VideoReDo TVSuite & Professional - General Discussion Thread

[noemi7]

If i was to buy TMPGEnc Smart Renerer 6 then no need for LosslessCut because TMPGEnc does do smart cutting and smart render (joining the cut bits back together without recoding)

Nope, smart rendering means for both VRD and TMPGEnc (and similar programs) that only a few necessary frames are re-encoded at cut / error / non compliant point(s). It's not like you write that cuts are somehow losslessly stuck together only. For example VRD always changes cut point to I-frame, and this requires re-encoding.

Problem with Pegasys software is that it sticks strictly to the DVD, Blu-ray, and UHD specification hence it forces re-encoding of much more parts of the video than really needed. Very often it wants to re-encode whole video if it's direct DVB capture or comes from a SLR camera, despite that number of BR players can handle it without issue.

[Bridgy]

What do you mean by Nope ?

If your "Nope" refers to my comment where is said (joining the cut bits back together without recoding) i meant without recoding the whole file, smart render only recodes a few frames either side of the cuts, some software might do a few more than others, but it is still called smart render.

I never had a file in VRD or TMPGEnc get fully recoded after doing cuts, and as for DVD and Blu-ray, that is old stuff and i gave up working with those 2 formats years ago, i live in 2025, and for me, 4k and HEVC is what i work with, and have done for at least 5 years now, i was also a Beta tester for the owner of VRD for 3 years before he passed away, testing his implementations of 4k and HEVC formats.

[_Donnie]

Problem with Pegasys software is that it sticks strictly to the DVD, Blu-ray, and UHD specification hence it forces re-encoding of much more parts of the video than really needed. Very often it wants to re-encode whole video if it's direct DVB capture or comes from a SLR camera, despite that number of BR players can handle it without issue.

I do smart rendering with TMPG Smart Renderer 6 for years now. Just output to f.e. mkv and there is no re-encoding of a whole video. If you output to a defined standard format then it requires either conforming input format or it re-encodes.
Additionally TMSR can tell you what the file problem is. Some files could not been output at all because it uses f.e. HEVC options which TMSR can't handle. That is when VRD re-encodes HEVC at the beginning (no cut at IDR-Frame).

@Bridgy
If you want an extra information intro for your video just do a f.e. simple black screen video of some seconds. Then place your intro text (title) with TMSR on your black video, cut it to the appropriate length and add it before your main video. Don't forget to mark your main video as 'master'.

[Bridgy]

@Bridgy
If you want an extra information intro for your video just do a f.e. simple black screen video of some seconds. Then place your intro text (title) with TMSR on your black video, cut it to the appropriate length and add it before your main video. Don't forget to mark your main video as 'master'.

Hi, my Titles issue with VRD is only with the HEVC files, so i spent a few days trying to find a way to create my own Titles, and my method of doing frame based titles in VRD is very similar to the method you explained, with a few minor differences, it is not perfect yet but i will get there soon i hope.

[marvin-miller]

VAP (VideoReDoAutoProcessor) has been in use for years — it’s serious, multi-featured, and it works.

Here is a download link for the VAP6 (Windows only) installer, latest version 1.04:

https://1drv.ms/u/s!AmkftjtSIff0gtgYQ9wj23Bb75SGrA?e=foweke

Support will be provided via this forum

I used VAP for years and it ROCKS!
My question is, do you still have the last version for VR5 ?
I just got it installed and wanted to process years of MotoGP recordings that have commercials in them and my Comskip key should still work....

[Bridgy]

I used VAP for years and it ROCKS!
My question is, do you still have the last version for VR5 ?
I just got it installed and wanted to process years of MotoGP recordings that have commercials in them and my Comskip key should still work....

Excuse my ignorance, but what is this VAP thing used for, i just downloaded it just to see what it was, and i am baffled by it.

[marvin-miller]

It's been about a decade since I used it but it's a front end to automate processing of video files. It's very powerful. I used it to automate processing of DVR recorded files. It's a Godsend. I just wish I could find the version for VR5 which I just managed to install and get running again.

[Bridgy]

It's been about a decade since I used it but it's a front end to automate processing of video files. It's very powerful. I used it to automate processing of DVR recorded files. It's a Godsend. I just wish I could find the version for VR5 which I just managed to install and get running again.

So it is mainly used for older TV type broadcast files, not for use with my 4k/60p HEVC Camera recorded files.

[Marayong]

It's described as a "front end", so I'd guess in itself it does nothing, rather it automates video editing, calling up other software with the appropriate parameters to do a series of things .. eg open a video, autoedit out adverts and then save in a different format. There have been a few of these front ends recommended here. They are really only useful for those who have a lot (and I mean a LOT) of videos to edit.

[marvin-miller]

I use it for automating commercial removal from DVR files or any files with commercials in them. I'm not up to speed anymore with respect to 4K files. I did 'upgrade' to VR6 so I was able to download the VAP software for that version and am back to figuring out how to set it up (it's probably been 10 years since I last ran it or Video Redo).

It's described as a "front end", so I'd guess in itself it does nothing, rather it automates video editing, calling up other software with the appropriate parameters to do a series of things .. eg open a video, autoedit out adverts and then save in a different format. There have been a few of these front ends recommended here. They are really only useful for those who have a lot (and I mean a LOT) of videos to edit.

Exactly! But I only know it in the context of commercial removal. As such, it's like DVRMS Toolbox but using Video Redo so...much more powerful.

What is VAP (VAP6)?

A free utility program for users of VideoReDo TV Suite 6 (TVS6). VAP6 detects video files being
transferred into a designated monitor folder,and, when transfer completes, it automatically and
silently runs VideoReDo processes on the files as configured by the operator in the program GUI.
QuickStream Fix (QSF) and/or Ad Detective scans ("Ad Scans") may be run. Optionally, input
files are moved automatically to specified folders after processing is completed, or deleted.
Output profiles including those producing transcoded MPEG4 outputs are supported. ALL
configuration is via the GUI - NO MANUALLY PREPARED CONFIGURATION FILES ARE
REQUIRED!

Now...where's that dlflannery when you need him

[Marayong]

Lucky guess. Well experienced guess.

Such software is pretty much limited to those who do a lot of the same video operations (editing, converting etc). If you only do a few a week then there's not that much point.

Also, as I've pointed out before, the software for automatically detecting and removing adverts is designed specifically for the US market. Different countries have different protocols for the insertion of adverts - the software looks for such things as placement of station logos (generally not in adverts), a sequence of black frames before & after advert blocks and so forth. Software designed for the US market (which is the biggest and where most of this software comes from) has a hit & miss success rate elsewhere. VRD's ad-detective does not work in Australia, nor does that of other software I've tried due to how broadcasters & streamers insert adverts. So I have to manually hunt for adverts.

Since VAP (etc) is a front end, it should work with 4K files ... in fact with any type of video files. What's important is not the video type but the sort of operations you do. If they can be automated and you do a lot of them, then something like VAP is worth it. Bridgy does a lot of work with added titles which of course requires non-automated user input, so automated front ends are useless for him. On the other hand, another user posted not that long ago about converting all of their old videos into a newer & more compressed format to save storage space. That can be easily automated and done using VAP (or similar). In fact VAP would be almost essential for doing that with a large library.

[marvin-miller]

VAP was originally built for use with Comskip, which it still supports, and is widely used in many countries, including Australia. Videoredo's native 'adscan' never compared to Comskip, and was always considered a bit of a joke to those in the know. Comskip was created by a Dutch national in Europe (Erik Kaashoek) so it's basis point was commercial detection in Europe and then the USA, along with every other country. I used it in Canada very effectively eliminating almost every ad and I could tweak it to get the remainder if desired. You can make it pretty much do anything with it.

Having said that, it is possible that stations make ad detection very hard for anything. A look at the Comskip forum shows several pre-made .ini files for Australia.

I think you nailed the gist of it in your post.

[Marayong]

Comskip has been mentioned here before and the Australian ini recommended. The said ini file is however 10-15 years old and no longer works. It is even more "obsoleteware" than VRD. And yes, Comskip does have a number of settings that can be tweaked however none of them are reliably relevant in Australia today - I checked all the tweakable options. Not only do the broadcasters here insert adverts in ways that bypass most of the comskip options, but they add adbreaks in variable ways - some adbreaks have blackframes leading in, the next wont (and there are no black frames at the end of adbreaks - usually adverts are faded into the program itself). The station logo never vanishes with the adverts, but either vanishes before the break or into the adverts. I actually sent Dan Rosen (the VRD dev) a bunch of video snippets and he concluded it was a lost cause .. this was around 2018/9.

The problem is that broadcasters here are more proactive than elsewhere in making it harder for people to record broadcasts and download streamed content .. even to the point of having lurkers in many of the relevant forums keeping eyes on attempts to bypass their restrictions. That's no surprise since Australia has always been a hotbed of music and video piracy. Since they can't physically stop people recording broadcast signals, they make it more difficult - broadcast program guide times in Australia are a well known joke, automated advert removal is impossible, not to mention lots of encryption. Software they can't block, they often take down by legal means, especially anything that can be used by less computer savvy users.

That said, I don't do many recordings these days - there's very little left on the commercial tv networks other than reality TV and the good stuff is spread across far too many different streaming services .. the time and money to subscribe to even most of them (let alone all) is beyond almost everyone. Most of what I watch now is from my library.

[marvin-miller]

I hear you on all fronts, especially the crap on TV today and the spread across streaming. I too tend to watch stuff I've seen before rather than risk anything new. It's just not worth it to me.

With respect to Australia's incredible efforts to stamp out commercial detection (among all the other things you mentioned), I find it amazing. Apparently, there's 'only' 26 million people there. You'd think that level of attention would be spent on the US with a population of 350 million or so. One thing's for certain, Australia must be leading the pack planet-wide in their efforts!

Out of curiosity, what does 'broadcast program guide times in Australia are a well known joke' mean? Shows don't start on time?

[Marayong]

Whilst Australia's population is considerably lower than that of the US, per capita piracy is much more prevalent here and has been the case ever since they started keeping stats on digital piracy. We also have much more concentrated media ownership. Those two factors combined make broadcaster efforts to limit piracy here quite attractive, even in the very slightly off-white form of recording FTA broadcasts.

> Out of curiosity, what does 'broadcast program guide times in Australia are a well known joke' mean? Shows don't start on time?

They often don't even start vaguely on time .. or finish. It is not uncommon for a show to actually air 30 minutes or more after the scheduled time. if you are programming for something to record, you are best off recording 30 mins extra before and after and even then, if it is something outside of "prime time", you may be out of luck. The government funded networks are better (and actually have intelligent content .. ie something other than reality tv, but even they are infested with that tripe), but even with them you can't assume start/finish times.

Anyways, that's getting offtrack. VRD's add-detection feature doesn't work here and from what I've found looking into Comskip (and others), they likewise won't work .. at least not in the past 10 years or more. Maybe there is something out there that does work, but if there is, it's best not to post about it in a public forum that is trawled daily by google (posts here show up on a google search within 24 hours).