DVD Authoring

[ee_gary]

Hi all,

Just made my first dvd from replay recorded shows. I recorded on med quality, used DVArchive to get the files onto a pc. Then, using the batch file 'ReplayTV to DVD.bat' that was floating around here a while back (utilizes VirtualDUB and RTVtools) I converted the files to m2v and mp2. Brought these into DVDAuthorGUI and made them into dvd files.

Couple quick questions though:
1. I used virtualdub to note I-frames for cutting out the commercials, but the resulting dvd didn't cut in exactly the same spot. I noticed the batch file text showed rtvedit cut on either .000 or .495. How do I get this to cut where I want it to cut?

2. I can play the dvd on my player, but I get no audio. The audio is present when playing it on the pc, so all I can figure is that my player doesn't spit out 2-ch MPEG1 audio over the optical output. Anyway, any thoughts on how to get the audio into the digital channels?

I'm open to critique on my replayTV->DVD process. Ultimately I'm looking for something free and easy.

Thanks,

Gary

[dfergie]

I use ReVuw and TMPGdvdAuthor 1.6 with good results..

[replayrob]

Ultimately I'm looking for something free and easy.
If you refuse to pay for software.. then disregard the following:
VideoRedo $49.99
Ulead DVDMovie Factory 5 $39.99
With the two above mentioned software titles, you'll be able to quickly and easily do frame accurate editing (VideoRedo) and DVD authoring (Ulead DVDMovie Factory 5) with 100% rock solid reliability on every project.
Spend a few $$ now to save lots time and effort over the long haul :D

[aeblank]

I use that combo, and even a video dummy like me can handle it.

[adone36]

VideoRedo because it is easier than womble and auto detects commercials.

DVDLab to author. Very robust and does not have some of the strange results Ulead sometimes gives.

[Cloaked]

If no-cost is really a necessity I apologize for keeping this OT. But I was in the same mindset 1-2 years back yet ended up with ReDo+DVDMF. The combo is intuitive and reliable (and I still use a 2nd or 3rd gen DVD player) so you might want to grab the trial versions and give them a shot.

[ee_gary]

This is the first show I've tried to burn to dvd after many years of having a replayTV. Given the infrequency, it'll be hard for me to justify anything but free.

Any thoughts on why virtualdub I-frame time stamps don't match up to the EVT file RTVtools uses to cut out commercials?

Also, it sounds like some DVD players don't support MPEG audio streams. That's probably my issue with no audio.

[rf75]

VideoRedo because it is easier than womble and auto detects commercials.

DVDLab to author. Very robust and does not have some of the strange results Ulead sometimes gives.

VideoReDo seems very cool, and doesn't choke on files that hang up Womble. Does it fix the ancient audio sync drift issue w/o doing the rtvedit thing? Tried a 1/2h file and it seemed to be a little adrift by the end of the show. Does the quickstream fix help? :confused:

[adone36]

I've never had womble hang and I've never had a sync issue with 5K files.

[FarmBubba]

I always have to 'fix' the mpegs with RTVtools or I end up with problems editing with womble. Revue is free, and used to work good, but does not work well if you have upgraded your Media player.

[unclebubby]

In the days prior to VideoReDo, I used RTVtools to edit out commercials. I used a hacked copy of Womble to get time codes and manually built an Edit Decision List. It was very trial-and-error since RTVTools are not frame-accurate. There was a lot of math involved. This will work fine if you're willing to put in the time to build the edit lists, etc. Where you'll run into snags is the DVD authoring software. Trust me - THE AUTHORING SOFTWARE THAT CAME WITH YOUR DVD DRIVE WILL MOST LIKELY PRODUCE POOR RESULTS. Check eBay for an older version of DVD Movie Factory. You can probably pick up version 2 for a song and it works quite well.

f you want a breakdown of how I used to do it, check out my blog entry at http://unclebubby.blogspot.com/2004/03/how-to-create-dvd-from-show-recorded.html (I have since upgraded my computer)

Now, using VideoRedo, it's a much simpler process:
1) Download file to PC using DVArchive
2) Open file in VideoReDo and let Ad Detective find the breaks
3) Mark your in and out points, then save the new show without commercials
4) Use DVD Movie Factory to burn the edited show to a DVD

VideoReDo is the BEST $50 I've spent on my computer and my ReplayTV

[SpaceCadet]

I used a hacked copy of Womble....
VideoReDo is the BEST $50 I've spent on my computer and my ReplayTVGlad to hear you've decided to leave the criminal life. There is no incentive for companies to produce software or for people to enter the software development profession if they're not going to be paid for their work, just as you expect to be paid for your work.

[ppahr]

why not buy a stand alone dvd recorder ?i have one hooked up to my replay and it records great all you have to do is ca when recording title editing is easy and i can still record on replay and watch another channel while my other av on tv records on another replay.pat

[rf75]

Can I ship my files to whomever never has trouble with 5K files? Based on my reading of the fora over the ReplayTV years that only happens as often as virgin births.
VideoReDo is now my favorite video editor. It seems to fix the drifting audio issue, doesn't choke, doesn't recode any more frames than it has to, and is priced right. It's also clever enough to make it easy to input from one drive and output to another - it remembers previous directories in a little dropdown and pre-fills the filename in such a way as to make it so easy to use - unlike Womble which is painful and takes lots of typing by comparison. In 12 more days I register it. :D

I like DVDLab for authoring, it doesn't ever recode (because it can't) unlike DVDMF (which I also purchased long ago).

I also have 2 standalone DVD recorders - the first was from RefurbDepot and required a trip back to the repair center to make it work at all, and it still makes noises on burned disks (faulty drive, not worth mailing back AGAIN) hence the second DVD burner (a Panny that works well - OK the UI sucks). I'm picky about quality and avoid any conversions analog-digital or vice-versa whenever possible, thus d/l the Replay video rather than D/A Replay to play then A/D to record on a DVD standalone.

Much of this just to get out of the world of VHS. Tapes from 1983 recorded at SLP, barely playable now ... at any quality :rolleyes: Newer ones at slower than SP are iffy at best.

BTW anyone notice how much better HBO used to be? They had much less competition in those days of course but it's almost tempting to drop the channel, I watch it so seldom now (except, damn, Sopranos is supposed to come back sometime this year ...)

[replayrob]

why not buy a stand alone dvd recorder ?i have one hooked up to my replay and it records great all you have to do is ca when recording title editing is easy and i can still record on replay and watch another channel while my other av on tv records on another replay.
Biggest problem with this method is that you're once again re-encoding your content, maybe for a third time. Every encode/decode cycle degrades picture quality.
If you get your content into your Replay via S-Video or composite input then your cable co STB or Sat provider's STB is encoding the source to Mpeg2 once already. Your Replay is then re-encoding that analog signal a second time for storage on it's hard drive . Then your stand alone DVD recorder is re-encoding the incoming analog signal a third time when you record to DVD. Too many paths for major drops in picture quality when going from device to device to device with an analog source.

The accepted method is to go Replay to computer via DVArchive then use a Mpeg2 editor (Womble or VideoRedo) that does not re-encode the Replay Mpeg content, then use a DVD authoring program like Ulead DVDMF that doesn't re-encode before burning to DVD. This tried and true method keeps the encoding/re-encoding down to the bare minimum and gives you the chance to keep the picture quality as close to the original as possible.


OT: That's the beauty of capturing HD content on yout HTPC.... it's all digital baby! No encoding/decoding at all. Capture the raw .TS (transport stream) without encoding, edit with VideoRedo without encoding, and author to HD-DVD format with DVDMF 5 without encoding. The resultant file is as pure as the original Transport stream when it came down from the broadcaster. The results are stunning!

[ee_gary]

Okay, to summarize what I've gleaned from this thread:

1. VideoRedo & Ulead DVDMovie Factory is a good combo for burning ReplayTV files to DVD, as long as you don't mind shelling out a couple bucks (~$90).

2. RTVedit is not frame accurate. So even though I'm noting the I-frame with virtual dub and editing the A's and D's in the EVT file to cut out commercials, RTVedit won't cut them exactly where I've specified?

3. Some DVD players require AC3 audio streams (i.e. mine), and the scheme I was using results in an MPEG audio stream. Does DVDMF generate AC3 audio? Is anyone using a free tool to convert an MPEG audio stream to AC3 with success?

Thanks,

Gary

[replayrob]

Okay, to summarize what I've gleaned from this thread:

1. VideoRedo & Ulead DVDMovie Factory is a good combo for burning ReplayTV files to DVD, as long as you don't mind shelling out a couple bucks (~$90).
Yes!



2. RTVedit is not frame accurate. So even though I'm noting the I-frame with virtual dub and editing the A's and D's in the EVT file to cut out commercials, RTVedit won't cut them exactly where I've specified?
Don't know, have never used RTVedit.



3. Some DVD players require AC3 audio streams (i.e. mine), and the scheme I was using results in an MPEG audio stream. Does DVDMF generate AC3 audio? Is anyone using a free tool to convert an MPEG audio stream to AC3 with success?

DVDMF 5 will keep AC3 (5.1 audio) intact as long as it was there to begin with.

[dstoffa]

Okay, to summarize what I've gleaned from this thread:

2. RTVedit is not frame accurate. So even though I'm noting the I-frame with virtual dub and editing the A's and D's in the EVT file to cut out commercials, RTVedit won't cut them exactly where I've specified?



If you use rtvedit with the -t1 switch, it will stream times instead of .evt/.ndx times.
See the following from the rtvtools.txt file:


Since RVTEDIT is intended to use times from EVTDUMP, the times used in the
edit list are based off the .ndx/.evt clock (which is different from the
stream clock). If you are creating an edit list manually, you must use an
application that will give you frame times (not MPEG times) or your results
will be off. The -t1 flag allows using frame times from an external
application. This only works for original RTV 5K streams (not converted or
edited).

VirtualDub-MPEG2, 1.5.4 or later, is recommended for manually finding edit
times. For best results, hold SHIFT to snap to I-frames and pick the one
where you want the edit to occur. Once you've created the edit list, use:

rtvedit -t1 <edit-script>

This will adjust the script times to the closest editable locations in the
stream. This should be much more accurate (within 2 frames from my testing
with medium quality streams).


I use DVA to get the files off, VirtualDub-NMPEG2 to find edit points as described above, make my own edit script, and use TMPegDVDAuthor to make my DVDs. Never had a problem with this method. I can get 7 one-hours shows sans commercials on a DVD-5 (4.3 GB DVD).

Cheers!
-Doug

[drlava]

Okay, to summarize what I've gleaned from this thread:

1. VideoRedo & Ulead DVDMovie Factory is a good combo for burning ReplayTV files to DVD, as long as you don't mind shelling out a couple bucks (~$90).

2. RTVedit is not frame accurate. So even though I'm noting the I-frame with virtual dub and editing the A's and D's in the EVT file to cut out commercials, RTVedit won't cut them exactly where I've specified?

3. Some DVD players require AC3 audio streams (i.e. mine), and the scheme I was using results in an MPEG audio stream. Does DVDMF generate AC3 audio? Is anyone using a free tool to convert an MPEG audio stream to AC3 with success?

Thanks,

Gary

hi, ee_gary it looks like we both are using pretty much the same tools, and we're both ee's :D

I use this free program to make ac3's when necessary:
http://www.videohelp.com/tools?tool=434
it makes quiet ac3's, but at least they'll work with your player. you can add the mpa version as a second audio track if you wish.

Instead of RTVedit, you can use (free) streamclip http://www.squared5.com/svideo/mpeg-streamclip-win.html
to edit out ads While not automatic, it does allow keyframe selection, and doesn't recompress the video.

those are some of the the free selections I have used with success. good luck.

[ee_gary]

Doug -

I'm using the -t1 switch, and inputing the I-frame times from virtual dub into my own edit script. However, the frame cuts are just a smidge off. Is your edit frame accurate using this method, or am I just too picky?

Thanks!

[dstoffa]

Doug -

I'm using the -t1 switch, and inputing the I-frame times from virtual dub into my own edit script. However, the frame cuts are just a smidge off. Is your edit frame accurate using this method, or am I just too picky?

Thanks!

From time to time I have noticed minor discrepancies, but I can usually compensate during the Authoring Stage by setting start and stop frames.

I think you are being a bit picky. The place you wish to cut a MPEG just may not be possible.

Cheers!
-Doug

[matrix2004]

Hi. I'm trying to burn dvds from youtube videos. I use www.getvid to convert to .flv
I also have 'Super'. What are the optimal settings to convert .flv to mpegs for dvd burning?

Thanks