Is there not a Single Tool answer for editing?

[belloq]

Hello all,

In dealing with all sorts of peculiarities of wanting to go from DVR->encoded files playable on a computer and much smaller than the original, I've come to decide that we really need a single tool to do it all. Or, that I am unable to find it.

FYI: Handbrake has been my tool of choice for the final encoding step lately. It's so easy to use and has lots of great features.

MPEG Streamclip can open an mux/demux/encode lots of stuff, but it's QuickTime dependent, doesn't always a/v sync well with error-filled sources, sometimes produces out-of-spec output, and doesn't appear to be supported well. (I've had multiple emails not answered.)

Avidemux does a decent job editing, but cannot automatically give me the audio offset, nor keep a/v sync through the file, and therefore, cannot sync through edits. It also cannot simultaneously cut/edit and external audio program if I have demuxed the source.

Project X is great at creating demuxed and nearly perfectly synced files. But the interface is horrible and good documentation on what all those buttons do ... I haven't found. There's tooltips only for certain things, and nothing shows the keyboard shortcuts for anything.

If I could get mplex to work at all, I'd take the Project X output and run it through Avidemux. However all the Project X demuxes I've worked with fail to be processed by mplex due to too many sync errors. Weird.

So, in the end, we have a lot of tools which each have excellect features we all need to go from source->encode, but I haven't found one which can do it all in an easy-to-use package with a standard clean interface, full a/v offset and sync, non destructive cuts and trims, and encode with a robust toolset and open library encoders like ffmpeg and x264.

Am I wrong that this single solution does exist? And is free? :)

Thanks for any suggestions you have!

[Turtleggjp]

I feel your pain, as I've been sturggling with the same situation for a long time now. I used to use Project X all the time, and just used a simple command line to have it just do a simple demux (and sync). Trouble is, some of the TV stations started mixing in some video encoded at 24p with pulldown flags, and Project X was throwing out way too many GOPs. Using DGIndex on the original captured files works fine, unless you run into glitches in your stream, which seem to be popping up more often now for me.

If you use DGIndex/DGDecode to serve your video into AVI Synth, I may have a solution coming. I am working on a program that will analyse a .d2v file and the timestamp log created by DGIndex, and determine where there are sync problems. I then plan to correct the audio by inserting or removing audio frames where needed. I already have my program to a point where it can scan through the files looking for gaps in the PTS values, and the only step left is to open the actual capture file and scan through the audio data looking for inconsistencies. The end result of this program is that it will output a .ac3 file (currently the only audio format found in my recordings) that stays in sync with the .d2v file when served into AVI Synth. Hopefully I can finish this soon, since my recording are starting to pile up!

[netmask]

feel your pain, as I've been sturggling with the same situation for a long time now. I used to use Project X all the time, and just used a simple command line to have it just do a simple demux (and sync). Trouble is, some of the TV stations started mixing in some video encoded at 24p with pulldown flags, and Project X was throwing out way too many GOPs. Using DGIndex on the original captured files works fine, unless you run into glitches in your stream, which seem to be popping up more often now for me.

Not sure if this will help but in ProjectX under Presettings------>Video tab try selecting

insert sequence end code on format changes
and
ensure each GOP has a sequenceheader



http://www.openwiz.org/wiki/ProjectX

[belloq]

Thanks so much for the replies. I, too, have just started using ProjectX in the last week.

Did I mention I do all my work on a Mac, not Windows. :) So ... that throws a wrench into some of your ideas, Turtleggjp. I supposed I could have made that more clear.

I have noticed that streamclip does create really nasty output, whether TS or PS. Handbrake constantly runs into audio timelines running backward (sequencing?) and causes all sorts of problems.

ProjectX didn't seem to do well for me at first. It would fail to display the whole image, so I couldn't find my cut points. However, I increased the memory footprints and it seems to work very well now. I have been doing demuxes and using avidemux do the remux to a PS, but that seems to take too long. I may try having ProjectX do the cuts and export to TS, which HandBrake can read.

My current ProjectX/avidemux output looked pretty nicely sync'd. I have it encoding now and will then determine if the final output (targeting my AppleTV as the end-device) is syncd correctly.

netmask, thanks for the wiki link. I don't think that I've seen that link anywhere before. I was in the forums, but it's mostly German, and the docs I did see before weren't all that explanatory.

[netmask]

I wrote/copy and pasted/hobbled together the ProjectX guide basically as a series of screen shots for Beyonwiz PVR users that were not comfortable with the less than friendly layout of ProjectX. This PVR is an Australian PAL model. The Beyonwiz forum in Australia is quite active with a high level of technical specific advice and suggestions from the membership and one member kindly posted my ProjectX Screenshots guide in the Beyonwiz Wiki recently.

Currently the Beyonwiz 2 tuner PVR out of Korea is only available in Australia. I think we are a sort of "off broadway" try out for some technology.:)

[belloq]

:) Yes, I noticed the mention of AUS and the comment about no 3/2+LFE yet, which is pretty standard over in the US, and what I have to work with all the time. Actually, the broadcasts switch to 2/0 for commercials. The option to patch the 3/2+LFE in ProjectX has been immensely useful in a couple cases where even the actual program I was looking to encode didn't switch to 3/2+LFE for several seconds into it, and most encoders will take the header and only encode 2/0 for the entire length.

[QuadraQ]

So, in the end, we have a lot of tools which each have excellect features we all need to go from source->encode, but I haven't found one which can do it all in an easy-to-use package with a standard clean interface, full a/v offset and sync, non destructive cuts and trims, and encode with a robust toolset and open library encoders like ffmpeg and x264.

Am I wrong that this single solution does exist? And is free? :)

Thanks for any suggestions you have!

I had a similar nightmare except on a PC, and I finally purchased VideoReDo. Worth every penny. Saves my sanity and my time. I think you said that you are using a Mac, however you may be able to use VideoReDo with one of the PC compatibility options on current Intel Macs.

[halsboss]

Yep. VideoReDo TV Suite every time. Great product.

I always run captured .TS through their "QuickStreamFix" to fix up (almost) all errors and keep the video/audio in synch. I choose the option setting "insert extra video frames" if necessary so there's no sound discontinuity as my eye is more forgiving. The ad-scan detection works satisfactorily.

It has an occasional (read: very rare) bug in some circumstances where timestamps are well out of whack - if you get that rare glitch, just demux the mpg to elementary streams using DGIndex, remux the elementary streams into another .mpg using ImagoMPEG-muxer http://www.videohelp.com/tools/ImagoMPEG-Muxer and presto start editing using VTDTVS.

edit: oops, a Mac ? dunno about that, sorry.

[kav4]

Does anyone have the executable file for ProjectX-v0.90.04?

Because I'm not very good at compiling.

Please help.

[Ghitulescu]

Look hard on its home page, you'll find also compiled versions ;)

DVR-Studio Pro is capable of doing a lot of complex ops in one go, including DVB->DVD. However, like VideoReDo, it has 2 serious drawbacks to me:
1. it/they can handle one 1 audio track at a time
2. it/they cannot handle subtitles.

What's worse is that lots of freeware come from programmers either being native EN speakers (thus no need for subtitles nor for secondary audio - let's see what happens when Mandarin Chinese would be #1;) I'll be probably dead by then :( but it's an interesting case) or coming from countries where audio dubbing is a fashion (again no need for subtitles and/or original audio), like Germany/France/Italy.

So, if you're not interested in "fancy extras" (SUB/AUD) then you can use any of the 2 aforementioned softwares. I don't know if they work on Mac, but have you tried iMovie? It seems capable to me, as non-Macer, to read TS files.

[netmask]

Does anyone have the executable file for ProjectX-v0.90.04?

Because I'm not very good at compiling.

Please help.


http://www.oozoon.de/main_en.html all you need is java installed on your computer.

or

http://www.watchersnet.de/Downloads/tabid/53/rrcid/2/rrscid/8/rreid/345/rrpid/1/rrepp/10/Default.aspx

[kav4]

http://www.oozoon.de/main_en.html all you need is java installed on your computer.

or

http://www.watchersnet.de/Downloads/tabid/53/rrcid/2/rrscid/8/rreid/345/rrpid/1/rrepp/10/Default.aspx

Thank you very much