H.264 TS files created using HD PVR to MKV.

[poisondeathray]

Try the mod16 res (1920,1088)

If you still have the dashed line, it's caused by something else

[mathieumg]

It's encoding now (35%), I will report back when its done.

[Red Hat]

Post some of your sample encodes.

[jagabo]

Here's a short segment of 2001 A Space Odyssey I captured a while back. Captured as 1080i, inverse telecined back to 23.976 fps progressive, saved as Xvid AVI. The audio was pretty crappy at the source.

http://www.sendspace.com/file/eruhra

[mathieumg]

Nice jagabo

Encoding finally finished for me...

Filesize is about the same, quality is worse and it sometimes hang up and it makes VLC crash when I try to take a snapshot

There are some horizontal lines I can notice on the image too.

I'm starting to be desperate :'(

I will go record a short HD segment so it's much faster to encode and/or upload.

[Red Hat]

Record a Short HD segment and I'll see what I can do with it.

[poisondeathray]

You can't use the same script as Red Hat: he is encoding a progressive source, you are encoding a 1080i source

You might want to deinterlace, or change recording modes

To minimize your time wasted, you might consider doing short test encodes on a short clip (e.g. 30 seconds) until you get settings that are acceptable for you

[Red Hat]

Poisondeathray, you use hd pvr or something else?

[poisondeathray]

I had HD-PVR, but it broke, awaiting my RMA replacement still under warranty. I might sell it and was thinking of getting the Intensity Pro, I'm not completely happy with it (but Intensity Pro has issues as well...)

[mathieumg]

Currently uploading a 100mb .ts file I just captured... will update this post with link in 10 minutes.

[Red Hat]

http://www.sendspace.com/file/p7ft2y - I think I've posted enough of my samples to let you guys know I can capture and encode stuff now.

[mathieumg]

Happy for you Red Hat, maybe I'll get to that point too :P

http://qc-net.com/testencode.ts

That's my 100mb sample.

[Red Hat]

I'm going to try to make MKV and AVI out of your ts file. Contact me on MSN at redhat.amd@gmail.com or AIM at RandomShadowMan to see what's going on.

[Red Hat]

I'm currently encoding an mkv version and an avi version of the clip posted above.

[Red Hat]

http://www.sendspace.com/file/7osvf5

TS files above encoded to AVI and MKV.
6000kbps bitrate for x264 MKV.
1100kbps bitrate fpr XviD AVI.

[mathieumg]

That's really neat. Can you help me achieve the same result please?

[Red Hat]

Here's the script used for your MKV at 1080i.

LoadPlugin("C:\dgavcdec100a34\DGAVCDecode.dll")
AVCSource("testencode.dga")
Crop(6, 14, -0, -0)
Lanczos4Resize(1904,1056)
FieldDeinterlace()

Here's what I did for MKV.
1.) I used DGAVCIndex to demux the files.
2.) Encoded the file in MKV x264 at 6000kbps with megui using avs script above.
3.) Muxed DGAVCIndex aac file with the mkv file encoded using megui.

Here's the script I use for my 720p stuff.
LoadPlugin("C:\dgavcdec100a34\DGAVCDecode.dll")
AVCSource("GraphEdit TS.dga")
SelectEven()
Crop(0, 8, -4, -0)
Lanczos4Resize(1280,720)

Always check to see if it needs to be 23.976fps or not.

[mathieumg]

I got my mkv to work with synched ac3 audio and everything

However, I am having an hard time taking commercials out of the mkv...

Anybody knows an effective way to do that?

Thanks

[Red Hat]

I've tried megui for cutting and it works for video but not audio. For audio, I keep getting stuck at 1.62%.

[poisondeathray]

mathieumg - I've already suggested in this thread what has worked for me for editing and keeping in sync, but YMMV as you can tell from the various posts

To be sure, the tedious way is to save as uncompressed (or lossless codec) and edit that, then encode to your final format

[Red Hat]

I just got CoreAVC Pro and I see a major improvement with DirectShowSource. For audio, I export it in virtualdub and make sure it's on full processing mode when I do it and if I play it before I export it or anything, it will mess up.

For DirectShowSource, export the wav audio in virtualdub with full processing mode and DO NOT PLAY it before you do it or it will mess up.

[Red Hat]

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=QNWGUZYX - I used megui to cut this file ( Original TS Cap was around 5 minutes ). Here's what I did.

1.) I muxed the ts file using dgavcindex.
2.) Loaded avs file with this script into megui.

LoadPlugin("C:\dgavcdec100a34\DGAVCDecode.dll")
AVCSource("output 2.dga")
SelectEven()
Crop(168, 8, -168, -0)
Lanczos4Resize(640,480)

3.) Went to AVS cutter and it changed the script to this and made a cut file too.

LoadPlugin("C:\dgavcdec100a34\DGAVCDecode.dll")
AVCSource("output 2.dga")
SelectEven()
Crop(168, 8, -168, -0)
Lanczos4Resize(640,480)

__film = last
__t0 = __film.trim(7000, 10230)
__t0

4.) Went to audio cutter, loaded the aac file made using dgavcindex into megui and the cut made by avs cutter, and then exported a new .aac file with no delay.
5.) I did dual-pass encoding in virtualdub for the video with XviD at 1200kbps bitrate.
6.) I muxed the new aac file with the video encoded by virtualdub using megui.
7.) Used avidemux to convert aac to mp3.
8.) Exported the mp3 wav file with virtualdub.
9.) I used audacity to convert the .wav file to mp3.
10.) Muxed the .mp3 file with the original video encoded by virtualdub in megui.

Sorry if it was long and confusing. Also, DirectShowSource and H.264 TS Cutter were NOT used at all for this.

[mathieumg]

Thanks for the info, got the cut to work with AC3 from .TS and .MKV from .DGA.

One problem though, when I was trying to encode the x264.exe would crash. I checked the logs and found:

--[NoImage] Job commandline: "C:\Program Files (x86)\megui\tools\x264\x264.exe" --bitrate 4000 --partitions p8x8,b8x8,i4x4 --threads auto --thread-input --aq-mode --sar 1:1 --progress --no-psnr --no-ssim --output "C:\Users\Mathieu\Videos\Infoman\infoman.mkv" "C:\Users\Mathieu\Videos\Infoman\infoman.avs"
--[Information] [14/09/2008 8:30:35 PM] Encoding started
--[Error] An error occurred: x264 [error]: invalid argument: aq-mode = --sar

Its like it wasn't feeding a value to the aq-mode parameter so it mistook the next parameter (--sar) for the value and caused the crash.

I disabled the AQ-MODE in the encoding settings and everything worked. Is aq-mode something important? It recommends a value of 2 and says its the default. Is it a bug of the program that the command line is -aq-mode instead of -aq-mode 2 ?

[poisondeathray]

Just update your MeGUI using the development servers; Sharktooth forgot to update the profiles to reflect the new AQ changes but it's fixed now

AQ is adaptive quantization. It's not important for the encoding mechanics, but just an enhancement to quality in certain video types. It redistributes bits, reducing blocking in flat areas. Essentialy it eliminates the need for using custom matrices. I would turn the strength down or turn it off on anime/CGI type films

[Red Hat]

Alright, I'm finally 100% set. I can cut HD PVR files fine now with megui without using directshowsource or h.264 ts cutter.

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=MEGYF4WC - Take a look. Audio is encoded to 128kbps mp3 for both files. CoreAVC Pro rocks because I installed it and I no longer have issues with cutting audio in megui and it made everything encode a lot faster.

[Red Hat]

I've successfully recorded a few episodes of tv shows now and cut out commercials using megui and the video/audio sync is great. The files are 23 minutes long and 220MB(PDTV Stuff).

[MrCodeDude]

I have a 3 hour, 12GB unedited .ts file from my HD PVR and I'm having difficulty doing anything with it. My main goal is to shrink it down to at least a 4GB file so that I can put it on a standard DVD.

I've been trying to experiment with a smaller, 5 minute 300mb file to see quicker results, but nothing has been very successful.

My earlier process had been:
Captured h.264 .ts files (282mb) img
Burned to BDMV movie (282mb)
Open BDMV movie with Ulead VideoStudio and convert to .mpg (164mb) img
VideoReDo to remove commercials (85mb)
Handbrake to convert to DiVX (17mb) img

As you can see, the end results picture quality was horrible, so I'm trying some of the stuff RedHat, poisondeathray and others have suggested in this thread.

I've uploaded a 15 second clip of a 720p capture I have: http://www.sendspace.com/file/0tjnwb (15mb) preview image

So far I've used DS Mux (part of Haali) to export the file into a .mkv. I'm trying to use AutoMKV (w/ standard settings), but even with a small 15mb file, the x264.exe command prompt is taking about 20 minutes to process a 746 frame clip (at ~.50fps).

Somehow the resultant clip after running it through AutoMKV doubled the size of the file while reducing the resolution from 1280x720 to 1264x704. This isn't desirable (in speed or result), so I tried Red Hat's 720p process above.

1. I used DGAVCIndex to demux the files into angels.TS (original video file) and angels PID 1100 DELAY -47ms.aac

2. Using Red Hat's AVS Script, which I named 720p.avs

LoadPlugin("C:\Documents and Settings\Michael\Desktop\dgavcdec102\DGAVCDecode.dll")
AVCSource("d:\dropbox\angels\angels.dga")
SelectEven()
Crop(0, 8, -4, -0)
Lanczos4Resize(1280,720)

I loaded the avs file into MeGUI, hit AutoEncode, specified an MKV container and Average Bitrate of: 6000kbit/s which estimated a 10mb output file: 720p.mkv

3. In MeGUI, went to Tools -> Muxer -> MKV Muxer, loaded the Video Input (720p.mkv) and the Audio Input (angels PID 1100 DELAY -47ms.aac), hit Queue, ended with a result file of: 720p-muxed.mkv which is 10.3MB.

Resultant file (which I swear looks better than the original) is here: http://www.sendspace.com/file/si8hkq

My only question is where and how do I edit out commercials? The 15mb clip I have doesn't have any, but I am impressed with the output quality. Poisondeathray earlier in this thread said that using AviSynth to remove commercials would be the best way because the cuts are perfect and don't have any pixelation, so can I just edit the 720p.avs file I have borrowed from Red Hat to somehow trim the commercials out? If so, how would I accomplish this?

edit: More important question, MeGUI 0.3.0.2018 took about 3 minutes to load the 300mb file, is this normal? I'd imagine it would take near an hour to open up the 12GB file.

[jagabo]

Open this subset of your script with VirtualDubMod:

LoadPlugin("C:\Documents and Settings\Michael\Desktop\dgavcdec102\DGAVCDecode.dll")
AVCSource("d:\dropbox\angels\angels.dga")

Use it's mark-in, mark-out, and cut tools to remove all the commercials. Export the cut list (tools, script editor, insert frameset as trims). Add it to your earlier AVS script.

Captured h.264 .ts files (282mb) img
Burned to BDMV movie (282mb)
Open BDMV movie with Ulead VideoStudio and convert to .mpg (164mb) img
VideoReDo to remove commercials (85mb)
Handbrake to convert to DiVX (17mb) img

If your source was 720p then it was converted to 1080i while makeing the BDMV. Your further processing with VideoReDo and Handbrake has blended the two fields together resulting in the double exposure look.

By the way, the AC3 enabled drivers for the HD PVR are in public beta now. You'll find H.264/AC3 much easier to edit.

To fit a 3 hour video on a 4 GB DVD you'll need to use a bitrate around 3000 kbps, whatever codec you use.

[MrCodeDude]

Open this subset of your script with VirtualDubMod:

LoadPlugin("C:\Documents and Settings\Michael\Desktop\dgavcdec102\DGAVCDecode.dll")
AVCSource("d:\dropbox\angels\angels.dga")

Use it's mark-in, mark-out, and cut tools to remove all the commercials. Export the cut list (tools, script editor, insert frameset as trims). Add it to your earlier AVS script.

Is there a way to use comskip to somehow import the cut marks into VirtualDub? I would imagine doing it manually would be a PITA. If not, I might just leave the commercials in and just FF through them while watching.

If your source was 720p then it was converted to 1080i while makeing the BDMV. Your further processing with VideoReDo and Handbrake has blended the two fields together resulting in the double exposure look.

Nah, my source for the 300mb file was 1080i. I don't plan to capture anything else in 1080i though, baseball and football (which is all that I'm copying) look better in 720p (at least for me).

By the way, the AC3 enabled drivers for the HD PVR are in public beta now. You'll find H.264/AC3 much easier to edit.

To fit a 3 hour video on a 4 GB DVD you'll need to use a bitrate around 3000 kbps, whatever codec you use.

Yeah, I will install the AC3 drivers later tonight and see if I can play around with another smaller (~100mb) file that will make the captured files either to play with.

I don't know how Red Hat chose a bitrate of 6000 kbit/s, but I like how it encoded. (I assume 300kbps would look worse) I wouldn't mind splitting 3 hours between two 4GB DVDs to preserve the quality, considering how cheap DVD media and HD space is right now.

[jagabo]

An fast easy way to deinterlace a 1080i source is:

LoadPlugin("C:\Documents and Settings\Michael\Desktop\dgavcdec102\DGAVCDecode.dll")
AVCSource("d:\dropbox\angels\angels.dga")
SeparateFields()
SelectEven()
LanczosResize(desired size)

Some better deinterlacers include TDeint(), LeakKernelDeint(), Yadif(), TempGaussMC_beta1().