Utility: MediaShrink v3.0 - An HTPC focused encoder

[nyplayer]

EP,

Another thing to consider on your next release... I noticed that you do a copy from the workfolder to the destination file. If you do a move it will save bandwidth, if you are not using a central workfolder. Plus a move happens right away less chance of failure.

[Korny]

Does Mediashrink have the ability to detect which audio track is largest(typically english) and use it by default. I'm working on a Linux bash script that will do a lot of the same things as mediashrink using Linux command line and WINE for comskip but the biggest problem I'm having is one of my TV channels can't decide which channel to put the english audio track on. So sometimes in ffmpeg I can do map 0:0 and map 0:1 which will result in the first file its not always the english file if that makes sense.

[Biggen]

How do I use the /inPlace command if I want to use the "drag & drop" method? Is there any specific way it needs to be added to the .bat file?

[pingmustard]

A few of my encoded videos can't be played back. I used the default MediaShrink to re-encode my dvd. Some of them play back fine, others don't... anyone else have this problem?

[Thron]

How do I get it to keep the same resolution as the source? Im having a hell of a time with it. The source will be 720x480, but after it goes through it will go to 640x358. Basically all of the videos are letter box.
I'm using batch mode with the following settings

start "MediaShrink" /B /LOW /WAIT mediaShrink.exe F:\temp\%NEW_FILE% /centralworkfolder f:\temp\ /handbrakeProfile "High Profile" /container mp4 /twopass /acodec ac3 /vprofile HQ /vbitrate 2500 /cutComm /tee

Any suggestions?

[phelme]

Anyone else having issues with NBC shows (recorded via DirecTV and an HD-PVR) having all the audio shifted to the right channel by MediaShrink? Happening to all my Community and Celebrity Apprentice shows lately.

[BKeadle]

Originally Posted by evilpenguin

Absolutely! Hopefully i'll have some time to look at it this weekend.

Hey EP - you posted this back in January. Is v3.0.4 still the latest version (what I could find from the DOWNLOAD link at the beginning of this thread)? Perusing here seems like there were various issues (with handbrake?) - I'm wondering if they've been resolved and if it's safe to use the latestest version.

Also, can .MKV be converted to .MP4?
(EDITED:yes, .MKV *can* be converted to .MP4 - cool)

[BKeadle]

Originally Posted by BKeadle

I'm processing a home video, and I'm getting this over and over at the end of the log:

Encoding: task 1 of 1, 100.00 %Encoding: task 1 of 1, 100.00 %Encoding: task 1 of 1, 100.00 %Encoding: task 1 of 1, 100.00 %
*** libdvdread: CHECK_VALUE failed in nav_read.c:264 ***
*** for dsi->dsi_gi.zero1 == 0 ***

I'm doing a DVD\VIDEO_TS conversion and noticed the .MP4 file continued to grow beyond 6GB - the .VOB is less than 2GB, so I figured something was awry. Tailing the 6MB log file, I see the above entry over and over again - so presumably this would continue until the disk was full! Searching this forum for that output, reveals that I posted this same thing on 5/2010 (over a year ago). So, any idea what the problem is here?

[BKeadle]

Originally Posted by nyplayer

PS Also make sure in details customized "Automatically add converted videos to database" is set to YES

Where is this "details" that you mention?

[BKeadle]

Originally Posted by BKeadle

Hey EP - you posted this back in January. Is v3.0.4 still the latest version (what I could find from the DOWNLOAD link at the beginning of this thread)? Perusing here seems like there were various issues (with handbrake?) - I'm wondering if they've been resolved and if it's safe to use the latestest version.

Also, can .MKV be converted to .MP4?

...BUMP...

EP, are doing any more work with MediaShrink? Specifically, incorporating HandBrake 9.5?

[BKeadle]

I converted a video to .MP4 only to find that there is no audio when trying to play on my iPad. I think I understand that the iPad requires AAC audio codec instead of MP3? So I thought I could reconvert the .MP4 to .MP4 with AAC, but I get this result:

  + Adding per run options: (/inputFile "V:\Videos\LietoMe-KillerApp-1194186-0.mp4" /profile )(/inputFile "V:\Videos\LietoMe-KillerApp-1194186-0.mp4" /profile )
    + Parsing switches
      - optionsString: /inputFile "V:\Videos\LietoMe-KillerApp-1194186-0.mp4" /profile 
        - Replacing quote0: V:\Videos\LietoMe-KillerApp-1194186-0.mp4
      - Adding to to options Hash
        + Key: inputFile ()
        + Value: V:\Videos\LietoMe-KillerApp-1194186-0.mp4
      - Adding to to options Hash
        + Key: profile ()
  + Processing: inputFile = LietoMe-KillerApp-1194186-0
  + Looking for profile: 
Couldn't find encode profile:

Is this illegal? Anything more I need to know about converting videos so that they can both play on my SageTV and my iPad?

[wayner]

I think you can use the iPhone profile in the built-in Sage TV transcoder. I also have used Handbrake and I kick off the process with SJQ.

[BKeadle]

Originally Posted by wayner

I think you can use the iPhone profile in the built-in Sage TV transcoder. I also have used Handbrake and I kick off the process with SJQ.

What's your source video? MP4? I think iPhone would be low resolution for my iPad.

[wayner]

True but this is changeable in the sage.properties file. Here is what I have for iDevices:

transcoder/formats/iPhone-Standard=f\=mp4;MCompressionDetails\=-coder 0 -flags +loop -cmp +chroma -partitions +parti8x8+parti4x4+partp8x8+partb8x8 -me_method umh -subq 8 -me_range 16 -g 250 -keyint_min 25 -sc_threshold 40 -i_qfactor 0.71 -b_strategy 2 -qcomp 0.6 -qmin 10 -qmax 51 -qdiff 4 -bf 0 -refs 5 -directpred 3 -trellis 1 -flags2 -wpred-dct8x8 -wpredp 0 -rc_lookahead 50 -level 13 -maxrate 768000 -bufsize 3000000 -async 50;[bf\=vid;f\=h264;br\=640000;fps\=29.97;w\=480;h\=368;arn\=4;ard\=3;][bf\=aud;f\=aac;sr\=48000;ch\=2;br\=128000;]
transcoder/formats/iPhone-Widescreen=f\=mp4;MCompressionDetails\=-coder 0 -flags +loop -cmp +chroma -partitions +parti8x8+parti4x4+partp8x8+partb8x8 -me_method umh -subq 8 -me_range 16 -g 250 -keyint_min 25 -sc_threshold 40 -i_qfactor 0.71 -b_strategy 2 -qcomp 0.6 -qmin 10 -qmax 51 -qdiff 4 -bf 0 -refs 5 -directpred 3 -trellis 1 -flags2 -wpred-dct8x8 -wpredp 0 -rc_lookahead 50 -level 13 -maxrate 768000 -bufsize 3000000 -async 50;[bf\=vid;f\=h264;br\=640000;fps\=29.97;w\=480;h\=272;arn\=16;ard\=9;][bf\=aud;f\=aac;sr\=48000;ch\=2;br\=128000;]
transcoder/formats/iPod-Fair\ Quality=f\=mp4;MCompressionDetails\=-bufsize 33554432 -g 300;[bf\=vid;f\=mpeg4;br\=500000;fps\=29.97;w\=512;h\=384;arn\=4;ard\=3;][bf\=aud;f\=aac;sr\=44100;ch\=2;br\=64000;]
transcoder/formats/iPod-Good\ Quality=f\=mp4;MCompressionDetails\=-maxrate 1250000 -bufsize 33554432 -g 300;[bf\=vid;f\=mpeg4;br\=1000000;fps\=29.97;w\=512;h\=384;arn\=4;ard\=3;][bf\=aud;f\=aac;sr\=44100;ch\=2;br\=96000;]
transcoder/formats/iPod-High\ Quality=f\=mp4;MCompressionDetails\=-maxrate 2500000 -qmin 3 -qmax 5 -bufsize 33554432 -g 300;[bf\=vid;f\=mpeg4;br\=1800000;fps\=29.97;w\=512;h\=384;arn\=4;ard\=3;][bf\=aud;f\=aac;sr\=44100;ch\=2;br\=128000;]

Change the settings to a different resolution, and create a new line called iPad and you are good to go.

[BKeadle]

Excellent - thank you Wayner.

As for my "Couldn't find encode profile", actually it looks like this is for any video now. I'm not sure what broke. What does this mean? I'm unable to process via SJQ nor drag video to MediaShrink.bat or MediaShrink.exe. This is my mediaShrink.defaults.txt:

/batch /inPlace /container mp4 /saveLog /onePass /findFileRegEx "avi|mpg|mkv|mp4|mpeg|VIDEO_TS|ts|ogm|divx|mpts|dvr-ms"

[nyplayer]

This is what the original looks like. You really do not need to change the default ... all your substitutions should be done in SJQ or create a new batch job. Changing the defaults only leads to trouble as you see you removed the default profile.

/batch /onlyWhenVprj /saveLog /defaultProfile autoEncode /findFileRegEx "avi|mpg|mkv|mp4|mpeg|VIDEO_TS|ts|ogm|divx|mpts|dvr-ms"

[BKeadle]

Thank you. I get confused about editing the defaults vs. passing the parameters and which takes precedence. Passed paramters take precedence over what in defaults - especially where conflict occurs?

If I create a new .bat file, where would I put my "hardcode" preferences:

 /handbrakeProfile "Universal" /container mp4

Should that go on the .EXE line, after the /tee?

[BKeadle]

Originally Posted by BKeadle

...BUMP...

EP, are doing any more work with MediaShrink? Specifically, incorporating HandBrake 9.5?

Well, I took a leap and just replace HandBrake 9.4 with HandBrake 9.5 and I see MediaShrink picks it up and uses it without incident - sa-weet!

Anyone aware of a reason *NOT* to do this?

[DVBtCi]

Hi all,
I'm trying to convert a recording from HD-PVR (file is *.TS) to a MKV format.

When i play it with GOM or WinMediaPlayer, in action scenes, the moving object/portion of the image with have lines just as in a low quality movie.

In the conversion process, i do not want to reduce the size of the TS file but only convert it to an other format and MediaShrink does a great job. I always had problems using other tools to convert TS files.

Here are the specs of the original file (HD) :

Seems stream 0 codec frame rate differs from container frame rate: 59.94 (60000/1001) -> 29.97 (30000/1001)
Input #0, mpegts, from 'C:\Users\y\Videos\HDArthur3guerre2010-Arthur3Laguerredesdeuxmondes.ts':
Duration: 01:41:04.39, start: 0.166656, bitrate: 4615 kb/s
Program 1
Stream #0.0[0x1011], 1/90000: Video: h264, yuv420p, 720x480, 1001/30000, AR: 4:3, interlaced, 29.97 fps
Stream #0.1[0x1100](eng), 1/90000: Audio: ac3, 48000 Hz, stereo, s16, 384 kb/s

I've tried increasing the bit rate with no success
I cannot set the FPS to 59.94 as in the original file
And i do not know what else can be change to set proper screen play !
What settings may i play with that would help ?

Yours,

[coppit]

Below is a script that I posted in the SJQ4 thread. My problem was that HandBrake would sometimes get "stuck", causing the mediaShrink process to never return.

This script enforces a timeout while passing the output from mediaShrink through. The feature to pass the output through while the program runs and is being timed is what makes it a little complicated. Call it as:

C:\Windows\System32\cscript.exe "C:\path\to\script.vbs" "C:\path\to\file.mpeg"

' In seconds
timeout = 1 * 60 * 60
checkInterval = 60

command = """C:\Program Files (x86)\SageTV\SageTV\MediaShrink\MediaShrink.bat"" " & WScript.Arguments.Item(0)

Set fso = CreateObject("Scripting.FileSystemObject")
tempOutFilePath = fso.GetSpecialFolder(2) & "\" & fso.GetTempName
tempErrFilePath = fso.GetSpecialFolder(2) & "\" & fso.GetTempName

Set shell = CreateObject("WScript.Shell")

redirectedCommand = command & " >" & tempOutFilePath & " 2>" & tempErrFilePath
Set oExec = shell.Exec(redirectedCommand)

WScript.StdOut.Writeline "Process has PID " & oExec.ProcessID

' Sleep a little to give the process a time to create the output files
WScript.Sleep 100

' For checking the file size
Set tempOutSizeFile = fso.GetFile(tempOutFilePath)
Set tempErrSizeFile = fso.GetFile(tempErrFilePath)
' For reading the file
Set tempOutReadFile = fso.OpenTextfile(tempOutFilePath)
Set tempErrReadFile = fso.OpenTextfile(tempErrFilePath)

oldTempOutFileSize = 0
oldTempErrFileSize = 0
startTime = Timer
timeoutExpired = False

While oExec.Status = 0 and timeoutExpired = False
  if Timer - startTime > timeout then
'    WScript.StdOut.Writeline "Timeout of " & timeout & " exceeded. Killing process and all its children"

    shell.Run "taskkill /t /f /pid " & oExec.ProcessID, 0, True

    timeoutExpired = True
  end if

  if (tempOutSizeFile.Size > oldTempOutFileSize) then
'    WScript.StdOut.Writeline "Passing through " & (tempOutSizeFile.Size - oldTempOutFileSize) & " more bytes of STDOUT"
    Wscript.StdOut.Write(tempOutReadFile.Read(tempOutSizeFile.Size - oldTempOutFileSize))
    oldTempOutFileSize = tempOutSizeFile.Size
  end if

  if (tempErrSizeFile.Size > oldTempErrFileSize) then
'    WScript.StdOut.Writeline "Passing through " & (tempErrSizeFile.Size - oldTempErrFileSize) & " more bytes of STDERR"
    Wscript.StdErr.Write(tempErrReadFile.Read(tempErrSizeFile.Size - oldTempErrFileSize))
    oldTempErrFileSize = tempErrSizeFile.Size
  end if

'  WScript.StdOut.Writeline "Waiting " & checkInterval & " more seconds. " & (timeout - (Timer - startTime)) & _
'    " seconds remain."

  WScript.Sleep checkInterval * 1000
Wend

tempOutReadFile.Close
fso.DeleteFile tempOutFilePath

tempErrReadFile.Close
fso.DeleteFile tempErrFilePath

if timeoutExpired = True then
  WScript.Quit 1
else
  WScript.Quit oExec.ExitCode
end if