trouble transcoding .rm to .mp3.

[chriscasey]

hello,

I downloaded DMC this morning to try to convert some .rm files to .mp3. The problem I have is reproducable in the release (11.0) and current beta (11.5) versions. I am using the DirectShow codec and Real Alternative download link from this site.

For reference, here are some links to .rm files I want to transcode:

http://www.wbez.org/ta/128.rm

http://www.wbez.org/ta/100.rm

both of these files are about 1 hour long, and about 7 megabytes in .rm format. These files play fine in Media Player Classic.

I am using the following settings:
Preset: voice
Bitrate: 56k ABR (should be set from the preset anyway)
Channels: mono (again, should match the preset)
Frequency: 44100

Problem:
When I change from As Source to Mono/44100, conversion works perfectly ... for some files. In the above cases, 128.rm completes to 100%. 100.rm, however, silently aborts after 2:17 of audio have been transcoded. The very strange thing is, the other files that fail also fail at 2:17 or 2:18! (The progress bar indicates that this is 2% of the file.) About 1/3 of the RealAudio files work, while 2/3 do not.

I haven't done much other testing, but may add to this post later today if I find anything significant.

If anyone has any thoughts about this, they would be appreciated.

Also, if anyone has ever transcoded voice to mp3 (from rm or whatever), any tips on bitrate settings would be nice too

[ChristinaS]

Re: trouble transcoding .rm to .mp3.

LOL! I can convert neither, but that's because I don't have Real Alternative installed any more, as it was causing problems with other things while I prefer to keep Real Player.

The errors I get are different.

For 128.rm I get:

The CODEC required to decompress 'C:\[path]\128.rm' could not be opened.
Unable to insert SampleGrabber.

The Clip Source:

Stream: RealAudio Stream - Single Rate
File Name: 128.rm
Last Modified: Wed, 22 Jun 2005 02:04:54 GMT
File Size: 7,410,877 Bytes
Title: Four Corners
Author: American Life, 4/30/99
Copyright: WBEZ, Ira Glass & the individual artists
Duration: 59:06.240
Buffer Time: 1.9 seconds
Max Bit Rate: 16.0 Kbps
Allow Download: off
Allow Recording: off
Perfect Play: disabled

Stream: 0 The Audio Stream
MIME type: audio/x-pn-realaudio

Max Stream Bit Rate: 16.0 Kbps

Audio Codec: 16 Kbps - RealAudio (RealAudio 5.0) 16000 Khz
Player Compatibility: RealPlayer 5.0 or later

For 100.rm I get:

The CODEC required to decompress 'C:\[path]\100.rm' could not be opened.
DirectShow filter for '.rm' not installed, or Audio File Corrupt.

The Clip source:

Stream: RealAudio Stream - Single Rate
File Name: 100.rm
Last Modified: Wed, 22 Jun 2005 02:10:23 GMT
File Size: 7,413,177 Bytes
Title: Radio
Author: This American Life 4/24/98
Copyright: ©1999 WBEZ, Ira Glass & the individual artists
Duration: 58:59.157
Buffer Time: 1.9 seconds
Max Bit Rate: 16.0 Kbps
Allow Download: on
Allow Recording: on
Perfect Play: enabled

Stream: 0 Audio Stream
MIME type: audio/x-pn-realaudio

Max Stream Bit Rate: 16.0 Kbps

Audio Codec: 16 Kbps - RealAudio (RealAudio 5.0) 16000 Khz
Player Compatibility: RealPlayer 5.0 or later

What's different is what I highlighted in bold. What's it all mean? I dont' know, but there's somethign certainly different about the files.

Now I expect the lack of Real ALternative and it's part of the DirectShow codec to be the culprit, but what puzzles me are the 2 diffferent error messages.

I decided to uninstall my DirectShow codec since I can't use it anyhow without Real Alternative.

It seems I can then convert each of the files OK - however it's in real time (so I'm not actually letting the conversion proceed for very long, simply verified that it's not bombing out after a minute or so).

If I feel benevolent I might again install Real Alternative DirectShow plus the dB DirectShow codec and see what happens, other than GetPopupInfo bombing out inelegantly.

[chriscasey]

Re: trouble transcoding .rm to .mp3.

Thanks for the information. Which utility are you using to extract the clip source you posted?

[ChristinaS]

Re: trouble transcoding .rm to .mp3.

Thanks for the information. Which utility are you using to extract the clip source you posted?

That's from Real Player > File > Clip Properties > Clip Source .

I have Real Player 10.

I burned to audio cd (using Real Player) one of the clips after which it can be ripped normally. Failing another conversion solution, this is the fastest really.

[adaywayne]

Re: trouble transcoding .rm to .mp3.

Chris, I took your first rm file and converted it. There is no mp3 "Alt-Preset Voice" that I can find, so I used Voice/Abr/56Kbps/mono.

It converted fine at about 18x real encoding speed. Don't know why it doesn't work for you. Are you using the Lame encoder?

[ChristinaS]

Re: trouble transcoding .rm to .mp3.

Chris, I took your first rm file and converted it. There is no mp3 "Alt-Preset Voice" that I can find, so I used Voice/Abr/56Kbps/mono.

It converted fine at about 18x real encoding speed. Don't know why it doesn't work for you. Are you using the Lame encoder?

Just using the mp3 (Lame) codec from dMC. Not CLI encoder.

The problem isn't the encoding to mp3 or anything, but rather the decoding from a real media with those options, and I explained. I don't want to have Real Alternative as my default player for Real media, I want to keep Real Player. To get the DirectShow codec to work at all I have to install Real Alterantive. I installed only the DirectSHow part of Real Alternative (and the dB DS codec), but not the Real Alternative player part. It can convert real media files that require Direct Show - but getpopupinfo bombs out on hover for every real media file. So I uninstalled the Real ALternative part. That was a while back,, before this thread came about.

At the time I got those 2 different errors for this poster's files, I still had the DS dB codec installed, but no longer Real Alterantive as the getpopupinfo blowing up was relaly bugging me. This is why I saw 2 different errors.


In order to allow the "normal" real media codec to convert thse files, I uninstalled the DirectSHow dB codec. And then that works, but in real time - so not what you want with an hour long file. But it works, nevertheless.

One of these errors would be taken care of if I install Real Alternative again (and let getpopupinfo bomb out :( ). The other one may or may not. Well, I didn't do this test yet, as I didn't feel like going through all this. I was hoping somebody who's got the whole kit installed would check it out, thus saving me the trouble. :D

[adaywayne]

Re: trouble transcoding .rm to .mp3.

Sorry, Christina.....my post was meant as a reply to the other "Chris", the one who originated the thread! And yes, I have "the whole kit-and-kaboodle" installed and everything works fine. We'll get you on Real Alternative one of these days!
Arnie

[chriscasey]

Re: trouble transcoding .rm to .mp3.

Hi again,

Yes, the first file works fine... It's the second with the problem. I included both just to illustrate that I'm not (totally) crazy. It's 100.rm that's having the problem. also, I didn't say alt-preset voice, I said preset voice, which you ended up using.

Thanks for the help looking into this, I'm going to give it another whirl today and maybe try changing some Real Alternative settings to see what happens.

[ChristinaS]

Re: trouble transcoding .rm to .mp3.

Sorry, Christina.....my post was meant as a reply to the other "Chris", the one who originated the thread! And yes, I have "the whole kit-and-kaboodle" installed and everything works fine. We'll get you on Real Alternative one of these days!
Arnie

LOL! Chris should be a reserved name around here :D

Don't hold your breath on me and Real Alternative. Might try it on another pc where I don't care, just to test this blasted thing, but no my day-to-day stuff. I prefer originals, not surrogates :D

[adaywayne]

Re: trouble transcoding .rm to .mp3.

Hi again,

Yes, the first file works fine... It's the second with the problem. I included both just to illustrate that I'm not (totally) crazy. It's 100.rm that's having the problem. also, I didn't say alt-preset voice, I said preset voice, which you ended up using.

Thanks for the help looking into this, I'm going to give it another whirl today and maybe try changing some Real Alternative settings to see what happens.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I should have read more carefully. However, I just converted the second file (100.rm) using your settings with no problem. Are you closing all other programs and using the "Normal" priority setting?

[lucky]

Re: trouble transcoding .rm to .mp3.

ChrisCasey --- I sent you a PM (I'm doing this conversion as well -- care to share the work?)

plyons AT optonline.net