ReplayTV 5K Tools (Revision 4)

[Lee Thompson]

I am very pleased to announce the fourth revision of the ReplayTV 5000 Toolkit.

ReplayTV tools are a collection of command line utilities to work with MPEG-2 streams for the ReplayTV 5000 series Personal Video Recorder.

These tools will allow you to do the following:

* Edit downloaded shows without reencoding; stream them with DVArchive
* Convert RTV files for use with DVD Authoring
* Convert RTV4K MPEGs for streaming to a RTV5K
* Convert MPEG-2 streams and stream to a RTV5K with DVArchive


What's New in Rev 4:


Revised Documentation
RTVEDIT: if no associated ndx is found for the given mpg, create a 5k ndx
EVTDUMP: added -p and -i switches to set program time and ignore time
RTVCONV: added -d switch to write demultiplexed streams (.m2v, .mp2)
RVTCONV: added filtering of RTVEDIT-ed files for DVD authoring


EVTDUMP:

* EVTDUMP switches may be useful for changing detection parameters without recompiling. Specify times in seconds. For example, a 30 minute show may have program segments shorter than the default 5 minutes, use -p180 to set the program time limit to 3 minutes.


RTVEDIT:

* RTVEDIT will now re-build a .ndx corresponding to the original .mpg if no .ndx is found. It will *assume* the mpg is a RTV5K stream. There is no check for this and results on a non-RTV5K stream are unpredictable (read "bad"). An .ndx is required for editing the stream, so once the .ndx is re-generated, you can run RTVEDIT on the fileset as normal.


RTVCONVERT:

* RTVCONVERT can now process an RTVEDIT-ed mpg and produce a stream suitable for DVD authoring. Simply run RTVCONVERT on the output of an RTVEDIT stream and use the resulting stream in your DVD authoring program (tested on MediaChance DVDLab, Sonic Solutions DVDit, Sonic/Daikin Scenarist, Ulead MovieFactory 1.x.).

* If your DVD authoring program accepts demultiplexed streams, use the -d switch to have RTVCONVERT write .m2v and .mp2 files directly.


Binaries are included for Mac OS X, Win32 and Linux. Enjoy!

[agent-x]

"suitable for DVD authoring" means your audio should stay in sync. :)

[LaserDick]

Beautiful! Thanks to Lee & anon....

[dyker]

Originally posted by agent-x
"suitable for DVD authoring" means your audio should stay in sync. :)

Does this mean no need to buy womble to fix the mpeg? Is this as fast as Womble?

[Bobcrane]

You're my boy blue! Uh... I mean... way to go Lee! Especially adding the conversion functionality.

[Lee Thompson]

Originally posted by dyker
Does this mean no need to buy womble to fix the mpeg? Is this as fast as Womble?

Womble should not be necessary.

If you wanted to convert a 60 minute show to a DVD (waste of space I know but bear with me ;) ) you would just need to do the following steps:

1. Download to your PC (time varies)

2. You'll need to create a simple RTVEDIT script even if you aren't trimming the MPEG at all.


FMyFile.mpg
E



rtvedit myfile.txt


Even with minor edits and trims it should not take more than 2-3 minutes to process on a 2Ghz machine. (NOTE if you have Write Caching disabled on Windows it'll double the time.)

3. Now all you need to do is run RTVCONVERT on the file RTVEDIT just made. (using the above example it would be MyFile1.mpg).


rtvconvert myfile1.mpg DVDfile.mpg


If your DVD authoring tool perfers demuxed streams you can specify -d on the command line and rtvconvert will demux it for you.


rtvconvert -d myfile1.mpg DVDfile.mpg


Either way about 2-3 minutes for this step. As with RTVEDIT, if write caching is disabled on the drive it'll be closer to 5-6.


So the total time for processing the MPG after it's on your PC to when it's in your DVD Authoring application can be as little as 5-6 minutes. (Obviously it depends on the speed of your machine and how long the MPG is)

[icecow]

I love these tools. Just been keeping quiet waiting for others to talk about it so it's spelled out to me and all I have to do is add it up. I suspect others are doing the same because not much has been said in this thread so far.

In a different thread, some smart-type person showed how to make a little batch file script as an icon. All you have to do is drop a file(a replay mpg in this case) on to the icon and several command line programs are run in sequence making the process a nobrainer. Where did I see that? I might search for it later and post back here or EDIT this post. It seems perfect for these tools (batch files are so easy to reconfigure too).

There's other programs that will wait till a file arrives in a directory and then processes it how ever you have it set up(however you want). I'm eyeing out a way to use all of the above to automate the process from DVArchive transfer scheduling to ripping out the commercials and saving space or sending dvd-ready mpgs to a folder so all is left is to burn them.

I don't like the grammatic structuring of this post, but I'm tired right now; hope it's readable.

I love Lee for being the bringer of all good things. Hope the creator of the program understands how much the work is appreciated. The praise goes unheard from people all over who celebrate the tools quietly in their unmarked and uncounted casas with little grins and smiles. There have been bigger software productions that are more formidable, but these little tools are the ones fueling the revolutionary process. I want to give recognition. Hope I didn't hit too many cheesey notes telling you how I feel. I'd leave it said by the poets, but they never show up.

cow

[wen-king]

Re: rtvconvert for DVD authoring

Is it to say that the output mpeg (assuming no demux)
of rtvconvert on a 5K mpeg can be streamed back to the replaytv as well as be used in DVD authoring tool?

[dyker]

Originally posted by Lee Thompson
Womble should not be necessary.



WOW!! Thanks!! Wife just asked me about copying off some kid's show that is only airing this weekend to DVD and I was thinking I'd have to crack open the wally. If this all works as billed, are you asking for anything via Paypal?

:cool:

[Amazingly Smooth]

Ok, I have been too lazy to try these tools until last night. My compatibility-exchange units are arriving tomorrow, and I want to be able to keep some of my old recordings. I ran rtvedit on my 4k files and converted them to "5k" files. Seems to have worked and the files do stream back to the 5k's using DVArchive. I'm amazed at how quickly this works. The longest it rans was 5 minutes!

The basic procedure (for those who haven't tried it) is to create a text file with the commands shown in one of the readme files. I think it is all of three lines long. Then execute "rtvedit edit.txt" on the command line. Once the files are converted you will need to notify DVArchive that the MPEG is now compatible with the 5k's. Go into DVArchive and select the shows properties. Under the Advanced tab there is a pull-down for configuring the MPEG RTV version.

I did receive a couple of different errors... first was something about an invalid ndx file. It was just ignored and it contued straight on. The second was something about an improper index. It just skips to a valid index and continues converting. So far I have not found any problems in the new MPEG files, but I haven't watched them all the way through yet. Of course, YMMV.

Thanks a lot Lee and 'anonymous' for producing these tools. I suspect 'anonymous' is one of the RTV programmers, but this is only a guess.

Cheers

[Cobalt_Crysalis]

Hey, I've never tried these tools and I'm thinking of doing so this weekend -- just a couple of questions first:

Since this tool appears to depend on RTV's detecting commercials, it seems for those that are not detected, you have to go through the video and find the beginning/end times of the commercial segments and put those in the evtdump file manually? If this is the case, my other question is, in order to view the video beforehand (to find the commercials) I have to use VLAN, and since the video is recorded in VBR, the time fluctuates constantly, making it impossible to tell exactly when the commercial segment commences/ends. Any suggestions?

Thanks!


CC

[alyosha]

Well, if you do look closely at the evt dump file, you would notice that all the commercials and more (scene changes) are detected and dumped, it is just that the CA logic didnt identify them as commercial breaks. So all you need to do is flip a few A's into D's :)
Here is how I do it. I run the evtdump on the file and open it in editor. I than run rtvedit and take a note at what points the show was edited (it is also obvious from the evt file, but much easier to see in the output of the edit file (you can also just redirect the output of the editing program to a file and open it for viewing later). For example is the 60 minutes show shows that the edited file is 43 minutes, good chance is nothing needs to be done, and all commercials were detected correctly. If the file is smaller or bigger, I'll open the original video file in WMP or VLAN and drag to the first edit point, than second than so on. I do not need to determine points, I just want to find, where they are approximately. Once I see that any of the points are out of wack, I go to the opened evt.txt file and sure enough, if there is a porblem, that means that there is A in front of that edit point - flip it to D. Try it and you get a hand of it, really the whole process is a lot faster than wombling, cause you dont really have to detect frames and such.
I use far.exe from rarsoft.com instead of the run interface of windows, but maybe somebody will write a gui interface to the tools.

Originally posted by Cobalt_Crysalis
Hey, I've never tried these tools and I'm thinking of doing so this weekend -- just a couple of questions first:

Since this tool appears to depend on RTV's detecting commercials, it seems for those that are not detected, you have to go through the video and find the beginning/end times of the commercial segments and put those in the evtdump file manually? If this is the case, my other question is, in order to view the video beforehand (to find the commercials) I have to use VLAN, and since the video is recorded in VBR, the time fluctuates constantly, making it impossible to tell exactly when the commercial segment commences/ends. Any suggestions?

Thanks!


CC

[Lee Thompson]

Originally posted by wen-king
Re: rtvconvert for DVD authoring

Is it to say that the output mpeg (assuming no demux)
of rtvconvert on a 5K mpeg can be streamed back to the replaytv as well as be used in DVD authoring tool?

Yes. :)

[Lee Thompson]

Originally posted by alyosha
Well, if you do look closely at the evt dump file, you would notice that all the commercials and more (scene changes) are detected and dumped, it is just that the CA logic didnt identify them as commercial breaks. So all you need to do is flip a few A's into D's :)
Here is how I do it. I run the evtdump on the file and open it in editor. I than run rtvedit and take a note at what points the show was edited (it is also obvious from the evt file, but much easier to see in the output of the edit file (you can also just redirect the output of the editing program to a file and open it for viewing later). For example is the 60 minutes show shows that the edited file is 43 minutes, good chance is nothing needs to be done, and all commercials were detected correctly. If the file is smaller or bigger, I'll open the original video file in WMP or VLAN and drag to the first edit point, than second than so on. I do not need to determine points, I just want to find, where they are approximately. Once I see that any of the points are out of wack, I go to the opened evt.txt file and sure enough, if there is a porblem, that means that there is A in front of that edit point - flip it to D. Try it and you get a hand of it, really the whole process is a lot faster than wombling, cause you dont really have to detect frames and such.
I use far.exe from rarsoft.com instead of the run interface of windows, but maybe somebody will write a gui interface to the tools.

Personally, I run evtdump and then modify the result manually using VirtualDub-MPEG2 (VirtualDub with the MPEG2 modification) since it always shows the timestamp in HHH:MM.HSEC.

Note if you use edit times from any external (non EVTDUMP) source you'll want to use rtvedit with the -t1 option. (The NDX's clock is a little different than the MPG's clock.)


Also remember the new additions to evtdump let you tune the commercial detection (-p and -i flags).

[alyosha]

Neat, I have to play with the -p and -i to see if I can create templates for specific shows, and just use them instead of editing evt file.

[wen-king]

I can't get my mplex (linux/unix) to recognize the
output of rtvconvert. In my simple script for making
DVD, mplex is used to add VOB header to mpeg2
file before dvdauthor (linux/unix). Is adding VOB
header perhaps something that can be incorporated
into a future release of rtvconvert?

[Clay Schneider]

Great job.

And, for what it's worth, an 'rtvconvert into regular dvd' not only makes a great input to Ulead DMF2, it also makes the Hauppague MediaMVP a lot happier. MediaMVP can open a directory with dozens of 'rtvconverted' mpg files virtually instantly -- first time, every time.

[alcuin99]

Originally posted by Lee Thompson
I am very pleased to announce the fourth revision of the ReplayTV 5000 Toolkit.

RTVCONV: added -d switch to write demultiplexed streams (.m2v, .mp2)
RVTCONV: added filtering of RTVEDIT-ed files for DVD authoring

Binaries are included for Mac OS X, Win32 and Linux. Enjoy!

Um, not trying to nitpick or anything, but is there a separate/different RVTconv utility, as opposed to RTVconv? If there is, I don't see it for any os. Just wondering, thanks. Keep up the great work!

-e

[Lee Thompson]

RTVCONV is short for RTVCONVERT.

[Jeff D]

Lee, couple of questions for you...

1) The -i and -p options that can modify the commercial detection, is this just the way the events are handled or is there acutal reprocessing of the mpeg stream?

2) The cut on rtvconvert... it's limited to cutting on GOP boundries? Or are partial GOPs reconstructed?

Looks cool!

I'm about to use event dump to look at the commercial detection differences between 5.0 and 5.1. I might need to bone up on events quickly, any documentation on the events?

Thanks to you guys!

[Lee Thompson]

1. The former. Just changes the detect parameters.

2. It should work on any I-frame.


There were docs on events but Molehill appears to be offline.

[agent-x]

Originally posted by wen-king
I can't get my mplex (linux/unix) to recognize the
output of rtvconvert. In my simple script for making
DVD, mplex is used to add VOB header to mpeg2
file before dvdauthor (linux/unix). Is adding VOB
header perhaps something that can be incorporated
into a future release of rtvconvert?

mplex recognizes the elementary streams just fine. Use -d in rtvconvert to write demuxed streams and use -f 8 or -f 9 in mplex for dvd.

mplex -f 8 -o dvd.mpg rtvprog1.m2v rtvprog1.mp2

[Jeff D]

agent-x care to clue me in on what you've done with the audio stream? I'm very curious to see how your findings compare with what I know. I'm sure you know more, I'm very curious. =) The clock values and PTS times always seem wrong, but I haven't figured it out exactly. It's almost like the MPEG system clock isn't running at exactly 90Mhz?? I've been confused by this for a while and never figured out exactly what is going on.



On another note...
Is it possible to evtdump, rtvedit and import that file back into DVA for serving? I've tried to do both of the following and neither worked when imported back into DVA...

evtdump
rtvedit using output from evtdump
import that new file, no luck

evtdump
rtvedit using output form evtdump
rtvconv with output from rtvedit
import
still no luck

both result in the replay hanging and rebooting.
NOTE: I did this at 1:30AM so I might have screwed something up. I tried to follow the read me as best I could.

[icecow]

Lee,
A guy made a mpg player for hos 4xxx laptop that skips commercials when it gets to them like a replaytv.

He says he can make a 5xxx version if he has some 5xxx documentation on the .evt files.

Here's the link:
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=314993

I was hoping you would point him in the right direction

cow

[agent-x]

Jeff D,

I've added a PS demux filter in rtvconvert that acts like a P-STD demuxer which is needed to synchronize elementary streams from MPEG-2 program streams. Just demultiplexing PS alone isn't sufficient, yet this is what most DVD authoring programs will do and they will break end-to-end timing unless the elementary streams are already aligned. DVD players are P-STDs, which is why the raw RTV streams play in sync, but may be out of sync after authoring. You need to have one of these filters somewhere in your path and depending on your system setup and tools, it might be coming from DirectShow or embedded in your encoder or editor. This version of rtvconvert has a simple one built-in.

MPEG-2 system clock is 27MHz. PTS clock is 90KHz. The SCR extensions don't seem to be used in RTV mpegs, so the timing model only relies on a 90KHz clock (which is perfectly fine). I haven't seen this clock drift out of tolerance and am curious what makes you say the "PTS times always seem wrong".

I'm not sure what problem you're having with importing and streaming. I haven't seen any issues other than the known ones. TCP stack settings and back-to-back DVA streaming are known to cause problems, but they're not anything specific to edited/converted streams. You might find some useful information in the DVArchive event log. Also, if you're editing a downloaded show, you don't technically need to re-import the stream - you can just replace the fileset that's already there (rename the originals if you want to keep them) and update the guide entry.

[jingcha]

Are there similar tools for the 4K series, I have 4504 RTV. Please help
jingcha

[dyker]

OK, stupid newbie question on these tools. I have a show called "Tiny Planets". I've downloaded it to DVA and extracted the files:
Tiny Planets.mpg
Tiny Planets.ndx
Tiny Planets.evt

I am just not getting the documentation on how to simply process the file so that the audio doesn't get out of sync.

I created a text file called TP.txt which contains the text:
Tiny Planets.mpg
E

I then go to DOS and run:
rtvedit.exe tp.txt.

This process gives me the output:
Target: iny Planets.mpg
New Program Time: 000:00.000
Edit Time: 000:00.172

I look in my directory and low and behold, a 2k file called "iny Planets.mpg" now exists. I'm figuring this is what is supposed to happen, the first character being trimmed off. I'm not sure why the file is so small. I then try to run:
rtvconvert "iny planets.mpg" DVDTinyPlanets.mpg

The resulting DVDTinyPlanets.mpg file is about 2k and unusable.

What am I doing wrong and are there other directions somewhere that are clearer for a newbie like me?

(On a side note, I also tried the process against the "Baby Looney Tunes.mpg" file but when I try to run rtvedit against that file it says that it doesn't recognize the command "B".)

[Lee Thompson]

I created a text file called TP.txt which contains the text:
Tiny Planets.mpg
E


That should be:

FTiny Planets.mpg
E


The resulting file will be Tiny Planets1.mpg, process that file with rtvconvert for authoring.

[Jeff D]

Originally posted by agent-x
I've added a PS demux filter in rtvconvert that acts like a P-STD demuxer which is needed to synchronize elementary streams from MPEG-2 program streams. Just demultiplexing PS alone isn't sufficient, yet this is what most DVD authoring programs will do and they will break end-to-end timing unless the elementary streams are already aligned. DVD players are P-STDs, which is why the raw RTV streams play in sync, but may be out of sync after authoring. You need to have one of these filters somewhere in your path and depending on your system setup and tools, it might be coming from DirectShow or embedded in your encoder or editor. This version of rtvconvert has a simple one built-in.

I think I follow, but I know very little about the differences between T-STD and P-STD. What you're saying is the timing relationship between the two streams is lost on a plain ol' split the stream demux. So, it would be best to split the streams with rtvconvert -d to go to dvd source files. Is the only time the rtvconvert demuxer used when using the -d option?


MPEG-2 system clock is 27MHz. PTS clock is 90KHz. The SCR extensions don't seem to be used in RTV mpegs, so the timing model only relies on a 90KHz clock (which is perfectly fine). I haven't seen this clock drift out of tolerance and am curious what makes you say the "PTS times always seem wrong".


Right, sorry, as I understand it the PTS clock is derived from the STC.

My comment on the PTS always being wrong is based off several things some of which can be explained by your previous description of the demux process and how the PC can screw with the streams.


I'm not sure what problem you're having with importing and streaming. I haven't seen any issues other than the known ones. TCP stack settings and back-to-back DVA streaming are known to cause problems, but they're not anything specific to edited/converted streams. You might find some useful information in the DVArchive event log. Also, if you're editing a downloaded show, you don't technically need to re-import the stream - you can just replace the fileset that's already there (rename the originals if you want to keep them) and update the guide entry.

One of the crazy things I'm trying to use rtvconvert for....
I don't know if you saw that some of us are having problem on the 5k recordings where video freezes for 2-4 seconds on playback. After the video starts back up the audio may go out of sync. I've noticed the part of the stream where the replay freezes has a "good" video and audio stream. Demuxing and remuxing the mpeg the remuxed stream plays fine on the replay but all sync is lost. I'm curious rtvconvert can fix what I suspect is garbage in the source recording. The error output I mentioned earlier gives a file offset, but not a time offset, so I'm having a tough time figuring out if the two are one in the same.

Thanks!

[versed]

I've been wanting to use my replay as a DVD server for a while, and now these tools have allowed me to (mostly) do so.

On Linux, I am using transcode and mpeg2enc to transcode the vob into a 480x480 mpeg2 stream using the settings for an SVCD. Mplex then muxes the elementary streams for me, and rtvconvert allows me to import them successfully into DVarchive and stream back to my 5040.

Now for my questions. First, I have not been able to figure out how to create one large mpg from the vobs that will work with rtvconvert. The only settings that seem to work are the ones for SVCD, and this forces mplex to split the output at approx 730 Mb boundaries. Does anyone have any suggestions on how to create one large mpeg that can be converted with rtvconvert?

Here is the transcode command I am using:
transcode -H 10 -a 0 -x vob
-i path/to/vobs -w 2088 -F 5,'-B 180 -S 736 -I 0 -g 9 -G 18 ' --export_asr 3 -b 128 -s 1.419 -V -f 24,1 -
B 0,30,8 -y mpeg2enc,mp2enc -E 48000 --psu_mode --nav_seek /path/to/navlog/created/by/dvdrip --no_split -o
/outputfile/foo

Here is the mux:
mplex -f 4 -V foo.m2v foo.mpa -o foo-%d.mpg

Does anyone have any suggestions on how to create one large mpeg that can be converted with rtvconvert? When I have tried to prevent the splitting, I have ended up with files that rtvconvert would not handle, failing with an invalid stream id message. The svcd settings above are the only ones I've found thus far that appear to set the corrrect stream ID.

Also, if anyone tries to use the above method there is a quirk to getting the files to work correctly. The first file of the series can be rtvconverted and imported directly. The subsequent files must be rtvconverted then rtvedited to make them work. The edit step appears to trim around 250ms from the beginning of the clip, and if it is left out the clip will cause my 5040 to hang and reboot.

Thanks for all the great tools, and as things stand I am already VERY happy with my new ability to stream my DVD's to my replays. If anyone has suggestions on how to improve the above process, or can shed some light on what causes some of the behavior I'm describing, I would be quite grateful.

[Loren Kruse.]

QUESTION:

NOTE - JBARR JUMP IN HERE IN YOU HAVE ANY ADDITONAL THOUGHTS

Could it be possible to do on the fly conversion of MP3 and stream the resulting file with DVArchive? Would be cool if a program like DVArchive could search your computer for MP3's and offer them for streaming where the ReplayTV would see them. Then if a particular song is called it would be converted and streamed on the fly.

[mastafunk]

Here is the batch file icecow was refering to I had foundit a while back in another thread (cant seem to find it anymore) Thanks to the original author.......

evtdump %1 > evt.txt
rtvedit -t1 evt.txt
pause

Put these lines in a text file called edit.bat, then drag the evt file for the mpeg you wish to edit and drop it on the icon for this batch file, it will edit the file and drop it into the same directory as the original.

(I forgot, this might be obvious, but for this to work you must drop the utilities somewhere in your path ie. c:\windows\system32)

[Lee Thompson]

I think I follow, but I know very little about the differences between T-STD and P-STD. What you're saying is the timing relationship between the two streams is lost on a plain ol' split the stream demux. So, it would be best to split the streams with rtvconvert -d to go to dvd source files. Is the only time the rtvconvert demuxer used when using the -d option?

Actually it will work either way with release 4, the -d option actually just tells rtvconvert to leave the streams separate instead of re-muxing them (since most DVD authoring programs want them separated anyway).

[agent-x]

Originally posted by jingcha
Are there similar tools for the 4K series, I have 4504 RTV. Please help

I do think it's possible, but I don't have access to a 4K series box to make it work. We tried to include 4K support the second release, but debugging via proxy doesn't work for this. If I can find one for cheap, I might look at it again.

Originally posted by Jeff D
I think I follow, but I know very little about the differences between T-STD and P-STD. What you're saying is the timing relationship between the two streams is lost on a plain ol' split the stream demux. So, it would be best to split the streams with rtvconvert -d to go to dvd source files. Is the only time the rtvconvert demuxer used when using the -d option?

T-STD isn't relevant here. It's another end-to-end model designed to solve a completely different set of problems for digital broadcast. In P-STD, the original timing has to be propogated to maintain sync. That doesn't mean the original timestamps have to be used, but the timing relationship across streams has to be maintained. This is already done by rtvedit since the first release and is needed to stream back to your RTV in sync.

If your DVD authoring program can take elementary streams (not all of them do), you are better off using -d to write them. The new demuxer is still used internally whether you use -d or not, so the .mpg written out can be imported in your DVD authoring program as well (it will just have to demux it again).

Originally posted by Jeff D
Demuxing and remuxing the mpeg the remuxed stream plays fine on the replay but all sync is lost. I'm curious rtvconvert can fix what I suspect is garbage in the source recording.

rtvconvert won't fix this. If there are any errors in the stream, they will get propogated through. You can try to cut out the offending part with rtvedit, but if the sync error is in the source stream this will have no effect. If the error is caused by a decoder reset, this has a good chance of fixing it.

[agent-x]

Originally posted by versed
When I have tried to prevent the splitting, I have ended up with files that rtvconvert would not handle, failing with an invalid stream id message. The svcd settings above are the only ones I've found thus far that appear to set the corrrect stream ID.

When you are coming from vobs, make sure your audio is converted from ac3 to mp2 and you only have a single audio track. The invalid stream id is almost always an ac3 stream or a second audio track. When you run mplex, make sure you get this and I think you should be okay:

INFO: [mplex] MPEG AUDIO STREAM: c0
INFO: [mplex] Audio version : 1.0
INFO: [mplex] Layer : 2


Originally posted by Loren Kruse.
Could it be possible to do on the fly conversion of MP3 and stream the resulting file with DVArchive?

Possible. Even mpeg-2 streaming conversion could be possible. But the .ndx would have to be faked and you can't use standard filesystem calls to access or move through the stream. You'd likely need to have a server plug-in interface in DVArchive, which to my knowledge does not exist.


Originally posted by mastafunk
evtdump %1 > evt.txt
rtvedit -t1 evt.txt
pause

If you're using edit times from evtdump, you really shouldn't be using -t1 in rtvedit. That is, unless you like having cut times being wrong. ;) That's pretty cool though, add a notepad evt.txt between evtdump and rtvedit and it'll automatically pop up a window to tweak the script in and automatically run when you close it.

[dyker]

Originally posted by Lee Thompson
That should be:

FTiny Planets.mpg
E


The resulting file will be Tiny Planets1.mpg, process that file with rtvconvert for authoring.

Worked perfect. I needed to do 6 files. Can they be batched? I tried


FTiny Planets.mpg
FTiny Planets1.mpg
FTiny Planets2.mpg
FTiny Planets3.mpg
FTiny Planets4.mpg
E


This only seemed to do the last file. No big deal, but curious if the command can be batched like this?

Thanks again! DVD authored like a champ!!

[Jeff D]

agent-x, do you have any way to convert the byte offset reported back in the error to a time code so it can be edited out?

The errror reported was an unsupported stream, type B5. I don't know what a b5 stream is, not "normal" audio or video...

[agent-x]

Originally posted by Jeff D
agent-x, do you have any way to convert the byte offset reported back in the error to a time code so it can be edited out?

The errror reported was an unsupported stream, type B5. I don't know what a b5 stream is, not "normal" audio or video...

No easy way, but you can convert the byte offset manually using the .ndx file to within a half second. Use a hex editor on the .ndx and look for the entry just before the given offset. Then find the associated time for that entry (it'll be 8 bytes long in nanoseconds). I can have the tools report the last known time in the next release.

B5 indicates an mpeg-2 extension in the video stream. You're somewhere in the middle of a video frame, which means your RTV dropped some video buffers out of the encoder. :(

[st5000]

Originally posted by Loren Kruse.
QUESTION:

Could it be possible to do on the fly conversion of MP3 and stream the resulting file with DVArchive? Would be cool if a program like DVArchive could search your computer for MP3's and offer them for streaming where the ReplayTV would see them. Then if a particular song is called it would be converted and streamed on the fly.

I think so, I have started 2 threads on this already (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=310856&highlight=mp3+replaytv) and posted the suggestion to sourceforge under the dvarchive forum. So much for talk, the work I have done (just a little scripting) is spelled out here (http://www.xnet.com/~stuart/mp3replaytv). But for all of it to work (stream it to a replaytv) we needed 2 things. First rtvconvert needed to be rewritten to be able to use named pipes... Hey hey, this latest version allows that! Tell your "friend" thanks Lee! Second, we need a tool to spool the mpeg 2 back to the replaytv unit. And DVArchive is my pick. There is no source code on line as (I think) it had a "CVS moment" over at sourceforge.net. So I am waiting for version 3.0 (current version 2.1) to see how the streaming is done in Java.

But, even after these two mile stones, there are other problems to work on. Right now, I have seen a buffering problem into / out-of a program called mp2enc. I am using it to change a .wav file to a .mpg (level 2) audio file. I noticed that the buffering is such that playback will stop while mp2enc processes a bunch of data (I think 4K bytes) then continue again once mp2enc is done. I hope I will discover or someone will point out a way to avoid this stuttering.

Also, it appears that rtvconvert does not create the .ndx and .evt files until the streaming process is finished. Well, to be exact the .ndx is written to once for about each minute of material and once at the end. The .evt file is written to at the end. These files are necessary for DVArchive, well if you play back the mpeg locally on your computer they don't appear to be necessary. But, if you try to play back an mpeg an a RepalyTV after deleting them from the DVArchive directory the ReplayTV will crash (freeze up). So, in order to stream MP3s for playback on a ReplayTV - some code some where will have to analyze the MP3 and generate these files before the streaming process starts. Can anyone fill me in on the format of a .ndx or .evt file?

[icecow]

I'm a bit confused about video file formats. There are some Maya (3d program) tutorials I have which are in quicktime format. I have some others in .avi format.

I'd like to watch the tutorials on the TV w/Replay awhile I follow along on the laptop

Over the last few years I've had alot of "who's on first..." (classic comedy routine reference) conversations with people about video formats.

I'm told things like ".avi is an MPEG..." when I try to figure out the minutia (details) differences between the two.

I've read all the readme's of RTVtools. I can't determine (or perhaps remember reading) how to get .avi files and quicktime files to an acceptible form where it can then be converted with RTVtools for playback via DVA to my TV screen.

hobbling questions I'd just like to get completely straight:
1)can RTVtools handle .avi files? (I can hear the ax falling already)is there any other extentions that are acceptable MPGS in disguise?
2)Is there a command line program that will convert 1>quicktime 2>.avi(if applicable), 3>.divx, 4>any other common interent to an MPG2 which can then be used by RTVtools.

I have unpromised intentions to figure out some stuff and report back anything good. Need to be babystepped though misconceptions first.

cow

[Lee Thompson]

AVI stands for Audio Video Interleave. It's a codec based multimedia format, it's possible to have MPEG-4 in an AVI but I don't think it's possible to have MPEG-1 or MPEG-2.

You'll need to encode the AVI using TMPGEnc, Vegas Video, Premiere etc. Ttemplates for TMPGEnc are included in the RTV Toolkit package.


1. No. AVI is not MPEG-2.
2. Don't know of one.
3. DivX is an AVI MPEG-4 codec with a spotty history - TMPGEnc can handle it with a little massaging.

You can find TMPGEnc at http://www.tmpgenc.net

[Lee Thompson]

Originally posted by dyker
[B]Worked perfect. I needed to do 6 files. Can they be batched? I tried


FTiny Planets.mpg
FTiny Planets1.mpg
FTiny Planets2.mpg
FTiny Planets3.mpg
FTiny Planets4.mpg
E


Each output file needs it's own edit script. You CAN combine multiple inputs into one output however.

There's more detail and examples of this in the documentation.

[Jeff D]

Originally posted by Lee Thompson
AVI stands for Audio Video Interleave. It's a codec based multimedia format, it's possible to have MPEG-4 in an AVI but I don't think it's possible to have MPEG-1 or MPEG-2.

You'll need to encode the AVI using TMPGEnc, Vegas Video, Premiere etc. Ttemplates for TMPGEnc are included in the RTV Toolkit package.


1. No. AVI is not MPEG-2.
2. Don't know of one.
3. DivX is an AVI MPEG-4 codec with a spotty history - TMPGEnc can handle it with a little massaging.

You can find TMPGEnc at http://www.tmpgenc.net

I think you might be wrong on this... Microsoft has taken a very strange (read closed and open) position on "other file formats" they basturdized (misspelled to beat censored to *******ized) thier format to work with other popular formats. You could possibly wrap a avi wrapper around an MPEG file and get something that's an MPEG in an AVI file.

MS does this with MP3's in wave files. Took me a while to hunt this down when working on some audio decoder code a while back. I saw this file that looked like both a wav and a MP3 file, turns out it was both. They just put a wav file header on an MP3 file and then it's a WAV MP3 file! But I view it as an MP3 file with junk at the beginning! ;)

I wouldn't put it past them to do the same with AVI.
And the AVI format can be thought of as a stream wrapper... so it makes sense, but once again... it's dumb because it's confusing.

[icecow]

Originally posted by agent-x

quote:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Originally posted by mastafunk
evtdump %1 > evt.txt
rtvedit -t1 evt.txt
pause
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


If you're using edit times from evtdump, you really shouldn't be using -t1 in rtvedit. That is, unless you like having cut times being wrong. ;) That's pretty cool though, add a notepad evt.txt between evtdump and rtvedit and it'll automatically pop up a window to tweak the script in and automatically run when you close it.

so... I've been hedging towards something entirely obvious and I can't figure out why it seemly has not been brought up..

Assuming one is willing to accept the replayTV's judgement of where commercials are, and transfer the show to a PC via DVArchive..

Couldn't we offer a very basic batch file that:
>found the commercials (entdump)
>removed the commercials (rtvedit)
>made the dvd compliant (rtvconvert)
Done

modeled from above looking something like this:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
evtdump %1 > evt.txt
rtvedit -t1 evt.txt
rconvert %1 > .mpg <--that line work if it's cleaned up?
pause
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
*if it is this easy why not just include it with rtvtools for now with little instructions

Notes and questions:
>I know evtdump can be adjusted, is there known figures that can be put in entdump that would render the exact same commercial skipping as what we witness when seeing the show? That is, if we saw a show that skipped commercials perfectly, is there a way to make envdump gauranty spitting out the exact same positions for rtvedit? If so I'd conclude that a little batch script could be made and used for all known shows who's CA works perfectly. (I see the spellcheck button, where's the revise button)

>for the record, here's the link of the original post about the little batch script icon:
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?s=&postid=2790420#post2790420

>here's a link to a batch file that finds the root name of a file if that is applicable: http://www.ericphelps.com/batch/samples/rootname.bat.txt


cow

[wen-king]

> Use -d in rtvconvert to write demuxed streams and use -f 8 or -f 9 in mplex for dvd.

This works great. I have finally made my first DVD using
solaris x86 box running rtvtools, mplex, and dvdauthor. I
have not figured out how to burn dvd on that machine
yet, but using a win98 machine to acess the resulting
directory across the network and burn it on dvd is just
as good.

[Lee Thompson]

Originally posted by Jeff D
I think you might be wrong on this... Microsoft has taken a very strange (read closed and open) position on "other file formats" they basturdized (misspelled to beat censored to *******ized) thier format to work with other popular formats. You could possibly wrap a avi wrapper around an MPEG file and get something that's an MPEG in an AVI file.

Maybe but I don't think I am. At any rate Microsoft now uses their Windows Media wrapper on everything which primarily uses MPEG-4.

I suppose it's possible someone could write such a thing but AVI's design doesn't really support it. You could probably get an MPEG-2 codec video stream running but the audio is always interleaved, no PTS support. So whatever it would be would be funky indeed and would not be.. MPEG.

[jbarr]

Re-rendering question: If I take a "raw" ReplayTV file recorded at Medium Quality and import it into Ulead DVD Movie Factory 2, it may or may not import. This is typical. If I take a "raw" file and run it through rtvconvert, the resulting file imports nicely into DMF2, and the audio is in sync, but when I go to burn a disk, it still needs to re-render the file. Is this typical? One HUGE feature of Womble is that the "raw" file edited and saved using Womble imports into DMF2, but doesn't require re-rendering.

Any thoughts? Oh, and I have nothing at all against the rtvconvert app in any way! It's a cool and very quick app that nicely cleans up the file. I just am wondering why it requires re-rendering in DMF2.

[Lee Thompson]

It should not require re-rendering.

Neither I nor agent-x have DVD Movie Factory v2 so we cannot test on it.

[agent-x]

I've tested it on UDMF1 and it doesn't re-render there. First, don't run a "raw" RTV file through rtvconvert. You *have* to run it through rtvedit first. If you're not doing that, it may fix the problem. If you are, then have rtvconvert demux the stream and re-mux it with bbmpg or something that can mux a dvd stream.
The primary goal of rtvconvert is still to generate a mpg that is muxed for streaming to an RTV. It's possible UDMF2 may not like something about it, but none of the authoring apps we've used have re-rendered, including UDMF1.

[krkaufman]

Originally posted by agent-x
The primary goal of rtvconvert is still to generate a mpg that is muxed for streaming to an RTV. I've been wondering about this, so I'm glad you mentioned it. From what I can tell, I should be running all my downloaded ReplayTV files through rtvedit and then rtvconvert, to improve their compatibility with other decoders and applications. And this post-processing doesn't adversely affect streaming back to the ReplayTV, so there's no harm, right?

However, is there a limit to how many times you can/should run rtvedit and/or rtvconvert against a given video file?

[reccitron]

Originally posted by jbarr
If I take a "raw" file and run it through rtvconvert, the resulting file imports nicely into DMF2, and the audio is in sync, but when I go to burn a disk, it still needs to re-render the file. Is this typical?

jbarr,
I've been making DVD's according to your "ReplayTV to DVD HOWTO" guide. Great work. It helped a lot and I've burned about 30 dvd's that way. Over the weekend I had a problem with audio sync in 1 file using womble. Pretty good success rate (1 of 90). I found this thread over the weekend when I was trying to fix the audio problem. I tried the RTVedit and RTVConvert on 3 shows and it worked great. I then imported them into DMF2, set up the menu's and burned them. DMF2 didn't re-render them. I'm going to continue to test out this method and hopefully DMF2 will continue to not re-render.

[jbarr]

Cool! Looks like the essential rtvedit step is what I left out. I'll try it and see what happens.

Thanks!!!

[kcossabo]

what am I doing wrong?

I have a Windows XP machine and get the following;


-=-=-=-from a dos window-=-=-=-=-

F:\wiggles-new>dir try*
Volume in drive F is VIDEO
Volume Serial Number is 547C-1CC7

Directory of F:\wiggles-new

10/23/2003 04:10 PM 80 tryme.evt
10/23/2003 04:10 PM 323,231,900 tryme.mpg
10/23/2003 04:10 PM 64,232 tryme.ndx
3 File(s) 323,296,212 bytes
0 Dir(s) 25,909,500,928 bytes free

F:\wiggles-new>rtvconvert -d tryme
Can't open file -d.mpg

F:\wiggles-new>rtvconvert -d tryme.mpg
Can't open file -d.mpg

F:\wiggles-new>rtvconvert
rtvconvert [-d] <source.mpg> <dest.mpg>

F:\wiggles-new>

[kcossabo]

Need to have output file name

F:\wiggles-new>rtvconvert -d tryme.mpg out2
Source: tryme.mpg
Target: out2.m2v, out2.mp2
Program Time: 022:18.369
Convert Time: 001:06.360

F:\wiggles-new>

[orbitzboy]

Still waiting for these tools on the 4XXXX platform :>

[horseflesh]

I've been super busy lately but I look forward to using my free time next week to figure out these new tools. I have been keeping that 3 hour documentary on The Spartans around until I had time to DVD-ize it.

With an early version of the tools I made an edit list for that show, to snip the pledge breaks, but my edit points were all off by a few seconds after I processed the file. At the time I couldn't find any info about that problem.. sound familiar to anyone? v5.0 5040 high-Q file, it was.

[agent-x]

Originally posted by krkaufman
However, is there a limit to how many times you can/should run rtvedit and/or rtvconvert against a given video file?

I would recommend 1 and 1. :) That said, you can run rtvedit against an rtvedited stream without any issues (at least in theory). But once you run it through rtvconvert, there are a few issues that may prevent rtvedit from working properly. Realize that once you do this, it's not a 5K stream any more - it's a 5K "like" stream. If you want to keep the streams, keep the rtvedit ones and simply run rtvconvert before you burn it.

[agent-x]

Originally posted by horseflesh
With an early version of the tools I made an edit list for that show, to snip the pledge breaks, but my edit points were all off by a few seconds after I processed the file. At the time I couldn't find any info about that problem.. sound familiar to anyone?

Use the -t1 switch if you are manually creating edits. Check the docs for more info.

[breaux124]

Just wanted to say thanks. Took some shows off the Replay and used your tools to remove the commericals. I still had to remove a second or so from one of the commercial breaks with Womble but all the others were trimmed perfectly. I then used DVD Lab to author the disc and it accepted the demuxed streams without any errors.

The final burned disc plays great on my DVD player and there is no audio sync issues.
Thanks for taking time to do this.

[maxjim]

Originally posted by reccitron
jbarr,
I've been making DVD's according to your "ReplayTV to DVD HOWTO" guide. Great work. It helped a lot and I've burned about 30 dvd's that way. Over the weekend I had a problem with audio sync in 1 file using womble. Pretty good success rate (1 of 90). I found this thread over the weekend when I was trying to fix the audio problem. I tried the RTVedit and RTVConvert on 3 shows and it worked great. I then imported them into DMF2, set up the menu's and burned them. DMF2 didn't re-render them. I'm going to continue to test out this method and hopefully DMF2 will continue to not re-render.

Are you always successful using this method? I've tried twice using the RTVedit and RTVConvert method and both times DMF2 required re-rendering. The good news is that the finished product seems to have no audio sync problems.

[antnjen]

Check your DMF2 project settings.

Max bit rate should be 9800 and variable.
Audio should be 48khz, 224 bits.
And make sure you check off "do not encode compliant files"

Someone else posted this once before, and once I made this change (it's not the default), I have been burning w/out issue.

[Clay Schneider]

I have never changed my defaults from the standard DMF2 install defaults, and I have never had it re-encode [low quality files].

[Jeff D]

agent-x, any chance you could enable PMs? I want to discuss these stream errors a bit with you, but I don't think here is a good place. If not, I understand.

[dszlucha]

For those interested, I've written a batch file that will allow you to drag and drop any *.evt, *.ndx, or *.mpg and create a *.dvd.mpg. It also cleans up any intermediate/temporary files as well....


@echo off

rem rtvtools must be in the path

rem Grab input file and trim off extension - so drag and drop will work...
set temp=%1
set filename=%temp:~0,-5%

rem process file...
evtdump %filename%.evt" > evt.txt
rtvedit -t1 evt.txt
rtvconvert %filename%1.mpg" %filename%.dvd.mpg"

rem delete temporary files...
del %filename%1.evt"
del %filename%1.ndx"
del %filename%1.mpg"
del evt.txt

rem For those who want to stream the converted file back to a ReplayTV, comment
rem out the next two lines
del %filename%.dvd.evt"
del %filename%.dvd.ndx"

[reccitron]

Originally posted by maxjim
Are you always successful using this method? I've tried twice using the RTVedit and RTVConvert method and both times DMF2 required re-rendering. The good news is that the finished product seems to have no audio sync problems.

I've created 2 DVD's with RTVEdit, RTVConvert and DMF2 and DMF2 has not re-encoded either time.

[icecow]

thanks dszlucha

xactly what I was looking for.

cow

[agent-x]

evtdump %filename%.evt" > evt.txt
rtvedit -t1 evt.txt


I keep seeing -t1 being misused, so I would like to make clear what this switch actually does.

What does -t1 do?

-t1 is a switch to turn on an internal conversion to correct frame rates from video editors (29.97) to match the ndx/evt (30) plus an offset. This switch is only intended as a convenience for those users who handpick timestamps from an external video editor. It is not a magic switch that can be turned on all the time, if it were it would be on by default and there would be no reason to need a switch.

When should I use it?

You should only use -t1 when you create an edit script manually using timestamps derived from an external video editor.

When should I not use it?

You should not use it when you are using timestamps derived from the .evt or .ndx files. This includes any output from evtdump.

What if evtdump picks up some parts of a commercial? Will -t1 fix it?

No. In early parts of the show, the change is small enough that it may look like this works, but over time it will make the problem worse. Instead, if this happens, you can adjust it by adding or subtracting .5 seconds to the timestamp at the problem location.

What happens if I use it wrong?

You will see increasingly inaccurate edit points, the worst near the end of your program. I.e., you will introduce the same problem the switch is trying to correct.

[dszlucha]

Originally posted by agent-x
When should I use it?

You should only use -t1 when you create an edit script manually using timestamps derived from an external video editor.


Does this apply when I hold SHIFT while using Virtualdub with MPEG2 capability? Or only when I don't use I-frames?

[Bargonaut]

Originally posted by dszlucha
Does this apply when I hold SHIFT while using Virtualdub with MPEG2 capability? Or only when I don't use I-frames?

From the rtvtools docs:

[COLOR=orange]Since RVTEDIT is intended to use times from EVTDUMP, the times used in the
edit list are based off the .ndx/.evt clock (which is different from the
stream clock). If you are creating an edit list manually, you must use an
application that will give you frame times (not MPEG times) or your results
will be off. The -t1 flag allows using frame times from an external
application. This only works for original RTV 5K streams (not converted or
edited).

VirtualDub-MPEG2, 1.5.4 or later, is recommended for manually finding edit
times. For best results, hold SHIFT to snap to I-frames and pick the one
where you want the edit to occur. Once you've created the edit list, use:

rtvedit -t1 <edit-script>

This will adjust the script times to the closest editable locations in the
stream. This should be much more accurate (within 2 frames from my testing
with medium quality streams).[/COLOR]


Basically, any external MPEG editor will use a different time-base than the replay files.
Therefore, you need the switch unless you rely on the evt times themselves.
I-frames don't matter in regard to the "t1" switch, but you SHOULD snap to I-frames
when locating cut points.

Here's a slightly flawed analogy:
Suppose two guys, Ernie and Bert are driving from LA to Vegas. They take separate cars,
but drive the same speed. Each one keeps a log in which he writes down the time every 10 miles.
However, Ernie's watch is SLIGHTLY faster than Bert's.

Now, if you want to know at what time Ernie was at 100 miles, you'd have to rely on his watch.
Likewise, all of Bert's logs are based on his watch. So, if you want to know how long it takes
to get to a specific point along the route, you need to know whose watch was used to record the times.

Similarly, since the Replay "evt" times are a slightly different speed than most MPEG editors,
rtvedit needs to know whose watch was used to record the log. That's what the "t1" switch does:
it distinguishes between the default "evt" times, and the external editor times.

-BS

[dszlucha]

Good point, thanks. Let's say I use the .evt created punch in/out times, but I also use a time from Virtualdub/MPEG (I added one that the Replay did not detect). That would create a conflict.

[madcap]

I pulled an mpg file off the ReplayTV and then did the following:

Ran the file through the rtvedit program (no edits).
Ran the file thougth the rtvconvert program and demuxed the files.
Put the files into two different DVD burning programs (ULead Digital Movie Factory 2 and DVDLab) and burned a DVD with a simple menu.

Both the discs that I created have sound when I play them on the computer, but have no sound when playing on my DVD player. Do I need to convert the audio file before burning to a DVD?

Any help would be appreciated. And thanks to the authors for this great set of tools and all your hard work!

- madcap

[Jeff D]

Originally posted by madcap
I pulled an mpg file off the ReplayTV and then did the following:

Ran the file through the rtvedit program (no edits).
Ran the file thougth the rtvconvert program and demuxed the files.
Put the files into two different DVD burning programs (ULead Digital Movie Factory 2 and DVDLab) and burned a DVD with a simple menu.

Both the discs that I created have sound when I play them on the computer, but have no sound when playing on my DVD player. Do I need to convert the audio file before burning to a DVD?

Any help would be appreciated. And thanks to the authors for this great set of tools and all your hard work!

- madcap


Your dvd player most likely has a problem with MPEG Audio, there are two things you can do....
1) configure your dvd player to output PCM data, not bitstream digital audio for these dvds. It's a pain to do, but it works for most players. Older toshiba players had this problem.
2) convert the audio to AC-3 2.0 with besweet or something else that will convert the audio. BesweetGUI makes the commandline besweet tools a bit easier to use, but they can still be tricky.

[reccitron]

Originally posted by madcap
I pulled an mpg file off the ReplayTV and then did the following:

Ran the file through the rtvedit program (no edits).
Ran the file thougth the rtvconvert program and demuxed the files.
Put the files into two different DVD burning programs (ULead Digital Movie Factory 2 and DVDLab) and burned a DVD with a simple menu.

- madcap

Did you me mean DVD Movie Factory? If so, you don't need to demux in the rtvconvert step unless your planning on doing something else with the audio. DVD Movie Factory imports the file fine without demuxing.

[premierht]

Okay guys, I have read this thread 4 times and printed it out for reference. I have read the user guide in the tools twice and also have a hard copy of that for reference.

I am new to the DVD burning world, but am a techie at heart. I am not able to get my arms around one part of the process. Namely, how is the final DVD.MPEG file burned directly to disc and played on standalone DVD players?

I thought that a DVD had to be comprised of .VOB files in order to play. I am only familiar with Nero's burning capabilities. Is that why people use the Ulead program? Does the Ulead program somehow extract a single VOB file from the DVD.MPEG file before publishing on the disc? I was hoping to use Nero for this final step.

Thanks for the help here. I feel like I am on the 3 yard line.

E. J.

[Chadmanii]

I know I'm showing my naivete, but could someone familiar with OS X please tell me where to put these tools so I can execute them from the terminal?

Any help is greatly appreciated.

[antibody128]

EJ
Some DVD players (especially cheap ones) can play *.mpg files directly off the DVD-R or even CD-R's. If you've got one of these players all you'll need is something like Nero to burn the files on the disk like any other data.

Most DVD players will require the .VOB's etc. so for that you may need DVDlab or Ulead's DMF2. You may be able to find some freeware to do this on DVDRhelp.com, but full DVD compliance may be an issue.

[MasterShake]

Originally posted by Chadmanii
I know I'm showing my naivete, but could someone familiar with OS X please tell me where to put these tools so I can execute them from the terminal?

Any help is greatly appreciated.

Any directory that is in your path will work. Type set <enter> at a prompt to display the shell variables - pick a directory listed in the path. A good choice would be /Users/userid/bin (where userid is your login name), though your may need to create it [1]. Alternatively you can just run them from wherever you downloaded them [2].

Assuming a new terminal session (current dir is /Users/userid):
[1] mkdir bin
[2] If you downloaded the zip file and let StuffIt do it's thing, then this would be: ./Desktop/rev4/bin/osx/evtdump

[jakebrake]

I see another fellow was having a problem with the -d when using rtvconvert. He indicated he had fixed the problem, but I'm not having any luck. Using Win2000, and going into Dos using the "Run CMD".

Here's what I get:

J:\DVR\rtvtools\rtvconvert -d Chicago1.mpg DVDChicago.mpg
Can't open file -d.mpg

In his example, I believe he left off the ".mpg" on the destination file name, but I get the same error message.

Any thoughts what I'm doing wrong? Looks like a DOS version problem maybe.

Jake

[premierht]

Okay, so last night it worked, first try. I used the batch file as listed above (thank you dszlucha) and each step was therefore automated. Couldn't have been easier. True drag and drop. Then Ulead DMF2 was great too. I used the free 30 day downloadable trial and it too worked without a a hitch.

Thanks to all who helped me and to all members responsible for the fantastic extras they have made for the RTV. This forum is great.

E. J.

[tedler]

These tools ROCK!!

Thank you Lee and Agent-x!

[Lee Thompson]

Originally posted by jakebrake
I see another fellow was having a problem with the -d when using rtvconvert. He indicated he had fixed the problem, but I'm not having any luck. Using Win2000, and going into Dos using the "Run CMD".

Here's what I get:

J:\DVR\rtvtools\rtvconvert -d Chicago1.mpg DVDChicago.mpg
Can't open file -d.mpg

In his example, I believe he left off the ".mpg" on the destination file name, but I get the same error message.

Any thoughts what I'm doing wrong? Looks like a DOS version problem maybe.

Jake

You must run RTVCONVERT from the actual command shell not from the Start->Run entry box. This probably goes for RTVEDIT too.

(Quick way to the shell is to go Start->Run and type in "CMD" and hit enter.)

[jakebrake]

Yes, that's how got to the command prompt. I went to start-run-cmd. (Win2000).

If acts as if it thinks "-d" is a file rather than a dos switch.

I also tried the "-d" at the end of the line rather than between "rtvconvert" and the input file name, but that didn't result in the two demux'd files (audio and video).

Jake

[emtoneill]

In need of some help.

I am using a WinTV-PVR-250 to capture cable broadcasts (HRC) for viewing on my RTV5040. The capture goes fine using Win2000 with these settings (and localplay "off"):
VIDEO:
Output Stream: Program
Rate: 6000 vbr
GOPs: 15
Resolution: 720x480
AUDIO:
48kHz @ 224 kbps, layer 2

I run the clip through rtvedit (no edits) and then rtvconvert, both of which complete successfully.

I then import the rtvconvert output using DVArchive.

I can playback the initial clip and the output of rtvedit on my PC via WXP Media Player with NO a/v sync problems (no problems at all actually).

However, the output of rtvconvert (played back on my PC via WXP Media Player) and the playback on my TV via RTV5040 have a constant a/v sync problem thoughout the clip.

H/W: PIII/800Mhz/256MB RAM/40GB HDD/NIC/

Any suggestions?

[reccitron]

Originally posted by jakebrake
Yes, that's how got to the command prompt. I went to start-run-cmd. (Win2000).

If acts as if it thinks "-d" is a file rather than a dos switch.

I also tried the "-d" at the end of the line rather than between "rtvconvert" and the input file name, but that didn't result in the two demux'd files (audio and video).

Jake

Make sure there are no spaces in your file names including the directory path. If there are, you will have to use quotes around them.

[reccitron]

Originally posted by emtoneill
In need of some help.

I am using a WinTV-PVR-250 to capture cable broadcasts (HRC) for viewing on my RTV5040. The capture goes fine using Win2000 with these settings (and localplay "off"):
VIDEO:
Output Stream: Program
Rate: 6000 vbr
GOPs: 15
Resolution: 720x480
AUDIO:
48kHz @ 224 kbps, layer 2



Any suggestions?

Yeah, Record on the ReplayTV and save on your PC until your ready to stream it back. I bought the replay so I could get away from the PC Tv cards. I get a lot better quality and consistency from the ReplayTV.

[American Freak]

A GUI would be nice for this tool kit....I think it would help alot of people.

[jakebrake]

Originally posted by reccitron
Make sure there are no spaces in your file names including the directory path. If there are, you will have to use quotes around them.

No spaces in file name. See previous post in thread. I started to test it in Win98se DOS, when I realized my file was larger than 2 Gb, so I have to leave on a NTFS drive and use Win2000. Are any of you guys using Win2000 or are you using NT and XP? I'm wondering if this problem is specific to Win2000 version of DOS.

For some reason it identifies the "-d" as the file it's suppose to open:

J:\DVR\rtvtools\rtvconvert -d Chicago1.mpg DVDChicago.mpg
Can't open file -d.mpg


Jake

[Lee Thompson]

There are two versions of the DOS interpreter on Windows NT 4.0, Windows 2000 and Windows XP. command.com and cmd.exe ... Make sure you're using cmd.exe.

[Leepz]

I love these files. No more sync issues and no more re encoding (with DVD Movie Factory 2).

I use the following batch file to help in the processing. Wrote it for myself, but maybe it will help some others. Drag the Replay evt file onto this file to get things going. I put the RTVTools files right in the same directory as my replay files, and the batch file expects this.

You will need to change two lines as indicated below for your specific setup so it will know were to find your replay files and were to find VirtualDub. For the record I am using Windows XP Home. Hope you find this helpful.

@echo off
Rem This process assumes that RTVTools are in the same directory as
Rem your movies. Change the two lines indicated ** below as needed.

color 73

Echo REPLAY to DVD Conversion
Echo _________________________

rem Change Directory to RTVTools and Replay MPG location...
rem ** edit the following line to the directory of your replay mpgs
CD c:\replay movies\Local_guide

rem Grab input file and trim off extension so drag and drop will work...
set temp=%1
set filename=%temp:~0,-5%

rem process event file...
evtdump %filename%.evt" > evt.txt
echo Event file has been processed

rem check to see if manual edit desired
set yes=y
Set /P answer="Would you like to edit using Virtual Dub? [Y/N]"
If /I %answer% EQU %yes% goto edit
goto noedit

Rem Manual edit using VirtualDub
:edit
echo VirtualDub will be loaded. Note edit times
pause
rem **edit the following line to the directory for VirtualDub
call C:\VirtualDub\VeedubP4.exe %filename%.mpg
echo The evt.txt file will be loaded for you to manually edit
pause
evt.txt
rtvedit -t1 evt.txt
goto convert

Rem No Manual edit
:noedit
echo File will be auto edited
pause
rtvedit evt.txt

rem Convert file.....
:convert
rtvconvert %filename%1.mpg" %filename%.dvd.mpg"


rem delete temporary files...
del %filename%1.evt"
del %filename%1.ndx"
del %filename%1.mpg"
del evt.txt

rem delete next 2 lines to stream converted file back to a ReplayTV
del %filename%.dvd.evt"
del %filename%.dvd.ndx"

echo File processing Complete
pause

[agent-x]

Originally posted by jakebrake
[For some reason it identifies the "-d" as the file it's suppose to open:

J:\DVR\rtvtools\rtvconvert -d Chicago1.mpg DVDChicago.mpg
Can't open file -d.mpg

Type "rtvconvert" by itself. Does it show:
rtvconvert [-d] <source.mpg> <dest.mpg>

If it doesn't show the [-d], you've got an old version in your path.

[agent-x]

Originally posted by emtoneill
I am using a WinTV-PVR-250 to capture cable broadcasts (HRC) for viewing on my RTV5040. The capture goes fine using Win2000 with these settings (and localplay "off"):
...
I run the clip through rtvedit (no edits) and then rtvconvert, both of which complete successfully.

You shouldn't run non-rtv files through rtvedit. It makes a lot of assumptions about the source stream that aren't applicable to non-rtv streams. I'm not even sure how you got it to work since it needs an ndx file and the ndx builder assumes a 5k stream.

For conforming non-rtv streams. just run them through rtvconvert directly. If you still get a sync issue, try the rtvconvert from rev3. There was a minor change in rev4 that may be affecting you.

[jakebrake]

Originally posted by agent-x
Type "rtvconvert" by itself. Does it show:
rtvconvert [-d] <source.mpg> <dest.mpg>

If it doesn't show the [-d], you've got an old version in your path.

Thanks Lee and Agent-X for the suggestions. I don't think I have an older version of rtvconvert because version 4 was the first version I've downloaded (new DVR owner).

The suggestion Lee made, checking to see which version of Dos is loading is a possible solution. I'm on the road and won't be able to check and try it again until Friday night. I'll post my results. I hope you'll check on me - I appreciate the "hand holding" as I try to get it working.

I note on another thread Agent-X mentioned going back to a version 3 for audio sync problems. I may try that too. Since I couldn't get a de-mux'd output from version 4, I used another program (bbmux) to de-mux the output file, and then used ifoedit to author, and nero to burn a dvd. I ended up with a fraction of a second sync offset. Just enough to be bothersome. I'm not sure how you determine how much offset to compensate.

Jake

[emtoneill]

Originally posted by agent-x
For conforming non-rtv streams. just run them through rtvconvert directly. If you still get a sync issue, try the rtvconvert from rev3. There was a minor change in rev4 that may be affecting you.

Agent-x, thanks.

The recommendations did significantly reduce the level of sync offset.

[Rob Mason]

On one of the earlier rtvtools threads (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?postid=2586797#post2586797), I commented that I suffered from a problem previously posted by another (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?postid=2573371#post2573371).

Since I haven't seen others mention they have the problem, I have to assume it's something here. In short, I am able to build an edit script and use it to build a new mpg with rtvedit and then stream it back to my RTV with DVArchive (v2.1). The mpeg plays fine and the commercials are pretty much gone. But then the trouble starts. If I try and stream anything else (or the same edited mpeg), my Replay 5120 (upgraded from a 5040) reboots.

Is anyone else seeing this or do any of you have an idea of what I might try to fix it? This problem is turning out to be pretty much a show stopper (yeah, pitiful pun intended).

BTW, same problem with all versions of RTV Tools up to and including v4.

Oh, and if I try and convert a "normal" mpeg to RTV, I get the same results. It works, but then throws my RTV into a reboot on my next attempt to stream anything.

[Phule]

Originally posted by American Freak
A GUI would be nice for this tool kit....I think it would help alot of people.

I am hoping to have the initial version of my Windows front-end ready this weekend. I have the screen for RTVDump done, and I just have to do the RTVEdit and RTVConvert screens.

I am initially planning on the front end being VERY simple for the initial versions. Aside from wrapping all the command-line switches, I have an edit box so you can edit the text file inside the app (no searching or anything fancy yet).

Later, if I have time, I was planning to add the ability to use a slider control to mark the in/out points.

I'll keep everyone posted.

[afalzone]

Leepz,

I tried your batch file and it seems to work great. Totally takes away the need of figuring out the dos commands. This batch file should be included with RTVTools itself.

[American Freak]

Originally posted by Phule
I am hoping to have the initial version of my Windows front-end ready this weekend. I have the screen for RTVDump done, and I just have to do the RTVEdit and RTVConvert screens.

I am initially planning on the front end being VERY simple for the initial versions. Aside from wrapping all the command-line switches, I have an edit box so you can edit the text file inside the app (no searching or anything fancy yet).

Later, if I have time, I was planning to add the ability to use a slider control to mark the in/out points.

I'll keep everyone posted.


I know you had posted in the MAC section that you were working on a Windows version......I'm sure you'll get alot of new attention here.....:D


PM if you need someone to test it.....

[kog]

Originally posted by Rob Mason
Since I haven't seen others mention they have the problem, I have to assume it's something here. In short, I am able to build an edit script and use it to build a new mpg with rtvedit and then stream it back to my RTV with DVArchive (v2.1). The mpeg plays fine and the commercials are pretty much gone. But then the trouble starts. If I try and stream anything else (or the same edited mpeg), my Replay 5120 (upgraded from a 5040) reboots.
[/B]

This is a known issue with DVArchive running on a Windows box. If you try and stream 2 shows consecutively from DVArchive your ReplayTV will reboot. If you stream one show, then tune to a different channel, and then try streaming the second show it shouldn't reboot. This is not an issue if you're running DVArchive on Mac OS X.

-KoG

[Phule]

Originally posted by American Freak
I know you had posted in the MAC section that you were working on a Windows version......I'm sure you'll get alot of new attention here.....:D


PM if you need someone to test it.....

Oh, I'll take all the help I can get! :D

[shawnharper]

Thanks for working on it, Phule!!

[agent-x]

Originally posted by jakebrake
I don't think I have an older version of rtvconvert because version 4 was the first version I've downloaded (new DVR owner).

I note on another thread Agent-X mentioned going back to a version 3 for audio sync problems.

I just wanted to rule out an "unknown" from this issue because it sounds to me like you are using an older version. From both the -d not working and your audio sync. The rev3 suggestion I made to someone else is only for non-rtv streams. If you use rev3 with an rtv stream, you will have a sync problem.

Now, I do know that the thread for rev3 was recently bumped and it's possible that someone downloaded that version thinking it was new as the threads do look very much alike. It's just a simple test to see if you really do have rev4.

Anyway, I have tried both command.com and cmd.exe under Win2K with rev4 and I don't have this problem.

[agent-x]

Originally posted by emtoneill
The recommendations did significantly reduce the level of sync offset.

Did you have to go back to rev3? If you did, let me know so I can fix it in the next rev - I just didn't think it would ever happen. :)

[emtoneill]

Originally posted by agent-x
Did you have to go back to rev3? If you did, let me know so I can fix it in the next rev - I just didn't think it would ever happen. :)

No, I didn't. Relative to the a/v sync issue, there doesn't appear to be a significant difference between rev3 and rev4.

My problem was in starting with rev2, running into problems, reading through this thread, switching to rev4 AND following the advice to run streams through rtvedit (even without edits) first - without noting that that only pertained to rtv downloaded streams.

[tluxon]

How cool would it be if DVArchive 3.0 provides an option to rtvedit and/or rtvconvert any files that are downloaded from your Replay?

[moeronn]

How cool would it be if DVArchive 3.0 provides an option to rtvedit and/or rtvconvert any files that are downloaded from your Replay?That would be pretty cool, but I think Gerry already ruled out providing any editing capabilities in DVA. Though, he did mention providing a method to create plug-ins, so others could add this functionality in. Now, if only we could get the front-end GUI (with ability to see and edit break points visually) for RTVTools, along with the tools, as a plug in... that would be great. I don't ask for too much:D

[icecow]

Forgive me if this has already been discussed in this rather huge thread.

after I used the evtdump/rtvedit/rtvconver batch script to make a show shorter and try to import it back into DVArchive, DVA prompts me to put in the show name, description, and time. I put in 25 min as the time. It works, but am I missing something? Is there a way to do it so the file retains the show title/description and updates the time (new length of show)?

cow

[jakebrake]

Originally posted by agent-x
Type "rtvconvert" by itself. Does it show:
rtvconvert [-d] <source.mpg> <dest.mpg>

If it doesn't show the [-d], you've got an old version in your path.

Got home, checked, and sure enough I had an old version of rtvconvert (August date). Don't know how I managed to do that.

Thanks for the help.

Jake

[icecow]

Originally posted by icecow
Forgive me if this has already been discussed in this rather huge thread.

after I used the evtdump/rtvedit/rtvconver batch script to make a show shorter and try to import it back into DVArchive, DVA prompts me to put in the show name, description, and time. I put in 25 min as the time. It works, but am I missing something? Is there a way to do it so the file retains the show title/description and updates the time (new length of show)?

cow

bump

nudge

nudge LeeThompson

[Lee Thompson]

oh I didn't know you were nudging me.. heh I have no idea heh

[krkaufman]

Originally posted by icecow after I used the evtdump/rtvedit/rtvconver batch script to make a show shorter and try to import it back into DVArchive, DVA prompts me to put in the show name, description, and time. I put in 25 min as the time. It works, but am I missing something? Is there a way to do it so the file retains the show title/description and updates the time (new length of show)?
Short answer: You'll want to export the show info (XML file) from DVA, and then edit it to match the post-rtvedit length.

Without the XML show info file, DVA will prompt you for some of the info. Having to enter this manually is a pain, so I always export the XML file for any show I'm editing.

My process: Move evt/ndx/mpg files to same DVA 'Local_Guide' directory
Use rtvedit/rtvconvert to create a new, shortened RTV-compliant set of files.
Export show info XML to same directory as rtvtool'd fileset
Rename XML file to match rtvtool'd filenames
Edit XML file to reflect new length (and maybe tweak the episode name to indicate the modification).
Import rtvtool'd show into DVA. (And DVA won't prompt for info, since the XML file contains all the info.)
Of course, if the file wasn't originally downloaded from a ReplayTV, you *will* have to manually enter all the info.

[icecow]

good answer
well written
thank you

cow

[DavidEC]

Originally posted by Leepz
I I use the following batch file to help in the processing. ..... I am using Windows XP Home. Hope you find this helpful.

@echo off
Rem This process assumes that RTVTools are in the same directory as
Rem your movies. Change the two lines indicated ** below as needed.

color 73

Echo REPLAY to DVD Conversion
Echo _________________________

rem Change Directory to RTVTools and Replay MPG location...
rem ** edit the following line to the directory of your replay mpgs
CD c:\replay movies\Local_guide

rem Grab input file and trim off extension so drag and drop will work...
set temp=%1
set filename=%temp:~0,-5%

rem process event file...
evtdump %filename%.evt" > evt.txt
echo Event file has been processed

rem check to see if manual edit desired
set yes=y
Set /P answer="Would you like to edit using Virtual Dub? [Y/N]"
If /I %answer% EQU %yes% goto edit
goto noedit

Rem Manual edit using VirtualDub
:edit
echo VirtualDub will be loaded. Note edit times
pause
rem **edit the following line to the directory for VirtualDub
call C:\VirtualDub\VeedubP4.exe %filename%.mpg
echo The evt.txt file will be loaded for you to manually edit
pause
evt.txt
rtvedit -t1 evt.txt
goto convert

Rem No Manual edit
:noedit
echo File will be auto edited
pause
rtvedit evt.txt

rem Convert file.....
:convert
rtvconvert %filename%1.mpg" %filename%.dvd.mpg"


rem delete temporary files...
del %filename%1.evt"
del %filename%1.ndx"
del %filename%1.mpg"
del evt.txt

rem delete next 2 lines to stream converted file back to a ReplayTV
del %filename%.dvd.evt"
del %filename%.dvd.ndx"

echo File processing Complete
pause

Questions about changing bat file...
[been too many years since I wrote a dos bat file]

What would I need to change to have the following happen...
[A] a 'notepad' readable file of the edit points/times?
[B] have the "temp" files written to and then read from another drive?
in my case from drive "F:\" to "C:\" and then from "C:\" back to "F:\"

On my system I had to add a "SET PATH =" command to the batch file.

Thanks-
David

[shawnharper]

bump

Phule - any word on the GUI for Win?

[antibody128]

Shawnharper have you checked out KSB's rtvplayer(http://inside.drexel.edu/ksb/rtvPlayer )? I haven't tried it yet, but it sounds like the latest version (0.91?) includes features that work with rtvedit and may be at least a partial GUI you're looking for.

I just burned my first DVD yesterday, using these tools and the free Sonic MyDVD that came with my recorder. It was a standard quality recording from the ReplayTV and I was very impressed with the DVD. Nice picture and no audio psynch problem. The output from rtvconvert was accepted by Sonic MyDVD without reencoding so the whole process took maybe 10 minutes since the 1/2 hour standard recording only took a few minutes to actually burn. Thanks to all for the great software. It's so easy to use, I'm not sure why you would need the GUI anyway.

[shawnharper]

Thanks antibody128. I've been keeping up with the rtvplayer thread, and now that it supports 5ks, I'll check it out.

I'd tried the rtvtools in the past, but I'm not much of a DOS guy, so all the command-line stuff scared me away after I tried it without success.

Looks like the rtvplayer will help, so I'll dive back into the pool.

-Shawn

[dirtyDogStink]

First off, thanks for all the work you've put into these tools Lee! I've been able to successfully archive several of my RTV5 files to DVD-R using your toolset! :)

Originally posted by Lee Thompson
* Convert MPEG-2 streams and stream to a RTV5K with DVArchive


Perhaps I'll get b**ch-slapped for asking a pretty newb question, but I've done several hours of searching AVSForums.com, DVDRHelp.com and several other Googled sites without having had much luck finding an answer to my dilemma. I've probably run across the answers, but don't know enough to correlate them and/or put them together in the proper order. I would like to transfer some of my TV shows on DVD (Friends, 24, etc.) to an .MPG format that will work with DVArchive and my RTV5040. According to the quote above it appears as though RTVCONVERT will do this, but I've had no luck so far...

Here's what I've tried:
1. Used DVDCompress to copy & compress a DVD to my HDD.
2. Renamed the .VOB to .MPG, as directed in a forum on DVDRHelp.com.
2.a. This .MPG worked fine in WM9.
3. Attempted to run RTVCONVERT, but it puked with the following output:
C:\24.Episodes1-4>rtvconvert VTS_04_1.mpg 24.Episode1.mpg
Source: VTS_04_1.mpg
Target: 24.Episode1.mpg
Video overrun, unknown or bad audio mux: len=3145734

I realize that I'm probably missing something around the .VOB to .MPG conversion, but I honestly don't know what and haven't found anything that explains it to me. :confused:

Anyway, here are my specific questions:
1. Just to verify...RTVCONVERT will transfer an MPEG-2 file to a RTV5 .MPG file that I can use with DVArchive?
2. Any idea how I can convert the DVD's .VOB files to a suitable format for conversion (i.e.: MPEG-2)?
3. Do I need to run DVDDecrypter before compressing the files in order to get a 'clean' .VOB file?

I know that I'm revealing my newbie-ness, but alas I'm at a standstill. :(

Thanks!

[Lee Thompson]

1. Yes
2. Yes and you're not doing it the right way. VOBs are *segments* of MPEG-2 (with Dolby Digital audio) so you'll need to merge them and convert the audio to MPEG audio. There's a few different ways to do this.
3. You'll need to run DVD Decryptor, Smart Ripper etc to initially get the VOB set. You generally can't just copy VOBs (they are encrypted).

With DVDs you're frankly just better off watching it on the DVD player - converting them for Replay use is possible but has a number of steps. In general: 1. Rip, 2. Merge, 3. Demux, 4. Transcode audio (generally just the english track), 5. Mux, 6. Convert.

[dirtyDogStink]

Thanks Lee. I wondered if it was more work than it was really worth to convert the DVD to RTV compatibility.

1. Cool.
2. Ok, that's what I figured, but was experiencing a brainfart. :rolleyes: Btw, I did find a program called 'AVI2MPG2' and might give that a go for converting the .VOB files (after decrypting them).
3. Thx, I'll do this next time around.

Thanks again for your help!

[Bargonaut]

Originally posted by agent-x
Type "rtvconvert" by itself. Does it show:
rtvconvert [-d] <source.mpg> <dest.mpg>

If it doesn't show the [-d], you've got an old version in your path.

I saw this error, too. The CMD.exe and spaces in the path are red herrings -- the real problem is user error. If you forget to supply a "dest.mpg", rtvconvert thinks the "-d" is the source name. Don't forget both src and dest filenames.

-BS

[agent-x]

Originally posted by dirtyDogStink
Thanks Lee. I wondered if it was more work than it was really worth to convert the DVD to RTV compatibility.


As Lee said, you're better off watching the DVD.

While you can do this conversion, it's usually not worth the effort and its success depends on the DVD encoding. Besides needing layer 2 audio, you may still have issues with the video. If it's interlaced video, you should have no problems. But if it's progressive - it needs to be entirely progessive within a progressive sequence. If it's mixed progressive and interlaced frames, the conversion won't work. But this really only affects DVDs from studios, which means it won't be fixed. :rolleyes:

[jdn]

dirtydogstink-
The easiest way to convert DVD to RTV is to simply connect your DVD player to an input on the RTV and do a manual record.

[antibody128]

I know this DVD rip > Rtvconvert > ReplayTV is more work than it's worth and more than I'll do, but it got me thinking. Isn't this really the holy grail of what the ReplayTV's digital audio outputs are for? People have been complaining since the 5XXX's have come out that there's no digital in so the digital out is kind of silly. Now with a ripped DVD, RTVconvert, and DVarchive, the ReplayTV IS playing digital audio that never went through an analogue convert.

Please excuse me if this brainfart is not original since I'm sure someone has thought of it by now.

[volleynerd]

I'm sure I'm screwing up something, or otherwise don't completely understand the process. I've read the numerous FAQs, etc.

First time trying to get a DVD burn of a show I pulled down from Replay using DVArchive. When importing into a couple different DVD author programs, I get [COLOR=red]illegal mpg (mpeg) video stream[/COLOR] (or there abouts)

My understanding of these tools is that RTVEDIT, then RTVCONVERT will "fix" the streams so as to be compatible with the authoring software?

Am I missing something?
Or maybe my author software is poor?
-- Roxio DVD Builder 1.0.0.263
-- Sonic MyDVD 4.0

Note that I *have* successfully imported a replay MPG into the DVD s/w, but only after running it through Womble, as suggested by many. I'm using a 30 day trial version for now, so just wonder if I need that for long term? Thought these Replay tools (namely RTVCONVERT) was maybe meant to replace the need for Womble?

Thanks for any direction.

[antibody128]

Yes, the RTVtools V4 (RTVedit and RTVconvert) pretty much are a free alternative to Womble for what it sounds like you are doing.

I just made my first DVD from a replaytv recording using just these tools and Sonic's MyDVD. Worked great!

[volleynerd]

Thanks for the info antibody. Since you seem to have the same config as me....I pm'd you for a little more info if you have a spare moment.
THANKS !!

[dirtyDogStink]

Originally posted by jdn
dirtydogstink-
The easiest way to convert DVD to RTV is to simply connect your DVD player to an input on the RTV and do a manual record.

Yeah, that would be the easiest method :) , but the whole reason I'm even entertaining/investigating this process is because I don't have a DVD player hooked up in the same room as my RTV. If I did then I'd just watch the DVDs and be done with it... ;) We watch most of our TV in our bedroom (with the RTV) due to convenience and then my living room is our home theater setup where we watch DVDs. I could always just go spend $60 on a DVD player for the bedroom, but it seems like a waste given a smaller TV and no surround sound.

Oh well, thanks for all the suggestions and advice! I truly appreciate the assistance!

[tluxon]

I wanted to chop off the first 2 hours 32 minutes off of a 4 hour football game recording so I entered "A152:00.000" in my rtvedit script. Instead of cutting out the first 152 minutes, it cut out about the first 172 minutes. Does anybody know why?

[krkaufman]

Originally posted by dirtyDogStink
...the whole reason I'm even entertaining/investigating this process is because I don't have a DVD player hooked up in the same room as my RTV. ... We watch most of our TV in our bedroom (with the RTV) due to convenience and then my living room is our home theater setup where we watch DVDs. I could always just go spend $60 on a DVD player for the bedroom, but it seems like a waste given a smaller TV and no surround sound. ...
I'm in a similar situation, and plan on looking into the following solution: keep the RTV and DVD locally attached to the home theater setup, but find a way to feed their signals to the bedroom -- and control both units from either the HT room or the bedroom (with add'l remotes, of course; possibly universals).

I'm hoping that the [color=blue]Home Integration and Distribution[/color] (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/forumdisplay.php?s=&forumid=36) AVSForum discussion forum will shed some light.

Good luck.

[Lee Thompson]

Originally posted by tluxon
I wanted to chop off the first 2 hours 32 minutes off of a 4 hour football game recording so I entered "A152:00.000" in my rtvedit script. Instead of cutting out the first 152 minutes, it cut out about the first 172 minutes. Does anybody know why?

Did you use the -t1 switch with rtvedit?

[tluxon]

Originally posted by Lee Thompson
Did you use the -t1 switch with rtvedit?
No. I thought the -t1 switch was only for timecodes that were obtained from other viewers. FWIW, this was a 4k stream so the script was modeled after ed14k.txt with the "A152:00.000" line inserted before the "E" line.

Tim

[agent-x]

Is it an original 4k mpg and ndx or were they processed in any way before editing? If the ndx is the original one, I would be interested in looking at it if it's not too big to attach. I don't have a 4K, so there could very well be a bug in the 4K index code.

[tluxon]

Originally posted by agent-x
Is it an original 4k mpg and ndx or were they processed in any way before editing? If the ndx is the original one, I would be interested in looking at it if it's not too big to attach. I don't have a 4K, so there could very well be a bug in the 4K index code.
Would you like just THAT ndx file or will ANY 4k ndx file do? The game is still on the 4k, so I can download it again, but I wouldn't be able to make the ndx available to you until morning. If ANY 4k ndx file will do, I can attach it right away.

[edit]
Okay, I got just the ndx file from the Replay, but it's over 900kb. You can get it here (http://mysite.verizon.net/tb.luxon/USC-WSU_1068100959.ndx) in about 3 minutes.

Thanks,

Tim

[agent-x]

"Is it an original 4k mpg and ndx or were they processed in any way before editing?"

So, to be clear, when you saw the time problem were you using the original .mpg and .ndx files?

[tluxon]

agent-x,

I usually will run the original mpg and ndx files through rtvedit without any trimming before editing in Womble. On this file set I ran the originals through rtvedit with the "A152:00.000" trim line in the script. The exact ndx of the file set in question is linked in my previous post. Right-click the hyperlinked "here" and select "save target as". The htm file extension should be corrected to ndx.

Thanks,

Tim

[dszlucha]

Originally posted by agent-x
I've added a PS demux filter in rtvconvert that acts like a P-STD demuxer which is needed to synchronize elementary streams from MPEG-2 program streams. Just demultiplexing PS alone isn't sufficient, yet this is what most DVD authoring programs will do and they will break end-to-end timing unless the elementary streams are already aligned. DVD players are P-STDs, which is why the raw RTV streams play in sync, but may be out of sync after authoring. You need to have one of these filters somewhere in your path and depending on your system setup and tools, it might be coming from DirectShow or embedded in your encoder or editor. This version of rtvconvert has a simple one built-in.


So from this can I assume that a DVD authoring program can introduce a/v sync problems? Here's my problem - I do an rtvedit and can stream back to my replay with no a/v sync problems. The rtvconverted version of my mpg plays back find with WMP, but when I burn it to DVD with DVDMF1x it has a couple of spots where the a/v are out of sync. I've also tried editing with womble and the same exact spots in my video are out of sync when played on the DVD player. The only common component was DVDMF1x.

Since rtvconvert can do the dmux for me, without relying on an unknown directshow filter path, I would assume that using the -d option and finding an authoring program that can accept demuxed mpg's would be my best option?

Thanks.

[Jeff D]

dszlucha, are you saying the audio goes in an out of sync over the recording on DVD? (That's sounds strange. But I won't say I haven't seen this) Or the audio starts fine and drifts out of sync by the end?

[Lee Thompson]

In my experience the DVD authoring programs that only accept program streams are pretty ... well... lame. I won't mention them by name but it's included as a freebie a lot of the time heh.

The whole DVD authoring software selection on the PC has been rather bizarre, the low end programs are horrible and the high end programs are wildly expensive ($1000+). This has slowly been improving with some middle "prosumer" level programs appearing.

Recently a reasonably priced pretty good (and improving weekly) DVD authoring program was released, DVDLab from MediaChance ($79!). I had a lot of good luck with it both in general authoring terms and also player compatiblity terms. There is a 30 day free trial.

[dszlucha]

Originally posted by Jeff D
dszlucha, are you saying the audio goes in an out of sync over the recording on DVD? (That's sounds strange. But I won't say I haven't seen this) Or the audio starts fine and drifts out of sync by the end?

Yes. There are a couple of parts in a show that have video slightly ahead of audio. The problem comes and goes, i.e., a couple of seconds of out of sync a/v and then it's fine. When streaming back to the replay I don't have this problem. Doesn't matter if I do womble or the rtvtools, a/v sync problem in the same part either way. I haven't tried using a different authoring package though.

[dszlucha]

Originally posted by Lee Thompson
In my experience the DVD authoring programs that only accept program streams are pretty ... well... lame. I won't mention them by name but it's included as a freebie a lot of the time heh.

The whole DVD authoring software selection on the PC has been rather bizarre, the low end programs are horrible and the high end programs are wildly expensive ($1000+). This has slowly been improving with some middle "prosumer" level programs appearing.

Recently a reasonably priced pretty good (and improving weekly) DVD authoring program was released, DVDLab from MediaChance ($79!). I had a lot of good luck with it both in general authoring terms and also player compatiblity terms. There is a 30 day free trial.

I'm trying the demo of DVDLab, but it won't accept the demuxed mpg from rtvconvert. Is this typical? I used rtvedit and changed some of the puch ins/punch outs, but maintained the time stamps.

[Lee Thompson]

Hmm no; works perfectly in DVDlab over here.

[dszlucha]

The 'problem spot' in my video was fine when authored with DVDlab. Authored again with DVDMF1 and the a/v was out of sync in that spot. I may stick with DVDlab. Not sure why it wouldn't take the demuxed video from rtvconvert though.

[Lee Thompson]

Bump

[agent-x]

Originally posted by dszlucha
There are a couple of parts in a show that have video slightly ahead of audio. The problem comes and goes, i.e., a couple of seconds of out of sync a/v and then it's fine. When streaming back to the replay I don't have this problem. Doesn't matter if I do womble or the rtvtools, a/v sync problem in the same part either way.

This sounds suspiciously like the video bitrate may be spiking near those points. Are you using a MQ or HQ recording?

[dszlucha]

Medium quality. I've noticed that if I author with a tool that takes seperate streams I don't have sync problems. If I author with a tool that has to demux/remux, then I have the problem, in same spots.

[Jeff D]

Originally posted by dszlucha
Medium quality. I've noticed that if I author with a tool that takes seperate streams I don't have sync problems. If I author with a tool that has to demux/remux, then I have the problem, in same spots.

As agent-x stated, this could likely be caused by a problem in the souce. Bitrate spikes with HQ are just one example.

The replays have been known to have errors in the streams. It's rare, but it happens. If this is the case all bets would be off. Not any easy way to check for these. I think rtvconvert tries to fix ones it finds.

If you run the source mpeg (muxed output from rtvconvert) through bitrate viewer, do you see any spikes above 10Mb? One listing gives peek info the one in the upper left(?).

[dszlucha]

Peak is 7083. I'm suspecting that the apps that use a directshow filter to remux the streams is the cause. Not the apps, but something messed up with my system.

[DavidEC]

OK for the main program everything works just fine with the basic settings as posted in the ""BAT" (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=314017&perpage=20&pagenumber=5)" files in this message base posted by "Leepz".

But It keeps wanting to cut off the credits on a number of NBC (http://www.nbc.com/Whoopi/) shows...

Any suggestions and hints on how to tell the program not to process the last two minutes so that I can hand edit or get the batch file to not edit out the production company and ending credits would be nice!

Durring the ending credits they show bloopers from the show.

--David

[Jeff D]

Originally posted by DavidEC
OK for the main program everything works just fine with the basic settings as posted in the ""BAT" (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=314017&perpage=20&pagenumber=5)" files in this message base posted by "Leepz".

But It keeps wanting to cut off the credits on a number of NBC (http://www.nbc.com/Whoopi/) shows...

Any suggestions and hints on how to tell the program not to process the last two minutes so that I can hand edit or get the batch file to not edit out the production company and ending credits would be nice!

Durring the ending credits they show bloopers from the show.

--David

You'll have to modify the bat file. You want to be able to edit the evtdump output to get rid of the last out point. Send this edited file event file to rtvedit. I don't remember which way it works A or D, I think D is out, but it's in the docs.

[DavidEC]

Originally posted by Jeff D
You'll have to modify the bat file. You want to be able to edit the evtdump output to get rid of the last out point. Send this edited file event file to rtvedit. I don't remember which way it works A or D, I think D is out, but it's in the docs.

Jeff -
I have been playing around with the end setting for the last 12 hours....
Here is an example of the output...

A017:15.724
D026:45.006
A027:46.591
A028:01.541
A028:16.538
A028:46.574
A029:06.522
A029:17.011
A029:22.517
A029:54.587
E

I need to keep points starting at :0:29:17:xx and ending 0:29:45:xx per the clock on two different mpeg players.... yet the 0:29:45:xx {yes "45"} point is not even listed??

IF I change the point at A029:17.011 to a "D" it still edits out parts in the ending credits at A029:22.517 and A029:54.587..... I have played around with these last three/four points so much that maybe I need a fresh set of eyes to help me out.... {deleting them from the file, changing all to "D" changing time codes and a combination of all}

--David

[Norbert]

David,

I just fiddled with a file for some one here at work. I found that I needed to modify the evt.txt file by adding lines for the punch-out places (the "D"s)where the file did not show one.

I copied a line where there was an "A" where I wanted to come back in, changed the time code to what I needed and put the "D" on the beginning of it.

Here would be an example:

"original evt.txt"

A006:21.245
A019:03.532
A029:45.258
A037:41.231
A040:24.478
E

"edited evt.txt"

A006:21.245
D016:30.147 <added
A019:03.532
D027:45.753 <added
A029:45.258
D035:21.856 <added
A037:41.231
A040:24.478
E

Something like this worked. I tweaked it to the point that I wanted to eliminate the first 30 seconds of the show (commercials) and just made the time difference from the 1st A lien to the next D line less than 1 second. It was not noticeable on the video output from the rtvedit program.

Have you tried something like that?

[DavidEC]

Originally posted by Norbert
David,

I just fiddled with a file for some one here at work. ...... Have you tried something like that?

I have tried may things like that.... I even went so far as to add "A" every 20 hundredths of a second from time point 0:29:00

But the "NBC" logo and the production house logos still get trimmed from the final mpeg....?!?!

Just wished that these was some way to tell the program not to process commercial breaks during the last two minutes of the file.

--David

[Norbert]

Hmmm.... a program that reads minds....

[Jeff D]

David,
Have you played around with the -p or -i option in evtdump. This is used to figure out where scenes change and how to detect commercials.

[DavidEC]

Originally posted by Jeff D
David,
Have you played around with the -p or -i option in evtdump. This is used to figure out where scenes change and how to detect commercials.

I have changed the "-P" setting to as low as 20 and bumped the "-i" setting to 3 at one point....

--David

[tluxon]

My results in using evt.txt haven't been consistent enough to rely on the in and out points. I'm still using Womble to drag through the file while editing evt.txt. I've yet to experiment with the -p or -i options to see if evt.txt could be more reliable without editing.

Tim

[antibody128]

I'm not sure I'm following the problem. It sounds to me that you are following the directions so it should work, but isn't. So I guess I need more info on exactly what's happening. For instance, are you saying that no matter what you do you are getting some clipping of the last 2 min. I don't think you can expect rtvedit to be perfectly frame accurate for editing as if you were using Womble or something. It's possible you are doing it right and you are still going to clip a small part of that 2 min.

Or is it just cutting off at the same point about 2 min from the end no matter what you do? I have found from working on a videotape transfer that record errors can cause early termination with rtvedit. If this is the case then I wouldn't expect it to happen every time in the last 2 min so are you saying this happins every time you record this NBC show?

That having been asked, and without really knowing what the problem is I'll offer some suggestions. First I'd get rid of every A and or D that is not needed. Using your example I'd do this:

A017:15.724
D026:45.006
A029:17.011
E

In this case I assume the A017... is a punch in from a previous commercial break you don't list (otherwise I would just start with the D026...). This will run for A017... to D026... and come back at A029... until the end. No need to put in a final D timepoint.

Or you can alway edit the last 2 min back in.

Fstarting.mpg
Tany.mpg
A017:15.724
D026:45.006
Tany.mpg
A029:17.011
E

This should give the same result as my first example. You could even use this appending feature to create a batch file that will first run the evtdump file then run the rtvedit a second time to append that first file with just the last 2 min of the show.

If you've got errors, you have to try to find them by looking at the frames following the cut off point. Then you have to flank the error with a stop and start. So if your cutoff always happens at A029:17.011, you may need to put in a D at the preceding frame and an A on the next frame.


A017:15.724
D026:45.006
A027:46.591
D029:06.522
A029:22.517
E

Well, that's all for now. Hopefully I'm not just ranting completely off topic.

[DavidEC]

Originally posted by antibody128
I'm not sure I'm following the problem. It sounds to me that you are following the directions so it should work, but isn't. So I guess I need more info on exactly what's happening. For instance, are you saying that no matter what you do you are getting some clipping of the last 2 min. I don't think you can expect rtvedit to be perfectly frame accurate for editing as if you were using Womble or something. It's possible you are doing it right and you are still going to clip a small part of that 2 min.

Or is it just cutting off at the same point about 2 min from the end no matter what you do? .....

[COLOR=red]??[/COLOR] it just cutting off at the same point about 2 min from the end no matter what you do?[COLOR=red]??[/COLOR]

It is the last commerical break of more than one NBC 30 minute program...
the following all happens during the last two minutes of the 30 minute time slot..

The main show end and a commerical break happens...

They come back for the commerical break and start the production logos.. first the NBC Peacock, then the production company logo then they start running the ending credits...using a split screen where on one side of the screen they show either a wrap up of the show or bloopers from making the show..

Now unless some file is not getting saved correctly on my system...

no mater what I try to do at the point that the NBC Peacock come back on the screen to the point where the final credit rolls...

Is always getting trimmed...!?!?!

The points are al most always between 0:29:19:xxx and 0:29:50:xxx

Less than 30 seconds of programing...

The info is on the "RAW" RTV MPEG and can be viewed on the computer..

Here is a sample of the last few minutes of the ETV file..
D026:45.006
A027:46.591
A028:01.541
A028:16.538
A028:46.574
A029:06.522
A029:17.011
A029:22.517
A029:54.587
E
and as you can see "29:19" is not even listed and if I add it it does not seem to make any difference....

I have tried to changing the "A029:06.522" to "D029:06.522" with no help...

I know that the program does not do "FRAME EDITS" but just like editing on a old VHS video recorder.. if you know how much the tape moves when you hit stop you can either play ahead or behind depending on the machine and make some really great edits.

--David

[Jeff D]

As mentioned earlier (and it really makes sense) rtvedit cuts on GOP boundries. Same is true for the replayTV's CA. It will always come back in on a GOP I frame. Now a GOP is only 1/2 second, so that can't be the cause.

David, Don't the A and D's work in pairs? For example A is the out and D is the in point. You always end on an A, how about adding a D in at the correct time.

agent-x has told me that rtvedit should have no problem picking up the correct edit point if it's with-in a resonable closeness to the correct time. Lastly... the end credits really exist in the source, right? Dumb question, but I gotta ask. =)

[DavidEC]

Originally posted by Jeff D
As mentioned earlier (and it really makes sense) rtvedit cuts on GOP boundries. ..... Lastly... the end credits really exist in the source, right? Dumb question, but I gotta ask. =)

Yes the credits are on the source file...

I have given up.. the tools work great on 'AMC' & "F/X" movies recorded from DirecTV...

It seems to only have troubles with the last two minutes of a few NBC Comedies....??

I have gone ahead and hand edited the files that I was working with..

--David

[agent-x]

Am I missing something? From the docs: "Chains of A or D entries are ok, the rtvedit tool will use the last entry in the chain." This means that:

D026:45.006
A027:46.591
A028:01.541
A028:16.538
A028:46.574
A029:06.522
A029:17.011
A029:22.517
A029:54.587
E

is equivalent to:

D026:45.006
A029:54.587
E

Inserting another A entry is meaningless. Each successive A entry will cancel the previous one.

If you want to include the last 2 minutes of your show, use:

D026:45.006
A028:00.000
E

Your 29:19 is most likely the 29:17 entry accounting for the ndx drift. If you want to add starting there, you just need to delete the ones after it.

D026:45.006
A027:46.591
A028:01.541
A028:16.538
A028:46.574
A029:06.522
A029:17.011
E

which is exactly the same as:

D026:45.006
A029:17.011
E

[dszlucha]

Don't know if this has been covered before - I've been using the -d option with rtvconvert to get the elementary streams for authoring in TMPgenc and DVDLab (still evaluating both) and the time stamps are reflecting the original MPG length and not the rtvedited length. I don't think it's causing a problem with the authored DVD, but it's making hard to set chapter points.

I've also run the rtvedited and rtvconverted files through womble's gop fixer and it shows gop errors. Again, I don't think this has an impact on the final DVD.

[DavidEC]

Originally posted by agent-x
Am I missing something? From the docs: "Chains of A or D entries are ok, the rtvedit tool will use the last entry in the chain." This means that:

D026:45.006
A027:46.591
A028:01.541
A028:16.538
A028:46.574
A029:06.522
A029:17.011
A029:22.517
A029:54.587
E

is equivalent to:

D026:45.006
A029:54.587
E

Inserting another A entry is meaningless. Each successive A entry will cancel the previous one.

If you want to include the last 2 minutes of your show, use:

D026:45.006
A028:00.000
E

Your 29:19 is most likely the 29:17 entry accounting for the ndx drift. If you want to add starting there, you just need to delete the ones after it.

D026:45.006
A027:46.591
A028:01.541
A028:16.538
A028:46.574
A029:06.522
A029:17.011
E

which is exactly the same as:

D026:45.006
A029:17.011
E

I will give this a try on the next group of NBC files that I have...

The way that I way reading the "DOC" file I needed to have all the points listed or "IF" there was a fade or audio change the "TOOLS" would act on them as if they were edit points??

"IF" what you say is correct a 50 line EVT file could be edited down to about 10 lines as long as the sequence goes something like:
F ->A ->D ->A ->D ->A ->D ->A ->D ->A ->E

Where the orignal file might of looked like:
F ->A ->A ->A ->D ->A ->A ->A ->A ->D ->A ->A ->A ->D ->A ->A ->A ->A ->A ->D ->A ->A ->A ->A ->A ->A ->A ->D ->A ->A ->A ->E

--David

[DavidEC]

[SIZE=3]
Dropping my jaw on the floor he says..[COLOR=crimson]It does work![/COLOR]
:D
[/SIZE]
What you say is correct a 50 line EVT file could be edited down to about 10 lines as long as the sequence goes something like:
F ->A ->D ->A ->D ->A ->D ->A ->D ->A ->E


One question.. :confused:

Why are the edit time almost off by 2 seconds in the EVT file when compaired to the times displayed in two different mpeg play back programs??

--David

[Lee Thompson]

Depends on the codec being used for the MPEG2 data. So far the best program for getting timestamps for the edits (in my experience) is the MPEG2 version of VirtualDub. (The URL is in the docs for the RTV Toolkit)

(Naggy Reminder: When deriving timestamps outside of "evtdump" make sure you use the -t1 flag when running rtvedit.)


My own procedure has become:
1. Run evtdump against the EVT
2. Load the mpg in VirtualDub-MPEG2, using the timestamps in the evtdump data as a general guide get all the actual timestamps for the editing in VirtualDub and update the evtdump text file accordingly.
3. Run rtvedit -t1
4. Run rtvconvert -d
5. Convert the audio streams to dolby digital in Vegas Video+DVD. (I have two DVD players that handle mpeg audio ok but a third does not.)
6. Throw it all into DVDLab, whip up a menu, go go go

[antibody128]

Yeah, that's what I was trying to say in my usual unclear way. I always cut out all the unneccessary A's and D's. Just leave in the ones needed for the actual edit points. The others just confuse things.

[tluxon]

agent-x, I wonder if you can help me with this problem.

I was watching much of the Alabama-LSU footgame in HDTV while the Replay 4508 was recording it from the s-video output of my Comcast Motorola 5100. I downloaded this 4.4+GB file with DVArchive and opened it in Womble only to find that dragging the pointer all the way to end of the file showed it was only 12 minutes 28 seconds in length.

I tried to open it with each of my mpeg players and they each crashed. Next, I decided to rtvedit it, trimming off the first 5 seconds (I also tried trimming the first 2 minutes with similar results).

My ed14k.txt file was:

FT:\ReplayTV\Local_Guide\Alabama-LSU_Football.mpg
TR:\Alabama-LSU_Football.mpg
A000:05.000
E

Then I ran the txt script through rtvedit and got:

r:\rtvtools>rtvedit ed14k.txt
Source: T:\ReplayTV\Local_Guide\Alabama-LSU_Football.mpg
Target: R:\Alabama-LSU_Football.mpg
Time=(000:04:810. 148:17.525) SCR=000:00.495 File+(0000224300. 01139A0000)
Stream error at 00578A80B0, found next start code at 00578A82D0
Stream error at 00588B0200, found next start code at 00588B02D0
Stream error at 005B350024, found next start code at 005B3502D0
Stream error at 005DA78124, found next start code at 005DA782D0
Stream error at 00697F81A4, found next start code at 00697F82D0
Stream error at 006B298478, found next start code at 006B298580
Stream error at 007B6F84D0, found next start code at 007B6F8580
Stream error at 007D4A8448, found next start code at 007D4A8580
Stream error at 00FAC006E4, found next start code at 00FAC00D94
Stream error at 00FBC780BC, found next start code at 00FBC782D0
New Program Time: 148:12.715
Edit Time: 007:21.465

r:\rtvtools>
It resulted in a file that was just about the same size, but it still only showed 12 minutes 28 seconds in Womble and won't play on any of my software DVD players (PowerDVD, Windows Media Player, Ulead DVD Player).

Any idea what could be wrong here and what I could do about it?

Thanks,

Tim

[Lee Thompson]

Tim,

Try running it through rtvconvert and see if that helps. (Don't delete the original tho :) )

[alhull]

Will the tools also work on files recorded from my 4160 model ReplayTV? I have DVArchive and it works well with these.

[tluxon]

Originally posted by Lee Thompson
Tim,

Try running it through rtvconvert and see if that helps. (Don't delete the original tho :) )
Should I run the original through rtvconvert or should I run the rtvedit-ed show through rtvconvert?
Thanks,
Tim

[tluxon]

Originally posted by alhull
Will the tools also work on files recorded from my 4160 model ReplayTV? I have DVArchive and it works well with these.
You won't be able to edit them and stream them back to your 4160, if that's what you mean. It will allow you to extract your 4K files and, after conversion, stream them back through DVArchive to a 5K Replay.

[alhull]

I was thinking more along the line of burning them to DVDs...

[Lee Thompson]

Originally posted by tluxon
Should I run the original through rtvconvert or should I run the rtvedit-ed show through rtvconvert?
Thanks,
Tim

I was thinking the latter.

[tluxon]

Lee,

I ran the rtvedit-ed show through rtvconvert and it didn't help.

I ran Womble's GOP Fix on the original and it kinda did the trick. The file still crashes PowerDVD, but it plays in Windows Media Player and doesn't lock up Womble scrubbing anymore.

I ran rtvconvert on the original and it seemed to have the same affect that GOP Fix had.

Apparently, the original had some mismatched audio and video that GOP Fix and rtvconvert repaired, while rtvedit didn't. My prior experience with rtvedit was leading me to think it would be more help than rtvconvert. I'm still not sure exactly what the deal was, but thanks for the tip.

Tim

[dszlucha]

Originally posted by dszlucha
Don't know if this has been covered before - I've been using the -d option with rtvconvert to get the elementary streams for authoring in TMPgenc and DVDLab (still evaluating both) and the time stamps are reflecting the original MPG length and not the rtvedited length. I don't think it's causing a problem with the authored DVD, but it's making hard to set chapter points.

I've also run the rtvedited and rtvconverted files through womble's gop fixer and it shows gop errors. Again, I don't think this has an impact on the final DVD.

I posted this a while back, but it may have been "lost" due to other discussions. Is anyone else seeing GOP errors after removing program segments with rtvedit and making DVD ready with rtvconvert? I'm doing this on medium quality 5xxx mpgs. I find that rtvconvert fixes the PTS errors, but womble's gop fixer shows lots of gop errors in my rtvconverted stuff.

Also, I've found that when I use '-d' that my authoring programs get confused with the time stamps. TMPGenc DVD Author for example uses time stamps from my original unedited program, but when burning to DVD the chaper points I set reflect the time stamps from the edited/shortened program. This makes it impossible to add chapter points.

Thanks.

[agent-x]

Not sure what gop fixer is using to detect "errors", but if it's relying on the IEC timecodes, those are known to be wrong. That may be the cause of your second problem. The timecodes are not used by MPEG at all, but I'll look at fixing them in the next tools release since it sounds like they're being used here.

[dszlucha]

Cool, thanks. In the mean time I will probably just set chapter points every couple of minutes or so, rather than specific scene changes.

As for the gop thing - I just wanted to see if that was typical, or maybe a problem with mpgs coming from my unit. Womble's gop fixer shows that there are errors, but again, the DVD's play fine so it may be a non-issue.

[tluxon]

So, if I want to run a Replay mpeg through GOP Fixer AND rtvconvert, which one should I do first or is there no point in using both?

[st5000]

Originally posted by st5000
I think so, I have started 2 threads on this already (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=310856&highlight=mp3+replaytv) and posted the suggestion to sourceforge under the dvarchive forum. So much for talk, the work I have done (just a little scripting) is spelled out here (http://www.xnet.com/~stuart/mp3replaytv). But for all of it to work (stream it to a replaytv) we needed 2 things. First rtvconvert needed to be rewritten to be able to use named pipes... Hey hey, this latest version allows that! Tell your "friend" thanks Lee! Second, we need a tool to spool the mpeg 2 back to the replaytv unit. And DVArchive is my pick. There is no source code on line as (I think) it had a "CVS moment" over at sourceforge.net. So I am waiting for version 3.0 (current version 2.1) to see how the streaming is done in Java.

But, even after these two mile stones, there are other problems to work on. Right now, I have seen a buffering problem into / out-of a program called mp2enc. I am using it to change a .wav file to a .mpg (level 2) audio file. I noticed that the buffering is such that playback will stop while mp2enc processes a bunch of data (I think 4K bytes) then continue again once mp2enc is done. I hope I will discover or someone will point out a way to avoid this stuttering.

Also, it appears that rtvconvert does not create the .ndx and .evt files until the streaming process is finished. Well, to be exact the .ndx is written to once for about each minute of material and once at the end. The .evt file is written to at the end. These files are necessary for DVArchive, well if you play back the mpeg locally on your computer they don't appear to be necessary. But, if you try to play back an mpeg an a RepalyTV after deleting them from the DVArchive directory the ReplayTV will crash (freeze up). So, in order to stream MP3s for playback on a ReplayTV - some code some where will have to analyze the MP3 and generate these files before the streaming process starts. Can anyone fill me in on the format of a .ndx or .evt file?


Hi Lee ...

Adding MP3 play back capabilities to a DVArchive / ReplayTV combination is looking to be an up hill battle. To this end, however, I have a feature request for rtvtools based on several assumptions:

The evt and ndx file are needed to disclose the possible jump locations for skipping (I am thinking the next P frame) and major events (like station breaks).

It is possible to look at a video file before sound is added to it to generate the skipping information?

While looking at the video file, could the rtvtool also evaluate an event file containing lengths of time. That is, the time duration of each MP3 in a set of MP3s to be streamed together.

My problem is this: Even if streaming the MP3 as an MPEG Level II through rtvtools to be sent to a ReplayTV is possible, the evt and ndx files are not generated until rtvtools had read the entire MPEG stream. As the ReplayTV needs this information ahead of time (I assume) this process is non-causal.

But if the the video to be attached to the sound was always the same (except for overall length), it would follow that some of the information in the evt and ndx files would never change simplifying their generation. Further, if the length (in time) of the MP3s were known (should be easy to do) ahead of time, major evt and ndx event skipping information could be "synthesized" before the streaming starts.

At this point I confess I am composing at the key board. And it sounds more and more I am pointing at a totally new rtvtool application. One that would assume the video is always the same and can also accept major event skipping information in a separate file (or pipe). Oh well, most of us here are having fun pushing our ReplayTVs to do more. This is just another push in another direction. If is works out, great, we'll have fun and a new ReplayTV feature.

[Turok]

Hi,

I have some mpegs without .ndx files, so I run them through rtvedit, then it re-generates the .ndx file for each mpeg. rtvedit then asks me to run the program again. Once this process is completed. I then take each file and attempt to run them through rtvconvert, when I do I get the error message that the sound is not 48khz.

My main question is, should I run these files through womble and fix the sound and make it 48khz? Also when should I run it through womble? before I run these files through rtvedit or after rtvedit? These files have been previously unedited files and are directly from my replay. They are all recorded in medium quality.

Btw these files are from 5K replay

Turok

[Turok]

Hi,

I have some mpegs without .ndx files, so I run them through rtvedit, then it re-generates the .ndx file for each mpeg. rtvedit then asks me to run the program again. Once this process is completed. I then take each file and attempt to run them through rtvconvert, when I do I get the error message that the sound is not 48khz.

My main question is, should I run these files through womble and fix the sound and make it 48khz? Also when should I run it through womble? before I run these files through rtvedit or after rtvedit? These files have been previously unedited files and are directly from my replay. They are all recorded in medium quality.

Btw these files are from 5K replay

Turok

[Lee Thompson]

If the files are really from a 5k they audio should already be at 48khz.

[Turok]

Yes they are all from my 5K and recorded at medium quality. As I mentioned before the .ndx files were re-generated when I run rtvedit, then it asks me to run rtvedit again, I do. Then I run rtvconvert and it gives me that error. I'll cut and paste the error when I get home to my computer. Im going to attempt the same thing with new mpegs from my 5k, which have the original .ndx files.

[BeefStu]

Slightly off-topic, but is there a utility anywhere that will identify the version of a particular ReplayTV MPG file? This summer I extracted about 160GB worth of old recordings from my old Showstopper and 3020 and in the course of reorganizing my media server they got mixed in with some 4k and 5k DVArchive recordings.

I've been trying to run RTVEdit on some misc. files I assumed were 4K files, but after I import them into DVArchive and try to stream them to my 5K, I get an error message saying "No video source - The selected show was not recorded. Verify that: etc. etc." The only thing I can think of is that they're really 3K files.

[icecow]

I'm wondering if Agent X might have any interest adding a new option to rtv edit to help handshake with ReVue. ReVue can make new videos cutting out unwanted segments (usually commercials), but doesn't do clean cuts.. something about I-frames. Revue spits out it's own propriatory files that have the segment point information after a user adjusts them.

I'm kinda murky on this whole thing, but I'm guessing it would be child's play for Agent X to add a new option to rtvEdit that would optionally process the propriatory ReVue file instead of an .evt file.

I'm merely suggesting the idea. If the idea is impossible or greatly imposing then please happily disregard that I asked.

:)

cow

[Turok]

I have a question:

I have a new mpeg from my replay, do I need to run it through rtvedit -t1 or can I just edit the commercials out with womble and then run it through rtvconvert? And will the mpeg be ok for DVD authoring if I only run it through rtvconvert?

[icecow]

I just can't remember and I can't find where it's written.

What if I want to use rtvtools to just make a replayTV show into a standard mpg for a computer?

If I use rtvconvert with -d off it converts a regular mpg to an mpg that a replay can play.
If I use rtvconvert with -d on it demuxes the show into two files.

Don't recall how to make a a reg PC .mpg file though.

I'm tring to get some shows into my pocket pc

cow

[kcossabo]

do not include the -d and it will produce a proper MPEG.

the -d is to de-mux

[PVRick]

Originally posted by Turok
I have a question:

I have a new mpeg from my replay, do I need to run it through rtvedit -t1 or can I just edit the commercials out with womble and then run it through rtvconvert? And will the mpeg be ok for DVD authoring if I only run it through rtvconvert? My experience: have to do RTVEdit then RTVConvert even if no editing done, or the audio sync issue appears. YMMV.:D BTW, this works perfectly and Womble editing doesn't mess it up. Note to Santa: take good care of Agent-x this year.

[Turok]

Originally posted by PVRick
My experience: have to do RTVEdit then RTVConvert even if no editing done, or the audio sync issue appears. YMMV.:D BTW, this works perfectly and Womble editing doesn't mess it up. Note to Santa: take good care of Agent-x this year.

PVRick- So should I run all my original mpegs through RTVEdit then RTVConvert, then edit them in womble? Or can I edit them first then run them through RTVEdit then RTVConvert. See my problem is I run some of my originals through RTVEdit, then when I goto run it through RTVConvert it says the audio must be 48Khz. These are mpegs are recorded at medium record level on my replay 5K.

So that's why I'm wondering if it's ok to edit the mpegs first, then run them through both apps.

[icecow]

Originally posted by PVRick
My experience: have to do RTVEdit then RTVConvert even if no editing done, or the audio sync issue appears. YMMV.:D BTW, this works perfectly and Womble editing doesn't mess it up. Note to Santa: take good care of Agent-x this year.

That's the information I was looking for. I read it long ago but couldn't remember or find it.

you just do a plain RTVedit <file.name>, then a flat RTVconvert <file.name>? ya?

no evtdump? ya?
no arguments after rtvedit or rtvconvert? ya?

cow

[PVRick]

uh, if you're asking me:
I make a xyz.txt file that contains
FX:\inputfile.mpg
TY:\outputfile.mpg
E

(I use the T option to put it on a different physical drive from the input, makes it run much faster)

then I run
rtvedit xyz.txt

then I run
rtvconvert outputfile.mpg outputconverted.mpg

then if editing is needed I run MPEG2VCR on outputconverted.mpg and save to yet a third file

then burn the final result. When I tried using Womble on the output of RTVEDIT I had audio sync problems.

As my CA marking is not too reliable (for whatever reason), rather than check it and use it for RTVedit, I just use Womble to cut commercials. I like frame accurate edits on my DVDs and evtdump'd edit doesn't always hit exactly in my setup.

The comment on audio datarate is curious because I believe the 5000 RTVs always record audio at 48k sample rate, 192k MPEG bitrate. Maybe the file's corrupted somehow?

I eagerly await the final GUI somebody's doing for running these little RTVTOOL piggies. In the meantime I'm cobbling a little REXX exec to run this sequence. REXX is a great little language from IBM but its not free and hardly anyone knows and uses it (I have it as a side-effect of work).

[Turok]

I just bought the 5K in September, let me double check.. it might have been referring to my old Panasonic Showstopper replay mpegs.. the real old one.. Let me double check when I get home from work.

Thanks PVRick. I'll submit a post once I verify when I get home.

[icecow]

Originally posted by PVRick
uh, if you're asking me:
I make a xyz.txt file that contains
FX:\inputfile.mpg
TY:\outputfile.mpg
E



What's the E at the end mean?


Also, this is your method of making a ReplayTV.mpg into a RegularComputer.mpg, is this correct?

cow

[Jeff D]

Originally posted by icecow
What's the E at the end mean?


Um.... "End"

[PVRick]

RegularComputer.mpg, DVDburnable.mpg - once through this process, the nasties that RTV5K files cause in programs like MyDVD, DVDLab and DVDMF (slow scrolling, jumping timestamps, crashes, audio sync issues, refuse to burn) go away. They become as well-behaved as the ones I get from the Hauppauge PVR250 card. :)

[antibody128]

PVRick,

There are 2 very functional GUI's for RTVtools.

evtEdit for windows

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?threadid=330242

ReVue

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?threadid=328386&goto=lastpost

I just tried evtEdit for windows yesterday (I haven't tried reVue) and I was very impressed. I've been doing the command line/batch file thing until now, but I'm pretty sure I'm done with that.

[PVRick]

cool ... will check them out :)

[worldofaaron]

Also, I've found that when I use '-d' that my authoring programs get confused with the time stamps. TMPGenc DVD Author for example uses time stamps from my original unedited program, but when burning to DVD the chaper points I set reflect the time stamps from the edited/shortened program. This makes it impossible to add chapter points.

PMCNeil's MpegTools have a function called fix-time which rewrites the timestamps sequentially. The thread is here: http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=236117 This will solve your problem as long as your first segment begins at the beginning of the show. If you cut out any material in the beginning, you end up with perfectly sequential timestamps beginning not at zero, but at whatever the original timestamp for the first segment was.

Lee,

If you plan to try and work this correction into the next release, you might be able to build on the work Neil already did. All his proggie is lacking is the ability to force fix-time.exe to begin at zero.

Aaron

[tim price]

I was using the tools for the first time and the filename assigned in DVArchive worked fine wih RTVedit. But when I tried to use the output filename, appended with a "1", in RTVConvert, it would not recognize the long filename. The filename was "fresh prince of bel-air - the client1.mpg"

I was able to rename the file to "prince1.mpg" and use that in the RTVConvert command line and it worked fine.

I tried both cmd line prompts in XP with the same result.

What I am missing?

Thanks

[tluxon]

Originally posted by tim price
I was using the tools for the first time and the filename assigned in DVArchive worked fine wih RTVedit. But when I tried to use the output filename, appended with a "1", in RTVConvert, it would not recognize the long filename. The filename was "fresh prince of bel-air - the client1.mpg"

I was able to rename the file to "prince1.mpg" and use that in the RTVConvert command line and it worked fine.

I tried both cmd line prompts in XP with the same result.

What I am missing?

Thanks
The problem isn't the long filename, it's the space(s) in the name. RTVedit and RTVconvert use spaces as argument delimiters, so when there's a space in the filename, they think the next string after the space is a new argument.

Tim

[BaysideBas]

The usual fix is to enclose the whole string in quotes.

[tim price]

Thanks Tim and BaysideBas......I didn't hink about the arguement in rtvconvert..and defining the filename as ASCII string worked like a champ.....moving from my 3K Replay to the 5060 is like living in a whole new world!!

[lah]

Anyone here successfully used rtvtools in linux to convert mpegs to DVD formatted mpegs? I can go so far as to rtvedit the mpeg file to create near commercial free mpegs, but when I try to use rtvconv to then convert these edited files to something that I could use to dvdauthor, I have no luck. rtvconv seems to hang there doing nothing. Or is it just that I'm impatient? How long should it take rtvconv to convert a half hour mpeg recorded in Standard Qual? I let it run for 15 minutes to 30 minutes and still get no outputted mpeg file. Am I doing something wrong? Would it be possible to download the source to rtvconv so that I could recompile? I apologize for all the questions, but everything else in linux works well for me but this. If I could get this to work, it would help me tremendously in automating my DVD authoring process. Thanks!

[pio!pio!]

Suggestion w/ RTVEdit

Can the input file add and cut on specific frames instead of just times? We can get much more accurate cuttings that way.

Of course all the A times must start on a keyframe, but the D times (the times to cut off) don't necessarily have to cut on a keyframe correct?

That way the segments we want to keep always start on a keyframe, but doesn't have to end on one

[dmk11]

OT Question:
How do you combine two mpg files together?

can I combine 2 ready to stream RTV mpg files or do I have to do it before the rtvconvert?

[lah]

Nevermind, I think I know what the problem is. I've been trying to setup a bash script to automate rtvconvert but have no luck doing so. The problem with rtvconvert is that if I try to pass the filename, which is a long filename with spaces in it due to DVArchive, with quotes around the filename, rtvconvert does not recognize it. Well, actually, let me rephrase that. If I type in the command myself at the command prompt, as so:

rtvconvert -d "Battlestar Galactica.mpg" "dvd/Battlestar Galactica"

It works fine. No problems. However if I have a script call the command like so:

rtvconvert -d "$i" "dvd/`basename $i .mpg`"

Where $i is the filename string, I get nothing. I even do a ps -x to show me the full command that the script runs and it looks like:

rtvconvert -d "Battlestar Galactica.mpg" "dvd/Battlestar Galactica"

It has the quotes and all and should work. I need to add that I have almost the exact same script for other commands (to serve other functions, obviously) other than rtvconvert and it works flawlessly. Could anyone shed light on how I could get things to work here? If you can confirm that you have the same problem please let me know.

[Amazingly Smooth]

You can specify spaces and other special characters using the '\' command. So for spaces you would use \b. Not sure if this helps, but you may have to parse the string and then use \b to fill in the spaces.

Cheers

[moyekj]

First thing I do before using rtvtools is rename the mpg & ndx files to something short without spaces. I too am using a script to automate the whole process (Perl) and didn't want to deal with backlashing/quoting to get around file name problems. It's easier just to rename the files to something short like f.mpg/f.ndx & process them with your script and then rename them back if you wish.

[PVRick]

these tools don't like a dash "-" in the filename even if the filename is quoted, or so it seems; whenever I have such a file I have to rename to remove the dash to make it work. Maybe the dash is being interpreted as an option indicator regardless of the quoting? :confused:

[dmk11]

Originally posted by PVRick
these tools don't like a dash "-" in the filename even if the filename is quoted, or so it seems; whenever I have such a file I have to rename to remove the dash to make it work. Maybe the dash is being interpreted as an option indicator regardless of the quoting? :confused:

When I use reVue (that uses tools), I can have names with spaces and dashes and it works fine. you should ask ksb how he does it, because his program does the calling to the rtvtools.

[Razzberry]

Originally posted by lah
... However if I have a script call the command like so:

rtvconvert -d "$i" "dvd/`basename $i .mpg`"

Where $i is the filename string, I get nothing. I even do a ps -x to show me the full command that the script runs and it looks like:

rtvconvert -d "Battlestar Galactica.mpg" "dvd/Battlestar Galactica"

It has the quotes and all and should work. I need to add that I have almost the exact same script for other commands (to serve other functions, obviously) other than rtvconvert and it works flawlessly. Could anyone shed light on how I could get things to work here? If you can confirm that you have the same problem please let me know.

I can't imagine why the "basename" call should resolve "Battlestar Galactica" because it would interpret the space as a parameter separator, and give a syntax error. Give this a try:

rtvconvert -d "$i" "dvd/`basename \"$i\" .mpg`"

This will preserve the $i file name (including embedded spaces) as a single argument passed into basename, which should then do what you want. But if the "ps -x" command you executed shows the filename correctly expanded, I'm perplexed...

Robert

[rmanaka]

Newbie with these tools.

Have a RTV5040 and am downloading with DVArchive 2.1

Downloaded a series of shows using medium quality.

Ran eleven shows recorded from food channel (unwrapped) through RTV tools (rtvtoolsrev4.zip)... using a slightly modified drag-and-drop batch file as posted by leepz.

Most shows trimmed just fine with two generating strange errors...one file became almost twice as large (the output file kept appending the last few frames for over twenty minutes) and one file trimmed exceptionally short.

Here are the issues I'm hoping for some enlightenment! :)

If I run the output files through Womble's Mpeg Video Wizard's Gop fixer, it reports timecode errors and generates a file almost twice as large as the RTV tools file.

The interesting part about the Womble fixed files, is that they will play with both PowerDVD 5.0 and Intervideo's WinDVD 5.0 Gold (which seems to suggest that they are slightly more mpeg compliant than the original RTV medium files)

Neither the original RTV files nor the RTVtool processed files will play with PowerDVD 5.0 nor WinDVD 5 Gold (but will play with VLC and Windows Media Player)...they will, however, play with PowerDVD XP!!!

If I skip all of the RTV Tools, and process directly with Womble Mpeg Video Wizard, the files are about the same size as the RTV Tool files and are fully PowerDVD 5.0, WinDVD 5.0, VLC and Windows Media Player compliant...it's not as easy or fast as the RTVtool/Leepz batch combination, but the resulting output seems to be much more stable.

I've processed about a hundred 5040 medium (and about a dozen high) quality shows from the RTV using Womble Mpeg2VCR and more recently Mpeg Video Wizard 2003, and burned them onto DVD's using DVDlab 1.3.1 without any problems or audio synch issues. I've even taken to using DVDlab to burn two movie DVD compilations (over 4.7GB) and then use NERO recode, Pinnacle Instant Copy or DVD Shrink to burn them to DVD4 media.

Can anybody shed any light on the timecode errors as well as the PowerDVD XP/5.0 and WinDVD 5.0 Gold issues? Has anybody been able to keep both PowerDVD XP and version 5.0 on the same machine?

I used to use PowerDVD XP for direct streaming output from my RTV5040, and the fast forward, backup, etc. worked great. PowerDVD 5.0 won't play at all.

Thanks in advance to all replies!

p.s. Thanks A Bundle to LT for writing the RTV tools, Leepz and Dszlucha for posting the batch file jump starts!

[toxic]

Will we poor 4K series users ever be able to stream home-brew MPEGs to our boxes? I'd certainly kill for this kind of functionality.

[skleiser]

I really appreciate these tools - I now use them with evtEdit for Windows, and it all works great. I start with medium quality and burn the results to DVD.

However, I have had the following happen several times - on 1 occassion I was able to find the problem spot and create a "red" segment to avoid it - but this time, the program had no breaks.

Can LT or agent-x shed any light?
Source: G:\DVarchive\Local_Guide\Send Me No Flowers.mpg
Target: G:\DVarchive\Local_Guide\Send Me No Flowers_edited.mpg
Time=(000:51.000, 046:38.495) SCR=000:00.495 File=(0001A58A18, 004E5029D0)
Time=(046:38.495, 081:58.000) SCR=045:47.990 File=(004E5029D0, 008917A31C)
Stream error at 007B91E338, found next start code at 007B91E41B
Unsupported stream_id: 02
Time=(081:58.000, 100:24.495) SCR=081:07.495 File=(008917A31C, 00A8010AC4)
New Program Time: 099:33.495
Edit Time: 011:49.922

Thanks,
-steve-

[moyekj]

Originally posted by skleiser
I really appreciate these tools - I now use them with evtEdit for Windows, and it all works great. I start with medium quality and burn the results to DVD.

However, I have had the following happen several times - on 1 occassion I was able to find the problem spot and create a "red" segment to avoid it - but this time, the program had no breaks.

Can LT or agent-x shed any light?
Source: G:\DVarchive\Local_Guide\Send Me No Flowers.mpg
Target: G:\DVarchive\Local_Guide\Send Me No Flowers_edited.mpg
Time=(000:51.000, 046:38.495) SCR=000:00.495 File=(0001A58A18, 004E5029D0)
Time=(046:38.495, 081:58.000) SCR=045:47.990 File=(004E5029D0, 008917A31C)
Stream error at 007B91E338, found next start code at 007B91E41B
Unsupported stream_id: 02
Time=(081:58.000, 100:24.495) SCR=081:07.495 File=(008917A31C, 00A8010AC4)
New Program Time: 099:33.495
Edit Time: 011:49.922

Thanks,
-steve- I have seen these exact same kinds of errors too on occasion. I assumed it was because my mpegs come from 4K RTVs and therefore didn't expect these tools to necessary work all the time. For those cases I "cleaned up" mpegs using mpegtools fix-time.exe instead and they appeared to go through OK for DVD auhthoring.

[back40]

I recently posted about a problem trying to import an rtvconverted file into an mpeg editor. Someone responded telling me I had to run it through rtvedit first, with just
Ffilename
E

Then through rtvconvert. This did solve my problem.

Since there were not any edit commands in the edit.txt file, what exactly did rtvedit due to my file to make it importable into my editor?

Thanks...

[skleiser]

Originally posted by moyekj
I have seen these exact same kinds of errors too on occasion. I assumed it was because my mpegs come from 4K RTVs and therefore didn't expect these tools to necessary work all the time. For those cases I "cleaned up" mpegs using mpegtools fix-time.exe instead and they appeared to go through OK for DVD auhthoring.
In my case, they are from a 5K RTV. I ran them through fix-time, but the problem continued, so I just had to discard them. :(

LT or agent-x, any ideas?

[wcattey]

rtvtools Rocks!

Since I got my RTV and Mac Powerbook with SuperDrive, I've been unable to burn DVD's that stay in sync past half an hour. I was getting ready to read the MPEG spec, and transition from UNIX systems guru to Mac applications guru to find and fix that problem.

rtvtools fixed it for me!

THANK YOU THANKYOUTHANKYOUTHANKYOUTHANKYOU!

-wdc

P.S. Warning: If you create your edit script by hand, do not leave trailing spaces on lines. My "F" line at one point ended in a space, and I had to ponder a bit why it was saying I'd specified no source...

[krkaufman]

Originally posted by krkaufman
However, is there a limit to how many times you can/should run rtvedit and/or rtvconvert against a given video file?

Originally posted by agent-x
I would recommend 1 and 1. :) That said, you can run rtvedit against an rtvedited stream without any issues (at least in theory). But once you run it through rtvconvert, there are a few issues that may prevent rtvedit from working properly. Realize that once you do this, it's not a 5K stream any more - it's a 5K "like" stream. If you want to keep the streams, keep the rtvedit ones and simply run rtvconvert before you burn it. Thanks for the response, agent-x; I suspected that it wouldn't be wise to re-process rtvconvert'd files, but wanted expert confirmation. Thanks for your development and support efforts.

Followup question(s)....

Do rtvconvert'd files stream back to ReplayTV better, or worse, than native 5xxx or rtvedit'd videos?

Is there a way to identify whether a given *.mpg file has been previously run through rtvconvert (and/or rtvedit, for that matter)? I have a bunch of files where I'm uncertain as to whether they've already been run through rtvconvert. (It'd be great if there were a rtvtools -- or other -- binary that could report whether a given MPEG file were native 50xx/55xx, rtvedit'd, or rtvconvert'd, or none of the above.)

Is there a way to regenerate missing ndx and evt files for a given RTV 5xxx mpg?

Thanks....!

Karl K.


(EDIT: Added question Re: generating ndx/evt files.)

[agent-x]

Originally posted by krkaufman
Do rtvconvert'd files stream back to ReplayTV better, or worse, than native 5xxx or rtvedit'd videos?

Is there a way to identify whether a given *.mpg file has been previously run through rtvconvert (and/or rtvedit, for that matter)? I have a bunch of files where I'm uncertain as to whether they've already been run through rtvconvert. (It'd be great if there were a rtvtools -- or other -- binary that could report whether a given MPEG file were native 50xx/55xx, rtvedit'd, or rtvconvert'd, or none of the above.)

Is there a way to regenerate missing ndx and evt files for a given RTV 5xxx mpg?

I haven't noticed that rtvconverted files stream any differently than native or edited files, given that the source stream is within the suggested parameters. But, I have no way to know what kind of streams people are converting, so YMMV in this respect. The tool tries to check to make sure it will work, but it probably does allow some through that won't stream at all.

No easy way to tell from the mpeg itself, but if you have the evt files that were generated, there is an easy way that should work. The ones created by rtvconvert don't have any entries in them beyond the header and terminating entry. The ones created by rtvedit contain entries for each edit point. So, you can try using evtdump -graph on the .evts and if there's no data shown at all, it's probably from rtvconvert.

As for regenerating missing ndx and evts, rtvedit will regenerate missing ndx for you - but this only works flawlessy for real 5K streams. If you are missing evts, there's no way to reconstruct them. You can make dummy evts like rtvconvert does, it just won't have any entries in it.

[kegill]

I have created a help file for Mac folks -- showing how to use these tools to burn DVDs:
http://motogrrl.com/replayTV/replay_to_dvd.html

Kathy

[ashedon]

Would it be possible to get binaries for FreeBSD 4.x? I hope there are others that run this great OS....

Thanks!

[kegill]

For information about the tools -- see the first post in THIS forum.
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?postid=2799667#post2799667


Kathy

[jsimotas]

For anyone who cares:

I've attached a pretty comprehensive batch file I made to run rtvedit and rtvconvert in one shot.

It supports drag and drop so you just drop your .mpg file onto the batch file and it starts.

-Jason

-----------------------------------
- Dropfilehere.cmd (2.23.2004)
-
- Use this batch file to apply RTVtools to your replayrtv files.
- RTVtools are used to 'clean' the MPEG formatting of your files
- and (optionally) to remove commercials as originally detected by the Replay.
-
- Usage:
-
- See this help:
- Dbl-click Dropfilehere.cmd
-
- No commercial removal:
- Drag and drop your .MPG file onto the Dropfilehere.cmd to begin.
-
- Commercial removal:
- Drag and drop your .EVT file onto the Dropfilehere.cmd to begin.
- This just runs evtdump.exe before beginning the process,
- the intermediate .TXT file will contain the edit points
- for the commercials.
-
-----------------------------------

[ibmer95]

I am new to the tools and I looked throughout the forum and did not see any one else experiencing the same problem.

I have a 2 minute 13 sec DVD that was ripped into a VOB using DVD:RIP on Linux.
I demultipled the VOB into an AC3 file for the audio and a MPEG2 file for video using tcextract
I then multiplexed the files into a single mpeg2 file using tcmplex
When I view the new mpeg2 file, everything looks great. Audio and Video are in sync and all looks good.
I then run rtvconvert on the mpeg to create the necessary files for viewing on my 5080.
rtconvert complains: Video overrun, unknow or bad audio mux: len=3146426

At the surface it looks like the video and audio do not match and that the video is longer than the audio and that the multiplexing process caused the problem.
How can I verify this?
Is my assumption correct?

Help.

Thanks

Ed

[agent-x]

This message comes up when there is a problem feeding the multiplexor. It uses the bits in the elementary stream headers to determine the output rate, but the input rate doesn't match. This can happen for a number of reasons, but probably is occurring here because an audio stream is never found. We can't use AC3 audio, so you'll need to convert the audio to MPEG1 layer 2 first.

[ibmer95]

I have multiplexed a mpeg that meets the requirements of rtvconvert. The convert process completes, and I am able to stream the video to my reply 5080.

I huge step forward!

The last problem I have is that during the multiplexing, I had to add a 500ms delay to the start of the audio in order to keep the video and audio is sync, however when I run rtvconvert, I lose the delay and the audio and video are out of sync.

When I watch the mpeg before using the rtvconvert everything is fine. When I watch the newly converted mpeg (via rtvconvert) the audio and video are out of sync.

Is there anything I can do to prevent rtvconvert from ignoring the delay?

Thanks.

Ed Calusinski

[agent-x]

Not in rev 4. There is a bug fix version that should fix it, but you'll have to poke Lee if you want to help test it. ;) Otherwise, you can use rev 3 which should handle this properly.

[mabar1]

Hey all... Great info in here. I have sifted and read, and have gotten 90% of the way through, just need a few pointers to get it finished.

Heres what I have done so far....

Pushed a VCR recording to my Replay 5080 recorded at HIGH quality. (I haven't seen much info on converting/burning high qual stuff around)

I brought the file over to my pc with DVarchive (love that little proggy)!

I initally tried running through womble without any changes to strip out supposed errors that would force a dvd authoring program to re-process.
I had no luck, the authoring programs still seem to want to process before burning.

I have now run rtools on the file following the info in this forum. (I am using the same file I ran through womble, not the original file from the RTV) (this may be my problem??) (the file does not have any ndx or other rtv files along with it when I run the process below...the process below does create those files tho....)

I ran rtvedit with a script file and seem to have had success.
I ran rtvconvert and it created the file I specified.

I then bring the file into Ulead DVD Movie Factory 2, and it wants to process the entire thing before burning.

Same goes for Sonic (the dvd software that came with my dvd burner).

I am now trying the demux command to see if that makes a difference.

Not knowing how long it typically takes the dvd software to get its' act together to burn, How would I know if it is not processing the video prior to burning..... should it get right down to the burn process? I figure that is the whole point of what I think I am trying to do.


sorry to ramble, just getting it all in writing.....

another note, I tried to adjust the variable bit rate in Ulead dvd movie Factory 2 to 9800 (as suggested in another post) but it told me the range had to be lower than that, so I just left it as it was.


Anyway, any suggs you have would be appreciated.
Mabar1

[gatisimo]

If you're using Ulead MovieFactory 2, try viewing the properties of the clip. Check its bitrate (usually variable at 7713kbps, I think). Then when making the disc, go for custom quality, and make it whatever the bitrate of the clip was in its properties. Works for me every time in Normal recording quality. Haven't tried high yet.

[mabar1]

as a continuation to my message above, I have demuxed the file with r-tools....

Does ulead DVD Movie factory 2 accept a demuxed file? I am unsure how to go about making a dvd out of 2 seperate files. It created a .mp2 and a .m2v file. Any quickies on how to do that would help. I also have access to several other authoring proggys...if you have a suggestion...keep in mind...the more idiot proof the better...

Bottom line from what you are saying gatisimo, is that the file you are going to burn has to match the bitrate of the dvd bruning proggy? If they match, it should not re-encode before burning...right?

This site really really has helped me out on all sorts of neato stuff, I just want to say thanks to everyone.

Mabar1

UPDATE---------------------1:30pm Thurs Central time
Ok...
So I checked the properties of the video clip in UDVDMF2. It is variable bit rate 9800 max. If i try to match that bit rate in UDVDMF2, it maxes out at like 8200 something....

Any suggestions?
I guess that is probably why most people seem to use Medium quality for this stuff... Can you tell a diff btwn med and High? Keep in mind this video comes off of VHS to begin with.

I will play around....maybe womble or tmpenc..(spelling) would help.

I am still lookin to figure out how to put de-muxed video into one of these proggys to see if that will work.

Mabar1

[Mystic1]

I noticed no one responded to the inquiry about RTV4 future compatibility... we poor slobs stuck with RTV4K units would be ETERNALLY GRATEFUL if we could get RTVConvert to stream home-made mpegs back to our (now ancient) RTV4k units! Any chance of that happening? Can any of us help the process? Provide info? help test?

Please, please, please, pleeeeaaaassssee......

:D ;) :)

[Lee Thompson]

Mystic, the problem is simply that agent-x (nor I) have access to Replay 4Ks at this time.

[skleiser]

Originally posted by mabar1
Does ulead DVD Movie factory 2 accept a demuxed file? I also have access to several other authoring proggys
Does that include SpruceUp? This is probably still my favorite authoring program. It does accept demuxed files (but it is so old, you need to rename the .mp2 to .m1a).

[mabar1]

HO oh kay,

I was finally able to get my file to dvd and play in the dvd player!!!

Bottom line...DVD lab was the one proggy that was able to deal with the HIGH quality bitrate from my replay unit.

I used r-tools to clean, and then demux the mpg.

I then pushed the two files from demuxing into dvd lab (I had tolearn how to use the program first!)

It processed fairly quickly, and then I used the burn feature in dvd lab to burn the file.

Worked like a charm. My 3 year old is watching it as I type.

Thanks for all the info and references folks... This is a great forum.

Mabar1

I am going to try to record at MEDIUM quality for my next experiment. I would like to be able to use a plain and simple dvd burning proggy if poss, without having to demux the file.

I will share my results if anyone is interested.

skleiser....I am not familiar with spruceup... Thanks for the info tho... I will check it out it I hit a wall again.

:)

[gatisimo]

Originally posted by mabar1
Bottom line from what you are saying gatisimo, is that the file you are going to burn has to match the bitrate of the dvd bruning proggy? If they match, it should not re-encode before burning...right?

That is correct. I have only done this with Medium quality recording, so I can't be sure about High. As for the difference in quality... Medium looks VERY close to High. I'm not sure I could take the Pepsi challenge on that one. Try it for yourself, you might find it suitable.

[horseflesh]

Originally posted by ashedon
Would it be possible to get binaries for FreeBSD 4.x? I hope there are others that run this great OS....

Thanks!
Have you tried enabling "Linux binary compatibility" and using the Linux bins?

http://www.freebsd.org/doc/en_US.ISO8859-1/books/handbook/linuxemu.html

[Bigjohns]

probably a dumb question but...

I want to move showstopper files to DVArchive. Can it be done? Do I need the .ndx files that are associated with the mpg files on the showstopper disk?

Please advise!

John

[Bixit219]

Originally posted by Bigjohns
probably a dumb question but...

I want to move showstopper files to DVArchive. Can it be done? Do I need the .ndx files that are associated with the mpg files on the showstopper disk?

Please advise!

John

Well to begin with the audio is recorded at the wrong rate (32khz on the showstopper) vs 48khz on the replay 5K (and dvd discs), so you will need to demux the file, transcode the audio to 48khz, then remux it, before you can even begin to tackle the video part of the mpg file.. if what I just said confuses or scares you (and you are unfamiliar with the terms), then I wouldn't even try it.. I fooled around with a showstopper file, got it into the apparently "correct" format for RTVTOOLS and the rtv edit/convert did ultimately accept the file, which means it might work for dvarchive, but i haven't actually tried viewing the file from my 5k machine yet.. based on what I did experience with the showstopper mpg file (its very nonstandard) I am not that optimistic it would work without a lot of messaging to it.. though if I still have the file kicking around i will try it. but my guess is , its probably going to be some degree of work to get it to play nice with dvarchive and streaming to a remote 5k machine.

[Bigjohns]

Ahh, a little work won't bother me. I wonder if ReVue will open these files! I'll give that a shot first...

John

[ibmer95]

I have successfully ripped DVDs, demux them to mpeg2 video and mpeg1 layer II audio files and then muxed to a single mpeg2. I used the rtvconvert and successfully converted the file so my replaytv can view it via DVArchive.

when I view the mpeg via xine or mplayer, the aspect ratio looks good. When I view it on my replay unit, the ratio looks off (everything seems too tall).

Have others experienced such an issue? It is very possible that the mplayer is correcting it and the replaytv unit is not (is it because replaytv expects 4:3)?

Thanks in advance

Ed

[Lee Thompson]

The replaytv wants 4:3, it will PLAY 16:9 streams but that will only be satisfactory if you have a widescreen TV.

[Bixit219]

Originally posted by Bigjohns
Ahh, a little work won't bother me. I wonder if ReVue will open these files! I'll give that a shot first...

John

It will but to play only, it cant seem to do anything with them editing wise because in the "raw" the files cause rtvtools abort because of the problem with the audio stream being at a non standard rate.. if you fix the audio stream (e.g. transcode it to 48khz and remux) you could then probably use ReVue to edit commercials out.

[snoutmeat]

These tools are great -- thanks! But I'm still having a lingering problem with my files -- they all "hiccup". I was initially using WinReplayPC with Womble and Ulead DVD Movie Factory (not using these command-line tools), but was having audio sync issues. I thought these tools would solve all my problems -- they get the audio in sync, but now I have audio dropouts and MPEG artifacts.

Here's my process:

--Using WinReplayPC to copy files to PC
--Using rtvedit to recreate .ndx files and to get files into rtvconvert-ready format.
--Using RTVconvert to fix sync issues.

After the sync is all fixed, then I open Womble and hack out the commercials.

The result: when I use my DVD authoring software, burn a disc, and play it on my home machine, it looks great.....99% of the time. But every few minutes, the audio cuts out for half a second, then I get garbage or wicked MPEG artifacts for a few frames, then it works fine again for a few minutes, and the problem repeats.

Is anyone else having these problems? I'm wondering if it's the ndx-creation part that's messing things up, since I'm guessing most folks aren't using WinReplayPC to transfer their files.

I've eliminated Womble as the cause of the problems by taking it out of the editing process (copied to PC with WinReplayPC, ran rtvedit (twice -- one to restore the ndx, then one to run rtvedit), then ran rtvconvert, then straight to the authoring software with no Womble...the problem's still there.

When I was just using WinReplayPC, Womble, and Ulead DVD Movie Factory, I wasn't getting the dropouts, so I'm guessing these tools are introducing the glitches.

I'm trying to archive a show that's not available on DVD, so I'd like the quality to be as good as possible. Any suggestions?

Thank you!

EDIT: After much experimentation, it appears that it was the DVD mastering software (Ulead DVD Movie Factory) that was causing the drop-outs and artifacts. I dug thru my big stack of software and found another DVD authoring program -- this one is made by Dazzle. I hate the interface, but when I master a new DVD with the same shows, the garbage disappears. Apologies for accusing rtvedit! :)

[clydeism]

whew, 13 pages, and I wanted to read it all before I even ask this question in case it has been answered

13 pages later, nope

I used all these tools, tips and all, and apparently the files dont do any line21 conversion, or it strips em.

line 21 is closed captioning.

as I've written a DVD and its sucessful, but rather disapointed no closed captioning, as I would need it so I can watch the movies.

my next step is prolly just buy an Apex DVD-R and tell it to record to VCR (the DVDR) and forget the softwares

othewise I do hope there is a solution, thanks for checking.

[clambert11]

Ok, here's the deal. I regularly download HDTV/PDTV commercial-less caps from newsgroups (a.b.multimedia) to watch on TV. I used to burn them 2 discs, but recently I began transcoding them with TMPGEnc and the RTV template for better network viewing around the house.

For the most part, I haven't had any issues. Occasionally, I do have minor problems.

Here's what I'm doing...

Transcoding the MPEG-2 File w/ the RTV Template
RTVConverting the new RTV Ready MPEG-2 File
Importing the show with DVA

The minor issues I'm sometimes having...

1) The high end on *some* shows ends up sounding a little tinny

2) Ocassionally the audio falls out of sync with the video


I haven't been able yet to determine if the problem is a result of the transcoding or the RTVConvert. Obviously, the tinny audio is a transcode problem.

I think I read somewhere in this thread about running an RTVEdit first. But then I think I read somewhere else where someone mentioned not to even bother RTVEditing non-RTV files.

It's my belief that both problems may be a result of the transcoding, but I'm not all that sure.

Anyone have some experience with this?

Thanks in advance 4 any enlightenment.

[Jeff D]

clambert11. your playing with things that will generally give you bad results.

newgroup download... well, they are generally pretty low quality. This includes audio. How's the audio sound on the PC before reencoding (note I didn't say transcoding, it's reencoding) the clip?

The sync could be because of the audio conversion. Let's see what you can tell about the source before going any further.

I'm also really curious what the audio properties on you source clip. Gspot can tell you that. If it's low like 11KHz (sometimes 22KHz) or something around there, there's no question what the problem is.

Next tmpgenc is a GREAT video encoder... audio is a different story (at least in my experience). So it's obvious you are converting the audio to 48KHz and the right encoded bitrate becuase rtvtools will work with your file. My guess for the audio is that the source quailty isn't that great. Tinny highs is a sign of low sample rate or high compression.

[clambert11]

Originally posted by Jeff D

newgroup download... well, they are generally pretty low quality. This includes audio. How's the audio sound on the PC before reencoding (note I didn't say transcoding, it's reencoding) the clip?

No, no. These are quality caps. I started back when I had cable. These are HDTV/PDTV caps that are near DVD quality but sampled @ SVCD rates. Now that I recently got satellite, it's not quite as important. But the overall HDTV quality is still better than what I can get on satellite (DTV). Groups like SD-6, STNJ, TGL, 442, and Crimson release some top notch stuff in the newsgroups.


The sync could be because of the audio conversion. Let's see what you can tell about the source before going any further.

Well, I didn't currently have an unconverted MPEG on hand from one of the groups I use most of the time. But here are the rates of a show from one of the groups that has recently started posting.

TMPGEnc Results for the MPEG-2 File:
MPEG-2 480x480 29.97fps CQ_VBR 50, Layer-2 44100Hz 192kbps


Next tmpgenc is a GREAT video encoder... audio is a different story (at least in my experience). So it's obvious you are converting the audio to 48KHz and the right encoded bitrate becuase rtvtools will work with your file. My guess for the audio is that the source quailty isn't that great. Tinny highs is a sign of low sample rate or high compression.

If that's the case, what ap do you recommend for re-encoding the audio Jeff? I'm open to suggestions to new aps if there is something better.

I appreciate your insight & help.

-- Craig

[Jeff D]

Craig, sorry, I wasn't sure what you were talking about, I got confused. =)

Anyway so the source on the PC sounds good before the tmpgenc audio conversion. What's the format of the audio after conversion? Is that the 44.1 192kbps you stated about, just wanting to be sure that's the output. There another thread here about "no sound" in tmpgenc files for rtvtools, just saw the thread minutes ago. In that thread some tells how to adjust the audio settings can you 2x check that?

One thing to note... rtvtools requires 48KHz sample rate audio. Or at least the last time I checked this was true. The replay sample rate is 48KHz so you need to be at that samplerate and I thought rtvtools enforces that.

[mlrtime]

I'm wondering if anyone has created a nice bash script to do some of the automation. Anyone mind sharing their scripts?

I'm trying to devise a way to have a cron read from a directory and covert files automatically that are scheduled from dvarchive. If this has been covered in another thread please let me know.

thanks,
mlr