Is there a practical way to transcode high def h.264? (hd pvr1212)

[yoda313]

Ok here's the deal. I have the hauppauge hd pvr 1212 and its great. However even at 7mb/s I get file sizes over 8gbs for 2 and a half hour or longer recordings. Its great for 2 hour or less because I can still burn to a dual layer dvd.

I do have a western digital tv media player so I can go that route eventually. However I like burning avchd dvds and play them on my ps3.

I have pinnacle studio 12 with the high def plus model. I haven't tried it yet but would this be a way to reencode it at a smaller bitrate?

I guess another question to ask is what is a perceptual minimum for "high def" quality on the happauge hd pvr? I know I can test it myself but is there a general rule of thumb? I mean would anything less than 5mbs be a waste of time caputring for hgih def?

Thanks....

FYI initially I was recording to m2ts. However it now has a dedicated avchd mode that records to ts. It is a h264 hardware unit.

[Baldrick]

I wouldn't reconvert using pinnacle anyway...

Use a x264 gui like megui, xvid4psp or staxrip.

[johns0]

Uncropmkv is what i use to shrink mkv,m2ts,ts and avi.

[yoda313]

Thanks baldrick and johns0. I'll check those out this weekend. I didn't even think of xvid4psp for some reason. Good choices - never heard of uncropmkv. Though I'll check it out.

[yoda313]

Well if anyone is interested I've settled on a routine that seems to work. I've reconnected my wdtv media player. I also set up a usb cable with an extension cable so it can reach my pc.

My main paths are to burn to dvd anything that will fit on a single or dual layer in avchd mode. Those I'll play on my ps3.

Anything larger than that - the ones over two hours at 7mb/s - will be played back on my wdtv. With the second usb cable all I have to do is swap usb cables and I can easily transfer files to the external drive that I"m using with my wdtv player. Once transfered I simply switch usb cables to the one on the wdtv player and I'm all set to go.

This will save conversion time and harddrive space. By burning to disc the shorter programs I can save harddrive space. But I can use the space I do have for the larger programs that don't fit on disc.

And the wdtv plays both the m2ts and ts recordings I can make on the hd pvr.

Thanks for the suggestions.

[FulciLives]

Might want to rethink doing AVCHD discs.

Why?

1.) Simply making a data disc of the M2TS file will work on the PS3 but also allow you to copy it to you a HDD and send to the Western Digital Media Player. So really in a sense this is more versatile.

2.) My PS3 which was not used heavily is dying at 1 1/2 years old ($500 USD 80GB model bought December 2007). When I say dying I mean the following: It is having problems recognizing Blu-Ray game discs. Sony wants $150 to fix it and I may not even get the exact same unit back but a reconditioned unit ... not horrible per se but my older unit has features not found on newer units (i.e., PS2 backwards compatible with additional USB slots and memory card slots). I could get screwed by getting the newer 80GB model back which lacks PS2 ability and has two USB ports instead of four etc.

Based on point 2 ... I would use the Western Digital Media player whenever possible as it is cheaper and therefore easier to replace.

As for my PS3 ... it seems OK with discs other than game discs. Right now I have to insert then eject then insert then eject over and over again until it will "see" the game disc. Last night some friends of mine wanted to play BURNOUT PARADISE and it took me a good 10 minutes of that (in then out ... in then out ... in then out) until the PS3 said, "Oh you put a game disc in me"

Very annoying.

- John "FulciLives" Coleman

[yoda313]

@fulcilives - thanks for the advice.

However I do have my pc in my hdtv room so in the end should my ps3 go belly up I can still play back the avchd discs on the pc.

But your point is well taken.

And thanks for the insight on just burning the files without converting to avchd. i did not know that for sure. Though the recording software does now have m2ts recording options for ps3 playback. So I could capture in that mode and simply burn anything small enough for single or dual layer to the dvd without converting.

One question though - can you insert chapters into m2ts files without creating avchd discs? I have created most of my avchd discs without chapters but I am starting to do that for the convenience. It's not absolutely necessary but its nice to have. And I can certainly live without menus since the wdtv simply uses thumbnails anyway.

I have a 40gb ps3 model. I think its a year old or so. Can't remember for sure. I bought it when they did the first round of those gov't tax refunds for everybody the other year.

And actually I haven't played too many games on it - still only have 4 - ninja gaiden 1 sigma, little big planet, heavenly sword, and ..... oh maybe I still only have 3....... Though Infamous intrigues me....

I mainly use my ps3 for movies - it is quieter than my xbox 360 for upconverting sd dvds. It also does bluray obviously so I use it for that mainly. I like games on my 360 better......

[FulciLives]

inFAMOUS is freakin' awesome. There is a DEMO of it on the PSN store. Download it if you haven't yet.

Yeah I only have a few games for my PS3 ... the one I mostly play is CIV REV but lately been playing BURNOUT (which I've had) and now inFAMOUS.

I finally finished UNCHARTED (which I loved but I took my time with it) and I'm almost done with HEAVENLY SWORD ... according to an on-line guide I'm on the final (though multi-part) BOSS battle.

These days I spend most of my PS3 time on HOME which is so sad LOL

- John "FulciLives" Coleman

P.S.
I've never bothered trying to put chapters onto M2TS files. Don't know if that works or not. But yeah I just burn everything to DVD discs as a "data disc" and leave it as a M2TS file. You can play it directly from the disc or ... as I normally do ... copy the file from the disc to the PS3's HDD and then play it. No lag that way. I noticed some high bitrates stuff pixelates when played directly from a DVD be it a M2TS file or a full blown AVCHD (I made one once and yeah it pixelated on a high action scene ... DVD doesn't spin fast enough). I then copied the original M2TS to my PS3's HDD as a M2TS file and the same scene did NOT have issues.

[yoda313]

@fulcilives - thanks.

Would tsmuxer be able to insert chapters?

I have mostly put high def concerts from my cable hd dvr onto avchd. I haven't noticed any lag on them so far - though a drop out or two here and there - possibly bad discs......

I think I probably will do more with the wdtv then since I have a setup I like.

My only restriction will be harddrive space. I currently only have a 320gb external I'm using with it. I've got 200 free now. I'll have to look into possibly getting a 1tb later this year......

[johns0]

Tsmuxer allows you to insert chapter at a selectable time such as a chapter every 5 minutes.

[yoda313]

Tsmuxer allows you to insert chapter at a selectable time such as a chapter every 5 minutes.

Perfect. Thanks.

Is there an option to leave it as a m2ts? I saw its got the bluray creation or ts creation - I suppose I could make it into a ts - can it take a m2ts and keep it as a m2ts?

[johns0]

Just load up tsmuxer and try it yourself,it has options to output as ts,m2ts,blu-ray and avchd, from mpeg and mkv,mp4 and ts amd m2ts sources.