Help with 6 channels of audio

[tmsx]

I ripped the audio from a DVD as an AC3 audio file and opened it up in Audacity. However, it has 6 tracks and when I select part of one (to cut it up into smaller mp3s), I only get that track (as opposed to a 2-channel one, where I can select Left and Right at the same time), and so I can't edit it.

So, is there a way either to combine these 6 tracks into 2 stereo ones to edit (it's going on an iPod, so 2 channels is all it needs), or to have Audacity select the same part of all 6 tracks at the same time?

Or would I be better off exporting the whole thing as a different file type and then importing that and editing it?

[steve]

The 6 channels of audio are the front (left/right/centre), surround (left/right) and low frequency channels of the 5.1 audio.
You may need to check this next bit - I found it on the web but have not verified it.
1 = Front L
2 = Front C
3 = Front R
4 = Surround L
5 = Surround R
6 = Low frequency (sub)

I'm not sure if there is a "correct" way to mix 5.1 to stereo. There seems to be a lot of conflicting information on the Internet and suggestions that some media players get it wrong. So the next you need to decide how you want to mix the channels to produce your stereo mix.
Try setting track 1 to left, track 3 to right, leave track 2 as mono (centre) and mute the other channels. How does that sound?

Alternatively you could use BeLight (a Graphical User Interface for BeSweet) to do the conversion for you. (see here: http://www.hydrogenaudio.org/forums/ind ... opic=30168 )

[kozikowski]

Movie DVDs have to supply normal stereo for players that don't have surround. They can do that by including a PCM stereo track in addition to the AC3 surround, or they can do that with layers. Each takes a different decoder. Some Dolby decoders provide a stereo mixdown.

If you have a talented enough computer, you can play the DVD in stereo and capture the stereo sound channels using Stereo Mix -- the same technique you use to "borrow" internet audio.

Koz