Converting EyeTV MPEG file

[lkearl]

I record TV shows using EyeTV Hybrid and would like to use ffmpegX to convert to formats such as iPod, Apple TV, and DVD because ffmpegx is much faster than the EyeTV conversion (which I think just uses QuickTime). When I open the file in ffmpegX I see in the summary panel that the video is mpeg-2 at 720x480, 8000 kbps and 29.97 fps; and the audio is mp2, 48000Hz and 384 kbps. When I hit the encode button I get the following error:

Sun May 27 20:08:47 MDT 2007
using SAR=1000/1001
x264 [info]: using cpu capabilities MMX MMXEXT SSE SSE2
mp4 [info]: initial delay 0 (scale 30000)
movtoy4m
Copyright 2002-2006 Johan Lindstr??m
All rights reserved..
ERROR: Could not open movie: /Volumes/Final Videos/Movies from EyeTV/EyeTV MPEG Export/The Simpsons - Marge's Son Poisoning.mpg
x264 [info]: final ratefactor: 53.13
FFmpeg version CVS, Copyright (c) 2000-2004 Fabrice Bellard
Mac OSX universal build for ffmpegX
configuration: --enable-memalign-hack --enable-mp3lame --enable-gpl --disable-vhook --disable-ffplay --disable-ffserver --enable-a52 --enable-xvid --enable-faac --enable-faad --enable-amr_nb --enable-amr_wb --enable-pthreads --enable-x264
libavutil version: 49.0.0
libavcodec version: 51.9.0
libavformat version: 50.4.0
built on Apr 15 2006 04:58:19, gcc: 4.0.1 (Apple Computer, Inc. build 5250)
[mov,mp4,m4a,3gp,3g2,mj2 @ 0x5597b8]Could not find codec parameters (Video: h264, 640x480)
/Volumes/Final Videos/Movies from EyeTV/EyeTV MPEG Export/The Simpsons - Marge's Son Poisoning.mpg.ff.video.mp4: could not find codec parameters

I think the problem is the source video has mp2 audio instead of ac3. If I first convert the file using EyeTV (say to iPod or Apple TV format) I can then convert it using ffmpegx and see in the summary tab that the audio is aac format. Is there anyway to make ffmpegX be able to work with the original file that has the audio in mp2 format? Do I need the QuickTime MPEG-2 Playback component?

[Case]

I think the problem is the source video has mp2 audio instead of ac3. If I first convert the file using EyeTV (say to iPod or Apple TV format) I can then convert it using ffmpegx and see in the summary tab that the audio is aac format.

No, it works in two steps because then you never decode MPEG-2 video using QuickTime (without the MPEG-2 Playback component). ffmpegX converts mp2 audio just as easily as ac3 audio.

Is there anyway to make ffmpegX be able to work with the original file?

Try de-selecting Decode with Quicktime in the Options tab; then ffmpegX x264 uses the built-in ffmpeg to decode.

Do I need the QuickTime MPEG-2 Playback component?

Well, that component would enable ffmpegX to decode MPEG-2 video using QuickTime. It's a good tool in a video converter's toolbox, but not exactly needed in this example, when you de-select as mentioned above.

On a side note: This conversion (x264) doesn't seem to care about spaces and apostrophes in the path or filename, but some conversions with ffmpegX do. To be safe, try to avoid them.

[lkearl]

Turning off "decode with QuickTime" did the trick (thank you!!!), but now I have another problem. So after the DVD conversion ends I have a folder called Movie Name.DVD and when I use the img tool to create a disk image I can burn with Disk Utility I get a message that says:

Unrecognized Format

Please select a folder containing the Video_TS and Audio_TS folders

[lkearl]

One more thing:

When I converted using the mpeg2enc preset it got to 96% done and then failed. Then I used the ffmpeg preset and it completed successfully. So it's the Movie Name.DVD folder created by the ffmpeg preset that I'm wanting to convert to a disk image using the img tool. Thanks.

[Case]

Turning off "decode with QuickTime" did the trick (thank you!!!)

You're welcome.

Unrecognized Format
Please select a folder containing the Video_TS and Audio_TS folders

You might get that error if
a) the selected folder has no VIDEO_TS and AUDIO_TS folder in it, or
b) the selected folder has characters in the name that the IMG tool doesn't like, e.g. an apostrophe ('). Rename the folder to some name without special characters and try again.

When I converted using the mpeg2enc preset it got to 96% done and then failed.

Possibly this is in the muxing stage (merging video and audio), and the error may also be because of the naming ("no spaces or special characters").

[lkearl]

Thanks again for the suggestions. I think you're right about the apostrophe in the name causing the failure. I just did the same steps with a recording of Apollo 13 (so no apostrophe in the name) and it made the disk image using the img tool with no problem.

Thanks for all your help. I'm excited to be able to use ffmpegx to do all my post-recording conversions rather than the built-in EyeTV converters, which I think are just QuickTime and are much slower than ffmpegX.

[lkearl]

I successfully made a DVD and when I watch it on TV scenes with panning or other rapid movement appear jerky, while on my computer using Apple's DVD player the motion is smooth. The source video was MPEG-2 recorded from EyeTV at 29.97 fps, so when I encoded to make the DVD I selected NTSC and 29.97 fps as the frame rate. Should I instead choose NTSC Film and then select the 3:2 option using the mencoder preset? Thanks.

[lkearl]

I have fixed the problem I was having with the DVD having "jerky" playback on my TV. I made the "jerky" version using the DVD ffmpeg preset because when I used the DVD mpeg2enc preset the conversion failed at between 96% and 99%. But I've read elsewhere on this forum that the DVD mpeg2enc is the more compatible preset to use, so I looked the result of my prior attempt to use this preset and saw that the DVD folder with the Audio_TS and Video_TS folders in it had been created and was able to be played using the Apple DVD player. So I used the img tool to make a DVD image, burned this using the Disk Utility and the resulting DVD played perfectly.

The error message I got when using the img tool I reported in my post of May 28 turned out to be because of an apostophe in a folder name in the path to the DVD folder. Once I removed the apostrophe all worked well. Very cool that I can now make DVDs from EyeTV recordings without having to use the conversion tools in EyeTV!

[heythere]

basically what i did was change the .eyetv suffix to .mpg, this creates a folder, the mpg of the show should be in there. usually for me this file takes way to much space up, so i convert down to size with i squint or the equivalent.