Tools and other software Do I need handrake as well as videoredo? (1 Viewer)

[doveman]

Mpg2Cut2 http://www.videohelp.com/tools/Mpg2Cut2 looks promising. It throws up various warning messages about my file, but after saving a clip it has preserved the subtitles.

I tried Transport Stream Packet Editor http://www.videohelp.com/tools/TS-Packet-Editor as well but get no Video preview with that.

 

[elsmandino]

SUCCESS!!!
Thanks to all you guys, I think I have am getting very close to my perfect solution.
I originally set out to cut out the adverts from all my .ts files and covert them into .mkv files so I could play them on my tablet. I also wanted to preserve soft subtitles.
Combining all you prior comments, I have found the following solution:
1. Make sure the subtitle option is set to true in the videoredo hidden options and load the .ts file.
2. Edit out all the adverts and save the file as a .ts file.
3. Use Project X to strip out the subtitle track
4. Use mkv merge to combine the .ts file with the stripped out subtitle track (and also get rid of any unwanted tracks like narration).

I have considered what you lot of said with regards to re-encoding and I think I will lay off this for a while and just get some additional storage.

Before I go ahead and edit all my recordings, I would be really grateful just to confirm that I am using the optimal settings in respect of the programs I am using. I have changed nothing at all in VideoReDo or mkvmerge other than checking the subtitle setting - are there any tweaks that I should be making from the default settings?

In terms of project X, the only changes I have made to the default settings are as stated by Foxbenw:

My 'presettings' are:
options: enable hd checked
output: uncheck the audio and video
subtitles: keep original timecode checked, all others in that section unchecked. on the right hand side, only vobsub export checked, and using the 256 colour palette.
then drag and drop the file onto it, click prepare, and then click play. the files don't take long to produce.
i tried using the uk freeview palette but it seems to lose the colours for different speakers.
remuxing the ts with the idx files in mkvmerge takes seconds.

Before I do anything, I would be really grateful for any advice with regards to any additional settings that I make as there shall be no going back once I have started. In particular, are there any tweaks that I might make in terms of Project X's subtitle settings? There are loads of options and I do not understand what half of them are for?

Thanks again for everyone's help.

Alex

 

[foxbenw]

Glad to hear it. Nothing major from me. The only settings that might be useful to change at some point after are the language flags or the name of each track at the mkv merge stage. But that can be done at any point. You may want to set a subtitle track to be forced for some reason, as an example.

I avoided doing this conversion due to worrying about subs needing to be redone at some point because of something i didn't know about at the time. Exactly what you have asked about. The only honest answer from me is, er, dunno! Obviously, if you are only remuxing the video and audio, there will be no problem there. You can stick them back in a ts file any time you need to. In practice I find the subs from ts files don't get used much anyway, but it's nice to have the option.

2 main comments:
1) you'll end up with a mkv file that has exactly the same audio and video streams as the ts. At risk of sounding a bit of an a**e, why bother with mkv? in MP I think the the only difference will be that it will use the video codecs rather than the tv ones. But with most people switching to LAV that's now the same anyway. of course, if you have another player somewhere that can play mkvs but not ts that could be more important. The way i view most things like this is to try to keep formats as close to original as possible. ie remux, not re-encode, wherever possible. Using that logic it means no mkvs for tv recordings as it requires subtitle conversion in some form.
2) In MP1 you will lose the ability to store the history of recorded programs, unless you never change the database. MP1 requires a ts file and a xml file to import into the recordings table. I find this essential as i use tvwishlist extensively. After I have removed the adverts i move the file to the storage folder structure for my tv series and then remove and reimport the files into the recordings database. so my recordings folder on my drive stays clean but MP still knows what i have recorded in the past. Of course, if i look in the recordings view inside MP it's a nightmare and has everything i have ever recorded. MP2 looks like it'll be much better at doing all this, as it won't require the xml files in order to be 'remembered'.

Good work though. It's nice to get a 'process' set up for how you will keep things clean.
Ben