My process for DVR-MS -> xvid+lame

[chrislewis]

Thought I should let people know how I do it, took me ages to find a way. It's all free. I know videoredo is nice but... here is an alternative.

1. Use DVRMSToolbox to convert the dvr-ms into an mpeg2 (use ffdshow)

2. Use DVBCut to cut out ads using a 'keyhole' approach. This program allows for cutting at P frames, wereas most others are restricted to I frames. It sets a new I frame and calculates the resulting frames from that.

3. AutoGKto deinterlace/magic/xvid!

If you wish, you can take the mpeg2 prepared by DVBCut to go onto a DVD.

All works on Vista x64.

[Astrotoy7]

yep, great ti have those free alternatives I love any video converter for the >>avi process. Tis also free Im far too fond of VRD for teh initial bit though...if there ever was an app that was worth its price, thats the one!

astro

[Swallowtail]

Originally Posted by chrislewis

Thought I should let people know how I do it, took me ages to find a way. It's all free. I know videoredo is nice but... here is an alternative.

1. Use DVRMSToolbox to convert the dvr-ms into an mpeg2 (use ffdshow)

2. Use DVBCut to cut out ads using a 'keyhole' approach. This program allows for cutting at P frames, wereas most others are restricted to I frames. It sets a new I frame and calculates the resulting frames from that.

3. AutoGKto deinterlace/magic/xvid!

If you wish, you can take the mpeg2 prepared by DVBCut to go onto a DVD.

All works on Vista x64.

I'm going to semi-hijack thai thread a bit... although it's the same subject...

I have been trying to get a process that works for me to do this - that is take SD TV captures (either .ts or .dvr-ms) and convert to more compact files - without having audio sync problems.


With a TS file I typically use ProjectX to cut ads / start / finish and output to .ts still, then I have tried:

a) running the file through MCEBuddy - which uses mencoder - with mkv, wmv, avi, etc - some work fine, others have audio sync problems - enough that I have given up on this. I have emailed Phredeaux a week or so ago, but no response as yet (he's busy I know);

b) running through a script I wrote that demuxes an SDTV broadcast (.ts or .dvr-ms) cutting with a projectx cutfile if it's there, remuxes to mpg with 2ch audio (ffmpeg) - can make it stop here if necessary, dvdauthors and burns to DVD or makes an iso, works fine, no audio sync issues, ever (and I have used this 100s of times). But I don't want them all on disk, I want compressed avi's ;

c) the latest efforts - AutoGK. I like the resultant quality, xvid is great, and it is easy to use, BUT I get fairly regular audio sync issues. They tend to be fine for the first 45 - 50 minutes, then the creep gets noticeable. By 60 - 70 minutes it's unwatchable. Most of the issues can be fixed by running the resultant avi through VirtualDubMod and changing the framerate (i.e 25.002 was one I did last night) so that the audio track and video track are matched, but sometimes I get some that it just does not seem to be able to work out audio-sync wise. It's also a pain in the ass having to do that every time.

d) last night I tried using projectX to set start and finish and demux to m2v and mpa, pulled those into VirtualDubmod, set it to use Xvid 2 pass, and it worked a treat, except it squished the 16:9 broadcast to 4:3. No audio sync problems in the file at all. I'm sure I can probably work out the aspect ratio thing. It also only compressed from 4.5Gb to 2.5 when I had set xvid to aim for about 1.4, which seemed a little odd. But again this was at 1am, so I may just need to play some more.



Anyway - has anyone else come up with a method (free software) that has no audio sync issues reliably? I am going stir-crazy...

[ricsa]

Once I've converted from dvr-ms to mpeg2 (VRD) I use a great piece of free software called avi.net to convert to xvid.

http://www.clonead.co.uk

Have used it for 18 mths or so without ever have sync issues. I can't vouch for the latest version as I've not upgraded for a while (if it aint broke......).

[Swallowtail]

Originally Posted by ricsa

Once I've converted from dvr-ms to mpeg2 (VRD) I use a great piece of free software called avi.net to convert to xvid.

http://www.clonead.co.uk

Have used it for 18 mths or so without ever have sync issues. I can't vouch for the latest version as I've not upgraded for a while (if it aint broke......).

I will download it tonight and give it a whirl... thanks. It looks neat.

Anyone else use anything different?

[CraigMBecket]

Swallowtail

last night I tried using projectX to set start and finish and demux to m2v and mpa, pulled those into VirtualDubmod, set it to use Xvid 2 pass, and it worked a treat, except it squished the 16:9 broadcast to 4:3. No audio sync problems in the file at all. I'm sure I can probably work out the aspect ratio thing. It also only compressed from 4.5Gb to 2.5 when I had set xvid to aim for about 1.4, which seemed a little odd. But again this was at 1am, so I may just need to play some more.

In VirtualDubmod the first thing you should be doing after loading the video file is going to video/filters selecting nul transform and then crop any black bands if doing from a ripped DVD, then in filters select resize and type in the size, for standard 16:9 say width is 720 then for widescreen the height is 720/16 x 9 = 405 but use 404, must be an even number, for 4:3 size is best done using 640 x 480.

Craig.

[Ararat]

The synch problems you are having, do they exist the whole way through, or only start at a certain point, and then stay (possibly getting worse later)?, because that is most likely a reception problem.

If you have those, the mpg (or other similar things) will play fine, as they have the original timecode intact, and the player resynch's. However, once encoded, the affected regions can have different lengths, and with no original timecode, the video is out of synch.

Perhaps running PVAStrumento will reveal some answers for you.

[Swallowtail]

Originally Posted by Ararat

The synch problems you are having, do they exist the whole way through, or only start at a certain point, and then stay (possibly getting worse later)?, because that is most likely a reception problem.

If you have those, the mpg (or other similar things) will play fine, as they have the original timecode intact, and the player resynch's. However, once encoded, the affected regions can have different lengths, and with no original timecode, the video is out of synch.

Perhaps running PVAStrumento will reveal some answers for you.

The sync problems vary - some of them it's consistent (say 1/2 second the whole show), others it gets worse (up to 30 seconds out for some).

I have been trying avi.net and it works perfectly. I have to do a .ts to .mpg (no transcode, just a format change), then into avi.net. Sound is in sync on every file I have done so far, including a heap that went out of sync using both MCEBuddy and AGK.

It would be nice if avi.net would just take the .ts files, but hey, you can't have everything. I have a simple script that converts .ts to .mpg so all good for now...