New Tool: HDTV2DVD

[ChrissyBoy]

I will PM you alternative FTP details.

[MaxBlack]

ChrissyBoy the only way I have found to successfully convert my 1080i Transport Streams from NBC's 'ER' to XviD files is to use HDTV2DVD on them first, and then use its output S2D.mpg file as the source for AutoGK. Only H2D seems to know how to deal with ER's odd BFF-combination video/film properly; other tools do it wrong and I get jerky output. Is there maybe an "extended log" I can get out of H2D, or maybe SVCD2DVD exposes its internal workings more, so I can learn what your tool is doing to process these TS files? It's a huge pain to convert w/H2D first, then AutoGK...

Or maybe SVCD2DVD has an XviD output option, so I can just use IT to do my conversions?

If you could give me any insight as to what this tool is "doing right" with my ER captures I would greatly appreciate it--I have tried dozens of different methods but only H2D seems to know the deinterlacing magic!!!??

[ChrissyBoy]

It basically used the -deinterlace flag from the extremely powerful and versatile ffmpeg. You could play with the command line arguments of ffmpeg to produce XviD quite easily...

[MaxBlack]

Thanks very much for your reply--I will take a look at ffmpeg!

[JackalLion]

I have been searching these forums for days now for my exact problem. So that I don't bother you with the "same old questions" So far I have not found the solution. This is my problem: I have captured from a moto dct 6412 and created a DVD using HDTV2DVD. This DVD plays very well in several computers with various software eg. Media Player, WIN DVD, Power DVD and DVD 4 VAIO. However when I put the same disk in the DVD players it will not recognize the Disk. I have tried several different DVD players, Sony DVD, Samsung DVD and Apex DVD 1010w, all without success. Please help me figure this out. I desperately need to remove a series of shows from my DVR. My storage capability is almost maxed and I don't want lose the shows. Also If this helps when the disks play in Power DVD the say Mpeg2 which is the exact same as the commercial DVD's I have. PLEASE HELP......................

[MaxBlack]

It's likely NOT an HDTV2DVD issue, but rather one of the burning software, DVD Writer, and discs you are using. Maybe if you post these details and the process/settings you use then someone could help you.

[JackalLion]

Thank you for the input . The writer is HP DVD 640, the disks are Memorex DVD+R (8x,4.7,120min), The software is Sonic Record Now, and the computer is Sony VAIO PCG-K23. Thank you very much for any assistance that you can give.

[forestr]

In theory yes, but i have not built this in. Can you supply a sample of such a file so i can see what i need to do?

ChrissyBoy: I have not been able to do anything on this lately but I would still like to try to send you a sample if still want to look at it.
thank you for your patience

[MaxBlack]

Thank you for the input . The writer is HP DVD 640, the disks are Memorex DVD+R (8x,4.7,120min), The software is Sonic Record Now, and the computer is Sony VAIO PCG-K23. Thank you very much for any assistance that you can give.

How are you burning the discs? Making a "Data Disc" and dragging the VIDEO_TS folder to it (that's what I do w/RecordNow 7.3)? Need more specifics on what you are doing. You might need to go to club.cdfreaks.com to get help.

DVD players should play your DVD+R but maybe you need to "bitset" the discs as DVD-ROM types. I don't know if this is your exact HP version, but if it is, look for the mention of "bitsetting" about 2/3 the way down the page:

http://www.cdrlabs.com/reviews/index.php?reviewid=268&page=Features

Your problem is probably more basic than this though; without knowing exactly what you're doing I can't help further.

[JackalLion]

After my captures go through the HDTV2DVD process they do not have the name VIDEO_TS they are named MOVIE FILE (mpeg) and they were previously TS files. The process I use is dragging them into the Record now data disc box and I do not make any changes to the setup. I know this is frustrating for you dealing with an amateur, but your help and patience is GREATLY appreciated. I sent an Email to CHRISSYBOY who seems to be an expert but he hasn't responded. (busy helping others like me or enjoying his real life I guess) Thank you for everything

[MaxBlack]

Yes HDTV2DVD makes a S2D.mpg file, but that is not what you want to burn; that will never play in a DVD player! But there was also created an HDTV2DVD_OUTPUT directory/folder, within which are two folders AUDIO_TS and VIDEO_TS, the latter of which has the .VOB and .IFO files etc. that are your movie.

Drag first the AUDIO_TS folder into RecordNow (in Data disc mode) then the VIDEO_TS folder, and burn.

If you are not getting an OUTPUT folder as I described, then there is indeed an HDTV2DVD problem somewhere--hopefully you just missed it. Anyway if you make a data disc w/AUDIO_TS and VIDEO_TS folders in it, that will play in most DVD players.

BTW another tip: use WinDVD or PowerDVD or another PC-based software DVD player to test the VIDEO_TS folder before you burn!

[JackalLion]

Thank you VERY much. I have just followed your exact instructions and created a completely viewable DVD that plays in my DVD player. I will be spending the rest of my free time this week capturing the 15 shows I have stored on my DVR..........................BTW yes I do feel really stupid...............

[prl]

hey there!

I'm having some doubts using HDTV2DVD..

I have two separate .tp files.. How can I create a DVD with both videos? I drag-drop the files to the Assets bar in HDTV2DVD, but then I can only drag-drop one of them to the Layout bar.. I get an error message like "Only one title allowed in the release.." when I try to put there the second file..

Thanks in advance!

[MaxBlack]

I get an error message like "Only one title allowed in the release.."

Which part of "Only one title allowed..." don't you understand?

You can join the two tp files together and make one "first play" DVD with HDTV2DVD, or you can upgrade to SVCD2DVD (take a look at the website).

[BKunkle]

I've been having very good luck with HDTV2DVD. I've burned half a dozen DVDs that look professional on my old DVD player and my new HDTV. I capture them with my DVICO HD tuner card. It stores the streaming video as .tp files. I use HDTV2DVD to create the VIDEO_TS directory, then burn it to DVD with Copy2DVD.

However, the last two programs I've tried to convert with HDTV2DVD have produced only one .VOB file in the VIDEO_TS directory. After that, apparently an error occurs in ffmpeg.exe. So it looks like it produces the first of (usually) four .VOB files, then quits. I have the Dr. Watson log, but it doesn't look helpful to me. I also have the log file from HDTV2DVD, but it is quite long.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

Bruce

[ChrissyBoy]

Well either you have the following:

https://forum.videohelp.com/viewtopic.php?t=265207

Or there is somthing wrong with the source and i would need to see the log in the first instance.( either post it as an attachment or email it to me)

[jimmyv4351]

First, let me say I really like HDTV2DVD. It's been doing a great job converting programs I record OTA with my DVICO Fusion 2 to DVD. I use HDTV2MPG2 to crop the commercials, and save the result as a .ts then just 'drag-n-drop' to HDTV2DVD to create the VOBs. The results have been super!

I've done this many times with HD programs from ABC, CBS, NBC, and WB. PBS just ran a two part series "Jean-Michel Cousteau - Ocean Adventures" which I recorded and wanted to convert to DVD. But, so far I've been unsuccessful. The .tp plays ok in the Fusion player. The .ts (after removing all the PBS sponsor junk which they claim aren't commercials from the start and end) plays ok in WMP. But when I go to convert it in HDTV2DVD it runs very slow and dies about 45% of the way through.

Usually I've found a commercial hour program minus the commercials will convert in about 90 minutes on my system (P4 2.8 GHz). What I found the first time I attempted to convert these PBS segments is that at 2 hours I was only 25% through and my disk was hammering away paging. So, I thought - "need more RAM!". I already had 1 GB and with other programs it appeared not to have used much more than half that during the conversion, but, what the heck.

After installing another gig (now 2 GB real memory and 4 GB page file) I again tried converting these segments. At 90 minutes the conversion was 40% complete, my system was again paging very hard (1.6GB PF usage) and was reporting system cache as 521 mb, available memory as 386 mb, ffmeg as using 1,400 mb, whereas at 27% it had been 837 mb page file, 1300 mb System Cache, and 1165 Available Memory (didn't catch what ffmeg was at that time but it was 828mb at 33%), and at 44% it Dr Watson'ed.

So, it appears that the PBS content is causing a memory leak. Is there a solution or work around for this? (I'd been using version 0.3 so first tried downloading and running again with version 0.4 but it didn't make any difference).

Thanks again for a really nice, easy, useful program. Hopefully there is a fix for this PBS problem but if not, I'm still a very happy user of your program.

[jimmyv4351]

As a follow-up - I just tried recording a few minutes of a different PBS HD program and converting it and everything worked fine. I noticed the other PBS programs I recorded do have some audio sync problems - could that have caused the memory consumption problem?

[BKunkle]

Well either you have the following:

https://forum.videohelp.com/viewtopic.php?t=265207

Or there is somthing wrong with the source and i would need to see the log in the first instance.( either post it as an attachment or email it to me)

I ran mpeg2repair.exe on the first (1 hr.) program and then HDTV2DVD worked fine. I am doing the same with the second (2-hr) program now.

Thanks,

Bruce

[BKunkle]

I have a 2-hour program that I converted using HDTV2DVD. Unfortunately, it produced 8 .VOB files, each about a Gigabyte. I have single-layer DVDs and want to burn this. If I do the conversion over (being sure to click on AutoFit), it does the same thing each time.

I suspect this is because I have kept the .mpg file created the first time I ran HDTV2DVD. Since this process takes 4-5 hours, I don't want to try it again, if I can avoid it. I'm a very knowledgeable computer user, so I could move some of the .vob files to a different directory before burning with CopyToDVD. Would that work? Is there another workaround? If I have to split the .mpg file into 2 pieces, please recommend a free (or low cost) utility to do that.

Thanks!

Bruce

[rckowal]

I'm a newbie to HDTV2DVD so I could use a bit of assistance to get it going. If it helps, the system here is Windows Media Center 2005 running on a new Dell desktop which has a 3.2G processor, 1M RAM & 250G hard drive.

The first time I used it to convert a ts clip to dvd it worked flawlessly. Since then, it doesn't want to open ts files in the asset window. MY QUESTION IS: What could be wrong here & how can I fix it?

I'm loading the ts file into the asset window just as is shown in the Demo. I open my ts clip folder; open HDTV2DVD, then right click & drag the clip from the folder & release to drop it in the asset window. Nothing however, appears in there or the window on the right side of the GUI..

Most of the time, HDTV2DVD locks up right after the drop. I have to use the Windows Task Manager to manually end/close it. I usually get one of those (Windows) "HDTV2DVD had to close" advisories that asks if I want to send an error message to MS. When I explore the details, it tells me that there is some kind of a "ffmpeg.exe" problem.

Your help with this issue will be very much appreciated.

[alfonzo]

I'm loading the ts file into the asset window just as is shown in the Demo. I open my ts clip folder; open HDTV2DVD, then right click & drag the clip from the folder & release to drop it in the asset window. Nothing however, appears in there or the window on the right side of the GUI..

Most of the time, HDTV2DVD locks up right after the drop. I have to use the Windows Task Manager to manually end/close it. I usually get one of those (Windows) "HDTV2DVD had to close" advisories that asks if I want to send an error message to MS. When I explore the details, it tells me that there is some kind of a "ffmpeg.exe" problem.

Your help with this issue will be very much appreciated.

I'm seeing a similar issue with HDTV2DVD 0.4. I have no trouble dragging .ts files to the Assets list, from there I can also drag and drop to Layout with no problems, but when I actually click on a file in Layout, the program crashes (unlike the previous poster, I don't get a freeze). Same behavior every time.

I'd appreciate any help, and I'd be glad to post/send logs, error files, file samples, etc. The files are muxed .ts from TyTool 10.4, extracted from an HR10-250 DirecTivo. TIA...

[ChrissyBoy]

Crash? Do you get an error? Are the files playable in WMP (as that is what is used in the preview)?

[rckowal]

I'm seeing a similar issue with HDTV2DVD 0.4. I have no trouble dragging .ts files to the Assets list, from there I can also drag and drop to Layout with no problems, but when I actually click on a file in Layout, the program crashes (unlike the previous poster, I don't get a freeze). Same behavior every time.

I'd appreciate any help, and I'd be glad to post/send logs, error files, file samples, etc. The files are muxed .ts from TyTool 10.4, extracted from an HR10-250 DirecTivo. TIA...

Alfonzo, Since your issue sounds different from what mine was and I'm not familiar with the source you're using; I don't know if this will help you or not. But it might be worth a try.

I am using AltDVB. By experimenting with the "Recording" options in "Settings", I found that the selection of the setting made a big difference in how HDTV2DVD reacted. By using the "Record all audio streams" in the .TS options, I am now able to record using HDTV2DVD with no problem.

Goof luck

[ChrissyBoy]

As a follow-up - I just tried recording a few minutes of a different PBS HD program and converting it and everything worked fine. I noticed the other PBS programs I recorded do have some audio sync problems - could that have caused the memory consumption problem?

Not sure. But i doubt it. It may just be a one off cap. To investigate further i would really need to see the file for myself. My guess though is that it is the size of a house....

[ChrissyBoy]

I'm a newbie to HDTV2DVD so I could use a bit of assistance to get it going. If it helps, the system here is Windows Media Center 2005 running on a new Dell desktop which has a 3.2G processor, 1M RAM & 250G hard drive.

The first time I used it to convert a ts clip to dvd it worked flawlessly. Since then, it doesn't want to open ts files in the asset window. MY QUESTION IS: What could be wrong here & how can I fix it?

I'm loading the ts file into the asset window just as is shown in the Demo. I open my ts clip folder; open HDTV2DVD, then right click & drag the clip from the folder & release to drop it in the asset window. Nothing however, appears in there or the window on the right side of the GUI..

Most of the time, HDTV2DVD locks up right after the drop. I have to use the Windows Task Manager to manually end/close it. I usually get one of those (Windows) "HDTV2DVD had to close" advisories that asks if I want to send an error message to MS. When I explore the details, it tells me that there is some kind of a "ffmpeg.exe" problem.

Your help with this issue will be very much appreciated.

Can you shed some light on the sources you are trying? Can you post a screenshot from gspot?

[ChrissyBoy]

I have a 2-hour program that I converted using HDTV2DVD. Unfortunately, it produced 8 .VOB files, each about a Gigabyte. I have single-layer DVDs and want to burn this. If I do the conversion over (being sure to click on AutoFit), it does the same thing each time.

I suspect this is because I have kept the .mpg file created the first time I ran HDTV2DVD. Since this process takes 4-5 hours, I don't want to try it again, if I can avoid it. I'm a very knowledgeable computer user, so I could move some of the .vob files to a different directory before burning with CopyToDVD. Would that work? Is there another workaround? If I have to split the .mpg file into 2 pieces, please recommend a free (or low cost) utility to do that.

Thanks!

Bruce

HDTV2DVD will not reprocess files it has processed before. So you will have to reprocess the whole thing i'm afraid.

[rckowal]

Can you shed some light on the sources you are trying? Can you post a screenshot from gspot?

Thanks for the reply ChrissyBoy. After posting, I did some experimenting & discovered that the cause of my problem was in the asset source. Perhaps it can help some one else if I explain a bit more.

I am using AltDVB to create the .TS source file. By experimenting with the "Recording" options in AltDVB "Settings", I found that the selection of the setting made a big difference in how HDTV2DVD reacted. By using the "Record all audio streams" in the options, I am now able to record OK then load & convert the file using HDTV2DVD with no problem.

[ChrissyBoy]

Sorry you did mention that before.... Sometimes it is hard to see the wood for the trees....

[alfonzo]

Crash? Do you get an error? Are the files playable in WMP (as that is what is used in the preview)?

A-ha. I think you found it. I get the same behavior in both WMP and HDTV2DVD: the program dies, and I get a "do you want to report this to Microsoft" pop-up. Every file I've tried, so far. It does play in VLC, though.

Is there a setting to disable the preview? I can live without it if I can just get the files transcoded.