84 replies to this topic

[manc01]

Hi there,

Yes I did the searches but I think that it is about time that someone updated us on what is the best way to burn DVD's after uploading .rec files from the Topfield to a PC.

I think that people have probably experimented enough to have come up with a reasonably good method by now....

[THarper]

Here is what I have tried and appeared to work fine for the limited use I gave it (definitely no audio sync issues, no crashes, and didn't require me to buy any additional software to try it out).

** First off, read http://www.doom9.org...V/dvbs-soft.htm and download the software it lists. There are links on that page for all the tools I've listed below. **

1. Convert .REC to .PVA with Project X.
2. Demux the .PVA to separate MPEG Audio/Video files with PVAStrumento.
3. Chop the file up as you want (ie edit out parts you don't want to keep/burn) with MPEG2Schnitt.
4. Use IFOEdit to create a DVD-compatible disc image from the audio and video files.

NB: The separate (1) and (2) above were as the result of various suggestions in this forum; it appears that either tool (ProjectX or PVAStrumento) is capable of directly demuxing a .REC file, but doing the two-step process above was described in other threads as failsafe.

Anyway, after (4), you could I guess either watch the resulting image with a normal PC DVD player package (WinDVD, PowerDVD, etc), or - if you want to watch it more than once - burn it to recordable DVD media for use in a stand-alone player with whatever burning software came with your DVD burner.

NB: Drawbacks in the above 1..4 process - if it matters to you - are that using that simplistic method you will only have an MPEG 2.0 audio stream, not an additional Dolby Digital one you may also want, and also no subtitles available. It was good enough to prove it works though (I was mainly interested a couple of months ago to ship some examples of the "timeshift glitching" to Topfield, so additional niceties didn't matter too much), and I'm sure the process could be refined further.

ted.h.

[ToeCutter]

How do I watch .rec files in Windows?

Real Player tries to open them with no luck.  Windows Media Player can't do it either.

Similarly how do I play MPEG files from my PC on my Toppy?

[tonymy01]

ToeCutter, on Feb 29 2004, 08:57 PM, said:

How do I watch .rec files in Windows?

Real Player tries to open them with no luck.  Windows Media Player can't do it either.

Similarly how do I play MPEG files from my PC on my Toppy?

Did you read Teds post above at all?   You can't directly play them (well you can, but it is choppy as there is headers and stuff that mucks it up).  You need to use PVAStrumento or ProjectX, these will turn it into an MPEG2 file.   You then need a software MPEG2 player, like WinDVD, PowerDVD or even WindowsMedia player if you install MPEG2 codecs.

I haven't suceeded in getting MPEG2 files playing back on the toppy, even when using the ProjectX "add topfield header" or whatever option that is.

Cheers

[ToeCutter]

Yes I did read the post but seeing as how that predominantly related to burning DVDs I thought there may be an easier way for watching MPEGs, especially seeing as MP3s are so easy.

[tonymy01]

ToeCutter, on Feb 29 2004, 09:21 PM, said:

Yes I did read the post but seeing as how that predominantly related to burning DVDs I thought there may be an easier way for watching MPEGs, especially seeing as MP3s are so easy.

Yes, MP3s are easy, and guess what, ProjectX and PVAStrumento is easy too.   You use software to convert CD-DAs to MP3s (and this is a lossy conversion), where as the conversion from a .rec to MPEG2 is lossless and just involves converting the headers etc, and also given it is only a simple conversion process, you can run it in a few minutes on a 1 or 2 hour recording.
That is your solution, I suggest you use the search here for those keywords (ProjectX and PVAStrumento) to find some very good posts on how to deal with them.

Windows *will* play MPG2 but requires codecs.   Just like it plays MP3s, but given the industry standard of MP3, the codecs are included for this these days.
Cheers

[IGadget]

Here is my 2 cents worth....

Yes it is easy....just takes a bit of time.

Tonight I did the following......coverted "3000 Miles to Graceland" to DVD

I used

1) Altair to transfer the 9gig file to my PC (this took a little while)
2) Project X to convert to a .rec file (fairly quick)
3) PVAStrumento to convert .rec to .mpg (fairly quick)
4) TPMGEnc DVD Author to remove all the adds (10-15 minutes work)
5) This left me with a 1 hour 57 DVD Image.....a bit to big for a disk
6) Clone DVD to reduce it down to fit on a single DVD (reduces quality slightly)

Most of thes ethings can be run in the background while doing other things.

All up (after the initial copy) a fairly quick and painless process.


Box = 2.5ghz AMD 1gig of ram

Hope that helps...dont be afraid to try it...

[Koops]

IGadget, on Feb 29 2004, 09:58 PM, said:

2) Project X to convert to a .rec file (fairly quick)

Just curious as to why you do that step?
Is this just a quick run thru to fix headers or something?

[Wolf]

What he ment was 'PVA'!

[Pepper]

I can't recall, last year - someone had a Ulead driver for the TF5000PVR sat' model posted on a forum.

As I already have ULead Video studio software, I searched the Ulead website for .rec converters. No success in finding the convertor.

Ulead supports many video sources, why not Topfield?.

Pep

[IGadget]

Thanks for picking up my error in typing Wolf...your correct..it was rec to pva,

As for ULead Video Studio I have that as well as InterVideo WinDVD Creator, Nero and TMPEng ( a quest for the correct tool)


I have found the dvi capture is very good in Ulead and it has some great effects etc but the final output is no where near up to the quality of WinDVD, Nero or TMPEng.

In fact I would rate TMPEng as giving the best image quality of what I have played with.

I tested the same source in each and generated a DVD with No transitions or overlays to get base video quality. TMPEng won in my opinion.

[backbeat]

Hi Folks

Long time lurker - first time poster here.

Just wondering why you bother to convert to PVA when if you choose 'demux' option in Project X, you can convert directly from .rec to .mpa and .mpv (and AC3 if its there) files. This seems to work pretty well.

I usually aim for a DVD image of around 7 gb then use DVD Shrink to recompress down to 4.7 gb. Quality is not 100% but pretty good if your not fussy.

What I would love to know if is there is any way to cut down the size of .rec files. Does a higher bitrate producer any real benefit?

Cheers

[Wolf]

REC-files are data streams, ie, TS (transport streams). They are based on MPEG, but not as flexible and are rather set in their way due to the maxing, several sound systems only to mention one and are smaller as well then MPEG. In order to shrink a REC-file, it has to be de-maxed, compressed and re-maxed again.  Clever stuff, worth reading about.

[IGadget]

Realy good question backbeat....

Because it seemed to be the way others were doing it....:-)  and it works..

Does anyone have a good site with English  Project X doc/instructions....

so many options available but what do they all do....

Reg

[IGadget]

Backbeat...tried your option and that works fine as well.

Exposed the AC3 stream as you suggested as well.

Just need to upgrade TMPGenc DVD to add ac3 module to make use of it.

One less step is always good

Anyone else have comments as to why this is not a good option...?

[lhmperth]

I have been trying my hand at burning DVDs from Topfield files.  The various guides have been of some use.  However, when you don't even know what "rip" means, they are pretty hard to follow.

They way I have produced DVDs is as follows:

1.  Copy file from Topfield box to PC using Altair.
2.  Run PVAStrumento, selected the copied file and then press "make ps".
3.  PVAstrumento produces a single mpeg file.
4.  I then run DVD burning software called "neo DVD" that came with my LG DVD burner, select the single file produced by PVAStrumento and it turns it into a DVD which seems to play fine.

This methods seems simpler than the other methods discussed.  Am I missing something or producing something inferior?

[scritch]

IGadget, on Mar 1 2004, 08:06 PM, said:

Just need to upgrade TMPGenc DVD to add ac3 module to make use of it.

You shouldn't need to get the AC3 option for TMPGEnc DVD Author - the AC3 plugin is just needed to turn MPEG audio into AC3 audio when you create the DVD (to shrink the audio size). The tradeoff is that it only does 2 channel AC3.

If the AC3 stream from the Toppy has a .AC3 file extension after you have extracted it, you should be able to add the MPG video file to DVD author, then manually change the audio to point to the .AC3 file. The benefit of this is that you are not re-encoding the AC3 audio - you get exactly what is transmitted from the station - giving you the capability to get 5.1 channel AC3 if/when they transmit it.

If it complains with an error message when you add the .AC3 file, do a search in google for "BeSliced" which you can then drag and drop the AC3 file to to "fix" the file - works 99% of the time.

Regards,
Shane.

[stevep]

Quote

Similarly how do I play MPEG files from my PC on my Toppy?

I was also wondering if this is possible.

I recorded three programs in a row on ABC yesterday, they all ran over time. The ends of the previous programs are now at the start of the next program on the toppy.

I was hoping to move them to PC, join the programs back up and then save them back to the toppy for viewing. They are not important enough for me to go and buy a dvd burner (even though they are so cheap now) .

Can files be edited on the PC and then saved back for viewing on the topfield?

Thanks
Steve.

[cazlar]

stevep, on May 25 2004, 04:26 PM, said:

Can files be edited on the PC and then saved back for viewing on the topfield?

Not as far as I know. ProjectX has an option to add headers specific to the TF4000 model to an MPEG, which I presume then makes it usable in that model. I have heard this doesn't work on the 5000PVRt, but gives hope that someone may enable this in the future.

[stevep]

Ive been doing a bit more digging.

Looks like we need someone who can program the updated PVR5000 headers into the TS.java file for ProjectX (Replace the other topfield header declaration??)

Steve

[chrisb03]

As per Stevep's question, has anyone worked out how to put edited video back onto toppy?

[tonygib]

chrisb03, on Jul 15 2004, 11:03 AM, said:

As per Stevep's question, has anyone worked out how to put edited video back onto toppy?

Well, almost. I found this recently: http://imagox.homeip.net/imagoX/

and thought that the convert app was exactly what was needed.
I had a number of emails with the author, even got an updated version and a dreambox test file.

Now, while it does work, it only works for the sat version. It seams that our toppy has a different header on the files and as such will not play the files that the converter app outputs.

I am hoping that he will add more "formats" to his app to support our toppy, but nothing so far.

So I guess maybe have a look, send a friendly email and maybe even a small donation

[chrisb03]

Can Someone provide a link or email me a sample video in it's raw form (.rec). I want to try converting and burning to see results. Haven't decided to buy the toppy yet.

Preferably one of each, a SD widescreen program and also a HD widescreen program. Obviously not the whole program    15to30sec worth.

[fossil]

Chris..I have removed my post..I need to check my calculations..
foss

[fossil]

yeah Chris...I was not far off with one meg per second...dividing a few files out it comes to about 11.5 meg for a 15 sec file of ch 10, and about 19 meg for a 15 second file of ch 7 (Sunshine Coast broadcasts)..Yes broadband could handle that......HD is about 2 times those sizes I would think...Tony would know exact file sizes of HD because he has viewed them on his computer....He may see this, but I would say he is at work at the moment.
foss