TIP MythTV to DVD

From Gentoo Linux Wiki

[edit] Problem

You want to take your MythTV recordings with you, commercial free.

[edit] Fix

This is of acceptable, but not wonderful quality:

Required tools:

ffmpeg (use flag)
nuvexport
mythtv

Created with a pvr-250 and MythTV 0.18

[edit] Recording

Create a new profile for recording. For best results, set the resolution to 640x480, with no transcoding and a bitrate of 384 for the audio (5000 video, 8000 max.) Set the aspect ratio to 4:3.

Acceptable options for already divx'd movies will be coming soon.

[edit] Editing

Load up the video you just recorded in MythTV. Hit e to enter edit mode and then use z to load the commercial flagging points. Check all the edit points, and make sure they occur on keyframes and that all the commercials are gone. Just hit down till you get to keyframe and cutpoint to jump around. Pressing enter on any frame will bring up a menu to add or remove cut points.

[edit] Converting

Using nuvexport to get your dvd

[edit] Working with mpeg2 files (not transcoded)

Now that the setup is done, make a directory to store the video in. Then run:

nuvexport-dvd -nice=4

Select the video from the menu, and enable options as desired. I use the defaults for most items, specifying the bitrate at 384 and a Quant of 1.

YUV denoise takes about 3 times as long, I was running at 6 fps with an amd64 3000+.

[edit] Working with mpeg4 files (transcoded and deinterlaced)

ffmpeg is no longer the tool of choice due to interlacing issues. It is much better to use transcode.

nuvexport-dvd -transcode -nice=4

Things to note with transcode, first I found denoise completely useless. Second, the fps speed includes skipped frames so it is not an accurate number. Third, these files are huge when done ~20 minutes=1 gig. I'm still playing with it, and I will update this when I find the correct balance. Again set audio at 384, video at 6000, enable cutlist along with deinterlacing and use a quant of 1.

[edit] Setting up the dvd

Make your dvdauth.xml, here's an example:

 
 <dvdauthor dest="dvd/">
 	<vmgm />
 	<titleset>
 		<titles>
                 	<video format="ntsc" aspect="4:3" resolution="720x480" />
                 	<audio channels="2" samplerate="48khz"/>
 			<pgc>
 				<vob file="Video1.mpg" chapters="0,10:00,20:00,30:00,40:00,50:00,60:00,70:00,80:00" />
 			</pgc>
 			<pgc>
 				<vob file="Video2.mpg" chapters="0,3:00,6:00,9:00,12:00,15:00,18:00" />
 			</pgc>
 		</titles>
 	</titleset>
 </dvdauthor>
  

There is something really cool in this file if you look closely. It uses 2 channel sound rather than 5.1. For successful playback you may need to change your dvd player to use Analog 2 Chanel as audio out.

NOTE: For PAL format use: <video format="pal" aspect="4:3" resolution="720x576" />

Then follow the HOWTO Create a DVD. This should be a good start.