HTPC Software

alex24 · 20 Dec 2009 at 12:40

Getting my HTPC setup for 24/7 action has proved complex.

I'll tell you what I'm trying to accomplish, and see if anyone can help:

I record movies and TV from Freeview on my HTPC using a DVB-T card and Windows Media Center (on Windows 7 x64).

Let's take an example:

I recorded 'Batman Begins' and it created a 5.33GB file for 2hr 40min of video. this includes adverts.

I would like to set up the machine to remove the adverts and convert this file (.wtv) to something much more compact for storage, without much (if any) loss in image quality.

Is this possible?

I've tried various programs but there seems to be some bugs with Win 7 and getting them all to work together is painful. What are you guys using?

Something else I've noted - I converted the .wtv file to .dvr-ms using the inbuilt converter in Windows 7, and the file size has almost halved. Why would this be, I thought it was just changing the container?

Thanks for any help, just trying to get this thing running how I want. Can provide any more details if necessary.

alex24 · 21 Dec 2009 at 12:02

Looked at MCEBuddy, but can't seem to find a working download link on the site. Looked like it may have fit the bill.

DVRMS Toolbox has some features that would be of use, but I am unsure if it can work without problems on Windows 7.

Crunchie 1.1 appears a bit too old now, and from what I gather you're better off using h264 than xvid nowadays.

Anything else?

Anyone got a prog to cut ads out that works on Win 7?

Pho · 21 Dec 2009 at 12:48

GB-PVR if you configure it correctly, will record as mpg files which are much more friendly.

You can then use Videoredo (looks awful, works well) to edit it and remove adverts.

leezer3 · 21 Dec 2009 at 15:48

IIRC, the original .wtv files are a straight dump from the DVB stream & as such are going to contain error correction and other junk useless if they're not being broadcast, hence the format conversion to remove the added size

-Leezer-

alex24 · 21 Dec 2009 at 15:52

Pho said:
GB-PVR if you configure it correctly, will record as mpg files which are much more friendly.

You can then use Videoredo (looks awful, works well) to edit it and remove adverts.

I'd much prefer to use WMC though, it's a nicer interface and I've got the movies set up beautifully in it.

I'd also like free software to remove ads if possible, I know there's been stuff around for a while.

Thanks for the input mate.

leezer3 said:
IIRC, the original .wtv files are a straight dump from the DVB stream & as such are going to contain error correction and other junk useless if they're not being broadcast, hence the format conversion to remove the added size

-Leezer-

Strange, so DVR-MS weren't recorded straight from the DVB MPEG2 stream? Why did they change it so that the files are twice the size then, just to reduce CPU load?

Cheers

Pho · 21 Dec 2009 at 16:15

You could still use WMC to actually play the videos, and just use GB-PVR as the backend recorder.

Either way, have a look at something called comskip to detect adverts.

Have a look here for configs for UK channel advert detection: http://www.kaashoek.com/comskip/vie...13a371b24d250dba36539/showthread.php?p=280072

alex24 · 21 Dec 2009 at 16:39

Thanks, you've been very helpful. I'll look into them later tonight.

leezer3 · 22 Dec 2009 at 13:50

alexhull24 said:
Strange, so DVR-MS weren't recorded straight from the DVB MPEG2 stream? Why did they change it so that the files are twice the size then, just to reduce CPU load?

Cheers

The DVR-MS files should be the MPEG2 from the DVB stream, untouched.
You've just got to remeber that the DVB stream isn't plain MPEG2 video, it's also got error correction, TV guide and other bits and pieces of junk embedded into it.

I've got no idea why MS chose to implement the format change, but they have

-Leezer-

alex24 · 22 Dec 2009 at 13:56

So converting all the .wtv to .dvr-ms won't result in any loss in quality or content? Considering they're twice the size it'd free up a lot of space.

leezer3 · 22 Dec 2009 at 17:50

Shouldn't do AFAIK

Good test for things like this is how long it takes- Re-encoding an hour's worth of video to decent quality in any codec is going to take upwards of an hour, unless you're running an octo-core or summat, so presuming it only takes a few minutes, you've got nothing to worry about.

-Leezer-

AbsenceJam · 22 Dec 2009 at 18:01

Might want to make your settings as it sounds like it's recording the whole multiplex which contains more than one channel.

alex24 · 22 Dec 2009 at 18:57

leezer3 said:
Shouldn't do AFAIK
Good test for things like this is how long it takes- Re-encoding an hour's worth of video to decent quality in any codec is going to take upwards of an hour, unless you're running an octo-core or summat, so presuming it only takes a few minutes, you've got nothing to worry about.

-Leezer-

Cheers, it's very fast to convert, so I guess you're right. I couldn't tell any difference in image quality, but it wasn't exactly a thorough test.

AbsenceJam said:
Might want to make your settings as it sounds like it's recording the whole multiplex which contains more than one channel.

Interesting idea, do you know how/where I can edit that option? I'm using Windows Media Centre in Win 7 x64.