xvid divx & dlna

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4098 posts

Uber Geek

Subscriber

#878194 14-Aug-2013 16:16

It probably does come back to what is the best/easiest thing to do:
1) Send some sample files to the PVR support and say I want you to fix your product
2) Try and work out what the circumstances that cause problems in the file(s) - might be useful for (1) above
3) Just re-encode them to something the PVR is happy with

I suppose a fix for 1 would be most ideal - especially if you are still 'acquiring' files for your collection. Are you still acquiring files that have issues? How many (%age) of the avi/xvid files go out of sync?

I see that PVR is also supposed to support mkv files - as mentioned before mkv/avi/mp4 are all containers that can store different audio/video/subtitle streams etc. They have the streams stored in different ways within the files. MKV files and mp4 files are a lot more common that a few years ago. If converting then to mp4/mkv works then there are some batch tools available.

Nothing is impossible for the man who doesn't have to do it himself - A. H. Weiler

jiranz

24 posts

Geek

#878201 14-Aug-2013 16:32

I can not find any xvid AVI files on my system which I can load into MPEG4Modifier that will play correctly on my pvr.
(I have hundreds of avi files but MPEG4Modifier program does not recognise them as mpeg4)

I found a program called Sherlock which finds all the codecs installed on your pc. In my case I have 44 video codecs and several of these are xvid. I suspect that one of these is playing the files correctly on my pc but the one that is installed in the pvr (hardware?) is not the optimum version needed to play these files.

Re tweaking:
I started with one file and made multiple copies of it each with a minor tweak change but nothing made any difference on playback. I could see that the saved size has changed a little so something was modified but playback result was exactly the same.

I have done the following test if it can be interpreted properly...

I played the same file on the pvr and on my pc simultaneously
(I mean literally the same original file which is on the pvr hdd)

Using two stopwatches I measured the time elapsed between the same two two audio sounds on both players.
pvr = 07:59.69
pc = 08:06.00

This indicates that the audio is being played much faster on the pvr than on the pc (Classic Media Player). The pc remains in audio/video sync so why would the audio on the pvr be playing so much faster?

it seems that the video is playing at the same rate on both because when stopped at the audio marker both were NOT at the same frames.

What does it mean?

jiranz

24 posts

Geek

#878236 14-Aug-2013 17:19

robjg63: It probably does come back to what is the best/easiest thing to do:
...
3) Just re-encode them to something the PVR is happy with

...If converting then to mp4/mkv works then there are some batch tools available.

You are right. I got a free video converter program down from Koyote Soft which does batch conversion of many video formats and has presets for people like me. I have dragged the first batch of about 50 files into it and will let them be converted to mp4 then see how it goes.

So I have to conclude that
1) the pvr is not faulty
2) the avi files are not faulty
3) the pvr will not play the avi files.
4) its a no-win situation.

I guess i should just try to avoid anything to do with AVI for the future!

Thanks again for all your help!

farcus

1554 posts

Uber Geek

#878378 14-Aug-2013 20:53

jiranz:
robjg63: It probably does come back to what is the best/easiest thing to do:
...
3) Just re-encode them to something the PVR is happy with

...If converting then to mp4/mkv works then there are some batch tools available.

You are right. I got a free video converter program down from Koyote Soft which does batch conversion of many video formats and has presets for people like me. I have dragged the first batch of about 50 files into it and will let them be converted to mp4 then see how it goes.

So I have to conclude that
1) the pvr is not faulty
2) the avi files are not faulty
3) the pvr will not play the avi files.
4) its a no-win situation.

I guess i should just try to avoid anything to do with AVI for the future!

Thanks again for all your help!

you are jumping to some incorrect assumptions.
.avi is just a container that hold the video and audio together. If the pvr recognises the container, that is enough. It should not effect the playback of the file. It's what you put inside that container that is of most importance.
avi is probably still the most commonly used container (because of its windows association) - is it as good as .mp4 or mkv? - probably not, but it will not be the cause of your problem.

Have you tried my suggestion of re-encoding the audio?
To re-encode the video might take between 20 and 60 minutes per file. To re-encode just the audio should take less than 1 min per file. If that works - it is a whole lot less work.

jiranz

24 posts

Geek

#878460 14-Aug-2013 23:56

How do i re-encode just the audio whilst leaving the video untouched?

Does that avidemux program do this?
Does it do batch files?
(If you know)

(I am well into the full conversion process which could take 24 hours and don't want to interrupt it just to try something unless you can tell me it is the right program for the job)

farcus

1554 posts

Uber Geek

#878464 15-Aug-2013 00:20

jiranz: How do i re-encode just the audio whilst leaving the video untouched?

Does that avidemux program do this?
Does it do batch files?
(If you know)

(I am well into the full conversion process which could take 24 hours and don't want to interrupt it just to try something unless you can tell me it is the right program for the job)

load the file into avidemux and select as per the image and then save as either an avi (.avi), mp4v2 (.mp4) or mkv (.mkv) by selecting the appropriate output format

post back here if it works and I'll explain how to batch convert.

jiranz

24 posts

Geek

#878468 15-Aug-2013 01:02

I got down the latest v2.6.4 (r8871). it just unzips to a folder (no installer) It doesn't look like your screenshot. The skin is grey but that may be a selection?

I dragged a sample file into its main window but I can't see how to set the output folder and there doesn't seem to be a Start button to begin the conversion process? Help is not helpful.
I guess i am stuck.

Sharesies

Trade NZ and US shares and funds with Sharesies (affiliate link).

farcus

1554 posts

Uber Geek

#878469 15-Aug-2013 01:12

jiranz: I got down the latest v2.6.4 (r8871). it just unzips to a folder (no installer) It doesn't look like your screenshot. The skin is grey but that may be a selection?

I dragged a sample file into its main window but I can't see how to set the output folder and there doesn't seem to be a Start button to begin the conversion process? Help is not helpful.
I guess i am stuck.

I am using Linux - you are using windows - so it is gonna look a little different. Don't worry, it is just cosmetic.

after you have set as I advised go to File > Save (or click on the floppy disc icon (left)).
Name your file with the extn (e.g. move.avi. movie.mp4, movie.mkv) depending on what container you selected in output format.

select the output folder and then Save

then wait for it to complete. A 45 minute file should take about 30 seconds to encode to ac3 (depending on the speed of your computer)

farcus

1554 posts

Uber Geek

#878471 15-Aug-2013 01:29

here's another couple of screens to help you out.
Again - I am using Linux so my file manager is going to look different to windows file manager (explorer) but the steps should be the same.

click the save icon

name the file and save

wait a short time while it works

jiranz

24 posts

Geek

#878482 15-Aug-2013 03:14

Something must have gone wrong with my install of the 13 Aug Build. I reverted to the May build (last stable version) and it works OK now. Thanks also for your instructions.

Changing the audio whilst doing a copy of the video did not solve the a/v syncing problem.

Looks like I will have to settle for a full conversion.
I have done a few for comparisons.

Of these, I think Avidemux may do a better job than the Koyote Soft product (seems sharper and more clear) but with 400 files to convert, it would be a hassle to have to rename them all one by one as avidemux doesn't support auto naming.
By contrast, I can just drag and drop into Koyote and it retains the same name and just changes the file extension to suit so it can be left to run unattended.

Is there any way i can do a simple unattended batch conversion with avidemux retaining the original file names?

farcus

1554 posts

Uber Geek

#878483 15-Aug-2013 04:16

Is there any way i can do a simple unattended batch conversion with avidemux retaining the original file names?

sadly no. You need to name each job and also give it a file name and extn.

You could try Handbrake.
It uses mostly the same libraries as avidemux but can name files and extensions automatically.
It will only save as .mp4 or .mkv though and encoding choices are mpeg4asp(xvid/divx) or x264.

If you are re-encoding everything then probably best to select x264 as it will give you the smallest file size.

jiranz

24 posts

Geek

#878536 15-Aug-2013 08:50

I did a search on google for - how avidemux batch? - and found other people must have been asking the same question because a number of sites had example instructions on how to create a batch file which converts and preserves the same filenames with the new extension in a single folder.

I might try creating a batch file from the examples i found.

nickrout

219 posts

Master Geek

#878569 15-Aug-2013 09:49

Rather than re-encoding the audio I would just try remuxing - thy mkvmerge and just transfer to an mkv container.

robjg63

4098 posts

Uber Geek

Subscriber

#878615 15-Aug-2013 11:02

I was wondering if that was an option - I understood that the containers *can* have an effect on how something is decoded.

If pulling the audio and video streams out intact and then putting them into a new container (remuxing with mkvmerge) fixed the issues then it certainly should be fairly quick to do compared to re-encoding the streams.

I havent used mkvmerge for a while but I think it has options for you to open up an avi file and it will pull the streams apart and reassemble as an mkv file. Wouldnt hurt to try it. mkvmerge is one of a set of tools called mkvtoolnix. mkvmerge gui is the gui version - and it has some queueing ability as well.

It did appear that mkv is supported on that PVR - found it mentioned on one of the sellers sites.

Nothing is impossible for the man who doesn't have to do it himself - A. H. Weiler

jiranz

24 posts

Geek

#878630 15-Aug-2013 11:16

nickrout: Rather than re-encoding the audio I would just try remuxing - thy mkvmerge and just transfer to an mkv container.

I looked it up and think it may be a bit complex for me at this stage. I was a bit intimidated at the level of expertise being assumed in some of the forum discussions.
Consider that I only discovered what DLNA was two weeks ago! The immediate problem is that my pvr will not play the file types i have most of and its been a hard learning curve to get this far to accept that i have to change all the files. I have to accept that neither the files nor the pvr are at fault but they are just not compatible.

Re the conversion, I am willing to give anything a go, especially if it minimizes the time element of the task ahead, but ideally all I want to do is drag and drop 400 files into a program from various folders and come back later to find they have all been created in a designated new single folder and renamed with their original filenames + the new container extension (mkv or whatever)

I think you are suggesting that MKV merge option will short circuit the time process. In that case its a definite possibility

Will the mkvmerge GUI allow this batch operation by design or does it require a user created script file running on a command line (as with avidemux?).

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