Ok, I will make an exception here, this is not a Balto related article, but something that has been requested a lot of times so I thought it would be better to make it an article.

You may have noticed that I have made myself an 'unofficial' sountrack of the Balto sequels, using the dvds.
How is that possible? Simple : most dvd films have 5.1 soundtracks, and the voices are usually recorded in the central channel.
So, by removing this channel, it's possible to get the soundtrack of a film without the voices. (or the opposite, only the voices)

Requirements :

- A dvd drive in your PC

- A software dvd player such as PowerDVD or WinDVD (Windows Media Player may work, not tested though)

- SmartRipper or any other dvd ripping software (http://www.free-codecs.com/download/SmartRipper.htm)

- HeadAC3 (http://www.darkav.de.vu/)


1. How to rip the soundtrack from the DVD

With smartripper.
Put the dvd in your dvd drive.
Launch smartripper.
If there's an error message with unlocking files, you must play your dvd in any dvd software such as powerdvd or windvd, and restart smartripper.
Click on the second tab (I have the french version, and there it is 'traitement des flux')
Deselect all, and tick the audio track you want (for example : Audio English AC3 (6ch) )
On the right, there are three options ('direct copy' etc...) Choose the second one. ('to file')
Choose the destination directory.
Launch the process. ('start')

Once it's finished (RIP complete), you will get an .ac3 file in the directory you precised. This is the file on which you will have to remove the central channel.


2. How to remove the central channel

Ac3 is a file format that you can read, such as mp3 for example. The main difference is that ac3 usually contains several channels. To be able to read the ac3 file, you will normally need a plugin (I use 'valex ac3 decoder' for winamp for example)
But you don't have to be able to read that file to do the next things...
Then you will have to use HeadAC3.
First, you will need to download the software, with several of its plugins (I think there were the 'mp3', 'azid_dll' and 'mmx') Go on its official website for that (search on google)

Then launch the software, choose the source file (the ac3 file)
In destination format, choose mp3.
In the options, 'input channels', leave all the channels except the central one (untick it) In the 'output channels', you should only have the 'left' and 'right' channels.
You can also choose the start and end frames if you don't want all the film soundtrack. (to test, for example)
Finally, click start, and hope everything will work fine...

You should obtain the mp3 file without the central channel (so without the voices). Enjoy!


Yes, yes, I have found how to do all this by my own...