AVCHD Manager: Quickly set default AVCHD folder on external drive

[odin24]

Thanks to dburckh and yourself!!! Have you tested yet, does the TrueHD playback OK, split and/or in one file?

[idbirch2]

I've tested on batman (1989) and batman begins and in both cases, TrueHD played fine. Not tested single files as I only really use the AVCHD on hard disk method.

[odin24]

Alrighty then... I'm processing The Matrix (HDDVD remux) at the moment, I wanna see for myself (not that I don't believe you) how well this app works, I will then use AVCHDME-Undo, then test on a BD-RE... covering all angles :) My inlaws have all of my blanks though.

[odin24]

I've encountered a strange occurance with AVCHD Manager. I used it to make the TrueHD remux I am testing the default AVCHD folder, however when I connect it to my PS3 the previous title I was watching starts to play. Sure enough, the "default" renaming has been undone.

What the heck is going on, could it be the PS3's memory that is doing this?

EDIT: Third time's a charm, the rename stuck. No TrueHD though, is the executable .jar file supposed to be placed in the BDMV folder?

EDIT2: Man, this isn't my day... I think it's working properly though. The first two attempts the whole process took seconds, now it's actually taking about a minute per m2ts.

[idbirch2]

1 minute per .m2ts file sounds about right, it shouldn't be any quicker than that. After all, it is parsing and patching 4GB of data each time. With regard to your AVCHDManager issue, I cannot think how that outcome could possibly come to be. There's no way the renaming would ever be "undone" so the only explanation is that the renaming never happened in the first place. If it were me and I was experiencing that situation, I imagine a reboot would cure all ills.

[lionelblair]

I've just finished making a GUI for dburckh's remuxTool. His app fixes TrueHD output from TSMuxer so now all formats are support in AVCHD on the PS3! The fix must be applied to each .m2ts file seperately which I was finding a bit labourious so I made this GUI which just needs pointing at your BDMV folder and it will apply the patching to all .m2ts files found within.

http://i43.tinypic.com/a17slz.gif

If you look back at the first page of this thread, at the bottom of the first post, I have added a download link for the GUI. remuxTool is included and you will be asked where you want to place it on the first run.

I see you used AutoIT to write your program, isn't it marvellous!

[odin24]

1 minute per .m2ts file sounds about right, it shouldn't be any quicker than that. After all, it is parsing and patching 4GB of data each time. With regard to your AVCHDManager issue, I cannot think how that outcome could possibly come to be. There's no way the renaming would ever be "undone" so the only explanation is that the renaming never happened in the first place. If it were me and I was experiencing that situation, I imagine a reboot would cure all ills.


At first I thought the rename never took place, I re-ran, verified and it happnened again. The third time it worked fine.

Have you tried The Dark Knight yet? Ryu77 was unsuccessful with this title.

[idbirch2]

Haven't got the Dark Knight to try I'm afraid.

[idbirch2]

Have updated the first post with a new version which fixes an annoying little problem where the GUI loses focus after running AVCHDMe.

[odin24]

A while back I was experiencing an unusual problem; I'd use AVCHD manager, rename the movie I want to watch then away I go. The unusual part was the movie I previoulsy watched would start... not the one I just renamed.

Well it's still happening, and I think I know why. It only happens if I finish a movie, bring my drive back to my PC (while the PS3 stays on), rename the new movie, and start it up on the PS3... then the previousy movie starts!!!

I think the PS3 needs to be shut down or it will remember what I was watching and resume from where I left off... after all as far as the PS3 is concerned I keep watching a movie called "AVCHD".

Could someone please try this and see if they can reproduce my issue. I'm not sure if it is just my drive or what. I have a WD 1TB Home Edition.

[coolalibaba]

No, I can not re-produce your problem. My ps3 is always on and everything works as expected

[deank]

I watch a lot of AVCHD content on my PS3 and never had this problem.

1) You plug-in ext. HDD with AVCHD folder in root - PS3 plays it.
2) At the end of the movie PS3 goes back to XMB
3) Remove the drive, go to the PC
4) Rename AVCHD to something else (AVCHD_movie)
5) Rename the folder of the movie you want to watch next to AVCHD
6) Plug-in the HDD to the PS3 and it will play.

There is simply no way PS3 will play the previous movie.

Also - you can use TRIANGLE and select "Play from the beginning" while AVCHD is selected in XMB.

[idbirch2]

I've never seen this happen. I often copy 3-4 movies onto my USB drive, test one on the PS3, move drive to PC, switch to next movie, test, move, switch etc all without turning the PS3 off and it always plays the right movie. The only circumstance in which this should happen is if for some reason, the folder renaming function fails in AVCHDManager. Easiest way to confirm this is check the AVCHD folder before you disconnect and try on the PS3 - play a couple of the .mts files and see if its the right movie. If not, the renaming hasn't worked.

[odin24]

I watch a lot of AVCHD content on my PS3 and never had this problem.

1) You plug-in ext. HDD with AVCHD folder in root - PS3 plays it.
2) At the end of the movie PS3 goes back to XMB
I press stop before the movie ends on it's own.
3) Remove the drive, go to the PC
4) Rename AVCHD to something else (AVCHD_movie)
5) Rename the folder of the movie you want to watch next to AVCHD
6) Plug-in the HDD to the PS3 and it will play.
From the previous stopped position. Or if I chose "Play from Beginning" it will start the previous movie over.

There is simply no way PS3 will play the previous movie.

Also - you can use TRIANGLE and select "Play from the beginning" while AVCHD is selected in XMB.

I've never seen this happen. I often copy 3-4 movies onto my USB drive, test one on the PS3, move drive to PC, switch to next movie, test, move, switch etc all without turning the PS3 off and it always plays the right movie. The only circumstance in which this should happen is if for some reason, the folder renaming function fails in AVCHDManager. Easiest way to confirm this is check the AVCHD folder before you disconnect and try on the PS3 - play a couple of the .mts files and see if its the right movie. If not, the renaming hasn't worked.

I verify visually that the renaming took place and check the mts files on my PC... I'll have to check on the PS3 next time too.

One thing I do not do is "disconnect" the drive from the PC, I power down the HDD and unplug, but does that really matter?

I think the issue is the PS3/external communication, when the issue occurs it's like the PS3 thinks for a little longer... once the screen went to snow for a split second, then the previous movie started.

I have a Comstar drive, I'll have to try this out out too, see if the problem exists on it... or if it's just my WD.

Thanks for the input guys.

[idbirch2]

I verify visually that the renaming took place and check the mts files on my PC... I'll have to check on the PS3 next time too.Hm, no need to check on the PS3 if you've already confirmed it on the PC. IF the renaming really has gone correctly, it can only be a problem with your PS3 but I don't understand what that problem could be.

It doesn't make sense because the PS will only recognise the AVCHD folder on a USB device, everything else is ignored so it stands to reason that if the renaming has been successful, the PS has no choice but to play the newly renamed folder.

One thing I do not do is "disconnect" the drive from the PC, I power down the HDD and unplug, but does that really matter?No, it shouldn't.

[deank]

Is there a chance that your HDD is one of those with ethernet port and a USB port and you access its contents via LAN and use USB to connect to your PS3?

[odin24]

Is there a chance that your HDD is one of those with ethernet port and a USB port and you access its contents via LAN and use USB to connect to your PS3?

My Western Digital Home Essential (1TB) has 4 connections; eSata, 2 Firewire, 1 USB 2.0 mini. I had it connected to my PC (eSata) and my PS3 at the same time for a short while... the PS3 had a hard time recognizing it. So now it's connected to one or the other... never both at the same time.

My Comstar (320GB) has USB 2.0 and RJ45 ethernet. Has never been connected to both at the same time.

[deank]

It could be the drive and some NVRAM cache or something... No idea... I use 320GB traxstor/traxdata with miniUSB and it works flawlessly.

[odin24]

I'm gonna try on my 320GB drive soon... when I get around to it. This is crazy.

[shv]

New fixclpi tool (v2.30) was released today. Could this version be included in a new release of AVCHDManager?

It would be nice if the Make Default Button is used without using Identify before the Identify could be done implicitely.

[idbirch2]

I've upped a new version which includes the new fixclpi.exe but I'm not sure I follow you on the other point. I've not changed anything regarding when Identify must be used since the first version. The link for the new version is in the first post of this thread.

[shv]

Thank you for the new version.

The other point was an issue of improvement. Currently when I use Make Default the folder will be renamed to AVCHD and the privious folder name gets lost. To prevent this I must execute Identify before. I would like to propose to create the txt file witch contains the previous folder name as done with Identify when executing Make Default. If I want to change this I could execute Identify later on.

Regards. M.

[idbirch2]

Although it doesn't jump into the Identify routine automatically, I already covered this avenue, there shouldn't be any way you can lose the previous folder name because if the current AVCHD folder has not been identified and you try and change the default, you should get this:

http://i42.tinypic.com/2nqzgh3.gif

At that point, it just dumps you back to the movie list with no changes and keeps throwing the same error every time you press Make Defult until you identify it.

[insaneoctane]

I've also just made a GUI for remuxTool, this app fixes .m2ts files output by TSMuxer with TRueHD audio. This fix is only required if you have a TrueHD audio stream in your .m2ts files!

Just checking, but with the latest release of TsMuxeR, (.18 I think), the TrueHD problems are fixed and I don't think we need this remuxTool, correct? I just tried a movie with TrueHD and used the .18 TsMuxeR and it worked perfectly...just looking for confirmation and trying to keep this very helpful thread current.

[idbirch2]

Yeah, TSMuxer has been updated but from early testing it appears it's only fixed for PS3 owners, a lot of SAPs still have issues. It still isn't clear if there's a difference between TSMuxer 1.8.8 output fixed by RemuxTool and direct output from TSMuxer 1.8.19. From reading various threads in this section, these first few updates to TSMuxer seem really flakey, there's talk of continued TrueHD issues, old .clpi problems that still aren't fixed and possble new .clpi issues. I think I'll leave the option there for now at least until it's determined that RemuxTool offers nothing over TSMuxer 1.8.18/19.

[shv]

I think that my proposal is not yet clear.
Lets assume that there are one or more movies at the drive and the folder names identify each movie.
For the first movie I must push AVCHDMe, Identify and Make Default. If I forget to push Identify the previous folder name will get lost. If I use Make default afterwards it does not work because the AVCHD folder can not be renamed to the previous folder name.

Therefor I want to propose that the details.txt file is written with the privious folder name if I push Make default and this file is not yet available. It will prevent problems if I forget to use Identify before and I need to push one button less. Would be very helpful.

Regards. M.

[idbirch2]

I don't really have any spare time to work on AVCHDManager at the moment but if and when I do, I'll see what I can do.

[idbirch2]

For anyone not aware, TSMuxer now handles TrueHD and file splitting correctly so all the CLPI fixing AVCHDManager had to do before is no longer required. This means I have been able to strip out all that stuff from the code getting it back to a straight forward collection management app. A link to the new version is in the first post of this thread. I've updated the icon again, hopefully this one is a bit more pleasing.

The new TSMuxer can be downloaded here (http://www.smlabs.net/tsMuxer/tsMuxeR_1.8.26(b).zip).

[coolalibaba]

thanks a lot for the new version!

[insaneoctane]

For anyone not aware, TSMuxer now handles TrueHD and file splitting correctly so all the CLPI fixing AVCHDManager had to do before is no longer required. This means I have been able to strip out all that stuff from the code getting it back to a straight forward collection management app. A link to the new version is in the first post of this thread. I've updated the icon again, hopefully this one is a bit more pleasing.

The new TSMuxer can be downloaded here (http://www.smlabs.net/tsMuxer/tsMuxeR_1.8.26(b).zip).

Your link is for version 1.8.26(b) which is beta
The latest on the smlabs site (http://www.smlabs.net/tsmuxer_en.html) is 1.8.30(b), also beta, can you confirm if you've used this version successfully?

Thanks

PS- The download for your latest file download isn't working, it just hangs at "Processing download request..." and I tried 2 diff browsers.

[idbirch2]

At the time of writing, the version was up to date, obviously check smlabs.net for the latest version. 1.8.34 is the current beta and that still works fine. The download is working fine for me at home on IE8 and at work in IE6 and FF3 so the problem is your end - ad or popup blocking stuff for a guess.

[deank]

:) Hey there...

Is there a way you can extend your program to fully show details.txt when multiple titles are present? It will be nice to have AVCHD Manager and multiAVCHD to support each other.

I can make multiAVCHD generate details.txt in a format you suggest.

If you're interested - just let me know.

Dean

[insaneoctane]

At the time of writing, the version was up to date, obviously check smlabs.net for the latest version. 1.8.34 is the current beta and that still works fine. The download is working fine for me at home on IE8 and at work in IE6 and FF3 so the problem is your end - ad or popup blocking stuff for a guess.

Something with the firewall at work, I guess...worked from home.
Thanks so much for this program and your help!

[idbirch2]

:) Hey there...

Is there a way you can extend your program to fully show details.txt when multiple titles are present? It will be nice to have AVCHD Manager and multiAVCHD to support each other.

I can make multiAVCHD generate details.txt in a format you suggest.Hi Dean, yes, I should have some free time tomorrow to have a go at this. What have you got in mind, a tooltip for multi-line details.txt files or something else? I can't think of any other way to show more lines without making the GUI look messy (although I am very tired after a long week so may be missing something) :)

Also, while I'm making changes, is there anything else you want changing regarding how the movie title is stored? At the time I didn't really put much thought into it and just used the first idea that came to mind. Different filename? Maybe a csv with more than just the movie title, like video/audio codec, resolution etc? The more information it stores, though, the harder it is to shoehorn it into the GUI.

Anyway, I'm just thinking out loud and I really must get my ass in bed, we can figure out the details(.txt!), (wow that was lame) tomorrow.

[deank]

:)

I can suggest sparing some space (or enlarging program window) and using scrollable (or not for first N titles) INFO-BOX which will show title names (or/and extended information if present). I can add additional data as codec/duration if you're willing to pass it to AVCHD Manager.

I can "see" really nice results :) if you can somehow show more information about AVCHD folders (if multiAVCHD text (or csv if you like) files are present). I can put anything (everything) in the base folder for external support.

I already have program fragments that allow me to build another application with these features, but I'd rather not and use AVCHD Manager.

TB!

[deank]

A sample line of details.txt/detailsEX.txt could look like this:

Title#1 name|VIDEO_CODEC|WIDTHxHEIGHT|FPS|AUDIO_STREAM#1_CODEC Channels|SUBTITLES|DURATION_IN_SECONDS|DURATION_HH_MM_SS|DATE|TIME

VIDEO_CODEC = AVC/VC-1/MPEG-2
FPS = XXfps (XX=int(framerate))
WIDTH - number (1-1920)
HEIGHT - number (1-1080)
AUDIO_STREAM_CODEC = AC3/DTS/PCM/LPCM X[.Y]ch
SUBTITLES - number (count) [track[s]]
DURATION_IN_SECONDS - number (in seconds)
DURATION_HH_MM_SS = string (HH:MM:SS)
DATE = DD/MM/YY
TIME = HH:MM

[idbirch2]

I've updated the first post with download links and a screenshot for version 1.5.0.

What's new:


AVCHDManager now fully supports output from MultiAVCHD. If there are multiple titles in the selected AVCHD, they will all be shown in the new list box at the bottom.
Extra information is now written to and pulled from details.txt - you now get to see video codec, audio codec, movie duration and an IMDb link for the currently selected movie
New 'Identify' function lets you input all this extra information via dropdowns/editboxes

MultiAVCHD has already been updated to use the new details.txt format so any movies/compilations you pump out using that will already have all the video/audio/duration/IMDb stuff populated.

[deank]

Great thanks for your work and thank you for collaborating. It's all getting better by the hour :) here @doom9.

[idbirch2]

Updated link in first post with a bugfix release - 1.5.0 would create empty rows in the main movie list for any folder which didn't have a details.txt file - doh! Anyway, fixed now, re-download from the links in the first post.

[deank]

Is there a way when you get the time to add an option/functionality to use AVCHD Manager from any folder, not just the ROOT of a drive? If it can use . as a root.

I use a backup folder with AVCHD folders that resides deeeeep-deep in my drive-folder-structure and sometimes it is useful to do AVCHDme or -undo and transfer to other drive.

Not that I don't like it as it is :) just a suggestion.

***

I'm also working on using thumbnails for titles inside multiAVCHD (stored in AVCHD\AVCHDTN as jpg or THUMBXXX.tdt). Do you think you can further extend AVCHD Manager to show poster images for selected titles/folders?

[idbirch2]

Sure, that should be pretty easy, AutoIt has a @ScriptDir variable which will always return the full path that the exe is being run from so I could just set that as the "AVCHDroot", I'll sort that later today.

Edit: that was easier than I thought - updated first post with links to new version that doesn't care where it's run from.

The thumbnail thing - in the first few versions I made for myself, I was including thumbnails but once all the other buttons/labels were added, I couldn't find a way to include it without wasting loads of space and it looking crap. Have you got any idea where you would like the thumbnail to be shown? If you can Photoshop something up and convince me it doesn't look bad, I'll do it.

[idbirch2]

I've upped another new version which is now better at inserting IMDB search URLs if there is no user-specified URL set but I've also made some changes which I think will stop the UAC prompts from appearing every time AVCHDManager is launched. If anyone is running Vista with UAC, can you please test this and let me know if it works?

[deank]

When I click Identity I get this:

http://multiavchd.deanbg.com/avcmerr.jpg

[idbirch2]

Ooops, that's what you get when you try and update you app while at work and not paying full attention - I forgot to re-test everything with multiple titles when I changed the Identify routine. Fixed now - re-download from first post.

[staindrocks]

I just found out about this program, so i figured i'd give it a try on my flash drive. I'm already running into a problem with the "identity" button, as it won't let me name my folders. I keep getting the same error as deank whenever i click the identity button. What am i doing wrong?

[trino]

Quick question about a bug that existed in 1.4.0.0....

My list has grown to where it requires use of scroll bars. The only way I have been able to get the scroll bars to "appear" is if I select the very last displayed movie and then "poof" the scroll bar appears and I can get to the lower movies. Is there a way to have the scroll bar always there if required?

Thanks so much for this software, I really am grateful and use it daily!

[idbirch2]

trino, I'll look into the scrollbar issue, does it still behave that way in 1.5.5? My list has been longer that 1 page can handle for quite a while and the scrollbar has never been a problem. What version of Windows are you running?

staindrocks, sorry about that, I though I had squished all the Identify bugs, obviously not. Can you run AVCHDManager, replicate the error in as few a steps as possible and then send me the AVCHM.log file in your Temp folder. If you're not sure what your temp folder is set to, you can get to it by typing %TEMP% into your run box, thanks.

[idbirch2]

1.5.6 uploaded - fixed another (and hopefully the last) Identify bug.

[deank]

10x 10x 10x :)

[Pl4yit]

1.5.6 uploaded - fixed another (and hopefully the last) Identify bug.

Still a small bug I think.
Dean's MultiAVCHD program is using for example DTS(5.1) or AC3(5.1) as Audio format, however when you hit the Identify button, then the "Audio" field remains empty, although I see the xxx(5.1) format in the drop-down list, but it is neither selected nor displayed on the screen.

:cool::cool::cool: Thumbs up to both of you for your great tools :cool::cool::cool: