Arksofts "Crunchie" Release (v1.0)

arkay · **27th June 2005, 01:22 PM**

NOTE: Crunchie V1.0A has been superceeded. This page exists for historical reasons only.

Please see this thread for the current version of Crunchie!

Crunchie v1.0 A delicious chocolaty dvr-ms to divx converter for Media Center 2005.

Crunchie is designed to be run nightly as a scheduled task. Its' main function in life is to find all your recordings from throughout the day and compress these very large files (3GB per hour) down to something a little more manageable.

The resultant avi file (using divx compression), can be 1/5th the size of the original file.

Thanks

Before downloading and installing I need to give thanks to the Authors of the following tools:

1. DVRMSToolbox (babgVant from www.thegreenbutton.com).
2. mplayer/mencoder (from those wacky linux guys. See www.mplayerhq.hu)

without whom I couldn't have put this tool together!

Installation Guide

To install Crunchie you also need to have DVRMSToolbox and a capable xvid playback codec installed on your machine. DVRMSToolbox is available via the download section on www.xpmediacentre.com.au and can also be found as a download link in this thread.

I use and recommend ffdshow as the playback codec of choice for all xvid content. Ffdshow can be downloaded from the internet from the host of your choosing.

1. Download DVRMSToolbox, and Crunchie v1.0.
2. Extract and install DVRMSToolbox (remove previous version if installed).
3. Extract and install Crunchie.

When all packages are installed you can run Crunchie either from the desktop or the Start menu.

On first execution the Crunchie GUI will start allowing you to set your configuration.

The following details the purpose of each configuration item and their recommended settings:

Folders and Options

DVRMSToolbox Folder

Browse for the folder location in which you installed DVRMSToolbox.
If you accepted defaults on install it will be in C:\Program Files\DVRMSToolbox.

DVR-MS Source Folder

Browse for the folder location in which your recorded TV files are stored.
If you have installed Crunchie on an MCE2005 machine using the defaults, this field should already be correct, if not, adjust as necessary.

Temporary Folder

Browse for a folder on a drive that contains ample space for processing.
The DVRMSToolbox conversion to mpeg will result in an mpeg file roughly the size of your original dvr-ms file.
The resulting mpeg file is then converted to avi in the next automated step. Once the conversion to avi is complete, the intermediate mpeg is then removed (if configured see below) and the next dvr-ms file conversion will commence (again automatically).

Note: Processing speed will be increased by utilizing temporary storage on a separate physical drive (not partition) to your Recorded TV drive.

Avi Output Folder

Browse for the location you would like the final avi files to be stored. This should be the same location as the MyVideos directory in MCE in order to watch your converted files.

Checkbox options and Defaults

Default button

This will reset the Crunchie configuration to default values.

Create Subfolders

When checked this will instruct Crunchie to create subfolders for your converted TV shows. This will work for shows recorded via the guide. Manual recordings cannot be automatically categorized.

e.g. If you record Doctor Who, the dvr-ms file is usually named 'Doctor Who_Channel 2_23_06_2005_18_00_00.dvr-ms'. Crunchie will store the resultant avi to your Avi Output folder in a folder named Doctor Who. In this way all your regular guide recordings will be stored in easy to find folders in date of recording order. It is recommended that this option also be used with the rename option (See below).

Rename dvr-ms files

The <Show name>_Channel_dd_mm_yyyy_hh_min_sec.dvr-ms file naming convention is very cumbersome when searching for a show to watch in MyVideos as it is too long to be affectively displayed in the MCE interface.

Checking this option will rename the resultant avi file to an abbreviated <Showname>(yyyymmdd).avi format.

Used in conjunction with the Create Subfolders option and using our example above the final avi file would be stored as <Avi output dir>/Doctor Who/Doctor Who (20050623).avi. This forces sorting in date of recording order and is far more readable in the MCE interface.

Remove Source dvr-ms

When selected, this option will remove the original dvr-ms file after successful completion of the conversion thus returning a large chunk of your recording TV drive space. This option is off by default. Turn it on when you are comfortable that recordings and conversions on your machine and particular configuration are reliable.

Remove tmp mpeg files

This option when checked will remove the intermediate mpeg files created during the conversion process. This option is enabled by default.

Force 4:3 Aspect

This option should only be used if your recording was made on an analog card. Crunchie by default will sample the source video and choose a valid aspect ratio and crop setting suitable for the source material. Analog recordings are always in a 4:3 aspect ratio (even when widescreen material is being shown).

Checking this option will ensure that 4:3 analog material is encoded with the correct aspect ratio for playback.

This option is NOT required for Digital recordings and will result in incorrect aspect output video if used with 16:9 material.

Exclude Checkbox

Checking this box will enable a new text field in which you can include search strings for Crunchie to compare against show title names. Any title name matching your search criteria will not be converted.

For instance you may find that you have trouble with conversions of programs ercorded on Channel 10. Or for some reason you do not wish to compress CSI Miami and Doctor Who as you'd rather watch those in an uncompressed format.
To do this enter a comma separated list of your exclusion criteria in the text box.
In this example the text field would contain:

CSI Miami,Channel 10,Doctor Who

Crunchie will use each comma separated string to exclude any show that has that string in it's title. The search and pattern matching is case sensitive.

Save

Saves the changes to your configuration when complete.

Exit

Exits the GUI.

Using Crunchie

Once your configuration is complete you can run Crunchie by double clicking on the Crunchie icon on the desktop or the Start Menu program group.

Crunchie runs in a dos window (I recommend changing the width of the window to 150 characters and saving that size to the shortcut that started the program) so that future invocations start at the correct size. As each file is converted logging information will scroll up the screen until the program completes. A log of all activity can also be found in the program group directory where you installed Crunchie.

Crunchie can also be run from the command line.

Configuration Changes

If you need to adjust the configuration of Crunchie (after the initial execution), you can double click on the Crunchie Configurator icon on the desktop or Start Menu program group. This will start Crunchie in GUI mode and allow you to modify and save your configuration.

Scheduling Conversions

Crunchies' main purpose is to save you space. It is designed to be run at a time when you are not recording or using the MCE machine.

For me this is from around 1am.

Crunchie can be scheduled to run via the windows task scheduler. To do this use Control Panel -> Scheduled Tasks to create a new task that runs Crunchie nightly to convert all your recorded shows to avi format. Set the task to wake the computer and the machine should resume from standby, convert all your recorded shows for the day, and then return to sleep. Next night you can sit down to enjoy your recorded TV knowing that your shows are 1/5th of their original size! If you'd like to archive those shows, you can fit far far more on a single DVD now!

This is the first release of the product so undoubtedly there will be issues. Myself and the moderator team at www.xpmediacentre.com.au will help in any way we can with your issues, but be warned that the program uses the freeware tools DVRMSToolbox and Mencoder and I have no control over bug fixes or revisions within either of those products.

Crunchie was written to automate a complex task and add some extra functionality to MCE.

Additions to the program may occur from time to time, on my POSSIBLE todo list (someday/maybe) are:

1. Automatic advertisement removal (via DVRMSToolbox).
2. Further Advanced encoding options for advanced users.
3. A quality vs size slider control for those not in the advanced category of users who would like further control over the output.
4. More possibilities around scheduling and possibly conversion priority to allow crunchie to run in reduced priority mode whilst you are using your MCE machine.
5. Aging criteria to allow you to compress shows that are more than xx days old.
6. Space management options to allow Crunchie to compress shows automatically if your recorded TV drive space gets low.

At this point in time I'd be happy to hear any feedback however please accept the program for what it is and what it was designed to do.

It will most likely never:

- Have built in cutting features (aka dcut). I would suggest pre-cutting with dcut should you require this functionality.
- Be able to write wmv files (with meta tags and FF capability).
- feed your dog when you're not at home.

I am open to suggestions regarding functional improvements, however, I ask you not to be upset if I tell you it isn't possible or won't be done!

I hope you find the program useful!!

-Arkay.

jgrouse · **27th June 2005, 02:22 PM**

You big winner!

Great to see someone has the time to code apps like this.

Will give it a go tonight and let you know if all is well with it.

aswigon · **27th June 2005, 02:32 PM**

Awesome work!

arkay · **27th June 2005, 02:41 PM**

Thanks guys. Be interesting to see how it performs for others. The mods here have been trying it out for a while and helping me with the bugs (thanks guys!) so hopefully it'll be pretty stable for you.

The only problem we've had so far is with some (very few) conversions failing in the dvr->mpeg conversion of DVRMSToolbox. Nothing I can do about it but I think it's related to glitches in the recording. As with all things video and Microsoft you'll be fine if your recordings are fine

Cheers,
Arkay.

kevvie010 · **27th June 2005, 02:42 PM**

pretty damn clever this, tried and it worked perfectly!!

tell me though if dvrms toolbox has a profile which chops ads out why is it not possible to use that rather than the profile that you are obviously using? just a thought

great work though, at last something that is a)working and even better b)free

gixasixa · **27th June 2005, 02:45 PM**

Sounds awsome - thanks Arkay

arkay · **27th June 2005, 02:52 PM**

kevvie010,

Glad it worked for you!

I wanted to get release 1 out the door. It's a basic version. The primary reason for not using the ad removal was the way that DVRMSToolbox does it.

Currently dvrmstoolbox does this for ad removal:

1. Converts file to mpeg.
2. Runs comskip over it (which results in a text file containing cut points).
3. Uses those cut points to remove the ads from the original dvr-ms file.
4. Converts the cut dvr-ms file to mpeg (again).

As you can see it's a bit longwinded, 2 conversions to mpeg.

I have plans for increasing the functionality that include but are not limited to:

1. The ability to only convert to xvid if disk space is low or the file is older than xx days.
2. A better include/exclude engine to allow selection of files to be converted.
3. Ad cutting (once I find a better method).
4. Full control over the xvid options used (via gui).
5. Make it command line driven for those with scripting ability that want to be able to further control it's use.

Unfortunately I'm very busy with payed work at the moment so I don't know when any of this will get done.

There's also a lot of pie in the sky stuff that I could get going if I had the time, including dvd to divx conversion for use with MyMovies but time as always is the enemy.

I should also mention that several people have had Crunchie crunching away in the background whilst watching dvd/live tv and recording etc and have experienced no problems with CPU utilisation. I designed it to be a batch tool (for late night conversion) but if your machine is grunty enough no reason why you can't use it any time.

High bitrates have also intentionally been used in this release as I wanted quality conversions and was happy to take the size gain that xvid offers over mpeg2. With a few minor modifications you can drop the bitrate and save some serious space if you don't mind the resultant drops in quality.

Cheers,
Arkay.

impact · **27th June 2005, 02:56 PM**

kevvie010 - You could, have it remove the ads - but I have found it pretty unreliable... In the tests I have done on ch9 / ch7 dvbt recordings - it found ads maybe once in every 6 or 7 blocks... I think that prg needs a little tuning for us Aussies.

As Arkay said, us mods have been using it for a little while... All I can say is fantastic.

Using the defaults as installed - I have saved 80gb in the last week. Yes I have been crunching hard...

On average I got between 40-60% savings in file sizes and to the naked eye on a 68cm tv absolutely no noticeable difference in quality. Sure I could change the paramaters and get better compression and notice some degrade in quality.

It was mainly kids stuff I tried compressing, and of the 80 odd recordings I tried, only 3 failed (as explained by Arkay in his post) - of course when they fail, it hangs the process, so you have to kill it and start again.... I am sure this problem will be improved...

It got aspect ratios correct everytime I tried it, and works well....

How I use it :-
- I use Dcut to remove the pre / post stuff to my recordings and ads if neccessary
- then process these files....

Result is a nice compressed file for archival purposes (and boy did I learn a lot - do you know there are actually 120 different episodes of bob the builder... but 201 episodes of bananas in pyjamas - wow!)

I found - for me - it takes about twice as long to process as to the shows length - ie. a 15 minute show takes around 30mins to process. Compression ranges were real strange - files ranged from 30% to 95% of the original file - averaging out at around just over half their size...

Guys I love it... all I can say is

Go Crunch yourself !