STV Import: SageMC Video Tools v2.0.1a (2/02/07)

[evilpenguin]

This plug-in is dead, please see MediaShrink for all your encoding needs.

What this STVi can do:

• Create multi-Video DVD with great looking menus
• Create Data DVD from recordings leaving metadata intact
• Insanly configurable video compression
• Cut commercials using comskip .edl files

The three different modes:

1. Create Video DVD’s
2. Compress Videos
3. Compress Videos to Data DVD’s

If you pick 1, the script will take the shows and turn them into a video DVD that you can play on any standalone DVD player without affecting any or your original recordings.

If you pick 2 or 3, by default, the script will replace the originals with the compressed versions and if you pick 3 the script will also make a data DVD that contains the compressed videos and all their metadata.

Installation:
1) Download SageMC Video Tools STVi(Must be opened with winRAR)(Don't use the alpha release), Dirmon2, and imgBurn.
2) Install Dirmon2 and imgBurn, but don't configure them, leave that for the setup script.
3)Completely shutdown SageTV and extract the STVi into your SageTV folder.
4)Run perl2dvdSetup.exe and follow its directions very carefully. The first thing it's going to ask you is what jobs that specific computer will be doing. If you only have one computer, select all 3, otherwise pick the ones that apply. Remember...

• Only one PC can transcode
• Only one PC can burn
• Unlimited PC's can scedule

5) Start SageTV, import SageMC_VideoTools_STVi.xml, and go into the SageMC Options->Extras and enable whatever features you'd like. If you want to use my compression system instead of the stock one, you also have to go into SageMC Options->Main and disable stock compression.
6) (Optional) Download a processor optimized version of mencoder from one of these sites and replace the included one.
http://oss.netfarm.it/mplayer-win32.php
http://ffdshow.faireal.net/mirror/mplayer/
You're mileage may vary depending on the stability of the svn tree on the build dates, but I'm sure you'll be able to find one that works for you with a little trial and error.

Usage:
Creating a video/data DVD-

1. In the 'Send To...' menu add the show(s) you want to the video/data DVD
2. In the 'Send To...' menu select 'Process multi-Video/Data DVD' to start the creation process
3. A picture with a yellow icon should appear in your Other Programs menu. This means that the qdvd file exists, but isn't processing yet.
4. Once dirmon2 starts processing the qdvd file, the yellow icon will turn blue. This indicates that the qdvd file is currently being processed and the videos are transcoding.
5. Once the qdvd file is finished processing the blue icon will either turn into a DVD indicating that it finished successfully and is ready to burn or red indicating that there was some type of error (more on that later).
6. Whenever you're ready to burn the DVD, place a blank DVD in your drive, and click on the DVD icon in the Other Programs menu. This will start imgBurn and possibly steal focus from Sage, however, once imgBurn is done it will give it back.

Note: The DVD does not get burned automatically, you need to initiate the process via the Other Programs menu

Compressing a single show-

1. In the 'Send To...' menu select 'Compressed Video'
2. In the next menu, select the format you wish to compress to from the list.
3. A picture with a yellow icon should appear in your Other Programs menu. This means that the qdvd file exists, but isn't processing yet.
4. Once dirmon2 starts processing the qdvd file, the yellow icon will turn blue. This indicates that the qdvd file is currently being processed and the videos are transcoding.
5. Once the qdvd file is finished processing the blue icon will either disappear indicating that it compressed successfully or turn [B]red[\B] indicating that there was some type of error (more on that later).

What to do if you have a problem\How to ask for help:
I've tested this plug-in as thoroughly as I possibly can, but that doesn't mean it works perfectly yet. So here are a few things to remember if you have trouble.

1. Everything works fine for me and a lot of other people so if your qdvd files aren't being created, Dirmon isn't processing, or the Other Programs menu isn't displaying anything then reread the documentation/ensure you're running the latest version of everything/revert back to a fresh STV .
2. If it still doesn't work and you need to ask for help on the forums please be as descriptive as possible. For instance...
   Do you have multiple Sage Machines? What Sage Machine is doing transcoding? Are any of your videos on network drives? Are you burning a DVD? Are you compressing a show? Is the show HD/SD? Is there AC3 sound? What recording quality are you using? Is a qdvd file being created? Does dirmon2 start processing? What compression profile are you using? What version of mencoder are you using? Does it work when you use one of the 'dragNdrop' batch files? What type of processor are you using? etc, etc, etc...

I know that's a lot of stuff, but fortunately, if your setup is mostly working, i.e. the qdvd files start processing, then 90% of this information is in the log files generated by the script. To have the script output .zip files containing all of the relevant log files, go into perl2dvd.advanced.pref and enable

General: Save work folder log files to zip (0 means false, 1 means true) =1

So in conclusion, posting "It doesn't work" = useless, but posting "It doesn't work" and one of these .zip files = very helpful.

How to test if it's working?
There are two major parts to this plug-in: the scheduling and the transcoding. To test see if the scheduling works, pick a show and send it to a single video DVD. If it's working correctly there will it will create a .qdvd file in your qdvd folder and a shortcut and a jpg in your sageOthers folder. If dirmon2 is working properly it should see the new qdvd file and start processing it, however, if it doesn't then there's either a problem with dirmon's setup or perl2dvd's setup. To test if perl2dvd is working, drag n' drop a sage recording on the "single_dvd_dragNdrop.bat" in your sageTV directory. If everything is setup correctly that should make a DVD image right next to the original video. If you can burn that image and it plays properly, then the problem is with dirmon. In that case I recommend rereading the dirmon setup instructions below to see if you missed something.

Links:

• General FAQ
• Configuring Dirmon2
• Creating your own encoding profiles

Notes:

• Sage v6 and SageMC v6.3+ required
• Installing this plug-in has no effect on the stock compression. It will still work just fine.
• Both SA and comskp are capable of outputting .edl files
• To use my plug-in for video compression you need to disable the Stock compression in SageMC Options->Main
• If I haven't documented something good enough, let me know and i'll give it a once over

Thanks to...

• Flachbar for helping out a TON with my STV code. It was some ugly stuff before he got a hold of it.
• Mlbdude for his fantastic STV, without which I never would have bothered with any of this.
• All of the great images used in for menus are from the Media Portal project. They are already included in the SageMC 16x9 download.

Donations...
I work on this in my free time (what little there is lately) and enjoy it quite a bit so, while I appreciate it, I don't need any kind of donations. On the other hand, if you're so moved by the wonderful DVD's that this plug-in produces and can't fight the urge to show your appreciation I recommend sending a few dollars to the good people at SourceForge who provide me with such great free hosting.


Change List:
11/17/06 v2.0 - Initial Revision
11/20/06 v2.0a -

• Bugfix: (SageMC) Mencoder was crashing on some people’s computers. I swapped out mencoder with the new official build. If you want to try and use some optimized versions, you can download them here… http://ffdshow.faireal.net/mirror/mplayer/ or http://oss.netfarm.it/mplayer-win32.php
• Bugfix: (SageMC) Audio size was being incorrectly estimated.
• Bugfix: (SageMC) Enabling/disabling features wasn’t working on SageTV Client or SageTV running as a service. This was a STVi issue so you’ll have to re-import.
• Bugfix: (SageMC) The hardcoded default encoding profile had some incorrect parameters.
• Bugfix: (SageMC) The 2-Pass Xvid profile included had some incorrect parameters.
• Bugfix: Wasn’t detecting invalid parameters soon enough.
• Bugfix: Removed old preference that enabled dirmon-less operation, this is no longer supported.
• Bugfix: DVD menu generation would always fail when you were using UNC paths for videos
• Enhancement: Added the option to use a centralized work folder rather than using the recording drives.
• Enhancement: Removed perl2dvd.pref and perl2dvd.advanced.pref from the download. These will automatically be generated by perl2dvdsetup.exe
• Enhancement: perl2dvdsetup.exe now makes a backup of your old pref files instead of just ovewritting them
• Enhancement: perl2dvdsetup.exe specifically asks you about a few important advanced preference items
• Known Issue – UNC paths break the iso creation for DVD’s

11/21/06 v2.0b -

• Bugfix: Fixed two more UNC issues

11/21/06 v2.0c -

• Bugfix: Fixed an issue where a file overwrite warning was hanging the process
• Enhancement: Added easy single video DVD creation, check out the single_video_dvd.batch for an example.

12/05/06 v2.0d -

• Bugfix: Fixed an issue where a file overwrite warning was hanging the process
• Bugfix: Fixed some lazy code when looking for the preference file
• Bugfix: Removed some unnecessary file deletes
• Bugfix: If video bitrate is to high, force it to transcoded
• Bugfix: Estimated encode size is now more accurate
• Bugfix: Detect if DVD image is unexpectedly small
• Bugfix: Fixed thumbnail generation
• Bugfix: Deleting logfile wasn’t working properly
• Bugfix: dvdList.log is overwritten instead of appended to prevent it from getting too big
• Enhancement: Added easy mutlti video DVD creation and improved easy single video DVD creation. See included example batch files for details.
• Enhancement: In case of error, all relevant batch files will be zipped and placed next to the .qdvd file. This way, when you have a problem, just post the zip file on the forum.
• Enhancement: Added profile option to specify an output folder for compressed videos. When you use this the originals will not be deleted
• Enhancement: Added option to specify qdvd folder in perl2dvdsetup

1/27/07 v2.0f -

• Bugfix: Updated STVi to work with SageMC 6.3.1 (sorry it took so long!)

1/28/07 v2.0g -

• Bugfix: Updated STVi again to fix auto compress bug (thanks JREkiwi!)

1/29/07 v2.0h -

• Bugfix: I'm a idiot, but since fixing that is out of my power I've updated the STVi... again.

2/02/07 v2.0.1a -

• Bugfix: Updated to match SageMC 6.3.2a from this post. Fixes issue with burning DVD's from non-mpegs.

[banmj]

I just tried to download this, but the link is not working.

[evilpenguin]

Originally Posted by banmj

I just tried to download this, but the link is not working.

Should be fixed. The download is really a .7z, but I had to rename it to .zip to upload it to Sage. If you open it with winrar you shouldn't have a problem.

[JDizzy]

Originally Posted by evilpenguin

Should be fixed. The download is really a .7z, but I had to rename it to .zip to upload it to Sage. If you open it with winrar you shouldn't have a problem.

Yup, WinRAR will open it...

Question,

I know that using the default 6.3 MC, in order to see the compression/transcoding queue, you need to have the Dynamic Menus enabled.

Using your STVi is there an option to view this queue without enabling the dynamic menus?

BTW, the installation went well and easy. I have not tried it yet but will let it run tonight on a couple short videos.
-JD

[dflachbart]

Originally Posted by JDizzy

Question,

I know that using the default 6.3 MC, in order to see the compression/transcoding queue, you need to have the Dynamic Menus enabled.

Using your STVi is there an option to view this queue without enabling the dynamic menus?

BTW, the installation went well and easy. I have not tried it yet but will let it run tonight on a couple short videos.
-JD

Hi JD,

dynamic menus are not required to link to custom screens. You can also use the standard SageMC main menu and add up to 5 Custom menus which you can link to any internal screen (enable in main menu options menu, and configure in SageMC menu options)

Dirk

[dflachbart]

Hi Scott,

I noticed that the package contains images which end up in the 'Images_bt' directory. Are these required ? If so, I'll have to copy them to the Images directory, right ?


Dirk

[evilpenguin]

Originally Posted by JDizzy

Yup, WinRAR will open it...

Question,

I know that using the default 6.3 MC, in order to see the compression/transcoding queue, you need to have the Dynamic Menus enabled.

Using your STVi is there an option to view this queue without enabling the dynamic menus?

BTW, the installation went well and easy. I have not tried it yet but will let it run tonight on a couple short videos.
-JD

I'm still using the "Other Programs" menu for my status's and you can get to that though the non-dynamic menu by pressing the info button on the main menu and enabling "Other Programs".

[evilpenguin]

Originally Posted by flachbar

Hi Scott,

I noticed that the package contains images which end up in the 'Images_bt' directory. Are these required ? If so, I'll have to copy them to the Images directory, right ?


Dirk

Ohhh, that actually might be a problem, those images really only matter to people on the default STV who don't have any of the SageMC themes. I use them for making the menu's, however, when I make menu's I always assume that the "Images_xx" theme folder exists which it may not now.

Actually, it shoudn't be too big of a deal though because you can just set your theme in the perl2dvd.pref file to "Images" and it will use that folder.

[JDizzy]

Originally Posted by evilpenguin

I'm still using the "Other Programs" menu for my status's and you can get to that though the non-dynamic menu by pressing the info button on the main menu and enabling "Other Programs".

If I enable the Other Programs the file I am transcoding shows up there as an icon with a green background.

Is this icon supposed to have anything other than just the name of the video being transcoded? (I thought I saw some screen shots of colored balls on a white background showing the status of file).... (or could this be what you and flachbar were just discussing as far as the folder not being created??)

If I use the Custom Menu through Sage MC, it does not show the status or files in queue....
It would be awesome if there was a way to tie this into the MC custom menu display but it is probably not possible.
-JD

[silkshadow]

Cut commercials using comskip .edl files

Holy cow, if thats what I think it is, I'll pay for the upgrade today. Will that really cut out the commericals from the video file itself? Would it be possible to mark clips to cut out? Is a mpeg editor part of the new version? Because thats a feature I have been wanting which MythTV has.

[pilotguy7ca]

I love the work you put into this plugin and used the previous one with v5 and have anxiously awaited using it once again with v6 and now I'm stuck!

Ok, so I must be doing something wrong. After I've imported the SageMC_VideoTools_STVi.xml and enabled it in the SageMC/Extras and then go to some recorded tv I've got and try and send it to "Burn to DVD" my send to options are still only "Compress, Archive or Playlist"? What should I look for or try?? I'm experiencing this same issue on both a SageClient and an MVP. Running Sage v6.14 and SageMC v6.3.

[bcjenkins]

Originally Posted by silkshadow

Holy cow, if thats what I think it is, I'll pay for the upgrade today. Will that really cut out the commericals from the video file itself? Would it be possible to mark clips to cut out? Is a mpeg editor part of the new version? Because thats a feature I have been wanting which MythTV has.

I'm no expert.. But I think this means it will only be as good as your comskip showanalyzer detection.

b

[silkshadow]

I'm no expert.. But I think this means it will only be as good as your comskip showanalyzer detection.

Re-reading it, you might be right. Awww, I was getting excited.

[jrgarrett]

I am having the same problem as pilotguy7ca. I have disabled "use default compression" which only removes the "compress" option from the menu.

Originally Posted by pilotguy7ca

Ok, so I must be doing something wrong. After I've imported the SageMC_VideoTools_STVi.xml and enabled it in the SageMC/Extras and then go to some recorded tv I've got and try and send it to "Burn to DVD" my send to options are still only "Compress, Archive or Playlist"? What should I look for or try?? I'm experiencing this same issue on both a SageClient and an MVP. Running Sage v6.14 and SageMC v6.3.

[ikarus79m]

Hey EvilPenguin,

this looks great thank you. Do you think, for a future version, you could also integrate an option that allows us to copy (unprotected) DVD's to a specified DVD import folder.

This would allow for easy Rip to Hardrive function straight from withing the SageTV interface.

Here is a quote from another user who told me how that could be done:

Secondly, it sounds like what you need is a stvi which asks you to name the video folder then copies using xcopy or the like to the folder it just created based on the name you provided.

Should be fairly straight forward to those who knows studio. The folder naming and browsing widgets are already there. Everything should copy fine because the DVD is not encrypted anyways.

I think we wouldn't even need to enter a name, since that could be extracted from the DVD name itself.

Unfortunatly I don't know anything about studio, but I thought this might fit into your stv really well.

What do you think?

[banmj]

Originally Posted by jrgarrett

I am having the same problem as pilotguy7ca. I have disabled "use default compression" which only removes the "compress" option from the menu.

I am having this problem also.

[mickp]

Originally Posted by pilotguy7ca

I love the work you put into this plugin and used the previous one with v5 and have anxiously awaited using it once again with v6 and now I'm stuck!

Ok, so I must be doing something wrong. After I've imported the SageMC_VideoTools_STVi.xml and enabled it in the SageMC/Extras and then go to some recorded tv I've got and try and send it to "Burn to DVD" my send to options are still only "Compress, Archive or Playlist"? What should I look for or try?? I'm experiencing this same issue on both a SageClient and an MVP. Running Sage v6.14 and SageMC v6.3.

Me too . I've also tried disabling the default compression option. Does anyone have any ideas where I might be going wrong? I tried configuring my main pc which runs sage tv client as the burning, compressing, scheduling machine and am pretty sure that I've followed all of the instructions. Should this work? I also tried configuring my sage server with the scheduling option and don't see the new send to options on it either.

Would it help for me to post my config files? Is there anything that I can try poking around for in studio for that might help track down the problem?

This looks great. Can't wait to get it going on my systems.

Mick.

[evilpenguin]

I just tryed it out on my all of my machines and the import appears to be working so...

#1 - Go to your settings screen and make sure your SageMC version is 6.3.0. I know a lot of times i'll upgrade, but forget that the upgrade only overwrites the SageMC.xml file, but i'm using a SageMC-X.xmi. I know for a fact this won't work in any previous version of SageMC.

#2 - Make sure you go to the SageMC Options->Extras and enable what you want, and if you want to try my compresion also go to the SageMC Options->Main->Use Default Compression and disable it.

If you've done all of that and it's still not working, you can check to see if it linked properly in Studio by opening it up (ctrl+shift+f12) and opening up "SageMC Video Tools" hook and seeing if my code is actually linked. If you look in the tree you'll see a lot of lines like "REM Added code..." and if they are successfully linked, they'll be in bold.

If none of this is successful, go ahead and quit Sage, Open Sage, reimport the plug-in, quit Sage again, and then zip up sagetv_0.txt and the stv the import created (SageMC-X.xml) and post it on the forum for me to check out.

Sorry everyone's having so much trouble with this, i'll do my best to get it straightened out tommorow.

[evilpenguin]

Originally Posted by JDizzy

If I enable the Other Programs the file I am transcoding shows up there as an icon with a green background.

Is this icon supposed to have anything other than just the name of the video being transcoded? (I thought I saw some screen shots of colored balls on a white background showing the status of file).... (or could this be what you and flachbar were just discussing as far as the folder not being created??)

If I use the Custom Menu through Sage MC, it does not show the status or files in queue....
It would be awesome if there was a way to tie this into the MC custom menu display but it is probably not possible.
-JD

Yeah, there should be some pictures popping up for you too. Go ahead and look in your Other Programs folder (C:\sageOthers by default) and see if there actually any images in there. If there aren't, but there are shortcuts and batch files, then post your dvdlist.log and a .qdvd.log file on the forum for me to check out.

[evilpenguin]

Originally Posted by ikarus79m

This would allow for easy Rip to Hardrive function straight from withing the SageTV interface.

Once the dust settles on this, there are a few DVD'centric features i'd like to add, and this is one of them. It'll be a while though.