[mythtv-users] RE: Archiving Shows to DVD

[John P. Mitchell]

All,

> For archiving to DVD I use my Mac.  I just transfer over the .nuv file
> (which is really MPEG-2), rename it .mpg, MPEGStream to get it into DV
> format, and use Quicktime Pro to cut out the commercials.  I can then
> use iDVD to make a disc with cool menus, etc.  Easy.
>
> Assuming you have a Mac, that is ;).
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   I started this way, but it takes forever time wise on my Mac Mini and
my quality was pretty bad with all the reencoding that went on. Also,
iDVD is not good for controlling the bit rate on the final DVD. iDVD
would record my content at full DVD quality which would just fit a one
hour show on my single layer DVD-R (lame!).

   I am now doing the following with Linux which takes far less CPU time,
but does take a fair amount of I/O time. Which of course assumes you
have a Linux box.

   1. Demux/Cut MPEG2 content from MythTV with Java based ProjectX. You
can download ProjectX from http://www.doom9.org/DigiTV/projectx.htm .
This application not only has the ability to cut the MPEG (only on
keyframes) without reencoding, but it appears to have fixed all of the
audio sync problems for me. I have yet to tackle real long stuff but my
kids two hour shows are fine.

   2. Re-multiplex audio/video streams with mplex

   3. Create DVD structures with dvdauthor

   4. Create DVD ISO with mkisofs (not sure why others are using
growisofs, mkisofs works fine for me).

   5. Copy DVD ISO to my Mac for burning (My Mac has the only DVD burner
in the house.)

   I started using avidemux2 for step 1. but I had audio sync issues that
I could not correct with a static audio skew. ProjectX seems to do some
kind of correction, and in fact it says it is fixing frame ordering
when I use it in the logs. Total time from transfer of the MPEG2 to my
Linux box to a burned DVD is about 45 minutes. I even have a little
shell script that takes care of most of the brain dead steps (mplex,
dvdauthor, mkisofs, not the editing!). Currently with a max variable
bit rate of 4.4Mbit (on my PVR-250), I get a little over two hours of
content on one single layer DVD-R which plays on every settop DVD
player I have tried so far (including some xboxes) with zero audio sync
issues. This means three one hour episodes minus commercials on each
DVD-R! Excellent! I started with the following HOW-TO and adapted as I
stated above:
http://www.mythtv.info/moin.cgi/ArchiveRecordingsToDvdHowTo . If you
want all the gory tech details, then I will put together an HTML based
HOW-TO and post it someplace.

Regards,
    John P. Mitchell <john at cepros.com>
    Email Sticker: My Boss is a Jewish carpenter
    http://www.GoboLinux.org | User #00010110