Filter a stream for frame size?

[friki]

I'm hoping that this is a simple question that I have just overlooked the answer for.

I've come across the occasional stream that embeds the adverts with the target program data (one m3u8 calls everything) but the adverts are rarely ever 1920x1080 (most are 1280x720 or lower). After ripping with ffmpeg/livestreamer, the output file contains the program data at 1080 and the adverts at lower frame sizes; VLC is able to switch between the different frame sizes but it’s jumpy. It would be nice to filter/exclude anything below 1080 to get around this issue. Possible?

If that is not possible, another solution: download all the parts/slices, deleted those below the target 1080 frame size and then merge? Is downloading parts/slices without merging possible with either ffmpeg or livestreamer?

I have already tried editing out the offending adverts and that works but, obviously, it would be easier to exclude them at the outset.

Thanks!

[friki]

I suppose my (attempted) solution is more complicated than I thought it would be. Instead, maybe someone can enlighten me on another possible solution:

The M3U8 links are easy enough to find but contain the aforementioned variable frame size adverts inserted. That said, I have noticed that the occasional video (without adverts) is downloadable with JDownloader via an "index" file (see screen capture below). With JDownloader, the M3U8 files (labeled with letters) are "picked up" but there are also these other files that start with "index" followed by a number (higher number = higher quality). Are these "index" files HDS? Can someone explain how to find these "index" files via Developer Tools/Web Console?

Again, not all streams are available to download this way via JDownloader so I'd like to see if it's possible to identify/locate the same "index" files on other streams.

Thoughts? Solutions? Insults? Let me hear them.



Thanks!

[friki]

I have found my solution so I thought I’d update this thread for those searching in the future.

It seems some sites are wrapping their URLs in a uplynk “preplay” M3U8 that bundles/injects the adverts but, from what I have been able to gather, the akamaihd “master” M3U8 is discoverable via the page source. So, if you’re having this issue, look in the source (not just the Developer Tools/Web Console)!

As for the JDownloader “index” files: I can only guess that JDownloader must be parsing the akamaihd URL from the source on some pages and generating “index” files.

I checked three different websites that were giving me this grief and I have been able to download from each without my previous issues.

Thanks to everyone who gave this thread a look.