ComCut - Automatically clean recordings of commercials

[erik]

I was referring the the timestamp issue known to exist with PVR-150 drivers. I could be completely wrong, but I am guessing that mpgtx doesn't work well with MPEG-2 files that have incorrect timelines, as mentioned in the forum thread and that wiki article.

I have had quite a few recordings that mpgtx has refused to cut, claiming that the time periods to be removed were invalid.

You are completely right.
Sometimes mpgtx does not care about a timestamp problem, sometimes it refuses. It depends on the kind of discontinuety and the location in the recording. Can not be predicted.

[crossnet]

NiteShdw,

Thanks for the quick reply. I couldn’t locate an "error.log" file, so I decided to conduct a more extensive test. I set up a batch of 7 mpg files and watched the entire process. I discovered that comcut was skipping every other file after the first.

It correctly processed the 1st, 3rd, 5th and 7th file, but not the others. I repeated this run and had the same results. I then ran comcut on the 3 unprocessed files and this time the the 1st and 3rd files were processed, but 2nd file was skipped. Finally, I ran the last file alone and it was processed correctly.

Since all the files could be processed correctly, I don't think the problem is related to a corrupt mpg.

I hope this helps. Please let me know if there is anything else I can do or test.

crossnet

gb-pvr 99.5
PVR-150
PVR-150MCE
P4 2500
1 GB memory

[NiteShdw]

You are completely right.
Sometimes mpgtx does not care about a timestamp problem, sometimes it refuses. It depends on the kind of discontinuety and the location in the recording. Can not be predicted.

In that case, can you suggest a more reliable cutting tool? I've worked a little on automating Cuttermaran, but I like the idea of command line utilities better because I can have a bit more control over them within my GUI.

I noticed one of the comclean batch files on the comskip site uses mencoder. Does that provide more consistant and predictable results, or does it actually re-encode the entire stream?

Other than that, the only thing that I can think of is to use BBDMUX to demux the MPG file first, then cut and join them with MPGTX, assuming that MPGTX can cut/join separate audio and video streams.

If I was really smart, I'd figure out how to write the code to do it all myself, but alas, I am not. I'd be really excited if someone had some .NET code to split/join MPEG-2 files!

[erik]

I noticed one of the comclean batch files on the comskip site uses mencoder. Does that provide more consistant and predictable results, or does it actually re-encode the entire stream?

Mencoder does not reencode the entire stream. It is not as fast as mpgtx but as fast as any of the other GUI cutting tools and it does not first demux, then cut, and then mux again leading to huge defragmentation and slow processing.

[NiteShdw]

I've updated the beta version to support mencoder. Visit the ComCut website and download the beta package. It does not include mencoder in the package.

[jksmurf]

I've updated the beta version to support mencoder. Visit the ComCut website and download the beta package. It does not include mencoder in the package.

OK .... I give up ..... where is it exactly :eek: :confused:
k.

[Arganbright]

NiteShdw, I'd really like to see transcoding as an option after the commercial processing is complete, then update the d/b to point to the transcoded file.

[NiteShdw]

I'll start working on it. I've already added mencoder as an option for cutting MPEG-2 files, which works much better than the previous method. What kind of transcoding options would you like to see?

[Arganbright]

I'll have to give mencoder a try!
Personally, I would probably use Divx or Xvid mostly, but I bet other folks would like some other options. Probably an iPod option for those with video iPod. Maybe a WMV option for folks with mobile Windows devices.

[NiteShdw]

ComCut 1.2 build 85 released

This is a minor update.
* Added code to check for locked files and retry file operation
* Removed debug output (output.txt) that was enabled in the last build

The last version added support for mencoder. Put it in the same folder as mpgtx.exe. You can get Windows binaries here: http://oss.netfarm.it/mplayer-win32.php.