MVP Transcode (continued)

[rscheller]

This post thread is a continuation of the MVP Forum thread ending here and continuing here at the ZProcess forum.

[rscheller]

zhed,

To continue with the can-of-worms...

I've limited my recent testing to a single original avi clip that is 20 seconds in duration. ZProcess will transcode it to a viewable mpeg file in (according to ZProcess) 1 second. However when attempting to transcode it on-the-fly from the MVP, as noted, GB-PVR crashes causing my MVP to reload.

I do have a 5500 milli-second replay delay for ffmpeg to transcode before GB-PVR looks for the output mpg file, so that should provide far more than adequate time for the file to be generated before the GB-PVR attempts to access it.

I never see the temporary files 'MVP000DFE077E851.mpg' show up in the directory path that GB-PVR looks into for the transcoded file which tells me ZProcess is currently not transcoding on the fly and when GB-PVR looks for the file 5.5 seconds after starting transcode, the file is simply not there.

I've attached the section from gbpvr.exe-3.log file that shows what's happening for your scrutiny.

[zehd]

zhed,

To continue with the can-of-worms...

I've limited my recent testing to a single original avi clip that is 20 seconds in duration. ZProcess will transcode it to a viewable mpeg file in (according to ZProcess) 1 second. However when attempting to transcode it on-the-fly from the MVP, as noted, GB-PVR crashes causing my MVP to reload.

I do have a 5500 milli-second replay delay for ffmpeg to transcode before GB-PVR looks for the output mpg file, so that should provide far more than adequate time for the file to be generated before the GB-PVR attempts to access it.

I never see the temporary files 'MVP000DFE077E851.mpg' show up in the directory path that GB-PVR looks into for the transcoded file which tells me ZProcess is currently not transcoding on the fly and when GB-PVR looks for the file 5.5 seconds after starting transcode, the file is simply not there.

I've attached the section from gbpvr.exe-3.log file that shows what's happening for your scrutiny.

Let's take this apart. First of all, don't worry and don't try to use the MVP just yet.

I have a hard time believing that a 20 sec clip of video is transcoded in 1 sec. Here's how ZProcess counts the time...

It saves to memory the time at which ffmpeg is launched, and the transcode in started. Because ffmpeg can use quite a bit of CPU, ZProcess doesn't really keep time. It just waits for the Transcode to complete. When it does, it checks the time, does the math and displays the difference between start and stop... 1 sec indicates that ffmpeg is really aborting...

Here's a check. After you have failed once, with ZProcess Open, maximize it. You see a lot of extra junk in the exposed area. Look for a large yellow(?) box with a long command line in it. Copy the whole string into memory.

Next start a dos box. (Startmenu, run, 'cmd') paste the command line into that and then watch it run. If it crashes, you'll still see error message...

Let me know...

An alternative you could post (as an attachment) the Zprocess.log file, from the most current day in the Backup folder, and the ZProcessRegSettings.txt which is found in the Third Party/FFmpeg folder (ZProcess's folder)...

I might be able to check a couple of things from that...

[rscheller]

An alternative you could post (as an attachment) the Zprocess.log file, from the most current day in the Backup folder, and the ZProcessRegSettings.txt which is found in the Third Party/FFmpeg folder (ZProcess's folder)...

Here's the files you've asked to see zehd. Note, I had to change the file name type for the ZProcess.log to ZProcess.log.txt to get it to attach as a valid file type.

I'm not sure I understand you when you say "First of all, don't worry and don't try to use the MVP just yet." Is there any other way to transcode on-the-fly to the MVP without involving the MVP?

Keep in mind that when I use ZProcess as a stand-alone app, it does transcode and save both my avi and wmv files to mpg files that I can play / watch properly on my MVP.

It's only when I attempt to transcode on-the-fly using ZProcess that GBPVR crashes causing the MVP to reload.

[zehd]

Here's the files you've asked to see zehd. Note, I had to change the file name type for the ZProcess.log to ZProcess.log.txt to get it to attach as a valid file type.

I'm not sure I understand you when you say "First of all, don't worry and don't try to use the MVP just yet." Is there any other way to transcode on-the-fly to the MVP without involving the MVP?

Keep in mind that when I use ZProcess as a stand-alone app, it does transcode and save both my avi and wmv files to mpg files that I can play / watch properly on my MVP.

It's only when I attempt to transcode on-the-fly using ZProcess that GBPVR crashes causing the MVP to reload.

What I meant was, we should manually transcode with the 'Trans2MVP' profile first, with no errors, and then we'll deal with actually using the MVP and on the fly transcoding...

I have noticed two errors. First of all, in the Trans2MVP profile you have saved it as 'Above Normal' CPU usage. Thats goona make EVYTHING else slow to a crawl, including GB-PVR and the MVP Server... Set it to Below Normal for right now...

Next, I know that I should have made the program do this for you, (and I'll change this setup in future releases) but please try these steps on the Transcode tab...

1. Click the more button to expand the whole screen.
   
2. Click the reset button, and accept reset
   
3. Click the Target Type Drop down and select NTSC-DVD. It will then auto fill in several values in the bottom...
   
4. Change the Final Output size to 640x480
   
5. Save the profile
   
   

Should look like this:

[ATTACHMENT NOT FOUND]

Then start the transcode. If it works fine or not, send the two log files again.

Oh and make your override directory something other than the ffmpeg folder. Maybe I'm just a clean freak, but I don't like using a program folder as a temp or video folder...


THanks

[zehd]

One more thing for now. It would help you a lot if you downloaded and installed VLC too. It's very self contained and won't scatter crap all over your hard drive.

http://www.videolan.org/vlc/

If you do, be sure to tell Zprocess where you installed it, and then tell me, and I'll show you what we can do with it...

[rscheller]

zehd, sorry, got your post a bit late this evening but was able to use Trans2MVP and your process and I was able to successfully produce an mpg file.

See log files attached.

Due to the fact that my original video clip is only 320x240 resolution and 6+Meg in size when I used NTSC-DVD quaility it produced a 15+Meg file, so I tried the same process using NTSC-VCD and it worked too producing a file of only 3+Meg in size.

I was able to view both of these mpg files on my MVP so it's getting there.

I then took the bold step of transcoding a different avi directly from my MVP to see if ZProcess would do on-the-fly transcoding and it worked perfectly. I know I have a lot to learn about using ZProcess but that's the first time I've been able to view my avi's on my MVP/TV since GBPVR version 97.x.

I'll go ahead and get a copy of VLC too, partly because I'm interested in remote connection to GBPVR, as well as to satisfy ZProcess and we'll go from there.

Thanks for your patience zehd.

[zehd]

I'm glad you had some success...

zehd, sorry, got your post a bit late this evening but was able to use Trans2MVP and your process and I was able to successfully produce an mpg file.

See log files attached.

Due to the fact that my original video clip is only 320x240 resolution and 6+Meg in size when I used NTSC-DVD quaility it produced a 15+Meg file, so I tried the same process using NTSC-VCD and it worked too producing a file of only 3+Meg in size.

That's right. For on the fly transcoding, ZProcess isn't about saving space. No matter what the input size, if you have it set to DVD parameters, you'll have a large file, for sure...

I was able to view both of these mpg files on my MVP so it's getting there.

I then took the bold step of transcoding a different avi directly from my MVP to see if ZProcess would do on-the-fly transcoding and it worked perfectly. I know I have a lot to learn about using ZProcess but that's the first time I've been able to view my avi's on my MVP/TV since GBPVR version 97.x.

I'll go ahead and get a copy of VLC too, partly because I'm interested in remote connection to GBPVR, as well as to satisfy ZProcess and we'll go from there.

Thanks for your patience zehd.

The reason I had you set it to DVD is this: many HD rips off the net have a resolution of around 640x3??. If you transcode to VCD standards, your computer will transcode quite quickly, but the resulting MPG that you watch on the MVP isn't all that sharp or detailed. (still pretty good though). If you transcode with a higher resolution, and your computer can keep up, the resulting picture on the MVP is much sharper and clearer, very similar to the HD rip...

[rscheller]

OK zehd, I've got VLC loaded up and have the ZProcess directory path pointed to the VLC install path.

What's next?

[zehd]

OK zehd, I've got VLC loaded up and have the ZProcess directory path pointed to the VLC install path.

What's next?

Up pretty early? I'm gonna work bit more on a newer release today. I will have to write explanations for the slightly newer features anyway, and so I will write on how to use VLC while I'm at it...