Convert MPG (ts?) to mp4 (or anything) and stay sync'd

[hornetster]

Have been battling with this for a week or thereabouts.
Have a 6gb .mpg file from a Topfield TF7100HDPVRt, which I assume is really a .ts file.
Have tried many and varied ways to convert this to *anything* (mpg, mp4, avi), and regardless of what I do, I end up with the audio out-of-sync. Initially it plays OK in VLC, but nothing else seems to.
Have tried Projectx, kdenlive, cinellera, ffmpeg, mencoder (mencoder -of mpeg -ovc copy -oac copy -o mpgDone.mpg mpgToDo.mpg), mplex (mplex -f 8 -o mpgDone.mpg VideoToDo.m2v AudioToDo.mp2 - after using ProjectX to demux, and checking length of files etc.), Winff etc
Anybody able to help?
Thanks, John.

Using Linux (Opensuse 11.4 x64)

[Baldrick]

Tried vlc? It can convert.

[yoda313]

Can you play the original file without synch issues? Is your computer fast enough to play high def files if that is what this is?

Also try mpchc to play it.

For converting try format factory or xvid4psp. As well as ripbot264, multiavchd or avstodvd.

[lovelylisa]

I have tried for over 1 week and tried over 12 different programs, but the conversion from .ts to .mp4 is ALWAYS OUT OF SYNC.

[lovelylisa]

Can you play the original file without synch issues? Is your computer fast enough to play high def files if that is what this is?

Also try mpchc to play it.

For converting try format factory or xvid4psp. As well as ripbot264, multiavchd or avstodvd.

Sorry hornetster, not trying to hijack the thread, but I am trying to achieve the same thing you are.

I tried all those programs, FF, xvid4psp etc and the end MP4 is always out of sync.

I even tried Avidemux, but same result, an out of sync MP4 file.

[hornetster]

Tried vlc? It can convert.

Thanks, Baldrick.
Tried that, no joy
John.

[hornetster]

Can you play the original file without synch issues?

Hi yoda313.
As I said, plays ok in VLC (and ffplay is fine) but anything else that I have tried seems to be out of sync.
Computer should definitely be fast enough (i5 with 4gb RAM)
BTW, using Linux - any software suggestions for that?

Thanks, John

[noemi7]

Check ProjectX log file for errors - I expect there are some. ProjectX very rarely makes out of sync files, so it should be something wrong with your recording...

[hornetster]

Check ProjectX log file for errors..

Yep, there are lots of errors....

summary of created media files:
.Video (m2v): 209174 Frames 02:19:26.960 '/temp/video.m2v'
Audio 00 (mp2): 348623 Frames 02:19:26.952 0-0-58-0 '/temp/video.mp2'
=> 6,164,720,124 bytes written...
-> we have 227 warnings/errors.

Mostly appear to be similar to:

!> missing syncword @ 205355233, @ 01:46:55.032
!> found syncword @ 205355816
!> 2 frame(s) (48ms) inserted @ 01:46:55.080
!> missing syncword @ 205363497, @ 01:46:55.296
!> PTS without a frame (205363832/205363833)

and according to this, they are only *just* out of sync.... but, what do I do now?
In theory I can then 'remux' in another format (hopefully mp4 or similar..)? Sorry for being a bit of a newb....
Thanks, John

[netmask56]

Visit the Beyonwiz forum in Australia if you want to check some of the FAQ's on file conversions. Same technique for Toppy. The Beyonwiz and Topfield use the same file format MPEG2 TS, the Topfield (rec) has a proprietary header whilst the BW is a standard MPEG2 TS . Australian digital tv only uses MPEG2 with either mpeg audio and or AC3 and it's mostly stereo - a very few broadcasts are Dolby 5.1 but many of the stations just make the little blue light come on anyway - marketing raises it's ugly head...

The most reliable way to fix transmission errors from Australian digital TV channels is ProjectX BUT you need to make a change in the "Presettings tabs" if the station was a HD channel. ie 1, 24, 30,70, 90 etc. Go to the Video tab and change the setting from computed maximum <= 9 Mbps to "computed maximum if it was from an HD source, otherwise leave it. Check all the settings as per my Wiki (see my signature). Next remux to MPEG2. Then using any other file format conversion program to convert the MPEG2 file it to avi, mp4 etc. You really need to go through this step rather than trying to use the separate mpa and mpv files directly to say mp4 for reliable and consistent results. It's actually a good idea to edit out commercials in ProjectX to maintain consistency of the program as quite often the commercial will have quite dramatic errors on the transition from the program. SBS are the worst IMO for this and TEN are not much better. My experience is with Windows and MAC so I don't know any Linux solutions.

I use Womble to remux and this allows me to tidy up any edits I've done in ProjectX it also produces a rock solid MPEG2 file especially if you select the PAL DVD template rather than leaving it on Automatic.
You can also remux using MPEGStreamclip just make sure the video and audio files are in the same folder and select convert to MPEG2. Your problem may of course be a received signal quality issue so it is worthwhile to check your antenna and cable connection to your box and check the signal strength and the signal quality - they should be around 97% or better. Also check for duplicate LCN's.

[yoda313]

but many of the stations just make the little blue light come on anyway - marketing raises it's ugly head...

Just to deviate a bit here I think it will lite up anyway if its from a digital source. My older sony 5.1 amp (non hdmi) does anytime its using the digital inputs. But I have a little graphic display that shows which channels are lit up so I'll know for sure if its 5.1 or not.

I'm sure all amps have there own quirks regarding this but just thought I'd pass it on.

[hornetster]

Netmask, Thanks! Finally it looks like I have success! Have done a 6GB file and it looks like it's spot on. Finally (sort of...) understand the basics of ProjectX, and looks like a very good prog.
I remuxed with mplex in linux, and that seemed to do the job.
At the moment converting to MP4, so will see what the result is!
Thanks a heap.
John.

[lovelylisa]

Netmask, Thanks! Finally it looks like I have success! Have done a 6GB file and it looks like it's spot on. Finally (sort of...) understand the basics of ProjectX, and looks like a very good prog.
I remuxed with mplex in linux, and that seemed to do the job.
At the moment converting to MP4, so will see what the result is!
Thanks a heap.
John.

for SD TV channel recordings, I use ProjectX and then run ImagoMPEG-Muxer. Works a treat and works perfect.

HOWEVER, ImagoMPEG-Muxer cannot handle HD recordings.

[lovelylisa]

...The most reliable way to fix transmission errors from Australian digital TV channels is ProjectX BUT you need to make a change in the "Presettings tabs" if the station was a HD channel. ie 1, 24, 30,70, 90 etc. Go to the Video tab and change the setting from computed maximum <= 9 Mbps to "computed maximum if it was from an HD source, otherwise leave it. Check all the settings as per my Wiki (see my signature). Next remux to MPEG2. ...

I followed your instructions, and the end result MPG is out of sync and the video is jerky and frame rates drop dramatically after a few minutes of play.

ProjectX works perfect for me on SD channels, but on the HD .ts channel recordings, ProjectX gives over 300 errors.

[hornetster]

Thought I would just add this here, rather than create a new thread....
As per above, all is sorted, re the out-of-sync bit, but just after a bit of advice when using this procedure as to the best way to add fade-in, fade-out and transitions...?
ie using projectx to demux, mplex to remux, and eg winff to convert, but none of these add effects etc (do they...?) What is the EASIEST way just to add a few simple things to help the flow of the completed video..?
Thanks John.

[lacywest]

I have audio sync problems when I use HD-PVR. I use a PC in the bedroom to record Directv shows from a large collection of TCM movies that my wife has collected. I have 2 Seagate 500GB drives located next to the PC in the bedroom. I record TV shows to one of them ... I then take that hard drive back to the garage to convert the videos on it to a working DVD.

VideoReDo TV Suite H.264 ... is the only program I found that actually fixes the audio sync problems ... you can download it and try it out for 15 days.

You should give VideoRedo a try ... if you find your audio sync problems are solved ... then you need to decide if you want to buy it ... not cheap .... costs over 60 Bucks. I sent you a PM message.

[T_Jet]

I agree with laceywest.

I used to demux with projectx and then remux. Now I just use VideoReDo. A big plus for me was the ability to do frame accurate cuts.

[lovelylisa]

Avidemux 2.6 Experimental works for me on 90% of files.

Avidemux INDEXES the files first and then encodes. I assume INDEXING is what makes the MPG files play in SYNC similat to the original TS file?

What exactly does INDEXING DO?

And are there any other programs besides Avidemux that INDEXES the file?

[lovelylisa]

I have a 30 minute, 730MB .TS file which I want to encode to MPG.

I load SUPER, import TS file and select MPG and "stream copy" for video and audio, but the MPG only ends up 8 minutes long and 230MB.

What's wrong?

BTW, is SUPER CLEAN? Or does it contain any spyware or trojan or nasties? The reason I ask is that it's always trying to "phone home" so I had to block it on my firewall rules.

[netmask56]

The expression "TS file" can mean different things depending on the country you live in.

In Australia TS files are files that are transmitted by Australian Digital TV, the video is MPEG2 and the Audio is mpeg 1 or sometimes AC3 and that is mostly stereo only.
This applies to all channels regardless whether they are SDTV or HDTV.
No H264 encoding is used currently.
All transmissions SD or HD are widescreen 16:9.
4:3 material is pillarboxed within the 16:9 frame ie black bars either side. There is no aspect ratio switching transmitted to the TV receiver nor "do not record flags" etc..
So called Freeview branded devices offer nothing extra than normal set top boxes or digital TV's other than to prevent you from copying the file off the device or jumping over commercials. Should be avoided like the plague!

So it's a good idea to flag where you live when asking about TS files as the US situation is quite different as is Australia's near neighbour NZ.

Some folk also call VIDEO_TS folders TS files adding more confusion!

[lovelylisa]

I import .TS files into MediaCoder and the resulting MPG file is always too short.

For example, if I encode a 790MB 30 mins TS file, the MPG ends up around 420MB, 10 mins. And if I encode a 60 mins TS file, the MPG is around 20 mins and so on.

WHY? What's the cause and is there a solution?

Cheers.

[stevsz]

In Australia, Have been using MCEBuddy http://mcebuddy.com/ to convert Topfield TRF7160 mpg recordings into mp4, avi (xvid, divx) without any issues. App includes "comskip" for commercial deletion and mencoder for encoding.

Only problem is that subtitles are lost during conversion and I actually want the subtitles. Any suggestions for extracting subtitles from original recording and reinserting subtitles to converted file. Subtitles appear to be encoded into a .inf file (according to Topfield suuport) which appears when transferred to the pc with the original mpg file and a .nav file.

[netmask56]

In Australia, Have been using MCEBuddy http://mcebuddy.com/ to convert Topfield TRF7160 mpg recordings into mp4, avi (xvid, divx) without any issues. App includes "comskip" for commercial deletion and mencoder for encoding.

Only problem is that subtitles are lost during conversion and I actually want the subtitles. Any suggestions for extracting subtitles from original recording and reinserting subtitles to converted file. Subtitles appear to be encoded into a .inf file (according to Topfield suuport) which appears when transferred to the pc with the original mpg file and a .nav file.

The only program that can extract subtitles from Australian DTV is ProjectX - it will accept the raw file ( mpegts .rec) from the Topfield and you must use the Demux mode. This will result in a SRT file (if you choose that option and selecting page 801 teletext from the presettings menu) also a mpv and a mpa or sometimes an AC3 file. It is advisable to edit within ProjectX to maintain subtitle syncronisation otherwise you will have a hell of a job syncing. see my sig for a link to wiki on ProjectX. I was a longtime member of the old Topfield forum and currently on the Beyonwiz forum. On the BW forum you will find many posts relating to this issue.

[stevsz]

Thanks netmask56.

However, I am also trying to compress my TV (Topfield) recordings into smaller files for archiving ..... some of my recordings are 8-10GB and consuming far too much storage space .....so that's why I've been using MCEBuddy which seems to be doing a good job of this resulting in significantly smaller files.

From reading your wiki on ProjectX and the info on this site etc, I couldn't see anywhere that indicates that ProjectX can also compress files. Is that the case?

[netmask56]

ProjectX can only demux to extract the individual tracks or do a direct conversion to mpg stripping out all unnecessary junk. It doesn't compress. It's really a 2 or 3 stage process you need to follow, first produce a decent mpg file plus subs then move to the next stage. If you want subtitles then you must use ProjectX and do your top and tail editing and removing commercial etc. Then when you have a clean set of tracks you put the subtitle track aside for latter and remux the audio and video tracks back together to make a mpg file. Then you can compress that file to your hearts delight say xvid 700MB. Put the subtitle track in the same folder as the compressed video making sure it has the same name and it will work for you. ProjectX has a command line. SO it might be possible for you to write a script to process the file in ProjectX send it to MPEGStreamclip to remux the video and audio and then on to Handbrake? AutoGk? whatever.

What I do is demux the TS file in ProjectX to clean up transmission errors and fixing timing errors then as I have Womble I drop the video and audio into it and get a DVD conforming MPG file add the subtitle track and put both through Handbrake making a MKV or Avi.Net if I need an avi.

Now although this process sounds long winded I never have had audio sync problems, the results are consistent today as when I started this process 5 years ago with my then Topfield 5000. I can manually edit commercials out in ProjectX in a matter of minutes so the whole process to a final editing mpg file takes 15 or 20 minutes.

[stevsz]

But do you think that I might still have a problem in ProjectX if I edit the video file at all (cut commercials etc), because I believe then the subtitle file will be out of sync with it ? I have read that you can edit the timings in the subtitle file but that this is a difficult and time consuming exercise.

Would it be better to edit out the commercials in the Topfield box before transferring to my pc and then run ProjectX ?

And just one other point, do you know if the subtitles are coded into the mpg file or the .inf file which becomes visible on the pc when the recording is transferred to the pc. Strangely, if you delete the .inf file and then play the recording back on the Topfield box, subtitles are no longer available. The .inf file (opened in Notepad) contains lots and lots of computer code which I assumed represented the subtitles.

[netmask56]

When I had my Topfield 5000 the files when transferred to the PC had the suffix .REC and were standard MPEG2 TS files albeit with a slightly modified header. ProjectX had no problem extracting the audio, video and SRT subtitle tracks.

Has this situation changed with the 7170? What is the suffix on the transferred file? If you play back the MPEG? file in VLC first removing the inf file you speak of from the same folder does VLC pickup the subtitles.

In general it is best not to edit in most PVR's as the implemented editing process is not frame accurate.

On the Beyonwiz the files have a TS suffix and are a true MPEG2 TS format containing all of the transmission streams just like the .REC files.

If the inf file is simply someting to tell the Topfield navigation and subtitle information BUT the total stream is still within the video file then it would be better to edit out commercials in ProjectX - it is quick and the latest version has pretty accurate cutting on desired points.

I will check up from another source on the 7170, I might even buy one to play with as recording 4 streams simultaneously, even from just 2 muxes is appealing for those busy nights - but not much on TV in this off season

[netmask56]

I would try ProjectX anyway with the mpeg file from the Topfield 7170 and see what you get... or post here a Mediainfo report (text mode) of a typical uneditied raw Topfield 7170 file transferred on to your PC.

[stevsz]

The suffix of the "7160" (my model) transferred file in both Topfield and on my connected external drive is .mpg and you get 2 other very small files when tfrd to external drive/pc with suffix .inf and .nav. These 2 smaller files however do not show up in Topfield. I presume the .mpg is still a MPEG-2 TS file.

Topfield support have stated that the subtitles are in the .inf file, which seems to make sense for the reasons I mentioned in earlier post ie 1) if you delete the .inf file on the external drive connected to the 7160 and then play the recording back on the Topfield box, subtitles are no longer available. 2) The .inf file (opened in Notepad) contains lots and lots of computer code which I assumed represent the subtitles.

However, I suspect that the .inf file as you have stated is simply someting to tell the Topfield subtitle information BUT the total stream is still within the video file. The .nav file tells the Topfield navigation info because if you delete it in the external drive and then try playback on Topfield you lose all navigation options.

You are also correct that editing in Topfield is not precise and that is why I would prefer to edit commercials externally.

If you playback the .mpg file (from the external drive) on the pc, neither VLC or Media Player Classic pick up the subtitles even with .inf file in place.

Strangely, SBS recordings which contain "hard coded" (is that the correct term for permanent) subtitles will retain the subtitles after compressing the .mpg on the pc with MCEBuddy into .mp4 (H.264) or DivX .avi, and playback with subtitles back in the Topfield.

Also regarding the "recording of 4 streams simultaneously" with the 7160 and presumably 7170, this only means 2 TV channels (not 4) and their associated channels eg CH 7 + CH70 and CH9 + CH 90 or whatever combinations of 2 Channels. I'm not sure if that's what you meant by 2 muxes.

[netmask56]

If you really want to find out for sure post a mediainfo report on a mpg file from the Topfield or run one through ProjectX, just make sure the program has subs. Re SBS there is nothing odd about buirnt in subs remaining as they are actually part of the video. Topfield. On DTV forum it is stated that the mpeg format on the 7160 and 7170 is a bog standard transmission file and the inf and nav files therefore are merely for the Topfield and DO NOT CONTAIN THE SUBS. There will be references to them in the inf file along with any editing that may have been done on the Topfield.

DTV Forums Master
Senior Member
10374 posts

Posted 08 September 2011 - 07:41 PM
The files are standard MPEG2 ts (transport stream) files so they can be played by most media players without conversion. They are not encrypted and are not in a proprietary format. MEPG2 ts files are easily converted into other formats, although depending on the output format it can take some time.

Try VideoRedo or auto gordian knot.

Regards

Peter Gillespie