DVD burning mod (7/14/06 - v1.4.2)

[ldavis]

Originally Posted by evilpenguin

Hmm... that's a tough one. Can you give me a little more details about your setup. What STV are you running, what version of Sage are you running, etc...

Well, I was able to get this back and working correctly with a complete reinstall. I did have a chance to use your DVD burning software and am impressed with its tie-in to Sage. Both operationally and graphically, it is great. The problem that I have is that about 80+% of the time the SageTV transcoder crashes. This does not happen when the trancoder is used with placeshifter. Any idea as to why this is happening?

[destrekor]

Originally Posted by evilpenguin

I think you're a little confused about what this plugin does, which is understandable because the thread title is a little confusing.

What i'm doing is taking videos in Sage, converting them into DVD complient MPEG2 videos, and generating a DVD disc image that you could burn onto a DVD+/-R that would play in standalone DVD players just like a DVD movie that you would buy at the store.

As for nothing showing up in the Other Programs menu, reread that section of the directions carefully and ensure that you have setup all of the relevant paths correctly while Sage is completely shut down.

alright, i got the other programs menu working.. i never changed the target directory in the sage.properties file.
as for the whole dvd burning thing.. I am confused because your install how-to tells of xvid transcode stats... is that only for transcoding FROM xvid files into mpeg2 files compliant for dvd purposes?
if so, I am out of luck then I guess.. because my goal was to transcode the recordings into xvid's so I can place quite a few on a dvd-data disc, and not actually onto an authored dvd. the dvd players I work with can play xvid's and I normally just put a bunch of xvid files onto a single dvd. i know I could buy DVD-R/DL, but they are expensive for the purpose of simply putting seasons onto disc.

[UFGrayMatter]

Having the same problem as somebody else a few pages back. I installed the stvi but the "Burn to DVD" option is not showing up. It is showing in the XML of my current STV though

 <Hook Name="STVImported">
  <Action Name="&quot;Imported on ...&quot;"/>
  <Action Name="ImportName = &quot;SageTV DVD burning&quot;"/>
  <Action Name="Version = &quot;1.1&quot;"/>
  <Action Name="&quot;Imported nodes&quot;">
   <Conditional Name="false">
    <Action Name="&quot;REM Added code for SendTo&quot;">
     <Conditional Name="(GetMediaFileForAiring(Airing) != null &amp;&amp; !IsFileCurrentlyRecording(Airing)) &amp;&amp; IsCompleteRecording(Airing)">
      <Conditional Name="IsVideoFile(Airing) &amp;&amp; !IsDVD(Airing)  || IsTVFile(Airing)">
       <Item Name="Burn to DVD">
        <Text Name="Burn to DVD"/>
        <OptionsMenu Name="DVD Burning Options">
         <Item Name="To Singlefile DVD">
          <IgnoreThemeProps>false</IgnoreThemeProps>
          <Text Name="Single Video DVD"/>
          <Action Name="args = java_lang_String_split(GetFileForSegment(GetMediaFileForAiring(Airing),0)+&quot;!!!&quot;+GetAiringChannelNumber(Airing)+&quot;@@@&quot;+GetAiringTitle(Airing)+&quot;###&quot;+GetShowEpisode(GetShow(Airing))+&quot;$$$&quot;+Substring(GetShowDescription(GetShow(Airing)),0,Min(StringIndexOf(GetShowDescription(GetShow(Airing)),&quot;\n&quot;),StringIndexOf(GetShowDescription(GetShow(Airing)),&quot;\r&quot;)))+&quot;%%%,~&quot;+GetAiringDuration(Airing),&quot;,~&quot;)">
           <Action Name="process = ExecuteProcess(&quot;add2DVDQ.exe&quot;, args, null, false)">
            <Action Name="code=java_lang_Process_waitFor(process)"/>
            <Action Name="CloseOptionsMenu()"/>
           </Action>

I read the replies and am still lost...

Any help???

Thanks

[evilpenguin]

Originally Posted by ldavis

Well, I was able to get this back and working correctly with a complete reinstall. I did have a chance to use your DVD burning software and am impressed with its tie-in to Sage. Both operationally and graphically, it is great. The problem that I have is that about 80+% of the time the SageTV transcoder crashes. This does not happen when the trancoder is used with placeshifter. Any idea as to why this is happening?

I've seen a few cases when I was encoding HDTV shows with lots of errors when the transcoder would crash, but never SDTV. Could you go into your advanced.pref file and enable "save files for debugging", try and burn another DVD, and post the dvd.log and transcoder.log files if it crashes?

Also, make sure you are running the lastest version of SageTV because they updated SageTVTranscoder a few times in the last 6 months.

[evilpenguin]

Originally Posted by destrekor

alright, i got the other programs menu working.. i never changed the target directory in the sage.properties file.
as for the whole dvd burning thing.. I am confused because your install how-to tells of xvid transcode stats... is that only for transcoding FROM xvid files into mpeg2 files compliant for dvd purposes?
if so, I am out of luck then I guess.. because my goal was to transcode the recordings into xvid's so I can place quite a few on a dvd-data disc, and not actually onto an authored dvd. the dvd players I work with can play xvid's and I normally just put a bunch of xvid files onto a single dvd. i know I could buy DVD-R/DL, but they are expensive for the purpose of simply putting seasons onto disc.

Yeah, the stats on the webpage are transcoding from xvid->mpeg.

A lot of people have asked for a simple compression and backup solution. No promises, but i'll look into seeing how feasible it is to add that to this plugin.

[evilpenguin]

Originally Posted by UFGrayMatter

Having the same problem as somebody else a few pages back. I installed the stvi but the "Burn to DVD" option is not showing up. It is showing in the XML of my current STV though

 <Hook Name="STVImported">
  <Action Name="&quot;Imported on ...&quot;"/>
  <Action Name="ImportName = &quot;SageTV DVD burning&quot;"/>
  <Action Name="Version = &quot;1.1&quot;"/>
  <Action Name="&quot;Imported nodes&quot;">
   <Conditional Name="false">
    <Action Name="&quot;REM Added code for SendTo&quot;">
     <Conditional Name="(GetMediaFileForAiring(Airing) != null &amp;&amp; !IsFileCurrentlyRecording(Airing)) &amp;&amp; IsCompleteRecording(Airing)">
      <Conditional Name="IsVideoFile(Airing) &amp;&amp; !IsDVD(Airing)  || IsTVFile(Airing)">
       <Item Name="Burn to DVD">
        <Text Name="Burn to DVD"/>
        <OptionsMenu Name="DVD Burning Options">
         <Item Name="To Singlefile DVD">
          <IgnoreThemeProps>false</IgnoreThemeProps>
          <Text Name="Single Video DVD"/>
          <Action Name="args = java_lang_String_split(GetFileForSegment(GetMediaFileForAiring(Airing),0)+&quot;!!!&quot;+GetAiringChannelNumber(Airing)+&quot;@@@&quot;+GetAiringTitle(Airing)+&quot;###&quot;+GetShowEpisode(GetShow(Airing))+&quot;$$$&quot;+Substring(GetShowDescription(GetShow(Airing)),0,Min(StringIndexOf(GetShowDescription(GetShow(Airing)),&quot;\n&quot;),StringIndexOf(GetShowDescription(GetShow(Airing)),&quot;\r&quot;)))+&quot;%%%,~&quot;+GetAiringDuration(Airing),&quot;,~&quot;)">
           <Action Name="process = ExecuteProcess(&quot;add2DVDQ.exe&quot;, args, null, false)">
            <Action Name="code=java_lang_Process_waitFor(process)"/>
            <Action Name="CloseOptionsMenu()"/>
           </Action>

I read the replies and am still lost...

Any help???

Thanks

Most problems with importing can be solved by making sure your on the lastest version of SageTV (5.0.4) and reverting back to a fresh copy of the lastest version of your respective STV then trying the import again.

[ldavis]

Originally Posted by evilpenguin

I've seen a few cases when I was encoding HDTV shows with lots of errors when the transcoder would crash, but never SDTV. Could you go into your advanced.pref file and enable "save files for debugging", try and burn another DVD, and post the dvd.log and transcoder.log files if it crashes?

Also, make sure you are running the lastest version of SageTV because they updated SageTVTranscoder a few times in the last 6 months.

Well, I ran a SDTV file >4.7 GB and got a similar result. I am not in a position to burn the DVD, but the .img file from a 5+ GB source file file was about 80 MB.

[evilpenguin]

Originally Posted by ldavis

Well, I ran a SDTV file >4.7 GB and got a similar result. I am not in a position to burn the DVD, but the .img file from a 5+ GB source file file was about 80 MB.

A few quick things...

1) Check to make sure you have enough free space on the drive you are using for the temp files.

2) I noticed that your path has "Frey Technologies" in it, so I just have to double check that you are sure you are running the latest version of SageTV.

3) Are you using the placeshifter while you are making DVD's? I'm sure Sage kills its placeshifting transcoding tasks cleanly, but its worth considering.

[ldavis]

Originally Posted by evilpenguin

A few quick things...

1) Check to make sure you have enough free space on the drive you are using for the temp files.

2) I noticed that your path has "Frey Technologies" in it, so I just have to double check that you are sure you are running the latest version of SageTV.

3) Are you using the placeshifter while you are making DVD's? I'm sure Sage kills its placeshifting transcoding tasks cleanly, but its worth considering.

1.) 32GB available on my temp drive

2.) I still use the Frey Technologies folder, and I still have some copies of version 1 of SageTV but I do have the lastest version running

3.) I am not placeshifting while transcoding.

[evilpenguin]

Ok, try this...

1) Take your current copy of SageTVTranscoder.exe and put it in a safe place outside of your Sage folder

2) Download this version of SageTVTranscoder.exe, unzip it, and put it into your Sage folder

3) Open up a command prompt and run this command

"C:\Program Files\Frey Technologies\SageTV\SageTVTranscoder.exe" -i "J:\LittleHouseonthePrairie-HeWasOnlyTwelve-1157553-0.mpg" -target ntsc-dvd -acodec mp2 -ab 224 -ac 2 -mbd 2 -qmin 2 -async 1 -y -deinterlace -b 7250 "R:\\DVD\Little House on the Prairie - He Was Onl.dvdList.0.WorkFolder\LittleHouseonthePrairie-HeWasOnlyTwelve-1157553-0.2dvd.mpg" 2> "R:\\DVD\Little House on the Prairie - He Was Onl.dvdList.0.WorkFolder\LittleHouseonthePrairie-HeWasOnlyTwelve-1157553-0.trans.log"

Once that's done check the file that's created and see if it's a) playable and b) about 4.2 gig's. Then go ahead and post the log file it creates as well as letting me know the results.

After you're done, replace my new SageTVTranscoder with your orignal one just to make sure we don't mess up placeshifter.

[UFGrayMatter]

ok - i've been through everything. Most things seem to be ok EXCEPT - i can't get the "other programs" to appear on the screen after going through the steps to add it, saving the menu file and reloading.

???
EDIT - going through the process of adding a dvd to a multidvd disc works - there is a file created in my DVD directory. So the only missing part is "other programs." There is nothing in my c:\otherPrograms folder - what should be in there?

Ryan

[gplasky]

Do you have mlbdude/other_programs=C\:\\otherPrograms in your sage or sageclient.properties file?

Gerry

[ldavis]

Originally Posted by evilpenguin

Ok, try this...

1) Take your current copy of SageTVTranscoder.exe and put it in a safe place outside of your Sage folder

2) Download this version of SageTVTranscoder.exe, unzip it, and put it into your Sage folder

3) Open up a command prompt and run this command

"C:\Program Files\Frey Technologies\SageTV\SageTVTranscoder.exe" -i "J:\LittleHouseonthePrairie-HeWasOnlyTwelve-1157553-0.mpg" -target ntsc-dvd -acodec mp2 -ab 224 -ac 2 -mbd 2 -qmin 2 -async 1 -y -deinterlace -b 7250 "R:\\DVD\Little House on the Prairie - He Was Onl.dvdList.0.WorkFolder\LittleHouseonthePrairie-HeWasOnlyTwelve-1157553-0.2dvd.mpg" 2> "R:\\DVD\Little House on the Prairie - He Was Onl.dvdList.0.WorkFolder\LittleHouseonthePrairie-HeWasOnlyTwelve-1157553-0.trans.log"

Once that's done check the file that's created and see if it's a) playable and b) about 4.2 gig's. Then go ahead and post the log file it creates as well as letting me know the results.

After you're done, replace my new SageTVTranscoder with your orignal one just to make sure we don't mess up placeshifter.

Ok, I used the new transcoder (actaully had the same build time/date as mine). Transcoder crashed at a file size of 59 MB. File is playable. See attached log.

[UFGrayMatter]

YAY - it worked! Got it to play on a computer, now I just have to test it in a stand alone dvd player. Thank you for your help! Any beer fund donation links?

Ryan

[evilpenguin]

Originally Posted by ldavis

Ok, I used the new transcoder (actaully had the same build time/date as mine). Transcoder crashed at a file size of 59 MB. File is playable. See attached log.

Wow, that's not good. I hate to throw down the lazy diagnosis of "general system instability" but it may be applicable. That was the same copy of SageTVTranscoder I use everyday with no problems so to have it crash on your system is incredibly perplexing... hmmm...

Just for a little check, try downloading Prime95 and running the torture test on your system. If it crashes or errors out within 24 hours then you might have a pesky little hardware problem, possibly heat related. Aside from that, i'd run some spyware/virus checkers too just to see if they uncover anything thats not supposed to be there; I recommend "Spybot: Search and Destroy", and "AVG Free Edition".

[evilpenguin]

I'm all set up in my new apartment and I can finally get back to developing again. Here's my current todo list and i'm also open to ideas or requests, so let me have 'em

• Add support for .my files
• Add support for EDL comskip files
• Add support for cover art in menu's
• Improve STVi (Reorder/Remove videos, select menu theme, start/cancel/monitor progress, etc)
• Add ability to compress multiple shows to xvid and burn to DVD or move to imported videos
• Use imgBurns newer features to streamline process

(Before anyone asks, imgBurn doesn't support burning audio CD's I already checked )

[ldavis]

Originally Posted by evilpenguin

Wow, that's not good. I hate to throw down the lazy diagnosis of "general system instability" but it may be applicable. That was the same copy of SageTVTranscoder I use everyday with no problems so to have it crash on your system is incredibly perplexing... hmmm...

Just for a little check, try downloading Prime95 and running the torture test on your system. If it crashes or errors out within 24 hours then you might have a pesky little hardware problem, possibly heat related. Aside from that, i'd run some spyware/virus checkers too just to see if they uncover anything thats not supposed to be there; I recommend "Spybot: Search and Destroy", and "AVG Free Edition".

Clearly Prime95 shows a problem and I just do not know where to go from there. It just seems strange that I never have a problem using placeshifter. Still, I would think that if I just chose my shows carefully and made sure that the combined files did not add up to more than about 4 GB the transcoder would never be needed. That is however not the case. Every time I select more than a single show to be put on a dvd they are re-encoded. For example, I had two show selected for a dvd and both were under 1 GB. Yet they were re-encoded (or at least that was the attempt). What is the reason for this? I have attached the log file for reference. Both shows were 1/2 hour at a bitrate of 3800 mbps, yet somehow the average bitrate is calculated at over 11,000 mpbs. Why????

[evilpenguin]

Originally Posted by ldavis

Clearly Prime95 shows a problem and I just do not know where to go from there. It just seems strange that I never have a problem using placeshifter. Still, I would think that if I just chose my shows carefully and made sure that the combined files did not add up to more than about 4 GB the transcoder would never be needed. That is however not the case. Every time I select more than a single show to be put on a dvd they are re-encoded. For example, I had two show selected for a dvd and both were under 1 GB. Yet they were re-encoded (or at least that was the attempt). What is the reason for this? I have attached the log file for reference. Both shows were 1/2 hour at a bitrate of 3800 mbps, yet somehow the average bitrate is calculated at over 11,000 mpbs. Why????

That relates to another issue I mention on the install page somewhere near the bottom. There are times when a video is in the correct DVD format, however, for mysterious reasons it errors out when I try and pack it into a DVD. The way I discovered to detect this is to make a quick test DVD using the first 10 seconds of the video and if that errors out then the only way to get it onto DVD is to transcode the whole darn thing. It looks like that is happening to both of your videos. About the only way I know to minimize these errors is to keep the fragmentation level on your recording drives at a reasonable level.

[ldavis]

Originally Posted by evilpenguin

That relates to another issue I mention on the install page somewhere near the bottom. There are times when a video is in the correct DVD format, however, for mysterious reasons it errors out when I try and pack it into a DVD. The way I discovered to detect this is to make a quick test DVD using the first 10 seconds of the video and if that errors out then the only way to get it onto DVD is to transcode the whole darn thing. It looks like that is happening to both of your videos. About the only way I know to minimize these errors is to keep the fragmentation level on your recording drives at a reasonable level.

That is interesting. I have never had a problem with my other method so I guess its back to my other method. I use GUI for dvdauthor along with CDBurnerXP Pro. It does require a few more steps and is not a graphically nice as yours but it always seems to work for me. A couple of questions regarding DVD authoring/burning in general:

1.) GUI for dvdauthor (along with many other free authoring programs) requires elementary streams to work properly. Why?

2.) Is there any advantage to creating an img or iso file and burning that vs. just buring the Video_TS folder created by GUI for dvdauthor?

[evilpenguin]

Originally Posted by ldavis

1.) GUI for dvdauthor (along with many other free authoring programs) requires elementary streams to work properly. Why?

2.) Is there any advantage to creating an img or iso file and burning that vs. just buring the Video_TS folder created by GUI for dvdauthor?

1) Originally, I believe that dvdAuthor only supported elementary streams, but in the latest version it support audio/video mpegs as long as they have nav packets. This is how I use it.

2) Basically the only reason I pack the video_ts folder into an image is because I need to make sure the DVD gets burned with the proper file structure so that it is playable on standalone DVD players. However, if your burning software is smart and can create the file structure on the fly, then it is possible to skip the img step and just burn your video_ts folder directly to DVD. ImgBurn 2.0 supports this with its new build mode and I plan on taking advantage of it in the next version.

Though I may be wrong about some of that. Like i've said before, I just write the scripts that tie everything together, other stuff does the black magic