Ghost in the Shell 4K has the wrong Japanese audio track. Here is how to fix it.

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frogurt
Posts: 10
Joined: Tue Jan 11, 2022 8:03 pm

Ghost in the Shell 4K has the wrong Japanese audio track. Here is how to fix it.

Post by frogurt »

Apologies in advance if this is the wrong forum.

THE PROBLEM: The 4K Blu-ray of Ghost in the Shell has the wrong song during the credits.

THE SOLUTION: You can copy the correct audio track from the 2K Blu-ray MKV over to the 4K Blu-ray MKV. (Takes about 20 minutes.)

I'm posting this fix in the hopes that others can avoid the time it took me to figure out there was a problem and then how to fix it. If this is important for you to fix (which I would argue is necessary to truly enjoy this great film) here is how you do it.

First, you need both the 2K and 4K releases of this film. The 2K blu-ray has the correct audio. Here is how it shakes out.

Code: Select all

2K Blu-ray
- English Audio  (Wrong song during credits)
- Japanese Audio (Correct song during credits)

4K Blu-ray
- English Audio  (Wrong song during credits)
- Japanese Audio (Wrong song during credits)
Step 1: Use MakeMKV to rip both blu-rays to MKV format.

Convert both the 2K and 4K Blu-rays to MKV format.

There are two version on the 4K Blu-ray. 800 and 801. As others have noted, it looks like the main difference is that the subtitles for the opening title are on the top of the screen (801) and bottom of the screen (800). I chose 800.

Step 2: Use MKVToolnix-Gui to copy the 2K audio over to the 4K MKV

1. Download and install MKVToolnix
2. Launch MKVToolnix GUI (C:\Program Files\MKVToolNix\mkvtoolnix-gui.exe)
3. Drag in the MKV file you want to add new audio to (Ghost in the Shell_4K.mkv)
4. Uncheck all the tracks, chapters, tags in the Codec column (You're doing this so you don't mix up the new tracks you're about to add.)
5. Drag in the MKV file that has audio you want to copy from (Ghost in the Shell_2K.mkv)
6. When prompted, choose "Add as new source files to the current multiplex settings" and ok. The new Audio and Subtitles will be added to the list.
7. Go through and carefully re-check all the original files (from the 4K), and uncheck all the new files (from the 2K)
8. Now re-check just the japanese stereo audio track. (This will be the one from the 2K Blu-ray with the correct audio. You should now have all the files from the 4K version checked, all the 2K files unchecked, and a single 2K audio track checked.)
9. The audio track is actually about 2 seconds ahead, so you'll need to delay it. Select the track and then in the properties section on the right side of the window set Delay (in ms): -1900.
10. You can also name this audio track to it's easy to find later. I named my "Japanese (Correct Audio)"
11. On the bottom of the window, rename the file in the Destination File: section to "fixed.mkv" or similar
12. Click "Start Mulutiplexing"

After a few minutes it'll be done. That's now your new MKV file.

Step 3: Use VLC Media Player to confirm the audio track was added with the correct timing

You can open the file in VLC Media Player to check the audio and confirm the credits. VLC is how I originally noticed the audio needed to be delayed to line up correctly. You can change the synchronization of the audio, which is how I figured out it is 2000 ms.

1. Download and install VLC
2. Open the "fixed.mkv" file in VLC
3. Go to Audio > Audio Track > "Japanese (Correct Audio)" to select the audio
4. Skip to the end credits. You should hear the correct song. (For comparison, listen to the English audio track)

If you're curious how I figured out the correct audio delay, I did this:
1. I used the English track first to find a moment in the movie with an obvious audio cue. (I used the two gun shots at 1:05:31 and 1:05:32)
2. Then I switched to the Japanese track and noticed it was out of alignment.
3. Open the "Adjustments and Effects" (CTRL + E)
4. Synchronization Tab > Audio track synchronization
5. I started adding negative number like -1 and -1.5 until I found -2 lined it up well.
6. I used those guns shots at 1:05:31/32 to confirm.
7. Then I used those values in MKVToolnix for the delay. Since 1 sec = 1000ms, it was -1900ms to fix it.

Step 4: That should do it. You're good to go!
caycep
Posts: 7
Joined: Mon Mar 29, 2021 8:01 pm

Re: Ghost in the Shell 4K has the wrong Japanese audio track. Here is how to fix it.

Post by caycep »

unrelated question but do you know which of the 3 mkv files/tracks on the UHD for the main movie is the "right one"?
Nucleus
Posts: 45
Joined: Sat Feb 20, 2021 10:58 am

Re: Ghost in the Shell 4K has the wrong Japanese audio track. Here is how to fix it.

Post by Nucleus »

caycep wrote:
Tue Feb 06, 2024 4:31 am
unrelated question but do you know which of the 3 mkv files/tracks on the UHD for the main movie is the "right one"?
See links in my sig to learn how to identify the correct mpls to rip. This one and this one. Second one, GetMPLS Method is probably the easiest.
Windows:
Identifying The Correct Title To Rip: Process Monitor Method - GetMPLS Method
Mux/Remux: Set A Subtitle Stream On By Default (Forced)
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