorry if this is all old news and I'm just rehashing it, I didn't see it anywhere when I searched.

Also, if it's not obvious that this procedure is something one should only perform on media that they own, or is not copyrighted, then nothing else I say can help.

If anyone knows of a better way of ripping DVD-Video Chapters to AC3/WAV, I'd be interested to hear it.

 

i've ripped dvd-audio from dvd's before, but never to play in my TL, so i can't say i have a better method than what you did...

as for extracting the audio stream from the AC3 file, i use bbdemux...it extracts any video and audio streams from AC3 and MPEG files...drag-n-drop and it does the rest...

and finally, you can extract, but not burn, 5.1 surround sound files...you'd have to use a program like DiscWelder to burn true 5.1 surround sound files to a dvd-a disc...when you converted the AC3 file to WAV, you went from 5.1 to 2-channel stereo...if you're thinking "no, when i converted the AC3 file to WAV, it was still in 5.1 surround sound format"...that's not true because dvd-audiofile (which i assume is what you used to create the dvd-a ISO) doesn't accept anything other than 2-channel stereo sounds...

at least you got it working with no problems...

 

I know the wav files were 2-channel, but I'll check tonight see what the AC3 files were. I'm guessing they're still 5.1, MacTheRipper seems to be a good product, so I doubt it modified the audio.

I didn't know DVD-Audiofile could only do stereo wavs.. guess i'll have to find something better. This little project is really cutting into my Crackdown time

I'll check into bbTools, it's an annoying .sit.hqx, which means I need StuffIt, I don't understand what's wrong with these people, zip or tar would be fine, yet they make my life difficult

 

the AC3 files mactheripper copied are in the 5.1 format...and yes, it's a great product...i've been using it for quite some time now...

dvd-audiofile will accept both WAV and FLAC (recommended) formats...but no matter what, only stereo channels, no surround sound...

how long have you had your mac? ...i figured every mac user had [free] stuffit...

 

I know it's free, I've been using macs for years, but now that it's running on BSD, and zip/tar support are so ingrain, it's time to deprecate hqx/bin/sit..

dvd-audiofile is apparently only restricted to stereo because the dvd-audio tools package that it's based on can't do it.. I haven't yet found any other dvd-audio tools in development, so maybe I should dig a little deeper into what's holding them up.

does dvd-a support text at all? something like the cd-text features?

 

sorry, i didn't realize you had posted in here again...

yes, dvd-audiofile only accepts stereo files...there are no free programs out there that will make a true 5.1 dvd-a disc...

no, dvd-a does not support any kind of CD-Text...