How do you determine if your transport stream is faulty?

[yoda313]

Ok I have found some interesting muxing tools for transport stream applications. One is videoredo which is supposed to be able to mux a transport file to dvr-ms for playing on a media center extender (I'd love to do this for my xbox 360 without downgrading the quality and keeping 5.1). I have also seen some that are supposed to mux a transport stream to bluray m2ts. I would use this to stream to my ps3 if the dvr-ms conversion doesn't work (note I don't have a bluray burner just a rom so this is a "temporary" fix until burners and discs drop in price).

I am suspecting that I am getting out of spec files off of my hd dvr from comcast (a motorola model I got last year from the cable company). I am using a firewire cable and capdvhs to transfer the video. I can play it power dvd ultra (version 8 I think - its the one that plays bluray and hddvd).

The problem I am getting is videoredo can't open the two test files I have. A 2 min clip from Tomb Raider two off a high def recording and a Good Eats episode from the Food Network also in hd. If I can play them I would assume I could convert them.

Please note these are actually .mpg files that are being captured. They are usually 1080i at 25mbps I believe. I would like to know what tool is recommended to "fix" these captured files. Or would I be better off using a different capture program? Can any dv recording program capture a high def tv program? I am thinking I need to "fix" the files before these other programs can use them. I am just not sure if its the capture or the conversion program that has the problem. Also note my encoding machine is a dual core 2.7ghz amd and running Vista Premium.

Suggestions are welcome.

[t0nee1]

Try your sample .mpg clips with XviD4PSP and use the xbox360/PS3 format for .mp4 or if you prefer .m2ts , but in order to stream .m2ts,change file extension to .mpg before streaming so the PS3 see's it...

[Nelson37]

SFAIK capdvhs is the only way to do the firewire capture, there is a lot of info on this at avs forum.

Are you capping live, or transfering off the hd on the Comcast box? They may be doing some odd things at the capture point as oppossed to the live capture.

Couldn't get this to work myself, though I have done some OTA captures with a Hauppage 1600. Have used HDTV2MPG2 and projectX to manipulate these files, MPG2CUT2 for editing. Various progs with various rejection issues, with occassional captures seeming totally incompatible with anything.

Many progs seem to reject files purely due to size, bitrate, resolution issues, though most can be converted. I have mainly been doing H264 encodes with MeGui, for storage and Xbox360 playback. Loosing 5.1 sound sucks, but apparently there is no answer for this.

Reminds me a lot of early days of capping MPG2, the software just isn't fully there yet. I've had several files which I thought had severe issues, tried a different mux or playback prog and everything was OK. In technical terms, youj just have to keep messing with it.

[yoda313]

Thanks Tonee1 and Nelson 37.

I currently don't have my ps3 set up for streaming. I expect to have that corrected after some hardware comes in from ebay.

I'll have to try hdtv2mpg2. However the file itself is already an .mpg.

For more clarification it is a pre-recorded file. I am doing a realtime dub via firewire of the previously captured program. I must admit I've never tried doing a live capture. It would be interesting to see if that would create more compatible files.

I'll try out these suggestions this weekend and let you know how it goes.

And to Nelson37 - yes I am not suprised that a true "standard" has yet to evolve on transport stream files. I am sure there is a technical standard somewhere but with our "homemade" capture files they probably are not so picky about what gets recorded or how.

[Soopafresh]

Does it open in Dgindex ?

[yoda313]

Thanks soopafresh. I'll add that to my arsenal and try it out in the next few days. I'll let you know.

[yoda313]

Ok I've tried it but it mentions problems with the PID in the file. It wants me to set them. I choose the 800 and 802 for video and audio but it still doesn't work.

What tools can correct PID issues in a transport stream?

[Soopafresh]

mpeg2repair - http://users.adelphia.net/~mwilczyn/mpeg2repair/

That'll change the PID numbers to 31 and 34, I think. I don't remember at the moment.

[yoda313]

Thanks. However I can't open it. I am getting a trojan horse warning from norton antivirus on my vista pc.

It looks like its going to take a lot more effort to work with these transport mpeg files than I thought.

Edit - I found a newer link to a 2007 update that has no virus notices. I opened it but would still not process it.

[poisondeathray]

Can you upload a small sample clip to a free hosting site (such as megaupload, mediafire, etc...)?

[yoda313]

Sure but I will need to try to get a program to cut it. I still have my 3gb good eats food network show I'm testing with.

What size would be adequate for testing?

[poisondeathray]

Just a tiny clip, maybe 10 sec or so (if it's 25mbps)

Preferably don't use a cutter, because that might alter the .ts structure irreversibly, depending on where you cut. If you can, just record a 10-20 sec clip as you would normally.

[yoda313]

Ok I'm thinking my recording procedures may be faulty to begin with. Here is a message from mpg2cut2:


Missing first key-frame header on input file (x185a)

input file starts part way through gop/seq

skip to better start point?


Is this part of my issue? Would that be preventing other programs from reading the file correctly?

Here is how I capture my prerecorded files off the dvr:

1 - press play on the dvr with firewire connected

2 - press rec on the capdvhs program

Is that correct? Is there a way to get better synchronization for recording?

Maybe the recording procedure is not laying down an intact file. I can play it pretty well but editing programs can't open it.

[t0nee1]

Does the .TS open in DGAVCdec ?

[poisondeathray]

If I can recall correctly, many Motorola models have encrypted output - hence the problems with capping and editing later. Maybe do a search for forum support on your specific model.

[yoda313]

@ poisondeathray - ok thanks. I'll take a look.

@t0nee1 - I don't believe so. That is an offshoot of dgindex isn't it? It wasn't successful either.

THanks for all the advice everybody. Hopefully I'll find something that works.

[Jim44]

Just a quick follow-up onthe comment regarding Motorola boxes & encryption: have a look at:
http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/How_to_use_a_Motorola_DVR
check under "Configuration".

Pretty good info in there about what may and may not be possible to record - although IME there's some trial-n-error involved as well.

HTH,
Jim

[yoda313]

Thanks everyone. Unfortunately I'm in a bind right now. I though I might have had faulty drivers or didn't install them right initially so I tried uninstalling it and starting over. Now I can't seem to get them reinstalled properly.

Until I get it back up and running I can't do any fresh caps off the dvr's firewire.

I'll work on getting the drivers back and come back to this later. Thanks everyone.

[[_chef_]]

PVAstrumento still works.

[yoda313]

Thanks [_chef_]

However it mentions its for DVB sources. Isn't that the European standard? I don't know how different that would be from North American HDTV streams.

Is an mpeg stream an mpeg stream no matter where it comes from? Or is it still a regional difference?

[[_chef_]]

Yeah, DVB is standardized, the only difference would be PAL or NTSC, but HDTV is a different animal...
I would use tsdemux and tsremux first to check out what is possible or not.