EyeTV Hybrid to standard single or double (but not HD) DVD

[llee782]

The EyeTV Hybrid boasts the capability to capture HDTV (ATSC) with lossless quality. The actual quality is indeed very good. The EyeTV Hybrid also boasts the capablity to send captured video directly to Toast for creating a DVD, or exporting to numerous formats so that you can, for instance, create a DVD using iMovie and/or iDVD. In my experience the results of any of these operations are not so good, mainly due to the fact that there appear to be problems stepping down the framerate from 59.94 to 29.97.

I can use the EyeTV interface to export an HD EyeTV recording to an mpeg program stream and the quality is still fabulous, but the framerate is still 59.94. I've tried many tools to convert the framerate to 29.97, and I've yet to find a method that doesn't result in unacceptable jerkiness and stuttering in some video passages. I've been a registered user for years, so I've spent a good bit of time trying several of the various methods available for video conversion in ffmpegX. So far the results are disappointing.

Is there a way to get the stuttering out of one of these 1280X720 at 59.94 fps mpeg-2 files when converting it to a compatible DVD format?

Is there a way to use mplayer decoding with the DVD mpeg2enc preset to convert the video without stretched duration as a result of the output of the mencvcdX step, or is there a way to use this stretching as the first step in a process that might result in smooth video at a compatible framerate but with correct duration?

Thanks.

[major]

Perhaps send me a link to download a small clip, so as I can play with it somewhen.

[llee782]

On its way. Thanks.

BTW, this is what works best for me so far. Input is MPEG-2, 1280x720, 59.94 fps.

ffmpeg -r 29.97 -i 'input.mpg' -y -threads 2 -map 0.0:0.0 -target ntsc-dvd -b 9000 -aspect 16:9 -s 720x480 -r ntsc -g 12 -me epzs -sameq -acodec copy -map 0.1:0.1 'output.mpg'

[llee782]

I tried some mencoder commands that include the -vf options tinterlace and pullup as suggested in this discussion, but even though most of the video is smoother, there are still spots with jerks and stutters, increasing in severity as the video continues to play in VLC or QuickTime Player.

Here's one of the commands that resulted in the best results I've gotten.
mencoder -nosound -ovc lavc -lavcopts vcodec=mpeg2video:vbitrate=8000 -fps 60000/1001 -ofps 24000/1001 -vf tinterlace,pullup,scale=640:360 -noskip -of mpeg inputfile.mpg -o outputfile.mpg

If you haven't gotten the link for a sample source file, please let me know and I'll try to send again/differently. Thanks.

[llee782]

I got it, I'll try to make some tests this weekend.

Thanks very much!

[llee782]

Further searching led me to this, but when I use either of the usage snippets, I get this:

FATAL: Cannot initialize video driver.

My proficiency in working with software sources hasn't yet reached a level that would make me eager to plunge into the project of locating and compiling various versions of mencoder to discover the solution. Is the problem simply that the version of mencoder that can be downloaded from the ffmpegX download page doesn't include the above patch?

[major]

Added to to-do list. As per the file, sorry but it was a file from another user, I didn't got your one in fact. Could you please resend it, if possible as a ftp link.

[llee782]

Added to to-do list. As per the file, sorry but it was a file from another user, I didn't got your one in fact. Could you please resend it, if possible as a ftp link.

Sent. Thanks.


"This time for sure!"
- Bullwinkle Moose

[llee782]

BTW, I did manage to muster the grit to download and compile the current SVN for MPlayer, and the tinterlace=4 option can be used in the filter chain with interesting results. But I still haven't been able to use it with complete success. I've been trying conversion commands based on this:

mencoder -of mpeg 'in.mpg' -vf tinterlace=4,scale -zoom -xy 720 -ofps 30000/1001 -o 'out.mpg' -nosound -ovc lavc -lavcopts vcodec=mpeg2video:vbitrate=9400

[llee782]

I just received Toast 8 and fed an EyeTV Hybrid recording into it to make a standard 4.7G DVD. Motion seems a bit smoother compared to what I got with Toast 7, but there are still too many jagged edges in the video. The problems don't seem to involve interlacing, because the jaggies are there even when there is nearly no motion. I think a standard DVD conversion should result in much higher quality output considering the pristine quality of the original hi-rez mpeg-2 video created by EyeTV. If I use Toast 7 or Toast 8 to transcode a double-layer DVD to 4.7 DVD size, the image quality is much closer to the original than this, so I'm still looking for a better method. Mencoder resulted in drifting audio sync when I used it on a 90 minute movie. The output of ffmpeg isn't quite as smooth as the mencoder output, but the synchronization is near perfect. So for now I'm going with DVD ffmpeg in ffmpegX to make the conversion with these options selected.

Video segment tab
With 16X9 I typically use between 8000 and 9000 kbit/s for a 90 minute movie

Video parameters
720X480
DVD or DVD 16:9
NTSC (29.97)

Audio segment tab
Passthrough

Options segment tab
High quality
Use B-frames
4 motion vectors
Two-pass encoding
Quarter pixel ME (qpel)