Hi:

Just a couple of questions:

1. If I get a hard drive USB 2.0 enclosure, what do I set the jumper to on the drive?

2. What kind of drive is the drive on the 5900? Would it be possible to get another drive so that I could just swap back and forth between my PC and the 5900?

thanks !!!

1. If I get a hard drive USB 2.0 enclosure, what do I set the jumper to on the drive?
2. What kind of drive is the drive on the 5900? Would it be possible to get another drive so that I could just swap back and forth between my PC and the 5900?
1). The drive in your 5900 is set to Master, and that is the way to put it in the USB enclosure - no changes needed.
2). The drive in the 5900 can be one of several models - only (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/dishmod/database)!
Mandatory initialization and setup of the drive to work in your PVR is quite complicated, and beyond the scope of this forum.
In depth discussion is available in the Yahoo DishMod (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/dishmod/) group.

Hope that is sufficient encouragement. ;)

i was talking to a friend here in town yesterday and the subject came up about transferring from Bell. He's wired his player for USB. now all he does is have to hook up a USB cable and transfer it to his PC

I'll get the url of the group he uploaded his plans to


Did anyone ever get these "usb" plans?

TIA!

No, but here is some food for thought.
Get the Easy_USB_Hookup.pdf (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/PVRExplorer/files/) in the Yahoo PVRexplorer files section.
(you'll need a Yahoo account - get a free web mail, log in to that, and you can have access to their groups)

Not exactly how I do it, and not exactly what I'd recommend, but certainly a workable solution.
Plus, it should give you inventive types some of the answers.
(not to mention a beautiful document with great pictures)

Is there a manual for PVRExplorer.exe? One of the Advanced settings is to extract the files for batching later. This shortens the time the drive is out of the PVR because the processing doesn't take place while extracting.

How does the "batching later" process work? Does the PVRExplorer app do it, or do I need another app?

TIA, and for your patience with a newbie.

Dave

No manual that I know of. It is fairly intuitive in operation.
Just select the folder to output, and what you want there, select a few shows, and let 'er go.
I just have .mpg and .log files written. That has come after much time with the program.

I used to take 3 minutes using two SATA drives (one for intermediate, one for output) to extract a one hour show, or 4 minutes using one drive.
The current improved extractor takes under two minutes using just a single drive.
I arrange for a free hour to do my extractions so I can get the drive reconnected before anything else comes on.
I consider that time too short to consider the other mode - which from my reading, uses the same program.

Fire it up and try it. You'll like it.

Dish Network is sending me a replacement for a problematic 510.

Since I need to get another PVR any way, should I try to upgrade to a newer model? If so, what should I ask for...and why?

I'd like a PVR that can "record on one channel while I'm watching another".

I'd also like to be able to quickly copy recordings to a PC without having to remove the hard drive, which would mean a firewire or USB port, preferably a USB.

Any ideas/suggestions?

Respectfully,

Dave T.

Please post to the thread.
Most questions have been answered above, or on the Yahoo site.

How to get data off the drives is well covered both above and on Yahoo.

American model 522 and 625 are both dual tuner and supported by the newest version of the program.
I don't have the ability to test/confirm, as I'm just using 5800 and 508.

No USB ports on any supported PVR will work for extraction, period.

As stated, I extract and mux into .mpg files all in one operation.
I've got the time down to just a few minutes per show.
From the docs, it looks like it can import the raw data , then in another pass (later) with PVRexplorerPro, process into .mpg files.
I find no value in operating in the latter mode and have not tried it.

The program won't really run unless you have a PVR drive connected to your computer, so do that and many questions will be answered.

You might want to follow my lead and check only these output options:

[x] create muxed program file
[x] auto generate output *mpg file
[x] Create Program description flile (log)
Now, set the output path (where to store your files)
click on: APPLY
Select one show and extract.
After you have experience, select several for extraction at once.

One little trick I really like in the latest Pro version, is the ability to include the episode title in the name of the show.
Modify the options like so for the feature: %n[%e](%i)
I list it here because I got it wrong on my first three attempts. :)

However, always start simple when getting a new program going, and embelish it with more options later.

Okay, that's all I got.
;)

The rip really is as simple as Anole describes.
I'm in the process of learning that what happens after that may not be so simple.

Example 1:
I recorded "Ice Age" in the last month.
I used the new PVRExplorerPro to rip it to my hard drive.
I used VideoReDoPlus to remove the commercials, and saved it as .mpv and .mpa files.
I used DVDLab Studio to create a menu, and vsoCopyToDVD SE to burn the DVD.
When played on my older Pioneer DVD player, the movie displays in a square on the left side of my screen, horizontally squished.
I've erased the original ripped version of this movie, so I can't tell what was different about it.

Example 2:
I recorded "Once Upon A Mattress" last month.
Used the same process as above.
My wife asked me to help her get the sound on (not an unusual occurance with five remotes and her aversion to technology).
It turned out that after using this Pioneer player for many years, I had never had to configure it to play mpeg audio. Now I got it to convert mpeg audio to pcm, and voila, sound comes out of the player.

More investigation and learning needs to be done.

Dave S.

Example 1: "Ice Age"
When played on my older Pioneer DVD player, the movie displays in a square on the left side of my screen, horizontally squished.
I've erased the original ripped version of this movie, so I can't tell what was different about it.

Next time, in VideoReDo, use the menu at the top
Tools | Show Video Program Info (or just press Ctrl-L)


File Name: \\Opteron\VIDEO2 (H)\0127extract\Stargate SG-1. { NR }[The Fourth Horseman](4).mpg
File Size: 966152192 ( 0.90 GB )
Program Duration: 00:59:57.11
File Type: PS - MPEG2
Encoding: MPEG 2
Video stream Id: xE0
Encoding Dimensions: 544 x 480
Display Size: 544 x 480
Aspect Ratio: 4/3
Frame Rate: 29.97 FPS
Bit Rate: 15.000 Mbps
VBV_Buffer: 224 KB
Profile: Main/Main
Progressive: Prog or Int
Chroma: 4:2:0
Audio Format: Layer 2
Audio Stream Id: xC0
Audio Bit Rate: 160 Kbps
Audio Sampling Rate: 48000 Hz

In my experience, of the three formats you are likely to run into:
544 x 480
640 x 480
702 x 480
...the only one that gives DVD players a problem, is: 640 x 480
They just won't play it.
The problem displayed varies.
I have seen the picture horizontally squished (buddy's Philips DVD player).
One one of my DVD players, I get full screen, but two little dancing lines down the screen, one about 1/4 way in from the left, and the other 1/4 way in from the right.


Example 2:"Once Upon A Mattress"
Used the same process as above.
It turned out that after using this Pioneer player for many years, I had never had to configure it to play mpeg audio.
Now I got it to convert mpeg audio to pcm, and voila, sound comes out of the player.

I'm guessing this is the result of running across a dolby 5.1 show, instead of the regular. (or maybe just the opposite)
Sounds like you solved the problem, though I'd have thought in playing commercial DVDs over the years, this would have come up.

Again, you can use the
Tools | Show Video Program Info (or just press Ctrl-L)
in VideoReDo to determine the actual sound configuration.

VRD can load .VOB files from your burned DVD for the above tests.
Should you need to rebuild your DVD, it's possible to do so.

I don't use the Studio version of DVD Labs, and there may be some minor misconfiguration in your setup.
Consider visiting the DVD Labs (http://www.mmbforums.com/phpbb/) and VideoReDo (http://www.videoredo.net/msgBoard/index.php) forums for more info.
But be sure to report back here with what you found.


In the long run, if you just can't get the 544x480 and 702x480 shows to display properly on your old DVD player,
It's time for a new DVD player! ;)
As for dealing with the occasional 640x480 show, you can:
1) be careful what you record :)
2) convert it to 720 x 480 North American format by re-encoding.

I've written extensively about reencoding on the VideoReDo forum (http://www.videoredo.net/msgBoard/index.php).
There are a number of other ways besides the one I used.
You might want to look there for inspiration, and then discuss it here, or report back with which method you liked.


Hope that covers everything.

I am using the capture card methode. If the movie is too long then I can't burn it. I will figure it out some day...

Next time, in VideoReDo, use the menu at the top
Tools | Show Video Program Info (or just press Ctrl-L)

In my experience, of the three formats you are likely to run into:
544 x 480
640 x 480
702 x 480
...the only one that gives DVD players a problem, is: 640 x 480
They just won't play it.
The problem displayed varies.
I have seen the picture horizontally squished (buddy's Philips DVD player).
One one of my DVD players, I get full screen, but two little dancing lines down the screen, one about 1/4 way in from the left, and the other 1/4 way in from the right.

Hope that covers everything.

Well, you guessed it.
The videos that give my Pioneer DVD player the kind of grief I described are size 544 x 480.
The only re-encoding software I have is DVD Rebuilder.
I told it to resize to half D1, and it created the DVD files as 352 x 480.
This plays fine.

Is there a better way to do this? DVD Rebuilder takes almost two hours to re-encode on my new faster motherboard, CPU, and two hard drives.

I tried to find your advice on re-encoding on the VideoReDo forum, but you've been very busy there - 392 messages at last count.

Thanks for the size pointer.

Dave S.

I PM'd dschell_2000 a couple of links and the suggestion he search the VRD forum for "WinAVI" and my name "Anole" as author.

And also suggested he strongly think about getting a new DVD player.
That may sound harsh, but it's the advice I give to those with old equipment.
It's the best bang, the cheapest, and the right thing to do, both for now and the long run.
Anything new (everything I've tried in the last 3..4 years) plays 544x480.

I used WinAVI Video Converter to create a DVD from the 544 x 480 files.
I had no problem doing the conversion, which created a 720 x 480 video.

However, when I put the DVD in my player, it recognizes it as a DVD, but won't play it continuously. It just keeps stopping - I press the forward button - it advances a few frames and stops again.

To tell the truth, I'm not that crazy about using software designed for Apple computers on a Windows platform. I like the standard Windows interface.

So, I'm going back to software that works for me.
DVD Rebuilder will create a usable set of files that work in my player, it's very good at shrinking videos that are too large to fit on a DVD-R, and it has a free version. See http://dvd-rb.dvd2go.org/index.php

Dave S.

In my experience, of the three formats you are likely to run into:
544 x 480
640 x 480
702 x 480
...the only one that gives DVD players a problem, is: 640 x 480
They just won't play it.
The problem displayed varies.
I have seen the picture horizontally squished (buddy's Philips DVD player).
One one of my DVD players, I get full screen, but two little dancing lines down the screen, one about 1/4 way in from the left, and the other 1/4 way in from the right.


I've got some new data that may be useful to someone else.
I just copied 10 programs from my 5900 hard drive to my computer.
Here are the resolutions they were recorded in as reported by VideoReDoPlus:
544 X 480 - 7 programs
480 X 480 - 2 programs
704 X 480 - 1 program

I am curious about why ExpressVu would vary their program format like this.

My DVD player deals with both 544 X 480 and 480 X 480 by showing them in a square on the left side of the TV screen.

There are various programs that will convert this format to a DVD standard, but of course that takes lots of time to re-encode.

Of course, there is no problem viewing them correctly on the computer using PowerDVD.

Dave S.

Hey, thanks Dave. Good intel.
First time I'd run across the 480x480 format.
If you'd mention what programs were in each of those formats, I think things would be more clear.

I thought the movies were in the 704x480, and nothing else.
Best quality for their best stuff.

I'd been thinking the American system used 640x480 as their best quality, but I don't subscribe to everything so... :)

Both systems use the 544x480 for most general purpose stuff.
In the States, local channels will have a low data rate (2mb or a little lower), and the bulk of the programming will have this resolution (sometimes up to 3mb rate for nicer pictures).

Whatever you find in 480x480 must really be the bottom of the barrel! :)

Make up some test discs from the various formats, and take them with you to the stores selling DVD players.
See which formats will play well.
I belive (and hope) that you will be pleasantly surprised.

As for re-encoding, I really try to avoid it by finding friendly players.
To date, I have only run across one old player that had any trouble with my DVDs. ymmv
(other than the general failure of 640x480 I previously mentioned)
But when I have re-encoded, often for amusement, tests, and just for the heck of it, I was able to achieve 25 to 70 frames per second throughput.
Meaning, an hour show might take anywhere from about an hour to about half an hour to process.
I'm currently breaking in a newer, faster, computer so those times should go down.

Hey, thanks Dave. Good intel.
First time I'd run across the 480x480 format.
If you'd mention what programs were in each of those formats, I think things would be more clear.

Whatever you find in 480x480 must really be the bottom of the barrel! :)

Make up some test discs from the various formats, and take them with you to the stores selling DVD players.
See which formats will play well.
I belive (and hope) that you will be pleasantly surprised.

As for re-encoding, I really try to avoid it by finding friendly players.


These were all movies:
The Dogs of War 704 X 480
Shawshank Redemption 480 X 480
Falling Down 480 X 480

DVD-Lab calls the 480 X 480 SVCD format.
Somehow I can't see ExpressVu playing these from an SVCD!

I don't see buying a new DVD player as any kind of solution, because I make DVDs to share with my friends. I don't know what their player is capable of, so I'd rather just make everything fit the DVD standard.

Dave S.

480 x 480 ? . . .
Maybe the channels they were recorded from hold the key?
There's a Drive In Theatre channel which plays old movies, and I can't imagine them getting much bandwidth. :)
BEV is allocating their bandwidth on some basis. I'm sure you'll figure it out.

If you want to make your DVDs to the standard, then you'll have to reencode.
Get a big fast computer with two drives, and put the source on one and the output file on the other.
That's what I do. ;)

Sounds like you've got things under control.

480 x 480 ? . . .
Maybe the channels they were recorded from hold the key?

If you want to make your DVDs to the standard, then you'll have to reencode.
Get a big fast computer with two drives, and put the source on one and the output file on the other.
That's what I do. ;)



The two 480 X 480 programs, "Falling Down" came from A&E, "The Shawshank Redemption" from Spike.

The 704 X 480, "The Dogs of War", came from History Channel. There's no consistency there, though, because "Seven Days in May" also came from History, but it's in 544 X 480.

It's nice to see that PVRExplorerPro includes this information in the log.

I just rebuilt my computer in January when the RAM in my old setup started giving errors and couldn't be corrected with cleaning.

I'm now running an AMD Athlon 64 3200+ with a GB of RAM and a second hard drive, an 80 GB SATA drive from Seagate. I certainly notice the difference in speed from my old setup.

Dave S.

While maybe not necessary for a lot of other uses, video editing and extraction can really use all the horsepower and tricks you can bring to the table.

For the last year, I'd been running on an overclocked AMD mobile Barton chip, with 512k cache (2x normal size of regular XP chips), and a 2000mhz clock.
I think its rough rating might be 3200 on the AMD scale. (maybe a little less)
The system has two 160gb SATA hard drives. Oh, and 1gb of ram.
I've had no complaint about ram nor speed... just hard drive space on occasion. ;)

Sounds like you have comparable horsepower in the ram/cpu/drive departments.
Speaking from experience, I know you'll enjoy your upgrade.
The dual sata drives are not to be underestimated for their overall contribution!
It'll do well the task at hand.

When I run into people complaining about long processing times, it is generally one of two things.
1). Wrong software (or badly configured), causing inefficient re-encoding while authoring (unknown to the user).
2). Someone trying to use a single ATA drive on a P3-anything. ;)

I don't mean to sound like a horsepower snob, but this video processing can use up every drop you have. :)