Very much an audacity newbie. Have previously extracted audio from mini disc (that was recorded from LP) and separated this into named tracks exported as flac files and mp3. So am finding my way around.
I now would like to extract audio from a DVD that is not, as far as I know available as an audio only cd. All for my own use of course.
I saved the VOB files from the DVD to hard drive then imported into audacity with FFmpeg plugin.
Before I go any further doing a lot of work just want to ask about the waveform I have (see uploaded image). It appears to extend beyond the 1.0db markers being flattened top and bottom. Should I go ahead with editing this waveform or do I need to extract/import in a different way?
It looks to me like it has been heavily “compressed” (“dynamic range compression”: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dynamic_range_compression).
How does it sound?
If it doesn’t sound distorted then I’d assume that it is OK.
Before I go any further doing a lot of work just want to ask about the waveform I have (see uploaded image). It appears to extend beyond the 1.0db markers being flattened top and bottom. Should I go ahead with editing this waveform or do I need to extract/import in a different way?
With digital extraction, you get what’s there… Unless the software is doing something “unusual”, but it’s not easy to accidentally muck-up digital audio without totally trashing it into pure noise. Basically, you are getting the exact signal/waveform you get wen you play the DVD (or CD).
It actually doesn’t look that bad. There are [u]“Loudness War”[/u] CDs that are a LOT worse than that! …So far, I haven’t run across any DVDs that are as bad as the worst CDs.
With Dolby AC3 tracks, you often get a “quieter” waveform that has to be boosted. I’m guessing that particular DVD had LPCM audio.
It’s the BBC DVD “Arena: Amy Winehouse - The Day She Came To Dingle”. Stunning acoustic tracks. Sounds ok to me even if compressed.
May have worked this out. Being a documentary the audio is interspersed with dialogue. I think the flattening/compression occurs mainly during the spoken bits.
