[mythtv-users] A New Method For Exporting .nuv Files
William Powers
wepprop at sbcglobal.net
Sun Oct 26 05:35:55 EST 2003
Here's an addition to the list of methods for exporting .nuv files. This
one is particularly useful if you want to export to the Windows
platform. You will need the following software:
1. Torbjörn Jansson's MythTV DirectShow filter:
http://sourceforge.net/projects/dsmyth
2. TMPGEnc:
http://www.tmpgenc.net (You need this even if you're not encoding to
MPEG)
3. VFAPI Reader Codec and Converter:
http://www.divx-digest.com/software/vfapi.html
The way this works is that these tools allow you to set up a frameserver
that masquerades as a dummy .avi file. You can then open that dummy avi
file in any application that can open a real avi file and the frameserver
will then serve the mythtv video file a frame at a time straight into your
application.
To keep this note brief, I'll assume everyone knows how to go about
encoding the desired target file and I'll just describe how to set up the
VFAPI frameserver. Hint: If you are planning on exporting to DivX, you
could use virtualdub with DivX/XviD and LAME to produce an avi file. Or,
if you are converting to MPEG1 to make a VCD, you could use TMPGEnc, etc.
You will also need the .nuv file available on the Windows machine, either
by using Samba to mount the mythtv video directory on that Windows machine,
or by ftp'ing the file to the Windows box, etc.
First, install the three required pieces of software mentioned above. Read
the readme's for installation instructions.
Next, start TMPGEnc, cancel out of the wizard, and click 'Video source:
Browse' Select 'Files of Type - All Files (*.*)'. Find and select the
appropriate .nuv file. The MythTV DirectShow filters allow you to see the
program title and other info by right-clicking a file and selecting
'Properties' and then the MythTV DB Info tab (Note: As described in the
dsmyth docs, you have to enable the database feature before you can use it).
Next, select 'File', 'Save Project' (or type Ctrl-S) and save the project
file somewhere convenient. Feel free to change the name of the project
file to something you can remember. Now exit TMPGEnc.
Open up the VFAPI Convert application, click 'Add file', select 'Files of
Type' = 'TMPGEnc project (*.tpr)', then locate and select the TMPGEnc
project file you just saved. Leave all the options checked on the
resulting dialog - you can change the name and location of the output file
to whatever you like. Then click 'Convert' and go get a cup of
coffee. When it finishes, click 'Quit' and you are done.
As mentioned above, the result is a dummy avi file that can be opened by
WMP, virtualdub, TMPGEnc, or just about any other application that can open
a real avi file. You won't be able to jump around (seek) in the file, but
it will read start-to-finish just fine. You'll notice that the dummy avi
file is actually fairly large: As part of the conversion process, the
soundtrack is loaded into the dummy file as PCM data. The video data,
however, is obtained from the original .nuv file.
As far as audio sync with this method goes, YMMV: To make 100% sure I get
it right before burning to DVD+R, I usually save the audio as a .wav file
and use GoldWave to manually sync the sound with the video. When that's
done, I encode the sound as an .mp2 and then mux the .m2v and .mp2
together. You can do the same thing with virtualdub when converting to DivX.
Also, I'd especially like to thank Torbjörn Jansson for the MythTV
DirectShow filter. Maybe someone else will write a VFW filter for .nuv's
someday so that you can open them with VDub! I can't unless Santa brings me
MS Visual Studio for Christmas. :)
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