[mythtv-users] Manual record/stop

Lane Schwartz dowobeha at gmail.com
Wed Dec 1 21:16:04 UTC 2004


On Wed, 01 Dec 2004 15:56:32 -0500, Matt Vollmar <matt at vollmars.com> wrote:
> Lane Schwartz wrote:
> >I agreed that current Myth functionality is not well suited to copying
> >videos from a VCR.
> >
> >I have several dozen old home movies to archive to DVD, and I'm still
> >trying to come up with a good way of doing this.
> >
> >
> >Ideally, I'd like to see a "VHS dub" mode in Myth. In this mode, you
> >could configure Myth to record for X minutes (ex 120 mins), then hit a
> >key or button to "begin recording now".
> >
> >This is different from recording Live TV because you can set an end
> >time. It is different from the manual recording mode because you can
> >press the  "begin recording now" key as you press play on the VCR; in
> >manual mode you have to set the time for the start of the recording,
> >and then try to press play at the exact time you have scheduled - this
> >is not a trivial difference.
> >
> >I'd like to try implementing this myself, and I may try later this
> >month when I'm on vacation. But my C++ skills are a bit rusty... so
> >we'll see.
> >
> >Other advanced functions that I think would be very useful in a "VCR
> >dub" mode would be "blank screen detection." A lot of my home videos
> >don't use the whole tape. Consequently, if I dub the whole tape onto
> >the computer, I often end up with 10-20 minutes of blank, blue screen
> >at the end of the tape. It would be great if this could be marked
> >automatically, in a similar manner to how commercials are detected.
> >
> >Anyway, enough daydreaming for now...
> >
> >Lane
> >
> >
> >
> >
> This doesn't seem all that difficult to me.  You just set the recording
> for a few minutes more than the tape length, watch your status of
> recording on either MythWeb or in the status screen in Myth.  When it
> says recording, press play.  When it is done, press stop.  Then, use the
> edit mode to create a cut-list.  You can then transcode or do whatever
> with it.  Of course, I don't have any tapes to put on the computer.
> Additionally, seems like the C++ shouldn't be that hard to add a hot key
> for it, and have it prompt you at the end for a name, etc.
> 
> I love Myth.
> 
> Matt


You're completely right - it is possible now to dub VHS tapes into
Myth. I'm just saying it's not as convenient as I think it could be.
Part of the reason that I don't like the method that you describe is
that it leads to blank blue screen at the beginning of the recording.

I use a PVR-250 and record to MPEG2, then do a MPEG2->MPEG2 export
using nuvexport. For whatever reason I've sometimes had audio sync
issues when I do the nuvexport if I do a commercial cut at the
beginning of a recording (but only, it seems, if the recording was a
VHS dub). Because of that, the "begin recording now" functionality
would be better for me than the timed manual recording.

Hmmm.... Anyone know what the best method is for putting in a feature
request? (Other than implementing it myself :)  Is it OK to send
messages of that sort to the myth-dev list?

I think you're right - if someone was familiar with the code, I
suspect that adding a mode like this wouldn't be too hard. Then again,
I haven't looked at the code.... :}

Lane

-- 
"No, we've had no evidence that Saddam Hussein was involved in 9/11."
-- George W. Bush, 17 Sept 2003


More information about the mythtv-users mailing list