Automated Cutting and Transcoding Guide Using Mencoder

[agerdin]

Hi, I am new to this automated script and I can not get it to work properly. Without debug, the script exist but the output avi still contains all commersial and is only 1 second shorter than the origina. I will try to produces some logs but until then I have a question. My transcodings seem to loop in the section below (row 593 in the 0.4b script).

Code:

:post2
%debug%
rem IF EXIST "%~dpn1_original.avi" del /q "%~dpn1.edl"
%debug%
IF /I %PortableDel% == yes GOTO delete:
%debug%
IF /I %file_delete% == yes GOTO delete:
%debug%

GOTO cleanup:
.....
:cleanup
IF /I %cleanup% == no GOTO post2:
.....

I dont understand why the if statement is rem'ed? This is the output in the cmd window.

Code:

C:\Program Files\devnz\gbpvr\Convert>rem IF EXIST "E:\My Recordings\Dirty Dancin
g 2\Dirty Dancing 2_20070317_21002240_original.avi" del /q "E:\My Recordings\Dir
ty Dancing 2\Dirty Dancing 2_20070317_21002240.edl"

C:\Program Files\devnz\gbpvr\Convert>pause
Press any key to continue . . .

C:\Program Files\devnz\gbpvr\Convert>IF /I null == yes GOTO delete:

C:\Program Files\devnz\gbpvr\Convert>pause
Press any key to continue . . .

C:\Program Files\devnz\gbpvr\Convert>IF /I no == yes GOTO delete:

C:\Program Files\devnz\gbpvr\Convert>pause
Press any key to continue . . .

C:\Program Files\devnz\gbpvr\Convert>GOTO cleanup:

C:\Program Files\devnz\gbpvr\Convert>IF /I no == no GOTO post2:

C:\Program Files\devnz\gbpvr\Convert>pause
Press any key to continue . . .

C:\Program Files\devnz\gbpvr\Convert>rem IF EXIST "E:\My Recordings\Dirty Dancin
g 2\Dirty Dancing 2_20070317_21002240_original.avi" del /q "E:\My Recordings\Dir
ty Dancing 2\Dirty Dancing 2_20070317_21002240.edl"

So what am I doing wrong? Or is more information needed? I am running all standard options except the following
cleanup=no
debug=yes
comskip=yes.

\\Agerdin

[-stattik-]

So what am I doing wrong? Or is more information needed? I am running all standard options except the following
cleanup=no
debug=yes
comskip=yes.

Hi Agerdin,

You're doing nothing wrong. It's a bug in the script. Line 611 should be changed to:

Code:

IF /I %cleanup% == no GOTO eof:

The next version will have it fixed.

Thanks for reporting it.

[agerdin]

Ok stattik, I corrected the bug in my script an reran with the same outcome. I.e., the avi output still contains commercials and is only 1 second shorter than the original mpg.

Attaching all files from the process (excluding the avi and mpg).

I would really appreciate if you could look at this to see if you can find any obvious errors.

TIA,

\\Agerdin

[-stattik-]

Ok stattik, I corrected the bug in my script an reran with the same outcome. I.e., the avi output still contains commercials and is only 1 second shorter than the original mpg.

Attaching all files from the process (excluding the avi and mpg).

I would really appreciate if you could look at this to see if you can find any obvious errors.

TIA,

\\Agerdin

I'll look through the logs.

I do have two quick questions.

1. Are you still experiencing looping?
2. When mencoder starts up, does it identify the amount of EDL actions it finds? (See below for an example)

Code:

=================================
mp3 audio selected
Read 6 EDL actions.

[agerdin]

stattik, 2 quick responses

1. No, looping is gone with the fix you suggested.
2. I can not recall having seen these lines anywhere. And they are not in the cmd window log (as far as I can see).

Btw, the same problem happens to all things I am trying to transcode.

Thanks for the help,

\\Agerdin

[-stattik-]

stattik, 2 quick responses

2. I can not recall having seen these lines anywhere. And they are not in the cmd window log (as far as I can see).

\\Agerdin

The EDL actions info wouldn't be listed in the command window log. It would be listed in the mencoder window.

I added a check to the script to see if it can find the EDL files. You can either use the attached script or add the following lines after line 491.

Code:

if exist "%~dpn1.edl" ECHO EDL file exists.
if not exist "%~dpn1.edl" ECHO EDL file does NOT exist.

Also replace "start /low /wait /min" with "call" in line 494.


The script will tell you if it can find the EDL file or not. It also calls mencoder to the main window. Please post your results. After a few seconds of recording, hit CTRL-C and post the output here.

Thanks.


Thanks.

[agerdin]

Please post your results. After a few seconds of recording, hit CTRL-C and post the output here.

stattik, i ran again using your new 4c script. All looks good regarding the edl which now appears in the cmd log attached.

Code:

MP3 audio selected.
Read 4 EDL actions.

Any other thoughts?

Out of curiosity, why is comskip run again in the transcoding process. It has already all the files needed to identify the commercial breaks, or am I missing something regarding the script option comskip=yes.

Thanks,

\\Agerdin

[-stattik-]

stattik, i ran again using your new 4c script. All looks good regarding the edl which now appears in the cmd log attached.

Code:

MP3 audio selected.
Read 4 EDL actions.

Any other thoughts?

Out of curiosity, why is comskip run again in the transcoding process. It has already all the files needed to identify the commercial breaks, or am I missing something regarding the script option comskip=yes.

Thanks,

\\Agerdin

Comskip was enabled for testing. You can disable it if you want.

Everything looks correct. The EDL file is created correctly. Mencoder can find it and loads it correctly. Mencoder identifies the EDL actions but no cuts are made. One thing I found odd is that mplayer identifies the file length as -9223372036854.78 which is probably causing the problem.

I would suggest using a different build of mplayer/mencoder. This location has a p4-specific build you can use if you choose to.

http://ffdshow.faireal.net/mirror/mplayer/

Tell me how it works out.

The version I've been using lately is mplayer2007.02.10.

[agerdin]

stattik, it seems like changing mplayer/mencoder helped. First tests shows output without commersials.

Now, I will try to fine tune the settings, to suit my needs, so I might be back with more questions.

Many thanks for your help.

\\Agerdin

[-stattik-]

stattik, it seems like changing mplayer/mencoder helped. First tests shows output without commersials.

Now, I will try to fine tune the settings, to suit my needs, so I might be back with more questions.

Many thanks for your help.

\\Agerdin

Good to hear.