how to repair m2v-streams for DVD-authoring

[digisei]

Hi all experts,

besides DVD-backup I use my Pioneer burner to author my own movies, that I receive by a DVB-settop box with integrated HD.
Most of the times that works fine using SpruceUp, but if there is a single transmission failure (blocking that sometimes occurs during bad weather etc.), I get short pixellation in playback on a software player which doesn´t hurt.
If I try to import that stream into Spruce I get the message: references in GOP ### (zero-based) are out of sequence!
Probably the stream dumped a few frames and the GOP got mixed up.

Is there a way to fix defect mpeg2-streams? Any other authoring tools that can handle those streams?

Please help! :scared:

Thanx digisei

[TRILIGHT]

I do not know of any utilities that "repair" a corrupt file of this fashion. I only have two suggestions for correcting this problem. 1) Try creating a DVD2AVI project file from this corrupt file and follow the CCE directions to re-encode the original stream so your newly created file will have the proper GOP structure. 2) Use a capture device to play your video into and let that correct the GOP structure as it captures. Either way, I really don't see you "repairing" this without going through an encode process to correct the GOP structure.

[digisei]

Thanx for the advice!

Actually I did exactly that with Tmpeg and it worked although it took a very long while! However after that I couldn´t get the new m2v in synch with the original audio - this was not just a delay problem but also a progressive asynch meaning the movie played faster than the audio.
Does anyone know of a tool able to stretch ac3 and mpa?

digisei

[mikeathome]

Originally posted by digisei
Thanx for the advice!
Actually I did exactly that with Tmpeg and it worked although it took a very long while! However after that I couldn´t get the new m2v in synch with the original audio - this was not just a delay problem but also a progressive asynch meaning the movie played faster than the audio. Does anyone know of a tool able to stretch ac3 and mpa?
digisei

Yeh, I pretty much know what your speaking about, from time to time I struggle with the same, find my extensive method below (be warned it's a hell lot of work and only appropriate for valuable content):

1) Software needed (reco)
- MPEGVCR 3.11 (Vitec shit crashes with that corrupted files)
- MAESTRO

2) MPEG2VCR
- find the last frame before the first distortion occurs
- cut the segment from beginning to this point and save (Export, DON'T hit the video button -> does reencode with shit quality, just save)
- move forward till the first non-distorted frame occurs again -> save till the end or towards the next distortion (hopefully you got only one failure) ok, save the parts

3) from the original stream (!) export the audio via VStrip / DVD2AVI (or whatever you prefer)
- convert to wav (WinAMP / BeSweet / HeadAC3)
- open the wav with an audio editor an scroll to the place where the distortion was
- find out if the audio is corrupted as well and try to repair (in an unlucky situation you have to cut it out, but most often the audio is just a bit corrupted and can be repaired (I use SoundForge for this works great)
- encode the audio to AC3 (2.0 224kbps)

4) Maestro
- put the first & second video part on the timeline
- put audio on the time line
- with preview check the resulting delay at the cut / distortion point
- now insert the first OR second video part in between part 1 and 2
- with the bracket handle (you get that when you place the cursor in the video track at the cut points of the video stream parts) drag the inserted video down to a few frames (minimum is 1 GOP, usually 15 frames), distortion is usually <1s

Sounds complicated, no it isen't, once you've done it. This procedure will repeat a few frames of same video content at the cut (distortion) point, believe me, you won't recognise this later when you playback, if you are smart enough to find the right sequence of frames to insert (takes some time).
I recovered a few DVB grabs this way and the all became 100% sync with this procedure and the cut point is hardly recognised so are the audio (which most often is complete this way).

mike

[Arky]

Makes sense to me, Mike.

Only thing I'd add is that, to help cut the audio at the correct (i.e. matches where the MPEG video was also cut) point, it would be useful to actually note the precise timecode, or framenumber of beginning and end of the corrupted portion, and count and cut the audio accordingly. Assuming the corrupted portion of the AUDIO is not dialogue, it would be pretty simple, for the split second required, to copy an adjacent chunk of audio, and use CoolEdit's "MixPaste" function to simultaneously insert, and blend, this into the original audio track. CoolEdit will allow you yto specify the duration/amount of crossfade when Mix-Pasting in this manner, and since CoolEdit can be set to operate on 16 bit files in the 32-bit domain, you are NEVER gona be able to tell the splice even exists, once it's downsampled back to 16bit.

This post is interesting to me because I am considering venturing into DVB myself. Just waiting until I find a decent TechnoTrend-compatible PCI card on eBay, and then I'll be straight off to HappySat.de, to find the latest build of MultiDec! :D


Arky ;o)

[auenf]

i thought Digital TV streams were all B-frames?

or is that only an ATSC thing?

Enf...

[mikeathome]

Originally posted by auenf
i thought Digital TV streams were all B-frames?
or is that only an ATSC thing?
Enf...

Hi,
no, it's full VBR (some rare times CBR) IPB MPEG-2 (usually IBBPBBPBBPBBPBBI), 15fr/GOP (PAL). It's very similar to DVD and most often can be burned to DVD-R straight w/o any mod's. That's what I am doing all the time...

Resolutions: 720/480/544/524 x 576 where the non-conform resolutions needs a DVDPatcher before import to Maestro (and patch back). But they play all the time (at least on my Pioneer 444).

Audio is MP2 192kbps or even AC3 2.0 upto 6.1 (Premiere sent Starwars EP1 in this format).

@Arky:
Foresure, you should note down the time codes of the distortion. Using DVBRecorder together with the DBox 1 you can get the point from the log-file; at least the approximate time.
I was automatically assuming that you do this since it' pretty obvious ;-)
SoundForge has similar nice and powerful Audio Editing features, I am a user since the very first release, 1996 ~$900 investment. Then Sonic Foundry has increased the Stock price by 14x (!!!) but came down with all the other IT companíes.

mike

[Arky]

Fair comment, Mike, it was the "scrolling" which I thought you meant was manually seeking. Enuf said, I'll shutup ;)

Regarding SoundForge, I know this is the main CoolEdit competitor, but I have never really enjoyed the interface as much as CoolEdit's - they are both excellent programs and it's really only a matter of personal preference, I'm sure you'll agree.


Arky ;o)

[auenf]

Originally posted by mikeathome


Hi,
no, it's full VBR (some rare times CBR) IPB MPEG-2 (usually IBBPBBPBBPBBPBBI), 15fr/GOP (PAL). It's very similar to DVD and most often can be burned to DVD-R straight w/o any mod's. That's what I am doing all the time...

the 15frame/GOP is measured in fields, but i know what you mean ;)

Audio is MP2 192kbps or even AC3 2.0 upto 6.1 (Premiere sent Starwars EP1 in this format).

if i remember right, ATSC has AC3 audio, DVB has MPEG-2 multichannel audio, and down here in upside down world we get DVB + AC3, or something like that.

if only there were DTV cards actually available down here, i might know a bit more about it :)

Enf...

[Arky]

Hey, auenf - just go to eBay and look for the German vendors - they are the DVB nuts and many of them ship worldwide at extremely competitive prices. Just type in "DVB" as your search string (making sure to select "available IN" your country, not just "available FROM WITHIN" your country (which is unfortunately the default), and look for cards with the "Technotrend" chipset. This chipset is your guarantee that you can use MultiDEC, which allows software decrypting of satelite streams (for example ASTRA, here in Europe, carries many hackable feeds). For more info, as I mentioned previously, checkout:

w*w.HappySat.de

If you need any more links, just let me know and I'll be only too happy to assist.


Arky ;o)

[auenf]

im sure i can wait a little longer, id hate to put my JVC VCR on the shelf this early in its life ;)

oh, and i dont think we get -S streams here, only Terestial, i noticed that most product pages have them listed as separate...

Enf...

[mikeathome]

Hi,

if any of you folks consider DVB grabbing digitally ONLY chose a Technotrend Chipset PCI adapter (or a DBox 1 (Nokia 9200/9500/9600; or a DBox 2 Nokia/Sagem/Philips).

The Technotrend CS is supported by the famous WinDVBLive TV application which brings advanced drivers for these cards.
- Siemens DVB-S
- Hauppage Nexus S (NOT NOVA)
- Sky Star 1 (NOT Sky Star 2 !)
- more ...

All these cards have a CI (Common Interface) onboard where you can connect a CAM (Conditional Access Module) for certain encryption standards (like SECA, IRDETO, VIACCESS, CONAX, MEDIAGUARD, etc.). The SkyCard is somewhat special since it has a NDS VideoGuard CAM built in. Since there are NO (not yet) VideoGuard CAMs on the market, it would be the only (legal) opportunity to receive Sky PayTV (I guess you get that down-under, do you ?). VideoGuard is very common in the english-speaking Asia countries as well (I guess all Commonwealth).

The free alternative to WinDVBLive is TV Application and will incorporate the drivers in the future version as well.

A very good alternative is the Linux TV project (mainly german developers). This application is as well consumer proof (if you know how to setup a Linux Box).

My prefered solution deals with the DBox 1 which has a SCSI Interface and allow very reliable fast transfers. I sometimes stream a full night and cut out intresting scenes to burn on DVD-R (like the Stones retrospective 'Let it bleed' ~3hours (on ARTE).

The DBox 2 project has become a real alternative in the meantime with even more userfriendly UI. I sit on the couch in the living room, while the PC streams over the network (the DBox 2 has an Ethernet IF).

If you need more infos regarding DVB don't hesitate to ask...

mike

[Arky]

Hi Mike, I was aware of the Nokia solution, but since you are obviously a fan of it, I am interested to know how you think it is better (for PC users) than a PCI DVB card? I will shortly be buying a Hauppage NEXUS card, and all my drives are IDE/UDMA100. Is there some killer reason for going the external SCSI/Nokia route, bearing in mind my current lack of SCSI peripherals?


Arky ;o)

[digisei]

my I add an alternative?

I am using a settop Satreceiver with integrated harddisk (Kathrein UFD552). It come almost identical from Huyndai (Hss820/825). These boxes are great because they allow convenient remote controlled recording timeshifting etc. in the living room without having a loud PC and bluescreens there. The harddiscs in these devices can be exchanged for bigger ones and put into a PC to rip off the content. This is how I get to the streams I author and burn to DVD if they are worth it. This works very well if the stream isn´t corrupted - actually this is what the thread was about originally.

Coming back to subject: has anybody heard and tried pvastrumento (www.offeryn.de) for repairing bad streams?

Greetings Seidman

[Cayne]

One reason for Nokia Mediamaster: It's stylisher

Dreambox has yet to come !!!

[Arky]

I neglected to stress that I wish to use MultiDEC if at all possible for reasons which should be obvious. If you don't know what I mean, then PM me rather than ask me here in the thread. As I see it, the problem with ALL set-top boxes whether or not they have integrated hard disks, is that they require hardware CAMs, which erm.."limits" one's options dramatically.

Before I get slated for the above, please bear in mind that I am talking about content from the Astra and Hotbird satellites, which is largely German or Spanish anyway, and not worth paying a large subscription for if, like me, you only speak english! Sky have a monopoly here in the UK, on UK satellite content, and this is unfortunate because they charge over-the-odds, which means a raw deal for UK customers. Incidentally, Sky use encryption which has not YET been hacked, and is thus immune to the influences of certain software decoding shells (there are as-yet unconfirmed rumours that the same system HAS been penetrated by Spanish enthusiasts).


Arky ;o)