OK, hmm so lets see, Perfect Sync Audio/Video in Panasonic Standalone Encoder 2.3 (or 2.x)

Yes there is a big Syncing problem with using VoB files in Panasonic. The first question should be why.

Well to be honest the only problem is with NTSC DVDs. PAL DVDs work great without having to screw around with it. (According to PAL DVD owners who have tried, though I have no PAL DVDs to verify) NTSC DVDs are 29.97 frames per second. The actual video is only 23.97 or 24 FPS (Film is 24 FPS). A method explained to me by Robshot, 3:2 is the actual play time of the video.
It plays every 4th frame twice so you get a set of frames like this: 1,2,3,4,4,5,6,7,8,8,9....
Hmm, but you don't see that, you just see it as 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9....
You see 29.97 FPS, not 23.97 or 24 FPS played at 3:2. Ok so 29.97 is not a true FPS then. It plays 29.97, but it is only 23.97 or 24 frames all strecthed out a bit.....

Wow, did I say stretched? You may ask, "Who in their right mind would stretch Video?" Well my question is, "Who in their right mind would stretch Audio?" It was done though, MPG2AVI was used to convert these 29.97 fps videos to a slight more stable format, but Audio was still out of sync. So they stretched. All they did in effect was stabalize the viewing speed in a odd way that did not correct the true problem.

OK, but now we know what the real problem is and this is how we correct it.

First: UNISTALL EVERYTHING THAT DEALS WITH RIPPING AND PLAYING DVDS ON YOUR SYSTEM. Keep it simple is always the best bet. If you can do a fresh install of Windows you are a step ahead of the rest.

Second: Instal these items in this order, Panasonic 2.3 standalone encoder, LSX 3.0 Full ver with windows media player 6.4, Power DVD 2.5 laxity cracked version.

(Deccs or Dods VOB ripper depending on the DVD you plan on using, for some odd reason each work on certain DVDs better than the other.)

Ok, you got it all installed and are ready to rip. Pull the vob to your harddrive with Deccs or Dods, enecrypted (merged or not, your choice, depends if you want to do each seperately).

Open up panasonic encoder and load the vob file in as video, check to use identical files.

First you will encode a m1v file from the vob. Select output "Type" as m1v "mpeg video (.m1v)", set "fps" at 23.97, change pixel to 352x240, click on "Advanced Settings", on the bottom you will see "Frame Rate Conversion", select frame (NOT TIME), click on ok.

Click on Start Encoding.

It will take awhile but what you will have in the end is a m1v mpg video file at 23.97 fps. ok, now for the next step, Audio.

You didn't close Panasonic did you?
Well open it back up if you did, and select your vob as video source, and make sure the box "Use Identical Files" is checked.

Ouput file "Type" to "Mpeg1 Audio (.mp2)", start encoding.

OK now you got a MP2 audio file encoded straight from the VOB. The quality doesn't get better than that folks, both audio and video come from the ripped vob, and the quality is as good as you can get with ripping to mpg for vcd.

Load the m2v file as video in panasonic, load the mpa file as audio, (make sure "Use Identical Files" is now unchecked"), slect output "Type" as "VCD/NTSC Stream (.mpg). and "Start Encoding".

OK this takes a long time, just as long as dvd2mpf squeezer took almost, but open up that final mpg and take a look at what you have. WOW, is that really a vcd mpg? The quality in the final mpg is EXCELLENT and unmatched by any other ripping technique for dvd 2 vcd.

Have fun.

KnEtwErX