OK, I was thinking that the new video iPod would make a great companion for my KnoppMyth setup. I could watch my TV programs on the iPod. In order to do this I figure I would need to transcode the video to MPEG 4 and then move it to my MAC where it could be loaded onto the iPod.

SOOO, how do I do this? Is there a guide on how to trancode to MPEG4, then find the file, and copy it to a MAC? I used the GUI to transcode a show (it sure would be nice to automate this), but have no idea where the generated file is. Also, I tried using SAMBA to copy a generic MUV file, but it took forever. From my searches I see that SAMAB has a speed issue and winSCP was recommended. Well, I'm using a MAC (I do have a good FTP client), so how do I get large video files off the box fast?

Although you may be able to find a decent solution to transcode the files right on the myth backend, I think you may need to do the transcoding on the mac. The new quicktime has an export setting specifically for the new iPod, this would be your simplest solution. Either FTP or SAMBA connect to your myth box, and download the mpg files from /myth/pretty. Open these in quicktime, and re export them.

You could do a search for h264 here, and see who has gotten this to work with an updated mplayer version. You will need to do some work, and testing, but you may be able to find the right settings. The other option, is to just try different encoders and see which ones work. My 3 year old ipod is wanting an upgrade, and although I am not excited about watching video on a 2 inch screen, the new size (read thinner than may current 20 gigs) is really tempting. Good luck.

I bought the iPod because of its new size and I needed a larger disk. The video would be icing on the cake

I don't have a myth/pretty Do I need to do something special to get that? I'm running the latest version R5A16

I agree, the video is just sort of a light flavorful icing. Anyway, try this thread about /myth/pretty.
http://mysettopbox.tv/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=4534
Run the script, and this should help you get the pretty folder all setup. FYI, the pretty folder is just symbolic links to the .nuv files, but with easy to understand show and date names. I did make the assumption that you are using the PVR-x50 cards, otherwise I am not sure how this works, or if this method would even work for you.

It is a Mac (Unix), why not use NFS? Doesn't it include OpenSSH or can you not get it with Fink (or whatever the name is...)?

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cesman

When the source is open, the possibilities are endless!

Thanks for the pretty link. I will try it out.

Good question about NFS. I had setup SAMBA because I also use the box as a second backup for some Quicken files from my PC (the Mac version of Quicken sucks ) so I just defaulted to that. I guess I could setup NFS. I need to research this as I don't have your knowledge about what's running "out-of-the-box" <g>

Quick question about OpenSSH, yes I use it to "terminal in" to the KnoppMyth box... as far I know it does not do file transfers. Am I missing somehting?

scp

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cesman

When the source is open, the possibilities are endless!

NFS does work, and works well. I forgot that my mac mini auto mounts /myth/video via NFS at boot. This works much faster than SAMBA does.

rteichman, do a google search for how to automount nfs share in OS X. You can use NetInfo to do this very easily.
Or, to just mount the drive select Connect to Server from the Go menu in the finder, and type in

edit
to modify the mount points on your myth box, and you are set to go. By default I believe Knoppmyth is already setup to export /myth so your line would be something like

Umm, i just tried something, and mounting as NFS you can not download the /myth/pretty symlinks. All you get is the link file not the liked to video file. You will have to grab the .nuv files from /myth/tv

Thanks, I will try it this weekend when I am back home (the video iPod was delivered yesterday and is waiting for my return )

wififun, I notice you mention that you use a mac mini. Do you use Myth Frontend on it? If yes how do you find the performance? The reason I ask is that I have the mini attached to a widescreen monitor (32"), but I can't view MythTV in widdescreen. If I do, the playback is jerky. I believe its the mac's problem because I believe the mac is doing the scaling from 4:3 to 16:9 on the frontend side. Do you have the same problem?

rteichman, umm, that is interesting. My mini is hooked up to a 4:3 tv. I believe I use libmpeg, and denoise3d filters. I have not tried turning on 16:9 so I am not sure what that would do. If your monitor is 16:9 then it may have a scale/zoom/fill feature, and you could try and utilize that to take the load off the front end. If I have the chance in the next couple of days, I will pull my mini out and hook it to my plasma and see how it performs as a wide screen SD frontend.

Back on the iPod topic. The myth-users mailing list has some talk about building in a transcode option for generating files compatible with portable video players like the iPod. It was also mentioned having it setup where you could do this on recording schedule basis, and generate an RSS feed that could be subscribed to via iTunes to auto update your video content. All rather elementary stuff, but tied together, a very awesome solution. I am hoping to be able to contribute to this effort if it really looks like folks are going to move forward with it.

That would be AWESOME!!! Its exactly what I would want (assuming I like the video iPod LOL). I also think it would be the "killer app" for the video iPod and MythTV. I think the iPod is best for junk/informational video: Simpsons, 60 Minutes, Newsweek, etc. The sort of thing you where you care more about the content than the presentation or "experience".

Since we're on the topic of video on the iPod and the use of the myth/video/ directory.

Would any of you know of a good link or discussion thread which describes which formats MythTV supports (e.g. .avi, .mov, and codec like H.263)?

And what applications are recommended to trans-code the wrong file types into supported formats on the Myth box itself?

The reason I ask is that I have moved a couple of test .avi and .mpg files to the myth/video/ directory and Myth won't play them.


Thanks in advance,
Just another Myth n00b

What you need to remember is that Myth is not actually playing the file, it is simply calling an external program, generally Mplayer. If Mplayer does not support you file format, avi and mpg it should, you can set a player on a per file basis.

For example, say you have a xxx.avi that Mplayer won't player in the settings for MythVideo you can set it to use: /sbin/xxxplayer.

Another tip, avi can encapsulate a number of different formats, including but not exclusive to, divx, xvid. AVI stands for "Audio, Video, Interlaced".

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Girkers

Girkers, thanks.

I checked the format and it is indeed a DivX 5.0 encoded file.

Would you recommend any particular player that would work in Myth which could handle either more file types, or in this case DivX?

Thanks.