[mythtv-users] confused newbie

[Cedric Tefft]

t+mythtv wrote:

> Sorry if this is a question with an obvious answer - maybe I'm just 
> not getting the MythTV interface.  But I hope that's the case - it'd 
> be nice if this is a simple lack of understanding.
>
> Does MythTV actually have a feature to cut out sections of a recorded 
> video?  I found and used the editing controls - I set cut points to 
> strip the commercials out of a recorded program.  But then what?  How 
> do I get Myth to actually removed the segments marked for deletion?
>
> I thought maybe the cut points would come into play when the video was 
> transcoded - but I can't seem to get the transcoding to work either.

You understand correctly, you just need to get transcoding working.

>
> The transcode package is installed (although it was NOT installed when 
> mythtv was compiled) and mythtranscode exists in /usr/local/bin with 
> the rest of the MythTV binaries.

This sounds a little suspicious.  I compiled myth 0.15.1 from source and 
mythtranscode was installed automatically.  What did you have to do to 
get it installed on your system?

>
> When I select "Begin Transcoding", the menu item changes to "Stop 
> Transcoding", as though the transcoding process has begin, but it 
> never changes back, and there's no transcode (or mythtranscode) 
> process running.

On my system, it takes several seconds for mythtranscode to appear in 
the process table.  My assumption is that there's a transcode queue 
somewhere that's polled periodically by an internal process.  I would 
check the output of your backend's output for any entries that have to 
do with transcoding.  Here's a bit of mine (for comparison):

myth:/var/log/mythtv > grep -i transcod backend
2004-08-14 22:53:04 Transcoding from 
/data/video/store/1240_20040814224600_20040
814224600.nuv to 
/data/video/store/1240_20040814224600_20040814224600.nuv.tmp
2004-08-14 22:54:22 Transcoding 
/data/video/store/1240_20040814224600_2004081422
4600.nuv done
2004-08-14 23:00:04 Transcoding from 
/data/video/store/1241_20040814225700_20040
814225700.nuv to 
/data/video/store/1241_20040814225700_20040814225700.nuv.tmp
2004-08-14 23:00:45 Transcoding 
/data/video/store/1241_20040814225700_2004081422
5700.nuv done
2004-08-14 23:16:04 Transcoding from 
/data/video/store/1102_20040814230800_20040
814230900.nuv to 
/data/video/store/1102_20040814230800_20040814230900.nuv.tmp
2004-08-14 23:19:10 Transcoding 
/data/video/store/1102_20040814230800_2004081423
0900.nuv done
2004-08-14 23:27:04 Transcoding from 
/data/video/store/1210_20040809165900_20040
809190000.nuv to 
/data/video/store/1210_20040809165900_20040809190000.nuv.tmp
2004-08-15 03:04:34 Transcoding 
/data/video/store/1210_20040809165900_2004080919
0000.nuv done
2004-08-15 03:05:12 Transcoding from 
/data/video/store/1106_20040812203000_20040
812210000.nuv to 
/data/video/store/1106_20040812203000_20040812210000.nuv.tmp
2004-08-15 03:28:36 Transcoding 
/data/video/store/1106_20040812203000_2004081221
0000.nuv done

>
> There are two "transcoder" recoding profiles defined in the MythTV 
> set-up, one for RTJPEG to MPEG4, and that one is set to initiate 
> transcoding after a recording is made.  The "default" profile is also 
> set to begin transcoding when a recording is made.

If you're manually editing the file to mark the commercials, you 
probably don't want to set automatic transcoding because Myth will (once 
it's working) start transcoding your recording immediately after it's 
done: before you get a chance to make your edits.  This automatic 
transcode is largely a waste of processing power since you'll want to 
transcode again to actually remove your cuts once you have marked them.

Also, BTW, you didn't mention which TV tuner card you're using.  Does it 
generate RTJPEG streams?  If it's generating MPEG2 streams, you need to 
set up the other transcoding profile.

>
> Maybe the problem is that I'm not understanding how to use the 
> recording profiles.  I see that I can have multiple recording 
> profiles, but how do I tell Mythtv to actually use one of the profiles?

See advanced options when you set up a recording.  There is a 'profile' 
field.

>
> Enlightenment would be appreciated.  Thanks...
>
> -- 
> Trever
>
>
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