MPEG2 to AVI

[magnu]

I have some recordings which I plan on removing TV station watermarks from. At present, the best option is to use X-Logo & Gordian Knot.

I've downloaded the version of Gordian Knot that handles MPEG2, however I am supposed to then convert the file to AVI. Uncompressed AVI is way too big, so I need to have it compressed. I've read that I can have a DivX file which keeps the same resolution as the MPEG2 file (I want to keep it at 720x576), but I cannot find a way to save the MPEG2 file this way.

What software should I use, & what settings do I need to make?

I've tried to use the standard version of Gordian Knot, but it tells me I don't have DivX installed, even though I do. I also have Canopus ProCoder 2 on my PC. It has the ability to do what I want via Divx. However, it also doesn't recognize the DivX software on my PC?

[davidf]

I have some recordings which I plan on removing TV station watermarks from. At present, the best option is to use X-Logo & Gordian Knot.

I've downloaded the version of Gordian Knot that handles MPEG2, however I am supposed to then convert the file to AVI. Uncompressed AVI is way too big, so I need to have it compressed. I've read that I can have a DivX file which keeps the same resolution as the MPEG2 file (I want to keep it at 720x576), but I cannot find a way to save the MPEG2 file this way.

What software should I use, & what settings do I need to make?

I've tried to use the standard version of Gordian Knot, but it tells me I don't have DivX installed, even though I do. I also have Canopus ProCoder 2 on my PC. It has the ability to do what I want via Divx. However, it also doesn't recognize the DivX software on my PC?

There are lots of tutorials and links on the mpeg2avi application(command line app) and several gui front ends this is about the most efficient program for video conversion then you need something like avimux to rejoin audio.

Its as simple as this, the quality of compressed image you get is equivalent to the amount of time you are prepared to put into conversions, there are no magic wizards or quick all in one solutions when it comes down to quality mpeg4 compression. Time. personal choice of programs, and the good old fashioned 'learning from your mistakes' techniques are the keys ....

Have look www.avisynth.org if you really want to get into video conversions as this is the base that many other conversion utilities start from.

www.doom9.org has plenty of tutorials on various conversion utilities.

[celtic_druid]

Well GK uses AVISynth, but generates the script for you.
If you encode at 720x576, then you need to set the PAR the same as the original. I hear that the latest DivX plasma supports PAR decoding, so I guess maybe it also supports it for encoding? Otherwise you need to set it after encoding in MPEG4 Modifier or better yet use XviD instead for encoding.

For playback, DivX uses a dshow decoder, for encoding it uses a VfW codec. It is possible that the VfW version is not installed correctly. Does DivX show up as a compression option in VirtualDubMod?

[herbo]

I would think virtualdub or virtualdubmod (which can open mpeg files) and MJPEG would be your best bet.

MJPEG is a compression codec, that keeps a great deal of the original information (90%) without being overly massivive (ie 1hr = 2-3gig, instead of 20-30gig per hour for something like huffy or uncompressed rgb).

However if the video is still on tape, why bother with MPEG? Capture the video straight to MJPEG (using virtualdub or virtualvcr - http://virtualvcr.sourceforge.net/), I found that MJPEG is the best codec compromise between size and quality (though you still need loads of hdd free) and virtualvcr is very easy for capturing from an analogue source.

[andw]

See this thread http://forums.eyo.com.au/showthread.php?t=101932
A very good tool that I use.

[magnu]

Well GK uses AVISynth, but generates the script for you.
If you encode at 720x576, then you need to set the PAR the same as the original. I hear that the latest DivX plasma supports PAR decoding, so I guess maybe it also supports it for encoding? Otherwise you need to set it after encoding in MPEG4 Modifier or better yet use XviD instead for encoding.

For playback, DivX uses a dshow decoder, for encoding it uses a VfW codec. It is possible that the VfW version is not installed correctly. Does DivX show up as a compression option in VirtualDubMod?

Divx 4.12 shows up, but the most recent version which I installed doesn't. How do I install the VfW codec?

[magnu]

Can someone recommend a good MJPEG codec to use?

Most of my recordings are made through either my DVD Recorder, or through my Fusion Dvico card on my PC. As far as I'm aware, I'm no longer equiped to capture direct to MJPEG.

[herbo]

Can someone recommend a good MJPEG codec to use?

Most of my recordings are made through either my DVD Recorder, or through my Fusion Dvico card on my PC. As far as I'm aware, I'm no longer equiped to capture direct to MJPEG.
Under linux their is good amount of free codecs, but for windows I have only seen morgan multimedia mjpeg codec v3 - http://www.morgan-multimedia.com/ that is any good. However it is NOT free, but has a 60day trial.

If your recordings are made through a dvb-t card, then I use these tools to compress and store:
- ProjectX (http://www.lucike.info/index.htm?http://www.lucike.info/page_projectx.htm)to demux and fix the mpeg2 stream up
- Mpeg2schnitt (http://www.mdienert.de/mpeg2schnitt/) to edit the resultant m2v and mpa files (as outputted from projectx).
- Then I use avidemux (virtualdub equivalent for linux) to compress the streams. Other options include XMPEG for this.

If they are straight from dvd and they are in dvd like (ie VIDEO_TS etc..) format then a tool like fairuse wizard (see the lg 9723 thread for more info) can rip straight from that. Otherwise if it has a series of mpegs on disc, then the above procedure with projectx would work fine.

Since it appears you already have a digital source (i.e mpeg2 on a digital mediium as opposed to VHS), converting to an intermediary step (i.e mjpeg) is unnesecary. All you need to do is get the file into a format mpeg2schnitt understands (ie from projectx), edit the original mpeg2 to your hearts content and then compress to an mpeg4 format (i.e dvix, xvid, h264 etc...)

[andw]

DVBMenc is a very easy to use software for input an Mpeg or TS (from TV tuner card) and convert to Xvid or Divx. (If using Win XP)
It's all simple, select file, select output resolution, select encoding method.
click click click and away it goes.
Try it out http://forums.dvbowners.com/index.php?showtopic=3280

[herbo]

DVBMenc is a very easy to use software for input an Mpeg or TS (from TV tuner card) and convert to Xvid or Divx. (If using Win XP)
It's all simple, select file, select output resolution, select encoding method.
click click click and away it goes.
Try it out http://forums.dvbowners.com/index.php?showtopic=3280
What about editing the file? Thats the reason I use the multi step approach (i.e to remove commercials or credits etc..)

Otherwise the software looks very interesting and since it uses .NET and mencoder it will probably run under linux with a bit of editing/fiddling (although hardcoded references to mplayer.exe don't help much...)

[andw]

What about editing the file? Thats the reason I use the multi step approach (i.e to remove commercials or credits etc..)

Otherwise the software looks very interesting and since it uses .NET and mencoder it will probably run under linux with a bit of editing/fiddling (although hardcoded references to mplayer.exe don't help much...)
Edit the file with Nandub, or Virtualdub afterwards.
Set Video and Audio to direct stream copy, mark the bits you don't want and delete them, then save the file.

[herbo]

Edit the file with Nandub, or Virtualdub afterwards.
Set Video and Audio to direct stream copy, mark the bits you don't want and delete them, then save the file.
Thats one way I suppose, however I prefer to edit it *before* compressing, to ensure I get the file sizes I want...