Help converting ts files from Humax PVR

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Nick123

04-01-2009

Originally Posted by IanL:
“Nick123,

Thanks for the tip re MediaCoder. I've downloaded v 0.6.1.4045 and installed. When I start the program, all it does is open a browser window and take me to the MediaCoder website.

How do you get into the application?”

At the bottom of the webpage that opens click on 'don't show this message again' and click on the start MediaCoder button to open the program. I suggest you redownload the program directly from the author at mediacoder.sourceforge.net and get the latest version which is 0.6.2. You will still get the webpage when you try to open it but like the 0.6.1 version, once you've chosen the 'don't show this message again' option it will open each time directly to the program.

KDH

04-01-2009

Originally Posted by Nick123:
“Son_t, many thanks for this link, it's solved the problem!

The link mentions many programs that I had tried previously (TsRemux, MPEG Streamer, Super, Total Video Converter) all of which don't work on the Foxsat ts files, but then there was one mentioned that I hadn't tried: MediaCoder. This works an absolute treat - and it's free. It can turn a normal length movie ts file into an mpeg in a few minutes, just like VideoReDo. It doesn't re-encode but simply swaps the ts container for an mpeg one, so is very quick.
For those interested in using MediaCoder, just stick to the default and auto settings for all parameters except
* choose 'raw video' as the video format and 'mpeg2' as the container
* ensure that both audio & video options for both 'enable' and 'copy' are ticked
* in the 'picture' tab, choose 16:9 ratio.
A one hour SD broadcast takes under 5 minutes to convert.”

Tried this using your Andrew Marr ZShare test file and one of my own from the HDR on MediaCoder0.6.2.4240 - set the settings to as you say above and getting "no file outputted" - not sure what I'm doing wrong........It produces an empty MPEG file in the set output folder.

.....I'll keep fiddling

KDH

04-01-2009

if this is applied........ "ensure that both audio & video options for both 'enable' and 'copy' are ticked"....... then Raw video option is greyed out-so this is ignored??

...still fiddling....

Can you give me your exact settings under the video and audio tabs??

Nick123

04-01-2009

Originally Posted by KDH:
“if this is applied........ "ensure that both audio & video options for both 'enable' and 'copy' are ticked"....... then Raw video option is greyed out-so this is ignored??

...still fiddling....

Can you give me your exact settings under the video and audio tabs??”

Mmm... I'm having the same problem. Also one of my other ts files wouldn't convert, but all the other dozen or so did. Try with another ts file. The settings I have are as follows:

AUDIO
Source Autoselect (MPlayer greyed out)
Encoder (Lame3 greyed out)
Resample (Original greyed out)
Channel (stereo greyed out)
Gain (0db greyed out)
Enable Audio & Copy Audio both ticked

VIDEO
Mode Quality based, set to max, 100 (greyed out once you click on the copy box)
Format (Raw video greyed out)
Container MPEG2
Source (MEncoder greyed out)
Encoder (MEncoder greyed out)
Enable Video & Copy Video both ticked

PICTURE
Resize Original (greyed out); Global ticked but greyed out
Crop Disabled
Frame Rate 25,000, Global: ticked
Aspect Ratio 16:9
Rotation (90 deg CW greyed out)
Effects: unticked box

I didn't touch any of the other LH pane settings and none of the RH pane ones.

With the two files I've had problems with (including the ts file you have access to) the only way I could get them to convert was to untick the copy boxes and convert to DIVX in an AVI container - this is very slow though.

It's strange that some files work and others don't. When it DOES work it's really fast and converts at 400 frames/sec in some cases.

robbie2

04-01-2009

Originally Posted by Nick123:
“Sorry, I should have mentioned, VLC was one of the first programs I tried. I followed some directions on how to convert ts to mpg using VLC that I found on the web, but no mpg file get created using the Media >convert/save function then adding the mpg extension to the output file. Has anyone been successful using VLC, please?”

Have just tried VLC Player for the first time. Found it very easy to use and didn't have any problems playing .ts files copied from my Humax Foxsat HDR, or converting them to .mpg for editing/burning to DVD. One of the .ts files was a HD clip from Luxe TV. There was a slight lip synch issue with all the results, but there may be a fix for this in the VLC programme.

To convert a .ts file to .mpg for editing, I simply opened a .ts file using VLC Player, then selected ‘Convert/save’, checked ‘File’, entered the name and location of the new output file (I used g:\new.mpg), checked ‘MPEG-PS’, then selected ‘Save’.

I used VideoStudio to edit the resulting .mpg video, but as I was also able to import it into the MS Movie Maker package that comes with Windows XP, I assume that any Windows movie editing software would have sufficed for this purpose.

son_t

04-01-2009

Originally Posted by Nick123:
“It's strange that some files work and others don't.”

I've had ago at processing HD recordings. I've found a program or two that will open and process certain files but not others... Maybe this is going to be the same for the SD recordings too...

IanL

04-01-2009

Quite a minefield:

Nick - thanks, the advice on starting worked ace.

However, mixed results. On the Andrew Marr test file, same problem as KDH "no file outputted", also with BBC HD files recorded on PC using DVBViewer/Hauppauge S2.

On BBC SD file from the PC, worked fine.

son_t - could you say what works (even only sometimes) for HD? As above, no luck with MediaCoder. The usual thing is a Windows notification that ffdshow has encountered a problem and needs to close. Interestingly, the original HD clip will play audio in MediaCoder, but the video playback window does not open, and the application proclaims the clip to be MPEG2 TS, not h.264, so that may be the issue there.

I have tried ProCoder with BBC HD, and successfully transcoded files recorded from the NAR audio stream, but no sound is obtained from the AC3 stream, so it seems that application cannot handle AC3 audio input.

son_t

04-01-2009

Originally Posted by IanL:
“I have tried ProCoder with BBC HD, and successfully transcoded files recorded from the NAR audio stream, but no sound is obtained from the AC3 stream, so it seems that application cannot handle AC3 audio input.”

ProCoder was one program I found that worked with some HD recordings and not others... Also, I've not found a program that can process ITV HD recordings...

Nick123

04-01-2009

Originally Posted by robbie2:
“Have just tried VLC Player for the first time. Found it very easy to use and didn't have any problems playing .ts files copied from my Humax Foxsat HDR, or converting them to .mpg for editing/burning to DVD. One of the .ts files was a HD clip from Luxe TV. There was a slight lip synch issue with all the results, but there may be a fix for this in the VLC programme.

To convert a .ts file to .mpg for editing, I simply opened a .ts file using VLC Player, then selected ‘Convert/save’, checked ‘File’, entered the name and location of the new output file (I used g:\new.mpg), checked ‘MPEG-PS’, then selected ‘Save’.

I used VideoStudio to edit the resulting .mpg video, but as I was also able to import it into the MS Movie Maker package that comes with Windows XP, I assume that any Windows movie editing software would have sufficed for this purpose.”

By golly, Robbie, you've solved the mystery of why I couldn't get VLC to work. Your throw-away line of "I used g:\new.mpg" is the key. If you use the browse function to choose the file where to save the output, it doesn't work: if you type in a target by hand, e.g. something simple like a root directory such as you used, it works! I'm not sure if VLC doesn't like too much arborescence or if it'll work at any folder level as long as you type the target folder in manually, but who cares - it works. I just dump it to C drive and move it afterwards. Thanks - VLC has worked on all my ts files to convert them to mpg without a problem.

IanL

04-01-2009

Originally Posted by IanL:
“... As above, no luck with MediaCoder. The usual thing is a Windows notification that ffdshow has encountered a problem and needs to close....”

Just to correct myself - that should say "ffmpeg.exe"

robbie2

04-01-2009

Originally Posted by Nick123:
“By golly, Robbie, you've solved the mystery of why I couldn't get VLC to work. Your throw-away line of "I used g:\new.mpg" is the key. If you use the browse function to choose the file where to save the output, it doesn't work: if you type in a target by hand, e.g. something simple like a root directory such as you used, it works! I'm not sure if VLC doesn't like too much arborescence or if it'll work at any folder level as long as you type the target folder in manually, but who cares - it works. I just dump it to C drive and move it afterwards. Thanks - VLC has worked on all my ts files to convert them to mpg without a problem.”

Glad to hear that you got it working!

MrEco

04-01-2009

Originally Posted by son_t:
“ProCoder was one program I found that worked with some HD recordings and not others... Also, I've not found a program that can process ITV HD recordings...”

I use tsRemux to make PC captured ITV HD ts files editable.

Cutting out the adverts whilst keeping the audio in synch takes a lot of time and manual effort but is achievable using combinations of software.

son_t

04-01-2009

Originally Posted by MrEco:
“I use tsRemux to make PC captured ITV HD ts files editable.”

Tsremux was one of the first programs I used (comes up easily with a google)... However, it did not work for me... for recordings achieved using the HDR... (I have not tried it again...)

Originally Posted by MrEco:
“Cutting out the adverts whilst keeping the audio in synch takes a lot of time and manual effort but is achievable using combinations of software.”

It should not be. For .ts files achieved from the 9200T - it was a piece of cake using HDTVtoMPEG2... Although, admittedly, HD and especially ITV HD is a completely different kettle... I'm waiting for a good piece of software to come out to deal with BBC HD and ITV HD (from the HDR) - maybe UK brewed, and maybe a long wait too...

EDIT: BTW, I am still waiting for any suggestions of what can play an HD recording achieved off the HDR in its entirety... Cyberlink PowerDVD 7 & 8 will play small HD files but not big ones (>7GB)... I've re-built VLC Player on Linux to include the H.264 codec, but still this has problems... Anyone got any suggestions..?

jzee

04-01-2009

Originally Posted by son_t:
“EDIT: BTW, I am still waiting for any suggestions of what can play an HD recording achieved off the HDR in its entirety...”

MPC-HC? Newer svn builds here.

jack plug

06-01-2009

Couldn't resist having a look at Nick's sample HDR file.

The file format is like this : JTJTJTJTJTJTJTJTJT...

J = humax junk = 4 bytes
T = transport stream packet = 188 bytes

Just remove the junk to recover the original transport stream : TTTTTTTTT...

Code:

Public Sub trimTS()
Dim junk(3) As Byte, a(187) As Byte
Const sync_byte As Byte = &H47
Dim fni, fno

fni = "H:\" + "Test from Nick.ts"
fno = "H:\" + "fixedNick.ts"

Open fni For Binary Access Read As #1
Open fno For Binary Access Write As #2

Get #1, , junk
Get #1, , a
While a(0) = sync_byte
    Put #2, , a
    Get #1, , junk
    Get #1, , a
Wend
Close
End Sub

son_t

06-01-2009

^ What is that code - VB? ^

Originally Posted by jzee:
“MPC-HC? Newer svn builds here.”

Tried this the other night - nope, does not work either. It plays about 3 mins and then froze! I haven't bothered with the svn build as, (a) I can't read Russian, and (b) I couldn't find which link to download from...

grahamlthompson

06-01-2009

Originally Posted by son_t:
“^ What is that code - VB? ^

Tried this the other night - nope, does not work either. It plays about 3 mins and then froze! I haven't bothered with the svn build as, (a) I can't read Russian, and (b) I couldn't find which link to download from...”

It's a vb module. This would work fine in vba (Visual Basic For Applications). In Excel paste the code into a module and simply run it. It could be easily modified to become a general purpose header stripping utility by replacing the specific filename and folder with a file open dialogue box.

jzee

06-01-2009

Was that for an ITV HD recording? It will freeze on those but it works fine with BBC HD or Luxe HD recordings made with DVBViewer. The latest svn for x86 is here, x64 here.

son_t

06-01-2009

No, it was my Lost Land of the Jaguar, non-freesat recording (just to make sure there's no encryption issues) off BBC HD (20mins, 2.44GB)...

Cheers, I will have a go with the svn builds...

You sound as though this has worked for you... if so, what spec is your PC (CPU/GFX)?

jzee

06-01-2009

Originally Posted by son_t:
“No, it was my Lost Land of the Jaguar, non-freesat recording (just to make sure there's no encryption issues) off BBC HD (20mins, 2.44GB)...

Cheers, I will have a go with the svn builds...

You sound as though this has worked for you... if so, what spec is your PC (CPU/GFX)?”

The two latest svns aren't working for me - try 942- x86 here, x64 here. I'm also having problems with AC3 tracks but could just be my setup (64x2 5000+, 780G 3200HD GFX).

son_t

06-01-2009

Originally Posted by jzee:
“The two latest svns aren't working for me - try 942- x86 here, x64 here. I'm also having problems with AC3 tracks but could just be my setup (64x2 5000+, 780G 3200HD GFX).”

Thanks. I've just tried this on my Vista installed iMac (T7700@2.4GHz, ATI Radeon HD 2600XT) and it works... Well the picture playback is just fine, smooth and more than 3 mins! But, like you, I get no sound - and a few frequent pops and cracks...

I downloaded the original (non svn build) and it works in the same way... so it could have been my low spec'ed PCs I tried it on earlier...

I wonder how we can get the maintainer to work on a version that works with HDR BBC HD and ITV HD recordings..?

jzee

06-01-2009

Originally Posted by son_t:
“Thanks. I've just tried this on my Vista installed iMac (T7700@2.4GHz, ATI Radeon HD 2600XT) and it works... Well the picture playback is just fine, smooth and more than 3 mins! But, like you, I get no sound - and a few frequent pops and cracks...

I downloaded the original (non svn build) and it works in the same way... so it could have been my low spec'ed PCs I tried it on earlier...

I wonder how we can get the maintainer to work on a version that works with HDR BBC HD and ITV HD recordings..?”

Something seems to go very wrong with files with AC3- in some cases I have two audio filters in use, either ac3fiiter and mpc ac3 filter or ac3filter and mpeg audio (when there is no mpeg audio track

). The forum for reporting bugs is here.

jzee

06-01-2009

It looks like this is the culprit- the BBC have started broadcasting AC3 audio in a non standard way, possibly to hamper copying? The folks at DVBViewer have kindly created a tool that fixes it though

(need to register in forum to download).

son_t

07-01-2009

Thanks for this. On my other thread, someone suggested I install the K-lite codec pack: http://www.hummy.org.uk/forums/showt...6148#post36148

And it works - I get perfect sound and picture now

Now to see if HD files transferred directly off the internal HDD work...

jzee

07-01-2009

Originally Posted by son_t:
“Thanks for this. On my other thread, someone suggested I install the K-lite codec pack: http://www.hummy.org.uk/forums/showt...6148#post36148

And it works - I get perfect sound and picture now

Now to see if HD files transferred directly off the internal HDD work... ”

So are you saying your BBC HD AC3 recording played OK without the fixing tool? Perhaps it's just an issue with DVBViewer then?

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