Fancy a game of badminton then?

PS Why are you called micro gerry?

You quite evidently don't understand what's going on.

Of course you get data breaks and timecode errors when you edit an MPEG file; it's virtually impossible not to.

It's been explained to you why the Toppy doesn't fix them - because it doesn't need to, and most decent software for DVD authoring will do that.

Part of exploring the things you can do with the Toppy is learning - and you would do well to take the advice of people here regarding MPEG2 video and DVD authoring.

Instead, you persist with your anti-Topfield agenda, when there is plenty of evidence to suggest that all you need to do is try another application, and your problem will go away. There's even evidence from someone with other kit that had problems with Womble in an almost directly analagous situation.

If Womble can't handle MPEG files with data breaks and timecode problems, that is Womble's fault. It is NOT the fault of the Toppy - you get that sort of problem with lots of sources of MPEG data, for lots of reasons, including edits, broadcast glitches, bad disk sectors and others.

Ian I know this must be fun and everything but really when you think about it, the very people you like winding up are the ones more likely than not to have given time and dedication over a very long period of time just so that end users like you get a better deal out of owning a toppy. This for me is the sad part.

OK, it hasn't been conclusively proved that the Toppy is corrupting the data. I also appreciate that corruptions can occur accidentally. However, if the Toppy is at fault and it is corrupting the data with little regard during its editing process, then I believe that is a serious point and issue. As someone from a programming background, I regard this as a sloppy practice.

I find that comment quite insulting and offensive.

It's not sloppy programming practise to avoid adding a wait of several minutes unnecessarily on the PVR when you edit a file.

It is sloppy of Womble not to be able to deal with an extremely common occurrence.

We all get that you think anything wrong with the Toppy is immediately a serious bug, but there are about half a dozen people here with experience and knowledge telling you that the problem is with your video editing software.

It would have taken you less time to download MPEG StreamClip and install it than it has taken you to carry on maintaining the problem is with the Toppy.

Are you interested in solving the problem and burning your DVD correctly?

If you are, then why not take a break from posting, download one of the many alternative applications mentioned here, and see how you get on.

I didn't say it was. You obviously haven't read my post.

As I say, there is strong circumstantial evidence to suggest that the Toppy is causing the problem (i.e. the problem only occurs after a Toppy edit).

However, I will explore these issues further and report back with a conclusive result.

There's also strong circumstantial evidence to suggest that you still don't quite understand the processes involved in editing MPEG2 files and authoring DVDs.

I did read your post - once again, your preferred solution to everything is to blame the Toppy programmers. Half a dozen people have suggested why that's not where the fault lies.

There is not a bug in the Toppy firmware. There are plenty of good reasons why it doesn't run all the way through files fixing timecode breaks, chiefly

a) it doesn't need to do so for it to play back files
b) it would take a long time and adversely impact the user experience
c) decent video editing and authoring packages will do a it quicker on the PC
d) many of those packages won't even complain about the problem, and will just work.

You've chosen a package that doesn't work. End of story.

I don't expect it to fix timecode breaks introduced by other factors. My question is "Is it creating new ones?".

Do you think you can edit an MPEG2 video file without causing them?

Now, you're going to tell everyone that's sloppy and shoddy practice on the part of Topfield, and there should be a warning in the manual and blah blah blah.

Each time you edit MPEG video you get a timecode break, because whether you chop something out, or slip something in between two bits, you no longer have the same continuous stream of MPEG video you started with.

If video editing software cannot cope with that, the video editing software is not very good and is at fault.

No it is not. And if you sat that it is, then please point me in the direction of those claims on the Topfield website, or any of the documentation.


You have no basis for that, and it seems to me that you have little understanding of what is happening in order to come up with a comment such as that. You demonstrate little understanding of video streams, and little understanding of what you actually do when you start to edit a video file (which as I said much, much earlier, is NOT as easy as editing a text file). But no matter, blame the Toppy for that, it's the only explanation isn't it (despite many people suggesting otherwise).



And we have your word as an expert for that then?

And yet, you STILL refuse to look at any of the helpful software suggestions here, nor do you even want to try anything other than your Womble. For someone that seemingly wants help, you are coming across as remarkably stubborn. No, you want to believe only what you want to believe, and wish to totally ignore the advice and suggestions offered in these threads.

I have just read toppy.org.uk and it is the same uncomfortable reading which I was afraid of.

Are there any other methods of helping someone who requires assistance, but who doesnt want to hear the answers?

Keep up the good work guys. The information you are imparting along the way is probably as equal interest to hummy users too who will have be doing a lot of the same sort of things.

OK, now I know we are in cloud cuckoo land. The reason people pay out so much for the Topfield is because of its expandability, more especially TAPs (i.e. 3rd party applications). Hell - the TAPs fix half the bugs in the primitive default software.

I don't require assistance.

Yes, and where does Topfield guarantee that any THIRD-PARTY application (i.e. one over which it has no control and probably no direct input) will correctly implement the support for .REC files and any problems that you WILL get when editing transport streams. It creates a transport stream (the .REC file), it is up to how well the third-party software implements support for that stream that is important. And that is the bit that you stubbornly refuse to acknowledge.

Sorry, but I'm not the one in cloud cuckoo land on this, and still you want to portray the firmware as "primitive" and that half the TAPs fix faults in that firmware. Jeez, you really do have some issues.

Please, just take the advice of the well-meaning posters here and TRY some of the download software solutions. The software is not large, generally you'll be able to download in a few mins and installtion is easy. At least show some willing and try it rather than wasting that time by continually posting stuff on here.

I can see you probably need to understand some basic computing principles. If I create an application which processes a file, it is the application's responsibility to ensure that the file format and integrity is preserved. It is not the responsibility of an application to which I am exporting that file to correct errors caused by a previous application.

Please, no. It is you that needs to understand the fundamentals and principles of what you are doing (and also accept some of the advice offered here in good faith) rather than continually banging on about this is an increasingly paranoid way.

The situation has been explained to you. Now, how about downloading Videoredo or one of the other suggestions and trying it? You are at the moment a voice in an increasingly deserted wilderness.

[LIST][*]No padding in recording so 99% of programme recordings are chopped before they end[*]switching between channels in the EPG causes the timeline to jump back to the earliest programme[*]Primitive filing of programmes, the listing of which doesn't even display the names and programme details properly[/LIST]
... and the list goes on

The wilderness seems pretty full of voices to me.

Perhaps you should listen to them before they all give up.

Of course, that assumes that you want to see a quick & simple resolution to this (which, I really do doubt given your stance).

And you need to understand the principles of editing MPEG2 streams, which you quite clearly do not.

You cannot edit an MPEG2 stream without causing breaks. They are an unavoidable fact of editing such a stream.

If the application you're trying to use can't cope with that, then it's not a terribly robust application. If you have a programming background, you'll presumably remember the adage that you should be very liberal in what you accept, while being strict in terms of what you generate. It would appear that on the first point, Womble is falling down rather badly.

You just stated here that you don't need any assistance, so I can only assume that the whole reason you started this thread was to claim there's a serious bug in the Topfield, rather than to get help solving your problem.

There isn't a bug or a flaw in the way the Topfield does this. There is a problem with the software you're using.

You don't want any help - that is obvious now.

taxi for ianmoticom ......

Eh?? I bought one thinking it was a pvr...

Hey I'm from Dundonald. That's just down the road.

Anyway, after reading this uncomfortable thread I'd like to lead by example and let my feet do the talking.

(......walks away....)

Glen.