Hey all,

I am trying to rip AC3 files off of a DVD. I have been using Vstrip to parse the VOB files and output the AC3 file. So far I've been successful. I get the AC3 file and it plays, but the sound is choppy. Any ideas???

Thanks.

Either your computer or your sound card may not be fast enough.

Remember, AC3 is extremely high quality, 6 channel sound. If you desperately need to hear it losslessly (well, you lose a lot, but only four channels, and you don't have surrond sound and a sub-woofer, do you?), you can download HeadAC3ch, and export it as w-channel lossless wav. Or just about anything else.

After much time and experimenting, not to mention the help from other users of this forum; I was able to derive a solution.

For you peeps out there trying to extract ac3 files from a DVD, here is one of many ways to do so.

1. Download & Install the program "SmartRipper".
2. Download & Install the program "Vscript".
3. Run "SmartRipper" and convert the track you want to a VOB file. Make sure to only select the audio track you want. That will minimize the disk space and conversion time.
4. Run "Vscript" on the VOB file. I used the command line syntax:
vstrip example1.vob -!dox:\example2.ac3> 0xbd 0x80

where example1.vob is the name of the VOB file you made after running "SmartRipper"
where c:\example2.ac3 is the ac3 output file
where 0xbd is the audio stream you are extracting, almost always 0xbd

Someone might ask, "Why don't I just copy the VOB file off the DVD and then use the Vscript program immediately?" Well, that's what I thought too. But the reality is, when I do that my sound is choppy. So I used both programs and it worked fine.

Best of luck and I hope this helps someone out there.