.ra to .wav gives an empty file!

[mark worthingto]

I have followed the instructions and checked the forum, reagarding converting .ra files (ie DirectShow decoder, configuration text file, 'Real Alternative' etc). All installs OK, but when I convert a .ra file, the process is over very quickly ("Conversion Completed in 1 Second") and the converted file is only 1k in size.

Obviously, the .ra has not been converted.

Has anyone any ideas, please?

Cheers,

Mark

[xoas]

Re: .ra to .wav gives an empty file!

Can you tell us the properties of your ra track (bits, frequency, bitrate, channels, track length)?

Does this happen if you convert the .ra file to wave?

Best wishes,
Bill

[LtData]

Re: .ra to .wav gives an empty file!

Can you play your .ra file in Windows Media Player?

[ChristinaS]

Re: .ra to .wav gives an empty file!

How big is your .ra file? Could it be a .ram file in fact, i.e. a meta file? if it's smalll, 1-2K, then that's the case and you can open it in Notepad to read the contents where you'd see the pointer to the actual media file itself.

[mark worthingto]

Re: .ra to .wav gives an empty file!

Ta for your responses. I was away yesterday, sorry for the late group answer ...

Bill, How do I get the .ra file properties, please? Yes, the problem I am having is when converting .ra to .wav, and the same thing happens when I try any other format.

Lt. Data, My Windows Media Player 9 does not play .ra files (how do you get that to work?!). I use 'Real Alternative' to play them.

Christina, It's 151k, so it's not a meta file (which I'm familiar with).

Ref http://forum.dbpoweramp.com/showthread.php?t=6123

Wayne wrote :

To convert Real Media files with dMC you will need to do the following:

1. Install Real Alternative
2. Install the DirectShow filter from codec central.
3. Configure the DirectShow filter to recognise Real Media files (e.g. *.ra, *.rm, *.ram)
4. Launch the dMC Configuration program and click OK (so that it recognises your changes to the DirectShow config file.

Wayne

This is what I have done and my result is 1k "empty" mp3 and wav files.

Any more ideas, please?

Cheers,

Mark

[xoas]

Re: .ra to .wav gives an empty file!

How do I get the .ra file properties, please?

With standard dMC Configuration (with "Popup Info Tips in Explorer" and with Explorer ID Tag Property Pages" enabled in dMC Configuration), you can either place the mouse over the .ra file or you can right-click on the ra file and select Properties. There will be a tab to allow you to view file tag information.

If you need to check your dMC Configuration to see whether these two features are enabled (as they are on default), go Start>All Programs>dBpowerAMP Music Converter>Configuration>dBpowerAMP Music Converter Configuration.

Three other ideas occur to me.
First, go to dMC Configuration (as outlined above) and make sure that Professional Frequency Conversion is checked.
Next, try a test conversion (same as a regular conversion exept that where you select your output format (.wav), select Test Conversion).
Finally, if the test conversion works, try converting your .ra file to wav with your wav settings for bits, channels and frequency all set to "as source".

Please let us know how you make out.
Best wishes,
Bill

[LtData]

Re: .ra to .wav gives an empty file!

Mark:
When you install Real Alternative, one of the things you can install is called the "Real Media DirectShow Splitter." This enables you to play your Real files in Windows Media Player and for dMC to convert them. Since you say WMP cannot play this file, I don't think you install this component, as it isn't selected by default. Reinstall Real Alternative and make sure you select the DS Splitter as mentioned above.

[mark worthingto]

Re: .ra to .wav gives an empty file!

Bill,

Doh! Of course, I do this all the time with mp3 files….

Details are : 0.15, 151 kB, 1875 kB, 12:1, 32000, 2, 16

I'm glad you suggest these 3 things, coz it means I'm thinking along the right lines already!
1. Professional Frequency Conversion IS checked.
2. The Test Conversion gives the same result, in that conversion is completed in 1 sec
3. (This IS new to me). Settings "as source" made no difference. ….


Lt. Data,

I read about needing the Real Media DirectShow Splitter and made sure I installed it. I have also read that Real Player must be installed to play .ra files …. Well, I cannot play a downloaded .ra file in my Windows Media Player 9 and I won't let Real Player anywhere near my PCs!

Regards,

Mark

Ps, I'm trying this on 2 different PCs….

[xoas]

Re: .ra to .wav gives an empty file!

Mark-

I have also read that Real Player must be installed to play .ra files ….

I don't think this is generally true. You should be able to use RealAlternative and with the DirectShow decoder properly configured, dBpowerAMP Audio Player should be able to play the file as well. Can you play the file through Real Alternative?

Details are : 0.15, 151 kB, 1875 kB, 12:1, 32000, 2, 16

Does the 0.15 represent playing time? (And is it in seconds or hundredths of seconds?)If so, this might be the source of your problem. We have noted that dMC does appear to have problems with very short files (although this was first noted with files smaller than 15 seconds, it may still apply here). One workaround we ran across (admittedly very imperfect) is that there is a DSP effect(s) that allow you to add silence to the beginning and/or the end of a track as you convert it. As I recall, this would allow successful conversion of very short files with the drawback that you end up with very long stretches of silence. You could use Audacity (especially since you are converting to wav anyway) to remove this extra silence with better precision, or there is a reverse DSP you can use with dMC to allow you to remove silence although this requires some degree of fine tuning/trial and error. There are some codecs that appear to handle very short files better than wave does in dMC although, as I recall, this varies from file to file. You might try Shorten, wavepack, or Windows Lossless. Sometimes you can convert to one of these codecs and from there to wave.

If you can play the file in Real Alternative (or anywhere else) you can try recording it off of your soundcard using dMC Auxilary Input (part of dMC).

If indeed this is a short file, the success (meaning it did not overtly fail) of your test conversion is a good sign that you ought to be able to play this file somewhere (and if Real Alternative does not work, I would suggest dAP). Test conversions are typically MUCH faster than other conversions (essentially they are read only operations). If you cannot play this file, however, then there is a suggestion that the file may be either corrupt or protected/encrypted in some way (although your symptoms don't suggest that protection/encryption is the issue here).

Is this an issue with only a single .ra file? Do you have some, many, huge lots of other .ra files? Is this a problem with one, a few, quite a few, or all of these .ra files?

Best wishes,
Bill

[LtData]

Re: .ra to .wav gives an empty file!

Try converting to a WAV file that is 2 channels, 16-bits, and 3200Hz sample rate, then to a 2-channel, 16-bit, 44100Hz WAV file. The problem is probably the changing refresh rate and the shortness of the file. Since this sounds like it is the case, get the latest dMC beta linked below, as it has a fix to this problem.

[mark worthingto]

Re: .ra to .wav gives an empty file!

Bill & Lt. Data,

Yes, I can play the file in Real Alternative. When I searched for help on playing .ra files in Windows Media Player, I thought I read something about having Real Player installed … must be mistaken. On that topic, should I expect Windows Media Player to work with these file types after installing Real Alternative?

Back to the main issue : Bill, if I'd answered your first question ("Can you tell us the properties of your ra track (bits, frequency, bitrate, channels, track length)?") correctly, we'd have all saved a lot of time!

Ref "Details are : 0.15, 151 kB, 1875 kB, 12:1, 32000, 2, 16 "

The "0.15" represents 0 min, 15 secs, and so the problem becomes clear! I downloaded a .ra file over 1 min in length, and the conversion worked fine!

I have dMC version 11, but haven't tried the beta version. Now that understand the issue, I can work around it OK.

Many thanks for your interest and help!

Mark

[Wayne]

Re: .ra to .wav gives an empty file!

Windows Media Player supports DirectShow filters so if you installed Real Alternative and filter that came with it, WMP should be able to play Real Audio files.

Wayne

[xoas]

Re: .ra to .wav gives an empty file!

Many thanks for your interest and help!

You're very welcome.
Best wishes,
Bill

[mark worthingto]

Re: .ra to .wav gives an empty file!

Windows Media Player supports DirectShow filters so if you installed Real Alternative and filter that came with it, WMP should be able to play Real Audio files.

Wayne

No, it doesn't work for me!

MArk

[ChristinaS]

Re: .ra to .wav gives an empty file!

Have you also installed Media Player Classic? I did on a whim (actually not having a clue if I wanted or needed to do this, but I figured why not, with a brand new installation of XP and a virgin system, might as well try it first) when installing Real Alternative and it appears to be an older version of WMP. It can play all sorts of formats that the regular WMP doesn't play, plus the real media formats. And the bonus from this is that WMP 10 now can play those formats as well.

While at it I also installed 3ivx from www.3ivx.com which allows me to play videos in mp4 format that my Sanyo video camera makes on SD cards, right in WMP - and thus proceed to convert them to wmv in Windows Media Encoder and then to burn DVD's, etc, using my DVD creation program which works with several formats, but specifically mpg and wmv. That's because I'm cheap :p and didn't want to buy a program to convert mp4 to mpg outright - also wasn't sure if said paid programs actually worked since the trial versions didn't appear to work well or at all in some cases.