SQEX-20007: FINAL FANTASY XI Vana♪Con Anniversary 11.11.11

[spagnutty]

Does anybody know how the audio is encoded on this DVD?
Is it PCM, AC-3, DTS, or MP2?

[LiquidAcid]

Seems like Emiri Kato does the MCing.

[LiquidAcid]

Originally Posted by spagnutty

Does anybody know how the audio is encoded on this DVD?
Is it PCM, AC-3, DTS, or MP2?

From CDJapan:

"FINAL FANTASY XI Vanacon Anniversary 11.11.11" comes on DVD! This is the first of "FINAL FANTASY XI" backed by orchestra. Features 2ch stereo audio and 5.1ch surround. Contains audio commentary of Naoshi Mizuta, Kumi Tanioka, and more. Also contains bonus track featuring its making-of.

My guess is that the stereo track is LPCM and the 5.1 track AC3.

[spagnutty]

Originally Posted by LiquidAcid

My guess is that the stereo track is LPCM and the 5.1 track AC3.

That makes sense... I'm gonna have to buy that damn dvd I think..

[Kimimi]

I apologise if this is a stupid question, but if I bought the DVD would there be any way to transfer the music over to MP3 or similar? I'd love to listen to the music but I rarely put DVDs on.

[taaniel]

Kimimi, you can do all of it with free/open-source tools. Use Google to find the appropriate download links. I'm currently in the process of ripping the FF Orchestral Album doing this same process, so I know it works, but perhaps someone will know a faster or better way.

Notes:
- These steps work with DVDs or Blu-Rays, but you may need additional software (like Elcomsoft's AnyDVD HD) to rip a Blu-Ray disc.
- You will also need a decently large amount of hard drive space to store the temporary video and audio files.
- This results in VBR MP3 files that are pretty much indistinguishable from the original disc. If you're a lossless purist, I'm sure you can figure out an alternative conversion on your own.

Step 1: Handbrake
1. Use Handbrake to create videos from your DVD. I recommend ripping each chapter of the title separately so that you end up with one movie per "track." You can queue them up one after the other to save time.
2. Use the Source button at the top left to select the disc, or a video file on the disc. Specify the title and chapter you want (use chapters 3 through 3 to just rip chapter 3, for example.)
3. I'm not sure if there are some technically 'best' settings for audio quality, but I used AC3 (ffmpeg) as the audio codec, Dolby Pro Logic II as the mixdown, Auto for the sample rate, and 640 for the bit rate. Experiment to see what sounds best on your system.
4. This step can take a long time.

Step 2: VLC
1. Use VLC to split the audio from the video files.
2. Click Media > Open (advanced).
3. Add a single file, then click the down arrow next to the Play button and select Convert.
4. Type/paste a destination folder and file name.
5. Select the Audio - CD profile, click the wrench icon next to it, make sure the encapsulation is set to WAV, and change the audio codec bitrate to 640 kb/s -- click Save. (You only need to do this step once, unless you reinstall VLC or move to a new computer.)
6. Click Start and wait for VLC to rip the file.
7. Repeat 2-6 (skip step 5) for each track.

You can delete the original video files at this point.

Optional Step 3: Audacity
You might not care for 30 seconds of applause, half at the beginning and half at the end of the track. You can use Audacity to remove it.
1. Use Audacity to open the WAV file produced by VLC.
2. Use your mouse to select an applause section, then press Delete to get rid of it.
3. Use Effects > Fade In and Effects > Fade Out to make the transitions at the beginning and end of the track more smooth. You can also use them to reduce ambient noise or faint applause at the beginning or the end.
4. Use File > Export to save the WAV file. It will create a backup of the old WAV file by default; you can delete the old file whenever you want.

At this point, listen to the WAV files and make sure they sound good before continuing.

Step 4: iTunes (or your favorite audio manager)
1. Drag and drop the WAV files into iTunes.
2. In iTunes Preferences > General, click Import Settings. Import using the MP3 encoder and select the Custom setting. Set the Stereo bit rate to 192 kbps, select the Use VBR check box, and set the quality to Highest, then click OK three times. You only need to do this step once, unless you reinstall iTunes or move to a new computer.
3. Select all of the WAV files you imported. Right-click any of them and select Create MP3 Version.
4. Wait for iTunes to convert the WAV files.
5. Select the original WAV files, then hold Shift and press Delete. You'll get prompted to remove the files from your library, and perhaps move the originals to the Recycle Bin.

Hope that helps.

[LiquidAcid]

lol @ mentioning Apple and free/open-source in the same post

[taaniel]

Also, in case anyone still cares, all of the audio tracks (Stereo, 5.1, and commentary) are encoded using AC3.

[Kimimi]

That helps a lot, thank you very much!

[LightKeyDarkBlade]

Can't access the official website anymore but the album info was apparently taken from there.

However, there appear to be some discrepancies between it and the booklet. The orchestration of 08 Ragnarok is credited to Hayato Matsuo on the website but it's Yoshihisa Hirano on the booklet.

[Revoc]

Originally Posted by LightKeyDarkBlade

Can't access the official website anymore but the album info was apparently taken from there.

However, there appear to be some discrepancies between it and the booklet. The orchestration of 08 Ragnarok is credited to Hayato Matsuo on the website but it's Yoshihisa Hirano on the booklet.

Good catch. I couldn't see the credits through Internet Archive. I've corrected this info.

[zierts]

Originally Posted by LightKeyDarkBlade

Can't access the official website anymore but the album info was apparently taken from there.

However, there appear to be some discrepancies between it and the booklet. The orchestration of 08 Ragnarok is credited to Hayato Matsuo on the website but it's Yoshihisa Hirano on the booklet.

Originally Posted by Revoc

Good catch. I couldn't see the credits through Internet Archive. I've corrected this info.

They're embedded in the main.swf but somehow Hayato Matsuo's name is superimposed over every other musician's (except for Tomomichi Takeoka's in his orchestration credit on track 22). Could be that it's a bug in the SWF. Composers and arrangers are hard-encoded in images and the orchestrators are then superimposed using separate images. Either way, the printed booklet seems more reliable.

Funny that this affected track 8 as I immediately felt reminded of Resident Evil Darkside Chronicles when I listened to it. Lo and behold, it's the same orchestrator.