ProjectX usage questions

[FredThompson]

How is an output directory specified for ProjectX? I've clicked on the + button under the output directory field and chose a directory but nothing is displayed in the field and processing won't happen becasue ProjectX is trying to send output to directory "".

[Kika]

Just click once at the choosen directory, don't open it - that's the trick. ;)

[FredThompson]

Oh, that's odd. Thanks.

[FredThompson]

OK, I'm stumped again. I'd like to demux a ts set into m2v and ac3 files. All the ts parts are in the file selection box in the upper left. demux is chosen in the drop-down box on the left. "all colls" is checked. I hit the go button and get some files but they're way too small. Each file in the ts set is about 100M and the largest file which was output was 11M. I watched all the files get parsed and the log is full of entries like these:

!> dropping GOP# 482 @ orig.PTS 05:28:32.948 (1774165378)
-> Pics exp/cnt 778/42, inGOP PTS diff. 0ms, new Timecode 00:00:00.967
!> dropping GOP# 483 @ orig.PTS 05:28:32.948 (1774165378)
-> Pics exp/cnt 808/30, inGOP PTS diff. 0ms, new Timecode 00:00:00.967

I've tried the ts set and also an MPEG created from it using HDTVtoMPEG2. What have I missed in this procedure?

The goal is to trim the front and tail of the set with cuttermaran then run the video through ReJig then remux. I'm guessing ProjectX can do the remux, also, yes?

[Kika]

Hm, looks like a very buggy Stream. By default, ProjectX drops all GOPs with errors. You can change this, but this will result in distorted Frames and jumpy playback.

Did you try to playback the .ts (maybe with VLC)?

[FredThompson]

It plays just fine with MPC.

[Kika]

If the playback in MPC is OK, than there's something wrong with your settings in ProjectX. Sorry, i don't have the settings in my mind (and i don't have ProjectX here in the Office), but there are Options for ignoring some kinds of errors.

[FredThompson]

Please let me know what to disable when you have a chance to look at ProjectX again. Thanks.

[Pookie]

Fred - Instead of Demux, try "M2P", which really means .MPG . You can then easily trim the resulting file with Mpeg2Cut2 . No need to remux.

This might help:

http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?t=97251

[FredThompson]

The reason I'd like to demux is for frame-accurate trimming and remux would be needed for the post-ReJig version of the video. TyTool, my tool of choice for MPEG2 editing, doesn't fully support pulldown so that means Cuttermaran for the trimming. It wants demuxed streams.

Good idea, though. The file was created without any errors.

[GaveUp]

I don't have PX handy here right now either, but I'm curious. Is there a reason that you're not trying dgindex? That tends to be my fallback plan. If ProjectX fails DgIndex it is followed, of course, by syncing/cutting the AC3.

[FredThompson]

DGIndex doesn't like this tx set. Even so, I'm not looking to serve frames.

The goal is trim the source, requant the video then remux to allow saving an MPEG2 file to UDF-format DVDR. It's faster than re-encoding and there is no perceptible loss of video resolution or detail.* Playback will be via PC since current DVD players don't support 1080i.

The only decent option for frame-level editing, at this point, is Cuttermaran. TyTool will do field-accurate editing but doesn't support pulldown yet. Cuttermaran requires demuxing the source. Both require remuxing after ReJig processing.

*The source is 53 minutes of content. I've already tested ReJig at 2 passes and the "new" algorithm on the video (a la HDTVtoMPEG2.) There is no noticeable video degradation.

[Xayd]

happen to have mpeg2vcr? i've had issues with certain HD streams that other apps don't seem to demux properly that mpeg2vcr works fine on.

it's not free but there's a trial version on their website.

[FredThompson]

Nope, I don't have that one. I guess ProjectX isn't a requirement. HDTVtoMPEG2 can be used to make an MPEG which is then demuxed but ProjectX would be very nice because it would be one step.

How to demux/remux without ProjectX? Will bbMPEG properly do this? If so, which settings for muxing?

[Kika]

@Fred Thompson
There are many things you can try.

Go to the Out-Tab of ProjectX
In Specials 2, activate "take only first Audio PTS for sync" and/or
"limit points of Audio PTS for sync"
Also try "ignore Video errors after 1st PTS/GOP"
One of these Options (or all of them) should work for you.
If not, deactivate "get only enclosed PES packets", but that's a bit risky.

[FredThompson]

Nuts. I tried enabling all 3 selections and this is what the log shows:

!> startPTS of GOP# 106 is earlier than the end of last GOP.. (exp. 1737240490)
!> dropping useless B-Frames @ GOP# 106 / new Timecode 23:29:59.400
!> startPTS of GOP# 107 is earlier than the end of last GOP.. (exp. 1737240490)
!> dropping useless B-Frames @ GOP# 107 / new Timecode 23:29:29.003
--- process paused ----
--- process cancelled ----

-> Video: fr/ ct/ 1p/ cg/ og/ dg -> -55816/ 108/ 0/ 108/ 0/ 0
-> Video length: -55816 frames @ 23:28:57.610
-> GOP summary: min. 6, max. 110 fields; contains interlaced frames
-> avg. nom. bitrate -888814bps (min/max: 6722400/224390800)
-> set first sequenceheader bitrate to 9800000bps
---> new File: C:\Working\X-Treme Close-Up - Blue Angels.m2v

--> AC-3/DTS Audio (SubID 0x80)
-> take only first Audio PTS (to sync the starttime)
Audio PTS: first packet 05:20:19.802, last packet 05:20:19.802
Video PTS: start 1.GOP 05:20:20.423, end last GOP 05:21:42.672
!> 1st video PTS starts later than the last PTS of this stream! critical for Sync
-> adjusting audio at video-timeline
!> missing syncword @ 0, @ 00:00:00.000
!> found syncword @ 116
audio frames: wri/pre/skip/ins/add 0/0/0/0/0 @ 00:00:00.000 done...

summary of created media files:
.Video (m2v): -55816 Frames 23:28:57.610 'C:\Working\X-Treme Close-Up - Blue Angels.m2v'
=> 206915487 bytes written...

Boy, this is really frustrating. I was able to demux with TMPGEnc and the m2v went through ReJig just fine. When I muxed with the ac3 file, no audio was evident during playback. Maybe the TMPGEnc muxer is junk for this as well. I'll try that sequence again with bbMPEG as a muxer. VirtualDubMod is useless for demuxing, btw, it wanted as much time as regular playback just to strip the ac3 content.

[FredThompson]

Nuts. I tried enabling all 3 selections and this is what the log shows:

!> startPTS of GOP# 106 is earlier than the end of last GOP.. (exp. 1737240490)
!> dropping useless B-Frames @ GOP# 106 / new Timecode 23:29:59.400
!> startPTS of GOP# 107 is earlier than the end of last GOP.. (exp. 1737240490)
!> dropping useless B-Frames @ GOP# 107 / new Timecode 23:29:29.003
--- process paused ----
--- process cancelled ----

-> Video: fr/ ct/ 1p/ cg/ og/ dg -> -55816/ 108/ 0/ 108/ 0/ 0
-> Video length: -55816 frames @ 23:28:57.610
-> GOP summary: min. 6, max. 110 fields; contains interlaced frames
-> avg. nom. bitrate -888814bps (min/max: 6722400/224390800)
-> set first sequenceheader bitrate to 9800000bps
---> new File: C:\Working\X-Treme Close-Up - Blue Angels.m2v

--> AC-3/DTS Audio (SubID 0x80)
-> take only first Audio PTS (to sync the starttime)
Audio PTS: first packet 05:20:19.802, last packet 05:20:19.802
Video PTS: start 1.GOP 05:20:20.423, end last GOP 05:21:42.672
!> 1st video PTS starts later than the last PTS of this stream! critical for Sync
-> adjusting audio at video-timeline
!> missing syncword @ 0, @ 00:00:00.000
!> found syncword @ 116
audio frames: wri/pre/skip/ins/add 0/0/0/0/0 @ 00:00:00.000 done...

summary of created media files:
.Video (m2v): -55816 Frames 23:28:57.610 'C:\Working\X-Treme Close-Up - Blue Angels.m2v'
=> 206915487 bytes written...

Boy, this is really frustrating. I was able to demux with TMPGEnc and the m2v went through ReJig just fine. When I muxed with the ac3 file, no audio was evident during playback. Maybe the TMPGEnc muxer is junk for this as well. I'll try that sequence again with bbMPEG as a muxer. VirtualDubMod is useless for demuxing, btw, it wanted as much time as regular playback just to strip the ac3 content.

[Kika]

Wow, this must be a very "interesting" Stream. Where is it from?
Logs like yours i've only seen on Streams with true errors and on such streams, the playback was'nt OK.

The Muxer of TMPGEnc isn't good for streams like that, because it works only with a max. of 9800 kbps for Video AND Audio.

[FredThompson]

a.b.hdtv - Blue Angels set which is still there on good servers. It's not HDTiVo. It looks like 4:2:2 and also looks like maybe there was some editing which left some audio junk. Cuttermaran won't allow trimming inside the first GOP, either. Which muxer to use for high bitrates?

[Pookie]

http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?t=97215

[FredThompson]

That looks darn close. I did notice this stream is film but the pulldown flag wasn't detected. Is there a util, other than DVDPatcher, to easily set that flag? Maybe a simple util to JUST set the pulldown of a stream? DVDPatcher wants all the header values.

[FredThompson]

What a mess. bbMPEG will create a file of the proper size and mplex creates one which is far too large. It appears the pulldown flag isn't being detected properly by quite a few utilities. If I open the original stream with TMPGEnc, it reports a framerate of 29.97. Playback shows film framerate. mplex and a number of other utilities report they don't find a pulldown flag. mples reports each packet of video is too short. That sure looks like a pulldown flag problem. What a pain in the keister. I'm now trying DVDPatcher on the original MPEG to set the stats for each packet. Wish me luck.

[Kika]

OK, here's my last suggestion (i'm running out of ideas...).

Use VLC to write new Streams! It's streaming feature is able to do that. But that's not easy and hard to descripe. Take a look at the Guides on videolan.org

[FredThompson]

Do you mean re-encode or repack the...packets? I've just run DVDPatcher to set the pulldown for every packet and that will go through ReJig again then I'll try muxing. Hope that works. This is frustrating. It's like the DVD operations of 2 years ago where each time you'd feel like it was almost working.

[Kika]

VLC is able to do a remuxing while streaming a Video (even from DVD... ;) ).
I used this on a corrupted DVB-Video (PTS and DTS errors) and it worked. Other Tools failed on this task, but it's always the last thing i would try.

[FredThompson]

Ah, sounds like a good idea, though. Thanks. DVDPatcher->ReJig worked but I'm seeing some corruption at one point which isn't in the source. I'll try a few more software players to see if it's a viewer issue. I've seen this before with other streaming MPEG2 which was converted to archive.