[mythtv-users] Avisynth and myth directshow filters

[Alan J. Snyder]

The following might be of use to some people who have reasonably fast
windows machines and need to convert from mpeg4 nuv files to mpeg2 for DVD
recording.

Because my myth box is just a 1 GHz Athlon recording MPEG4, I've had a hard
time with coversion to DVD format.  I have a much faster family desktop
machine running windows, and have found that the tmpgenc encoder for windows
(www.tmpgenc.net/) is fast and gives good quality.  Tmpgenc will not work
with nuv files directly because it can't assemble directshow filter chains.
However, avisynth (www.avisynth.org) provides a pseudo-avi file for programs
that don't use directshow.  I have a cron job that generates a directory of
.avs files with convenient file names, each containing a line such as

DirectShowSource("\\mythbox\tv\1004_20040418200000_20040418203000.nuv",fps=3
0,seek=true)

You can edit this avs file with avsedit to cut commercials, or edit in
tmpgenc, or edit later when you master the DVD.  Avisynth also provides
various filtering, cropping, etc.

Done this way, my 2.4 GHz P4 converts programs in around 130% of real time
(e.g., 35-40 minutes for a 30-minute show).

I will, with a certain degree of embarassment, post my cron script on
request.  It's just a hack of Dale Gass' mythlink.sh from the contrib
directory.

Note - tmpgenc is commercial software - 30-day trial or around $30.

*****E-Mail Confidentiality Notice*****
This message (including any attachments) contains information intended for a
specific individual(s) and purpose that may be privileged, confidential or
otherwise protected from disclosure pursuant to applicable law.  Any
inappropriate use, distribution or copying of the message is strictly
prohibited and may subject you to criminal or civil penalty.  If you have
received this transmission in error, please reply to the sender indicating
this error and delete the transmission from your system immediately.