Any good guides for converting tv shows to x264 (mkv)?

[winkgood]

Has anyone seen a guide that would produce good quality. I just got a HDHomerun and am recording shows in dvr-ms format (Media center). So far I've tried converting them in tmpeg express using the divx codec but with less than satisfactory results. The video ended up really blocky and nowhere near the quality of some of the ones I've seen. I'm really a noob as far as x264 goes so a basic guide would be preferred.

I've searched around the forums and seen pieces of information regarding x264 conversion but no real guides seem to be available.

[Guest]

Don't discuss anything to do with rule 6 material here. I have edited your post.

[winkgood]

6) No warez, cracks, serials or illegally obtained copyrighted content! Links to content of a questionable nature, asking for, offering, or asking for help/helping to process such content in any way or form is not tolerated.


I wasn't aware that my post was breaking anything in this rule. I didn't link to anything and was only making a reference in terms of quality comparison. Sorry if my post didn't comply to the standards. I'll be more careful in the future. Thanks.

[dstarfire]

a friendly tip, winkgood; when posting here, ask the specific question (in this case "how do i convert dvr-ms format to x.264?"), and don't mention the source material unless asked, and even then only if it's relevant.

Apparently the MPAAis a fan of this site as well.

[Guest]

No big deal. Don't worry. You talked about torrents, which is a no-no here. We don't allow any kind of discussion about these things, even for comparison.

There's all kinds of good info on x264 encoding here. If you want specific advice, try *something* and then post your command line and people can then give you specific advice about what to change. Also, try the presets in Megui.

[rebkell]

Has anyone seen a guide that would produce good quality. I just got a HDHomerun and am recording shows in dvr-ms format (Media center). So far I've tried converting them in tmpeg express using the divx codec but with less than satisfactory results. The video ended up really blocky and nowhere near the quality of some of the ones I've seen. I'm really a noob as far as x264 goes so a basic guide would be preferred.

I've searched around the forums and seen pieces of information regarding x264 conversion but no real guides seem to be available.

I'm a fan of megui, find a good guide to install it. I'm using the 0.3.0.0 beta and it's working fine for me. Install the neroacc audio package, you'll find directions on installing it wherever you find a good guide for megui installation.

I also use VideoRedo to convert the dvr-ms to an mpg. You can download it, I think it has a two week trial period(fully functional) I've found that if you cut all commercials on I-Frames that you avoid nearly all audio/video sync problems.

After creating your mpg file, open up megui and go to tools and run D2V Creator on your mpg file, this will create a d2v and an ac3 file. After that's finished go back to the tools menu and Select AviSynth Script Creator, load up your d2v file you created, change the Resize to whatever you desire, unless you uncheck it and keep the original be sure and check the 'Suggest Resolution' check box or it will create a 2.35:1 and that's not what you want for HDTV broadcasts(usually anyway).

Then click on the Filters Tab at the top, Click the 'Analyse' button and go get a drink, use the bathroom whatever and let it chew on it for a bit, it will normally figure out a pretty good solution for the avs script file. When it's completed analysing, save the avs file it creates.

It should automatically load this avs into the megui AviSynth Script Input in the Input section.
Select x264 in the Codec Section, and I normally use MP4 as the File Format.

Then Load the ac3 file created by the D2V Creator into the Audio Input section.

I usually select the Codec:AAC- Nero Digital settings in the Audio Section.
and the CTAAC-HE-Multichannel-128Kbps Audio Profile

I have had good success with the PD-PS3-Xbox360 profile as far as encoding HDTV captures. Select it for a profile. Go back to the Tools tab and select Bitrate Calculator, pick the size you want for the finished Video to be and then click the Apply Button.

Enque the Video.
Enque the Audio.

Go to the Queue tab, and click start. When it's all finished(this will be several hours later) Go to the Tools Section again and pick Muxer->MP4 Muxer, select the MP4 video you just created and the MP4 audio you just created and Queue it and then start the queue, and when it finishes muxing you'll have the finished product.

The muxed files I've created play great in Media Center and from my understanding(I don't own a PS3) play well on a PS3.

[winkgood]

Thanks Rebkell. That was very useful. Have you tried any of the other profiles for the video? Any idea how the quality compares among them? The source of the video is actually 3/2 channel audio. What options are there to keep the five channels?

[rebkell]

Thanks Rebkell. That was very useful. Have you tried any of the other profiles for the video? Any idea how the quality compares among them? The source of the video is actually 3/2 channel audio. What options are there to keep the five channels?

You can play around with the profiles, I liked the PS3 Profile, I've also used the PS3 Fast one at times and it looks pretty good to me, just try some of them out and see if one strikes your fancy I guess.

As far as the audio, the profile keeps the five channels, or if you want you can mux into an mkv container and use the original ac3 file, then you'll have the original audio in your video.

I just use the mp4 video and aac audio into an mp4 container for compatibility with other things. It's easy to convert mp4 to an mkv, but it requires a few more steps to go from mkv to mp4.

[firepowr]

Try using Nero's Recode. Nero's AVC format with it's HE AAC audio is quite good. As for a guide, recode is easy to use. Add your video select your encode settings and encode.