Best film formats for external USB HDD?

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Best film formats for external USB HDD?

(40 posts)

grahamlthompson

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What are starting from ?. I assume you have recorded movies on a DVD recorder in DVD-Video format.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DVD-Video

If you have the mpeg2 content is contained in the .vob files in the VIDEO_TS folder. These contain other information but the video is mpeg2 programme stream format. Very often simply changing the .vob to .mpg will make these playable.

However if you have multiple .vob files you will need to join them into a single file.

Opening the first .vob in TSmuxerGUI and then dragging the rest from Windows Explorer to the join button and then re-muxing to a transport stream .ts file should do the job.

If you want to actually edit the content then the best software (It's not free) is Videoredo Plus. You can download a free trial.

http://www.videoredo.com/en/ProductPlus.htm

Either of the above will not re-code the content (except for edits in Videoredo when your edit falls in the middle of a GOP group (Group Of Pictures). As only the GOP either side of the edit is re-coded it's still very fast. You are talking a few minutes (not hours).

| Sun 12 Oct 2014 18:32:07 #11 |
donaldjamessimm

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What was the file extension - MPG?
You did not mention the type of USB HD used but have you tried playing some of the same containers over the LAN and if so, are the results the same?

HD as mentioned in 2nd post...

I do not know much about codecs and container formats, just observations on my setup HDR1000S 2TB with WD My Passport USB powered HDD into Humax USB socket.

Also same files over LAN as in 2nd post...

I have now done extensive tests on converting a single film from VOB to various formats and tested that they play via dlna (Twonky on Zyxel NAS) and usb direct.

File extensions are also as in 2nd post.

The only (perfectly) acceptable one was .AVI using codec msmpeg v3 (mp43 I think) which was produced by Wondershare Video Converter from .ifo with 2 .vob files aimed I think at iPad2.

Knowing little I want to convert without loss but now assume that it is not simply a container change due to the msmpegv3 codec, so it looks like many hours of conversion. I do have the same films in .mkv container but they are useless in both my scenarios.

Any advice on a simple (fast) solution will be welcome.
Thanks.

| Sun 12 Oct 2014 18:43:43 #12 |
grahamlthompson

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donaldjamessimm - 12 minutes ago »

What was the file extension - MPG?
You did not mention the type of USB HD used but have you tried playing some of the same containers over the LAN and if so, are the results the same?

HD as mentioned in 2nd post...

I do not know much about codecs and container formats, just observations on my setup HDR1000S 2TB with WD My Passport USB powered HDD into Humax USB socket.

Also same files over LAN as in 2nd post...

I have now done extensive tests on converting a single film from VOB to various formats and tested that they play via dlna (Twonky on Zyxel NAS) and usb direct.

File extensions are also as in 2nd post.
The only (perfectly) acceptable one was .AVI using codec msmpeg v3 (mp43 I think) which was produced by Wondershare Video Converter from .ifo with 2 .vob files aimed I think at iPad2.
Knowing little I want to convert without loss but now assume that it is not simply a container change due to the msmpegv3 codec, so it looks like many hours of conversion. I do have the same films in .mkv container but they are useless in both my scenarios.
Any advice on a simple (fast) solution will be welcome.
Thanks.

Do you have the original DVD's or the files created on your DVDR ? The problem is we don't know how you got to where you are now.

It would help if the actual contents of your files was known.

Medianinfo is a free download and using treeview identifies everything there is to know about the contents. You can export the details to a plain text file and post the information.

| Sun 12 Oct 2014 19:00:16 #13 |
donaldjamessimm

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Thanks for returning.
I have the originals as from DVD produced by Panasonic EX75EB from analogue TV. They are .IFO for usually 2 .VOB files.
I also have .mkv versions I produced from the above in order to stream from Twonky on NAS drive to Panasonic Viera dlna. Only a few recognised extensions can be used. They had the problem of jerky fast fwd/reverse and freezing while doing so making it difficult to know where to stop.
The same now occurs having tried same on my new Humax.
So I tested conversions as above with those results, but they were done by re-encoding (I presume due to time it took, ~35 mins for 2hr film).
Then I found about changing container only, and my final comment is that I presume I can't do that because of changing codec. Little knowledge!

Using Mediainfo suggested by you in another forum shows long ago .mkv contains MPEG2 & AC-3 as does the .VOB.
The working .AVI contains MP43 & MP3 but I don't understand the sound side at all except most sound seems soft & muffled.

Sorry for the length.

| Sun 12 Oct 2014 19:23:02 #14 |
donaldjamessimm

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Sorry, it seems our two previous posts crossed and I have only just seen it.
I do not want to edit.
I have been able to join vob's by loading .ifo instead into converters..
I already tried .ts and found it no better and it would not fast > x4. Don't understand why.

Please wait, I will send text files.

| Sun 12 Oct 2014 19:25:43 #15 |
donaldjamessimm

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Text files attached...

| Sun 12 Oct 2014 19:43:38 #16 |
donaldjamessimm

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Cannot send zip 0.033MB
Try txt
Attachments
1. Working_avi.txt (1.9 KB, 2 downloads) 10 years old
2. mkv_version.txt (3.6 KB, 1 downloads) 10 years old
3. One_of_2_vob.txt (2.7 KB, 2 downloads) 10 years old
4. ifo_for_vobs.txt (1.5 KB, 3 downloads) 10 years old
| Sun 12 Oct 2014 19:48:03 #17 |
grahamlthompson

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The audio you have in the AVI files is heavily compressed mpeg1 layer 3 (MP3). that's why the audio is muffled.

If you have the original vobs then you have the original video and audio.

As to fast forward Humax boxes rely on sidecar files (.nts) to provide this sort of capability. The File System in the freetime boxes is encrypted so the file arrangements isn't known.

If the DVDR creates a menu structure the first .vob will normally be the menu. You can check on a PC, many media players will load and play vobs. If you don't have one try VLC Player.

It's going to take some experimentation.

First step is copy one of the .vobs to a usb drive and change the file extension to .mpg.

Can the HDR play it back ?. Can you fast forward it ?

No attachment by the way.

| Sun 12 Oct 2014 19:57:22 #18 |
grahamlthompson

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donaldjamessimm - 25 minutes ago »
Cannot send zip 0.033MB
Try txt

The problem is obvious from the files. Not sure how you recorded the content but the video resolution is very low (only suitable for display in a small window on a PC), you must have used a very low quality option, assuming they were recorded from a broadcast source. If they were recorded from the internet than you may have the original very low quality.

SD TV uses mpeg2 at a resolution at best of 720 x 576 pixels. The first figure can vary but there will always be 576 vertical lines (576i).

Your content has only 288 vertical lines.

I assume you have your box connected to a HD display with a 1920 x 1080 display.

You are starting with an image that has just 353 x 288 pixels and the box has to invent the missing pixels to create a 1920 x 1080 image. You have thrown away approx. 83,000 pixels from the original recording, and without the original content you cannot get them back other than pure guesswork.

As an example I grabbed a frame from a 1920 x 1080 movie and saved it. I then resampled it to your 288i size. Have a look at the two (zoom in to fill your screen)
Attachments
1. 288I.jpg (60.2 KB, 6 downloads) 10 years old
2. 1920X1080.jpg (369.3 KB, 3 downloads) 10 years old
| Sun 12 Oct 2014 20:42:29 #19 |
donaldjamessimm

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I am very grateful for your time and effort on my behalf.
I see what you say regarding quality. I do not know why the resolution is so low, almost as if from a video camera (old).
The original recordings were high speed copied to the DVD from the old recorder and provided the Video_ts folder I now have. They took 20 minutes to copy 6 hours and finalize and presumably they are originally stored on the recorder HDD in the same form, but don't know how to actually access them any other way.

The vob files are typically 1.3GB per film against uncompressed about 11GB per hour. Any changes in

I have just opened another DVD at random from the same HDD/DVD recorder and it contains a folder DVD_RTAV in which is VR_MANGR.IFO & VR_MOVIE.VRO 4.2GB 3hr 17mins.
??? it locks up Mediainfo.

The only other thing I can add is that recordings to HDD were invariably done at longest play to get max time and then 6hrs placed on each DVD

| Sun 12 Oct 2014 22:13:36 #20 |