[mythtv-users] [Newbie] Cutting and transcoding under 0.23 doesn't seem to work

[Ian Barton]

Sven Bretfeld wrote:
> Hi all
> 
> Cutting and transcoding somehow doesn't work for me (Mythbuntu 10.4).
> 
> For example, I have the recording of a two hours-movie filed as
> /var/lib/mythtv/recordings/foo.mpg. Running 'du -h foo.mpg' returns
> 2.5GB, much too large for permanent keeping. So, I did the following:
> 
> 1. edited the recording with the internal GUI-editor (accessed through
>    the menue) to create a cut-list removing commercials and additional
>    parts before and after the movie.
> 
> Then, watching the show, the 'deleted' parts are skipped. Alright up to
> that. But, as the manual clearly says, the file is not physically cut.
> So I did:
> 
> 2. hit 'm - start transcoding' and selected low quality. 
> 
> After the transcoding has finished, the file still measures 2.5GB and
> still contains all commercials and additional parts. The file is neither
> compressed nor cut. What's wrong here?
> 
> The manual says:
> 
> ,----
> | Once the transcode is complete, mythbackend will replace the old file
> | with the new as soon as it is no longer in use.
> `----
> 
> But the file obviously isn't actually replaced. The timestamp didn't
> change either.
> 
> I also noticed that in 'Recording profiles -> Transcoders' one cannot
> choose any encoding. The manual speaks of RTjpeg or MPEG-4. But there is
> no option like this under Mythbuntu 10.4.
> 

That suggests that there was an error with transcoding. Take a look at 
the backend logs to see if there are any clues there.

I do all my transcoding via a User Job. This first does a lossless 
mpeg->mpeg transcode and removes any commercials. It then uses ffmpeg to 
transcode. It emails me the result, or any errors that might have 
happened along the way.

I have a repo on Github, but since it uses the Python bindings and I am
on 0.22 it won't work for you are the Python bindings have had a major 
makeover in 0.23.

After Easter is over I am going to upgrade to 0.23 and start the process 
of re-writing my Python scripts.

Ian.