Guide: DVR-MS to XviD with PCM 6 Channel Audio

[McoreD]

Cheers to Chris Muench (Embedded MVP) and Marco Zara (Digital Media MVP).

Optional: XviD with PCM 6 Channel Audio can be later converted to WMV9 with WMA9 Professional 5.1 Channel.


DVR-MS to WMV9 with WMA9 Professional 5.1 Channel Guide (http://www.microsoftusernetwork.com/mcored/knowledgebase/kb-dvrmstowmv.htm)


Good Luck,
McoreD

[Sagittaire]

Why XviD (loss codec) encoding ... FFV1 (or other lossless codec) is a very better solution ... ???

[McoreD]

Hi Sagittaire,

I had a problem playing the file after using FFV1.

WMP10 Screen:
http://www.microsoftusernetwork.com/mcored/research/convertdvrms/index.3.jpg

Error after 2 seconds:
http://www.microsoftusernetwork.com/mcored/research/convertdvrms/index.2.jpg

Cheers,
McoreD

[stephanV]

Did you have to choose the worst possible player out there :p

What does e.g. Media player Classic make out if it?

One other thing, do NOT give an OGM file the avi extension... thats not really good practice. Its like renaming a mp3 to wav or ogg or something, doesnt make sense.

[McoreD]

Thanks for that information. I will use the OGM as the file extension.

Since WMP is a direct show compatible player, it should theoretically work, shouldn't it?

[stephanV]

with WMP nothing is theoretically...

but it could also be the OGM splitter, or just the ffdshow decoder. ill run a test (not with OGM though :)).

[stephanV]

ffv1 from latest ffdshow, works with AVI and Matroska in WMP10 (file created with graphedit, no audio streams though)... I'm not gonna install tobias' filters, those are like old and i cant imagine me using them.

[McoreD]

Thanks again for your testing. Time to give Matroska a shot, for muxing purposes.

By the way I faced a different problem. Unlike the day I first encoded to XviD, the files being encoded now are limited to 720 * 504. All the rest (in the 1280i movie) is chopped off. I havent modified any settings in XviD Encoder. Just installed the latest XviD 1.0.2 and it looks like the problem arised after that.

[Koepi]

Why using fv1, it's quite slow. Ffdshow offers HuffYuv (even in YV12) as well, ok, the intermediate file will be huge, but that shouldn't be a problem with today's hard disks sizes.

Where is the problem with using OGM btw., I don't see anything container related?

(Many ffdshow builds have broken fv1 encoding/decoding, I can tell that from my own experience. That's no container issue. Maybe using a certain build could help - someone should name a version where encoding and decoding works properly then ["latest" is so _not_ precise... ;) ].) Also, maybe fv1 needs some special resolution like mod2, mod4,... and this is the issue you're experiencing?

I hope this helps,

regards
Koepi

[McoreD]

Yes Koepi. Pretty sure it is an issue with FFV1. Tried with Matroska but had the same exact problem. I am happy with the XviD encode. It doesn't matter if it is OGM or Matroska. There was no difference.

I encoded a 720x480 file to XviD without any problems but a file with 1280x360 gave me unexpected results. This didn't happened the first time (at the time the guide was posted).

http://microsoftusernetwork.com/mcored/research/convertdvrms/index.5.jpg

What you see here is a 704 x 480 XviD movie frame. The source file is 1280x360. The rest seems to be chopped off.

I configured the XviD Encoder: Profile @ Level to be Unrestricted . But still I must be missing something. Any help would be appreciated. :)

[stephanV]

Originally posted by Koepi
["latest" is so _not_ precise... ;) ].
it is though... look at the date of my post and then check here (http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=53761&package_id=59355)... anyone who has only a little bit sense of time and the chronological order of things can then figure out that the latest build at the time of my posting was of 12 October 2004. To help clarify things, im using the "general"-build... :p

[Koepi]

McoreD:

please switch the XviD encoder with a renderer filter, maybe the input it gets is already resized like that.

StephanV:

"latest" can be anything, let's say latest build from athos at that time (http://athos.leffe.dnsalias.com/) or from sourceforge (latest stable? latest experimental?) :) That's why I asked for that information :)

Regards
Koepi

[McoreD]

Hi Koepi, I am sorry I thought I already posted the GraphEdit configuration.

GraphEdit Config:
http://microsoftusernetwork.com/mcored/research/convertdvrms/index.4.gif

After looking at this GraphEdit configuration can you please suggest me a solution? Sorry I didn't understand what you meant by a Renderer Filter.

Thanks,
McoreD

[Koepi]

Connect the video out of the elecard decoder to a video renderer filter. That'll show you if the size is right on the output.

Regards
Koepi

[bond]

isnt .dvr-ms the same as .mpg?
isnt the video format stored in .dvr-ms wmv9?

[McoreD]

Converting DVR-MS isn't that easy as converting MPG. :)
The video format is not WMV9, it is MPEG2. And the audio format is AC3
sample rate: 48000Hz, bitrate: 192kbps ~ 384kbps. stream: 8 bit

[bond]

hm ok than i mixed things up. somehow i thought to having read somewhere that .dvr-ms files are simply .mpg files with a changed extension and wmv9 streams stored in them, as private streams can be stored in .mpg

well thanks for clearing this up :)

[McoreD]

Koepi, when I connect the Video Renderer filter after thte Elecard MPEG2 decoder, I get the full video output i.e. 1280 * 360. But If I delete the Video Renderer and connect the XviD MPEG4 Encoder and a File Writer, the encoded file resolution is 704 x 480. Still cannot figure what makes this happen.

[Leak]

Originally posted by McoreD
Koepi, when I connect the Video Renderer filter after thte Elecard MPEG2 decoder, I get the full video output i.e. 1280 * 360. But If I delete the Video Renderer and connect the XviD MPEG4 Encoder and a File Writer, the encoded file resolution is 704 x 480. Still cannot figure what makes this happen.

Does setting the Level to "(unrestricted)" help? I haven't tried it lately, but maybe XviD does already limit the resolution to the values given on the Level tab even though the text there says otherwise...

np: Barbara Morgenstern - Mjisnjedschaz (Fjorden)

[McoreD]

The weirdest thing is, this happens with DivX 5.2.1 too. In XviD, I configured the XviD Encoder: Profile @ Level to be Unrestricted but still no go. =(

[Sharktooth]

I used Huffyuv (latest ffdshow on sourceforge) and had no problems...

[McoreD]

Chris Muench writes....

Here is how I could get the resolution corrected:

+Render the media file (NW..)
+ Play it very shortly! (Hit play - wait for the VMR to show a picture - hit stop again). Now the Elecard shows the correct stream on the out-pin
+ now remove the renderer and add the XVID and Ogg multiplexer + file Writer
+ Hit play again and you see it compresses correctly

That fixed the problem. Guide will be updated for the average users considering all the suggestions made above. :)

[McoreD]

Originally posted by Sharktooth
I used Huffyuv (latest ffdshow on sourceforge) and had no problems...

Hi, I did a DVR-MS to HuffYuv encode using ffdShow. When I was going to play the file it comes with the error: A codec is required to play this file. The Audio stream is fine though. Any idea why this happens? Appreciate your time. McoreD.

[stephanV]

have you enabled huffyuv decoding in the ffdshow settings?

[McoreD]

Originally posted by stephanV
have you enabled huffyuv decoding in the ffdshow settings?

Thanks. I just did but same error. I will probably need a reboot.