Is my video capping setup at max efficiency?

[abyss616]

I know the basics of video editing using VirtualDub and Avisynth and for the most part know what I'm doing, but I don't know if I'm doing this a good (read: most efficient) way (not asking to violate the TOS).

I cap football games with my Hauppauge HD PVR as .ts files, edit them in VirtualDub using Avisynth and save them with a lossless codec before I convert them to DVD with The Film Machine.

I wanted to list my workflow to make sure I wasn't doing anything incorrectly. TIA for any advice/help.

Hardware config: DirecTV box>Hauppauge HD PVR (via component cables)>computer (via USB).

I cap with the Arcsoft program (1280x720 resolution in HD, 60 fps) that saves it as a .ts file. I use the following script to import it into VirtualDub:

LoadPlugin("DGAVCDecode.dll")
LoadPlugin("MPEG2Dec3.dll")
Loadplugin("FDecimate.dll")
LoadPlugin("BT709ToBT601.dll")
LoadPlugin("UnDot.dll")
DirectShowSource("G:\filename.TS")
FDecimate(rate=23.976,threshold=1.0)
LanczosResize(720,480)
BT709ToBT601()
UnDot()

I edit the file in VDub and save it as AVI with the Lagarith lossless codec (I assume using the RGB color space).

This works, but I don't know much about color spaces and the intricacies of Avisynth scripts so my questions are:

1) Is that script the most efficient for what I'm trying to accomplish?
2) Am I switching color spaces at any point of the process, providing data loss?

Thanks again.

[neuron2]

FDecimate is not a good solution for going back to film rate. Better to do SelectEven() followed by proper IVTC. But make sure it really is film content!

For non film content, just SelectEven().

[abyss616]

Pardon my ignorance - would a football game be considered film content? I thought for DVD output the frame rate should be 23.976, although TFM does this in the conversion process.

[neuron2]

No, it would not be film. And you're also incorrect about the frame rate for DVD.

Post a link to a short unprocessed part of your transport stream, and we can see what you have and tell you a good treatment. You can use DGSplit to cut off a portion. Make it about 50MBytes and be sure to include a scene with lots of motion. Upload it to mediafire.com and post the link here.

[abyss616]

http://www.mediafire.com/?tilyfyqcgwk - hope that works.

Thanks for the advice/help.

[abyss616]

Any updates?

[thewebchat]

I cannot even get your sample to decode properly. Did you cut it right? Aside from that, where did you get an AVC/AAC TS? I thought all broadcasts in the U.S. were MPEG-2/AC-3.

[neuron2]

He captured it with HD PVR.

The stream appears to be corrupted.

But the content is video rate as expected, not film rate.

[abyss616]

All of my streams seem to be corrupted. I can only open them in H264TS_Cutter and in VirtualDub with the avs script I posted above. But they work in VD without any problems.

If I go with SelectEven() instead of Decimate, it makes the framerate 29.970. All of my other files are 23.976 and The Film Machine will not let you combine files that have a different framerate. Is it wise to go back to my other files and convert the framerate from 23>29 to make them all the same?

[neuron2]

You can't just arbitarily change frame rates to make them the same. You will create jerkiness.

This is one of the dilemmas you face when trying to combine film and video. There are ways to mitigate it but there is no perfect, or even very good, solution, IMHO.

BTW, I have an HD PVR also, and I never see corruption like that, using CoreAVC or DGNV.

[abyss616]

So any ideas on what's causing the corruption?

[neuron2]

Do you see it too, then?

You say that you don't see it with the script you posted. So what is your DirectShow decoder?

[abyss616]

I saw the streams were corrupted when I tried to open them with several different programs, including projectx. Once I got a script that worked in VD, I stopped worrying about it. But since two others have noted the corruption, I know it's not just me.

Not sure what exactly my DirectShow decoder is. I have ffdshow and haali installed, if that helps.

[Ghitulescu]

The drivers are broken, so I've heard doing a google before buying it (I didn't buy :) it, I bought a HD PVR instead). Maybe technotrend (the manufacturer, HP is only a rebadger) will bring corrected drivers in the future.

[Blue_MiSfit]

I think the best solution is to simply not mix 24p and 60i content :) Make two separate DVDs, or least two separate streams on one DVD!

If you're trying to troubleshoot your DirectShow playback, just play the file in Media Player Classic, and right click on the video, then select filters. You'll probably see "ffdshow video decoder" in there somewhere. Or maybe some other decoder?

~MiSfit

[abyss616]

I think the best solution is to simply not mix 24p and 60i content :) Make two separate DVDs, or least two separate streams on one DVD!

If you're trying to troubleshoot your DirectShow playback, just play the file in Media Player Classic, and right click on the video, then select filters. You'll probably see "ffdshow video decoder" in there somewhere. Or maybe some other decoder?

~MiSfit
I opened a file in MPC and did what you said and 'ffdshow video decoder' is listed, along with several other things. I just upgraded to the newest beta of ffdshow and the capture program but the .ts file is not readable by projectx or HDTVtoMPEG2.