Digital TV to DVD conversion guide

Last Edit: 23/02/05 - Added 16:9 to 4:3 format correction guide. Thanks dcallan.


Links

http://www.doom9.net/ contains a wealth of information, free utilities, codecs, and guides related to Video and Audio processing. Not all software packages are mentioned here or on Doom9, there are quite a few professional (and more expensive) packages that provide professional features.

Digital TV related utilities: http://www.doom9.org/software2.htm#DigitTV





Frequently Asked Questions

Q) What video format do Digital TV cards record in?
A) MPEG2 (Basically the same as a DVD movie, but in "TS" format - see next question).

Q) Why does my Software DVD Player stutter or give an error when playing back my recordings?
A) The MPG files saved from a Digital TV card differs slightly from a DVD Movie. The video format is the same (both are MPEG2), but contain different packet sizes optimized for transporting the MPEG2 data over the air waves. Software DVD players were designed to playback DVD Movies and therefore get confused with the different packet size when a Transport stream is played. The latest versions of WinDVD and PowerDVD now support MPEG TS files
* MPEG2 Program Stream (This format is used for DVD Movies)
* MPEG2 Transport Stream (This format is used for DigitalTV broadcasting)

Q) Can I burn my recordings to a DVD Disc to save Hard Disk space?
A) Yes, you can simply burn your recordings straight to a CD or DVD disc and playback the MPG file(s) using PowerDVD/WinDVD etc.., but if you wish to play them back like a Commercial DVD Movie in a proper DVD Player, you need special software to process your recordings into DVD format (see the guide below).

Q) My MPEG2 Editor gives an error when opening a recording?
A) You first need to convert your recording into an MPEG2 Program Stream (DVD compatible) file, or Demultiplex your recording into two elementary audio + video files if your MPEG2 Editor supports them.

Q) What is Demultiplexing/Remultiplexing?
A) Digital TV recordings and DVD Movies have a video stream and audio stream that is woven together into one MPEG2 file. Demultiplexing is the process of splitting an MPEG2 file into seperate audio and video files/streams. Remultiplexing is the process of combining seperate Video and Audio streams together into one file.
* Video stream (.mpv or .m2v extension)
* Audio stream (.mpa or .m2a extension)
* MPEG2 file (.mpg or .vob extension - combines the above streams into one file)

Q) Can I burn HD (High Definition) to a DVD?
A) Yes, some hardware DVD Players can play HDTV, but as for software MPEG2 editors and DVD compilers, its a matter of researching the softwares' capabilities or by experimentation.




Guide to convert a TV Recording to a DVD Disc


Generally speaking, the process of burning a DigitalTV recording to DVD is as follows:

* Demultiplex (split) the MPEG TS recording into seperate Audio + Video streams.
* Editing out unwanted parts of the program such as ads or trailing programs.
* Compiling the Audio + Video streams into DVD format so standard DVD Players can understand how to play it.
* Burning the DVD files to a recordable DVD Disc.




STEP 1 - Demultiplexing (Split your recording into seperate audio + video files)

Download a Demultiplexer:

PVAStrumento (freeware) ( http://www.offeryn.de/dv.htm ) *** Recommended ***
* Clean interface and easy to use.
* Accepts HDTV.

ProjectX (free/open source) ( http://www.lucike.info/page_projectx.htm )
* Interface can be confusing, but can sometimes be more reliable with corrupted recordings.
* You will need to have SUN JAVA runtime installed, unless you download the precompiled EXE version.
* Can merge seperate recordings (under the Tab: Special->'concatenate different recordings')
* Guide: View this thread for ProjectX usage.
* Can have trouble with HDTV (Java crash error)



If your recording has corrupted frames due to bad reception or static interference (for instance when someone flicks a light switch nearby), then the resulting audio and video streams may become out of sync.
These utilities can detect bad frames or GOPS, and drop them. If the audio frames are missing or corrupted, they will insert null samples (muted audio) to keep up with the video stream timing.


If your Audio + Video streams become out of sync during editing (in Step 2 below), then try:

PVAStrumento: Experimenting with the GOP options in Defaults->Expert
ProjectX: Enabling the "add frames" option under the "Audio" Tab.


Note; ProjectX generally does a better job at correcting stream errors than PVAStrumento, so use ProjectX if the recording has lots of errors.

Note; You can skip this step if you use MPEG2 Editing software that can demux for you such as VideoReDo.





STEP 2 - Edit unwanted parts out of your recording.

Download an Editor:

MPEGSchnitt (free) ( http://www.mdienert.de/mpeg2schnitt/ )
* Excellent MPEG2 editor with a preview window and easy to use interface.
* Only accepts demuxed streams (two seperate Audio + Video files), and cannot remux.
* German and English versions are available.
* You cannot cut at every single frame position, but good enough in most cases.
* Worked with a ch9 HDTV recording tested (v0.6g)

Cuttermaran (free/open source) ( http://cuttermaran.movie2digital.de/ ) *** Recommended ***
* Excellent MPEG2 editor with a preview window and easy to use interface.
* Capable of cutting at any frame by re-encoding if you have TMPGEnc 2.5 encoder utility.
* Can remultiplex using mplex.exe (bundled with Cutterman)
* Failed to work properly with two HDTV ch9 recordings tested. (v1.60)

VideoReDo (~$50) ( http://www.videoredo.com ) *** Recommended ***
* Accepts DVB recordings, no need to demux (not sure how good corruption handling is though)
* User friendly interface, shows preview window and cut list.
* Accepts SDTV and HDTV.
* Can output to a PS MPEG2 file or seperate Audio + Video streams.
* Can configure the mouse wheel to skip individual frames.
* Very Fast!



These MPEG2 Editors let you visually navigate through your recording and let you cut out unwanted parts of the recording.
I wont go into B, P, and I Frames, and GOPS, but basically MPEG2 has limits to where you can cut the frames, for instance you can only cut every fourth frame. Cutting at 'any' frame you want requires re-encoding the missing frames between GOPS.


MPEGSchnitt usage:

MPEGSchnitt works by "IN" and "OUT" Marks that specify your programs' segments.
1) Navigate to the start of the segment, click "<IN" or "IN>" and click "In"
2) Navigate to the end of the segment, click "<OUT" or "OUT>" and click "Out"
3) Click "New" to add the mark range to the cut list.
4) Repeat 1-3 for the other segments...
5) Click "Cut" to save your edited streams (You cannot save to a single MPEG file just yet).


Cuttermaran usage:

Cutterman works by "IN" and "OUT" Ranges that specify your programs' segments.
1) Navigate to the start of the segment, click "I<" or "I>" and click "Set cut in"
2) Navigate to the end of the segment, click "P<" or "P>" and click "Set cut out"
3) Click "Add range to cut list" to add the range to the cut list.
4) Repeat 1-3 for the other segments...
5) Click "Cut video/audio" to save your edited streams (You can save to a single MPEG file if you have mplex1.exe).






STEP 3 - Remultiplexing your edited Audio and Video streams back into a single MPEG2 file or into DVD compatible files

Part A If you just want your "cleaned up" MPEG2 recordings stored on your Hard Disk and use WinDVD/PowerDVD to play it back:

Download Mplex1.exe to Remultiplex your edited Audio+Video streams into a single MPG file:

Mplex1.exe ( http://members.aon.at/johann.langhofer/mplex1.htm )
* This is a single EXE file that runs in a Command Prompt (DOS prompt)
* Usage: "mplex1.exe yourvideo.mpv youraudio.mpa [yourmpeg.mpg]"
* Simple to use and reliable. If the Audio is out of Sync, then your Demuxer didnt handle frame corruption well.



Part B Prepare your recording for DVD playback on a DVD disc:

There are many DVD compilers available, but most of the good ones are shareware or commercial software.
DVD Compilers let you create a DVD menu, different chapters, and other DVD features you see on normal DVD Movies.
Some compilers may do the demuxing/remuxing for you.


Here are some not too expensive (or free) packages that are useful:

DVD Lab (Shareware) ( http://www.mediachance.com/dvdlab/ ) *** Recommended ***
* Brilliant visual interface packed with features such as motion menu's and chapter flow charts.
* Can accept a wide range of media files, including pictures for the menu's and buttons.
* Can accept MPEG2 files already remuxed, and demuxes them automatically when compiling the VOB's.

TMPGEnc DVD Author (Shareware) ( http://www.pegasys-inc.com/en/product/tda.html )
* Has a library for creation of main and sub menus.
* Creates chapters for separate episodes or specific points.
* Automatically create chapters at preset intervals (i.e. 15 minutes) to make navigation through movies easier.
* Creates iso images.

IFOEdit (Free) http://mpucoder.kewlhair.com/derrow/
* No Frills, its cheap and dirty but works well, has various useful tools built in.
* No menu creation, it basically creates the VOBS and IFO files so your recording will play straight away.
* Pan and scan instructions: View this thread


Search www.google.com or www.download.com for other software, or reply if you would like to add something.





STEP 4 - Burning your DVD files to DVD-R or DVD+R

After you have used a DVD Compiler to complile your recording into a DVD friendly structure - which typically contains IFO, BUP, and VOB files, you can burn them straight to a blank DVD.

* Important *
All the IFO, BUP, and VOB files must be placed in a folder called "VIDEO_TS" on the DVD, otherwise it wont play. Also create an empty folder called "AUDIO_TS", for instance:

D:\VIDEO_TS\ (contains your IFO, BUP, and VOB files)
D:\AUDIO_TS\ (empty)


Nero 6 (Bundled or shareware) ( http://www.nero.com ) *** Recommended ***
* Excellent CD and DVD writer package with great compatibility with a wide range of DVD writers.
* Has a DVD-Video wizard that checks if your DVD files are in order.

Roxio DVD Creator (Bundled or shareware) ( http://www.roxio.com )
* Also a good package with excellent compatibility.


Note that many DVD compilers have DVD burning functionality built in.






Correcting a 4:3 recording that was broadcasted in 16:9

Some 4:3 format programs are broadcasted as 16:9, but are padded with black borders on the sides when played in a DVD player. To correct this:


NB: You will need to Author your recording to DVD Format (VOB files) first.

1) Download IFOEdit from http://www.ifoedit.com/ (Free).

2) In IFOedit, open your VTS_01_0.IFO file.

3) Double-click on the video stream listed in the lower window.

4) In the Settings Dialog that opens (over on the right):

5) Untick the "Automatic Letterbox" option.

6) Tick the "Automatic Pan & Scan" option.

7) Save the altered IFO file and repeat for VTS_02_0.IFO, VTS_03_0.IFO, etc

8) Burn your DVD files to a blank DVD Disc (make sure you place them in \VIDEO_TS\ on the DVD).






Converting HD to SD

If you have recorded a show in HDTV and need to convert it to SD so your software and/or DVD player can accept the file, try the following:


1) Demux the HD recording using PVAStrumento so you have an .MPV and an .AC3 file.


2) Convert the .AC3 file into an .MP2 using BeSweet from http://www.doom9.org/ac3tomp2.htm
You need to download the BeSweet command line utility and the BeSweet GUI, unzip them both, but make sure you put the BeSweet command line files within a folder called "BeSweet" in the GUI folder.

i.e. C:\BeSweet\ (contains the GUI files)
C:\BeSweet\BeSweet\ (contains the command line files)


3) Convert the .MPV and .MP2 file to MPEG2 PAL SD resolution (720x576) using TMPGEnc Plus 2.5 (14day trialware). Note that the free version of TMPGEnc doesn't encode MPEG2.


NB; If you know of a better/easier way to convert HD to SD, please PM me or post a reply.

nice

nice but how would I go about puting down the bit rate on a HD video so i can put it on a dvd?

i think you have to re-encode the video...

Hi ..I am also in a quandry regarding HDTV conversion...I have the Fusion card and recorded HDTV in a number of TP files which I converted (demuxed) using projectx but when I attempted to compile the reulsting mpv and ac3 files using temgenc dvd author I have been stopped as the format (1440 x 1088 ) is not compatible..what to do ? Can this be remedied..I have important material I would like to burn (eventually) to DVD..

Any assistance is much appreciated

Regards

Geejazzer, Sydney

Hi Geejazzer, you will need to convert your HDTV recording to SDTV resolution so DVD Author can accept it.

I'm sure VirtualDub (with the MPEG2 plugin) could do this:

http://sourceforge.net/projects/virtualdubmod/

Download: VirtualDubMod 1.5.10.1


Ill try it myself and update the guide when I get a chance.

Hi Geejazzer,

Why don't you give a try to the FusionConvertor that is included with your card?

Cheers

Renura

HDTV vs. DVD

Regarding the HDTV to DVD recording. I have the AVerMedia DVB-T Card, which still doesn't fully support HDTV, but with some luck I was able to record Nine HDTV - just those nature images you see when they're not broadcasting any 'tv' in HDTV - and put it onto DVD. Becuase it was just a test, I didn't edit it at all, just stuck it into Ulead DVD MovieFactory and burnt it as is. I then played it back on my Panasonic DVD player and it worked fine.

Cheers

Infinite

Im giving ther Fusion converter a go, but it seem like it will take forever to convert a 120min HD movie.

Presently it says that it should take 185mins and the the speed is only 0.63x. And at 2% im worried that i'll wait the 3 hours for this down convert and it will fail like my last attempt.

Just have a look at my config in the signature, as I wouldnt have imagined that this process is so painstakingly long...

Thanks for your suggestions..

Renura ..tried Fusions converter..although one of the 5 tp files converted others just locked up the machine (3G Intel CPU, 1 gig RAM) and I can only agree with GLO..the converter seems to also take an inordinate amount of time?
Anarchi..tried to use Virtual Dub ..but doesn't accept the tp files?
So ..I'll keep persevering.

Thanks again,

Geejazzer

I DID IT!!!

I cannot get the smile off my face. I converted my .tp file of "colosseum", which contained all 3 video and audio streams to DVD. This is how i did it:

Nine has defaulted the first stream to be LCN9 (normal digital)

fired up project x
demuxed it to PVA
fired up PVA
demuxed to native .mpg
tested in winamp - all hunky dory

for the second stream, it was difficult, but after some fiddligng, i found out how to do it:

fired up TSreader
found the PID's for audio and video
fired up project x
selected the .tp file and manually inputed the PID's (do this by double clicking the file name, a box will appear, and simply type the PID's in the box to the right)
fired up PVA
demuxed to native .mpg
tested in winamp - all hunky dory

fired up nero vision express - from there i cut out adds, made chapters, made menu's, and have to shrink the bitrates for both to just 4.5Mb!

Tested on my DVD player, AND IT WORKS PERFECTLY!!!!

WOOHOOO i did it. Hopefully nine will now show pyramids sometime soon (which is the final doco installment i think)

datvman

Congratulations on your success.

But what exactly was your success

If all you wanted to do was create a recording at DVD resolution why not just record the SD stream and use that for playback

Are you able to play back 1080i in native resolution with all the steps you have taken ?

after leaving it for ages, i returned to find some errors on screen, but more notably that it only converted 30 minutes of a 120 min recording.

Im having no such luck using the converter...

For a simpler way to do the whole SDTV to DVD process, try VideoReDo. It will fix up any dropped or added frames (light switch problem), and give you an output in MPEG ready for your ULead/Nero/etc DVD burning software!
Simple! No hassles with multiple conversion, in and out of different apps, separate streams... And takes less time!
http://www.drdsystems.com/VideoReDo/index.htm

hi Strobe, thanks for the info, ill give VideoReDo a try.

[edit] Added VideoReDo to the guide.

Hi Strobe,

I have d/l this program, and found the part where i can set the frame rate to 25fps but i cant see where or how i actually do the conversion,

any tips pls.

My suggestion for the guide would be linking to this under Project X and this under IfoEdit.

It's good that the type of licence is mentioned for each program, but if I can make one nitpick, the use of "free" doesn't distinguish between free as in price and free as in freedom. So I'd like to suggest changing this to "free / open source" for programs like Project X and Cuttermaran and perhaps "freeware" for more restricted software

I had a bit of a play around with VideoReDo last night and whilst I can't comment on it's ability to pad dropped frames yet (ala projectX) I think it's navigational tools are brilliant. Quickly and accurately finding your cut point is a cinch with the second slider to get within a couple of frames and the L/R arrows to get the exact frame.

Done, thanks for the suggestion.

VideoReDo and Cuttermaran have also been added.

I have been reading this forum with the hope of finding a answer to my question re sound missing from recording during play back in third party software, but nothing specific found.

Q. I cannot for the life of me get audio in playback (third party) in a recording off any of the HD channels with Dolby Digital sound, with .mpg recording. I want to put the recorded file into Pinnical for conversion to DVD format. This process works fine with a SD recording.

Divco HDTV DVB-T with the latest drivers.

Any suggestions, Cheers Gav.

Hi Gavin, I had a few problems with the audio stream in my Channel 9 HD recordings and it turned out that the audio stream was indeed in the MPG file, but my demuxer (ProjectX) didnt output it, where-else PVAStrumento found the AC3 stream and outputted it fine (as a .ac3 file). So in saying this, I think the software you are using may have a problem with AC3 streams.


Try this:

Demux your MPG to seperate Audio+video streams using PVAStrumento (you may want to check the audio settings in the 'defaults' dialog).
Remux the streams into a DVD MPG format using mplex1.exe

Thank you Anarchi, I will give it a go or I will have to just record the SD channel if I want to save it later to DVD.

Cheers Gav.

Try installing some DVD player software. WINDVD would do. You may not have the codecs for HD audio playback. Goodluck.

Regarding converting HD to SD, it can be done the following way:


1) Demux the HD recording using PVAStrumento so you have an .MPV and an .AC3 file.

2) Convert the .AC3 file into an .MP2 using BeSweet from http://www.doom9.org/ac3tomp2.htm
You need to download the BeSweet command line utility and the BeSweet GUI, unzip them both, but make sure you put the BeSweet command line files within a folder called "BeSweet" in the GUI folder.

i.e. C:\BeSweet\ (contains the GUI files)
C:\BeSweet\BeSweet\ (contains the command line files)


3) Convert the .MPV and .MP2 file to PAL MPEG2 SD resolution using TMPGEnc Plus 2.5 trial. If TMPGEnc Plus would accept AC3 files then it would be much easier since you wouldnt need to demux or convert, but even so, some DVD players have trouble playing AC3 streams from DVB recordings, yet play AC3 streams from a DVD movie fine.

Anarchi,

Cuttermaran now has the ability to remux automatically after cutting the video (the download now comes with mplex1 included).

So now all I have to do to make a DVD of an SDTV recording is:
1. Convert & demux with ProjectX
2. Cut out ads and remux with Cuttermaran
3. Put the resulting MPEG into Ulead DVD Movie Factory that came with my DVD burner
4. Add chapters/menu if desired, or just auto-add chapters every 10 mins
5. Burn to DVD.

Managed to do all this to yesterday's Grand Final in a couple of hours.

Cut out steps 1 and 2 with VideoReDo. Then you just shove the mpeg into Ulead etc... What Card do you have Dodo?? I too tried to record the Grand Final, but 15 mins into the first quarter my Aver A771 crashed my comp - totally and absolutley frozen.

Why fork out for VideoRedo? If your primary task is DVB > DVD and you're going to spend some money, you may as well just buy TMPGEnc DVD Author. Granted, its editor isn't up to Cuttermaran/Mpeg2Schnitt/VideoRedo standard, but this is more than made up for (IMHO) by the time saved in not having to output the edited file before putting it into the DVD authoring program, and in not having to insert chapters manually.

Basically, TDVDA can cover steps 2-5. Hopefully step 1 will be eliminated if/when Nebula's DVD recording format becomes reliable.

I have a Nebula card. I did try using the record to DVD format option in the DigiTV software, but it didn't work properly when I recorded the qualifying final (the final DVD I created had audio/video out of sync), so I used ProjectX instead on my Semifinal test, which worked fine, so I didn't want to mess around with something that worked! So for now I'll be recording the Transport Stream and fixing/demuxing with ProjectX until the next version of DigiTV comes along.

Dodo

I recommend you use DigiTv 3.12b3 and record without using the direct to DVD option.

Then use the DVDConverter in DigiTv's tools section. You should find this works extremely well. The resulting file can be used directly to Author a DVD and there should be no lip sync issues arising. You won't need to bother with Project.X

Anyone tried mencoder (part of mplayer package) for converting to divx without demuxing?

I've found a much easier way to do this whole thing.

When I got my DVD burner, it came with Nero 6. All you need to do is to take the .mpg file into Nero and edit it to remove the ads. A menu is automatically included and you can then add chapters either automatically or manually and these will appear on the menu. Then just burn it to a DVD.

I've only done it with a 1 hour program (The Great Outdoors) so far. The next step is to try a full movie.

It's so easy. No demuxing or muxing. No problem at all

Thanks physwizz I wasn't aware Nero 6 could do all that. I'll check it out.

Unless the lastest patches for v6 make it DVB-aware, I'm not so sure it can
Please let us know how it goes with a (DVB format) Nebula recording. I suspect that this is just another Fusion-recording fluke like PaulP33 had. I have heard the same from some Vplus owners as well (that they can take their PVA files straight into DVD authoring apps) and I suggest that their DTV software is doing some minor re-packetising as it records the stream to a file (probably nothing more than a "cleanup" buffer to re-order the packets). DigiTV on the other hand seems to just write the broadcast stream straight to disk (and consequently those MPG files are rarely usable without some demux/cleanup/conversion first). </broken record>

No offence intended PhysWizz, the Nero6 suggestion is great for a quick solution, but can we please qualify whether something works for ALL major cards before we put it into this sticky guide?
Also, can we clarify if this is done through Nero6 DVD-Video Plugin (Nero Ultra version only) or with the NeroVision Express tool (or other)? Thanks

Sorry just being pedantic again

I only have the Nebula, so the guide is based on my experience with Nebula recordings.
If others with other cards are willing to test the utilities in the guide and post your outcome, I will update the guide accordingly.

[quote=dcallan,Oct 14 2004, 01:06 PM]
[quote=

No offence intended PhysWizz, the Nero6 suggestion is great for a quick solution, but can we please qualify whether something works for ALL major cards before we put it into this sticky guide?
Also, can we clarify if this is done through Nero6 DVD-Video Plugin (Nero Ultra version only) or with the NeroVision Express tool (or other)? Thanks

Sorry just being pedantic again

[/quote]

I wasn't aware that different cards recorded different .mpg files! I know it doesn't work with the .ts file.

Another program which will allow you to very easily edit the .mpg file from the dvico fusion HDTV card is Ulead Movie Factory 3, but I found Nero version 6 much easier to use.

Will Nero also readily convert the HD Digital recordings? As this is where i am having the major hurdle!

Thanks

fired up project x
demuxed it to PVA
fired up PVA
demuxed to native .mpg

Could Someone explain these steps EXACTLY? I've used project X, but it converts to mpg.

I'll give it a try and I'll let you know how it goes.

yes it does accept HD and downconverts them. Also, i cant get the cut tool to work properly in nero, PLEASE HELP. i need to cut the adds out

Hit the cut button and then slide in the markers on both ends of the slider to cut out the ad. There's also little up down arrows that give you a fine adjustment to within one frame. Then hit cut again.

Repeat this for all the ads. I too had trouble to start but Once I got used to it there was no trouble at all.

Right now Nero is telling me it's going to take 3.75 hours to transcode and burn 1h and 5 min of the HD Demo loop.

I wonder if it will keep the 5.1 sound?

It looks loke nerovision won't accept ac3 sound at all.

I commonly use Avisynth (a free scripted frameserver) in conjuction with Virtualdub (a free video editor). I use this method to convert my HD captures into a suitable Divx format (1280x720p), and set the bitrate to 3.3Mbps, resulting in awesome quality. I also use this method to convert HD content to DVD; all I do is change the resize value in my script. Easy!

If you want I can make up a guide on how to use the free and powerful tools.

Tim

Please do!

Has anyone been able to sucessfully burn a dvd with the ads removed and the ac3 5.1 sound track intact? Following the thread so far I have only been able to get usable dvd's with mpeg2 sound.

whoops, how do i delete this post?

The problem with working with the .mpg files created by the fusion HDTV card is the audio and video getting out of sync. You can also NOT rely on the FusionConverter program to fix this issue (even though i have contacted DVICO and requested that they put this functionality into their software which in my opinion is a bug).

The only way i have found to fix the audio/video sync issue is to capture the transport stream and use ProjectX to convert to seperate streams. This also seems like a good point at which to mention that the videoRedo program that someone suggested "can avoid some of the steps" cannot work with the transport stream (.tp) captured by the fusion card.

All of this i have discovered in my research over the last 2 weeks with the intention of transferring digital TV to DVD.

After using ProjectX to fix the audio/sync issue, i use mpeg2shnitt to remove the ads, then i use Sony DVD Architect to create the DVD. This software i found to be the essential component which finally solved most of my woes. Namely, it can:

- import the seperate streams (no need to remux then import),
- work with and even encode to ac3,
- import HD resolutions and re-encode them to DVD resolutions (i found that MPEG Video Wizard does a lousy job of the re-encode process and i would recommend against its use for such),
- report when re-encoding is not necessary (if the stream is SD),
- allow you to re-encode to fit onto one DVD (although i just let it create an oversized DVD then use DVD2One to shrink it down. this way it doesnt have to re-encode but just transcode (unfortunately this is 1 thing that Architect doesnt seem to be able to do))

The only other thing i found i required for perfect HD and SD conversions to DVD is the IFOEDIT pan & scan fix for 4:3 in 16:9 transmissions as mentioned somewhere else in this forum.

May all benefit from this information as i have benefited from various forums over the years.

I have recently had some success with HD streams as follows:

1. Record HD stream (say test.tp)

2. Demux using Project X (or change the name to test.ts before demuxing with PVA Strumento)
This gives two files test.mpv and test.ac3

3. Convert test.ac3 to test.mp2 using "BeSweet"

4. Remux test.mpv and test.mp2 into a single file test.mpg using the command line program "mplex1.exe" using the following command:
mplex1.exe test.mpv test.mp2 test.mpg

5. Then just put test.mpg into Nerovision2 to edit and burn

anybody else lose the bottom of the cuttermaran window. I presume thats why I cant find anywhere to delete selection.

okidokie heres how i do it, and i would like comments as i am getting problems

1. fire up project X and demux .tp file
2. open mpeg2shnitt and cut the adds and save into another .m2v and .mp2 file
3. open nerovision 2 and goto make new movie and add movie and sound stream
4. burn DVD

now the problem i am having is that nero will want to convert the interlaced image to progressive by weaving, meaning i get 25fps as apposed to interlanced/50fields per second. It looks like all saints and heelers, looks crap. i want my 50 fields, how do i fix it??

thanks

datvman

Dont use Nerovision, remux the result files from the mpeg cutter, then burn the file onto a DVD. Your DVD player should recoginize the file and play it fine.