[mythtv-users] Advanced recording editing (was Re: down sizing)

[Michael T. Dean]

On 01/10/2014 03:17 PM, Gregory Schade wrote:
> 1. go through and edit the commercial cut list
> http://www.mythtv.org/wiki/Editing_Recordings
>      it's usually easiest to load detected commercial and make sure the
> cuts are in the right place.

I'd actually argue the opposite:  it's far easier to start with no cuts 
than to move existing cuts.

Even if you import the detected commercial list, you will want to verify 
all the cuts before (permanently) removing portions of the video.  
Therefore, you'll need to skip to each cut and, in many cases, move it 
to a more appropriate location.  Moving a cut involves several steps 
(depending on what kind of move):

To extend a cut, you simply hit SELECT to add a mark, then go to any 
point within the existing cut and hit SELECT to add a new mark, which 
"merges" the 2 cuts (and doing so requires 2 button presses).

To shorten a cut, you must find a frame, then hit MENU (or SELECT)|Move 
(Previous/Next) Cut (End/Start) Here or MENU (or SELECT)|Move 
(Start/End) of Cut Here (which is several+ button presses, depending on 
what you're moving).

However, creating a new cut involves simply hitting SELECT at the start 
(or end) and again at the end (or start--order is irrelevant).  Or, if 
cutting to the beginning or end, you simply find the spot from which to 
cut and MENU|Cut to (Beginning/End).

So, if you ever need to shorten a cut section (if the commercial 
detection cut too much), it takes a lot more work than adding a new cut, 
and extending a cut requires as many button presses *on each end of the 
cut* as adding a new cut (i.e. 2x as many button presses).

And, in truth, you should always verify that there are no commercial 
breaks within sections where none were detected, too.  In my case, I do 
this by skipping through the video at 1-minute intervals to find the 
breaks since I know that no commercial break in my part of the world 
should ever be less than 1-minute long.

So, since I /always/ move the cuts from the locations found by 
commercial detection--sometimes only a few frames, but always, because I 
like to ensure I get as much of the surrounding "blank" video as 
possible to account for audio fades and mis-synch--and since I always 
need to skip through the entire video to find any missing/undetected 
commercial breaks anyway, I find it's much easier to start with no cuts 
and add new cuts as necessary.

Of course, if I can make the time to continue working on the patch I 
have started, you'll have the best of both worlds:  the ability to 
navigate using the detected commercial list and no cuts, so you can 
simply add new ones, but still see where commercial detection identified 
breaks.

>      play around with the editor. it's really good and easy to use.

That I'd agree with (but I may be biased).  :)

Mike