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How to Handle Quicktime Files with Mono Audio Tracks

Here is a copy of my "work-around" batch file that launches mEncoder and transcodes any file into an AVI format with a Stereo PCM audio track. mEncoder is a free video encoder that is built on, and included with, mPlayer.

Once the file is transcoded to an AVI format, the batch file passes the new AVI file to the Video2Replay.bat program which will finalize the conversion to the 5K ReplayTV format which can be streamed via the DVArchive program.

This program is really only needed for source files that are in a Quicktime format (iPod or H.264) that have only a single (mono) audio channel. The build of ffmpeg that Video2Replay currently uses cannot transcode AAC 1-channel to mp2 2-channel. Once ffmpeg can handle mono AAC to stereo mp2 audio this extra conversion will not be required.

                Video2AVI_2CH.bat:             Video2AVI_2CH.zip

                mEncoder.exe:             mEnoder.zip

UPDATE(4/11/06): The new build of ffmpeg (4-10-2006) can properly transcode Quicktime files (iPod or H.264) with mono audio tracks. This extra conversion is no longer required.

April 11, 2006

Download Video Podcasts and Auto Import to DVArchive (New and Improved!)

Here is new copy of my modified version of the Video2Replay.bat that I use with the podcasting client Doppler v3.0.

                Doppler2RTV.bat:             Doppler2RTV_v2.zip

                directory_convert.bat: directory_convert.zip

I have configured Doppler so that when it finishes downloading a video podcast it places it in a 'VIDEO_TO_CONVERT' directory. Then everynight at midnight I have the windows task manager run directory_convert.bat which makes a list of of the files in the 'VIDEO_TO_CONVERT'directory and then sends them one by one to Doppler2RTV.bat file. If the video is succesfully converted the source file is moved into a 'CONVERTED_VIDEO' directory. If the convertion fails for any reason, the source file and all of the intermediate video files are moved to a 'FAILED_TO_VIDEO' directory.

Unlike Wreck's original "Video2Replay.bat" which uses ffmpeg to handle all conversions to to the mpeg2 format, Doppler2RTV.bat uses VLC, mEncoder, and ffmpeg to handle the conversions. It is a little more involved, but seems to reduce the drift between the syncing of audio and video that sometimes develops with ffmpeg alone.

I have added variables that allow me to manually specify to convert to either a 4x3 or 16x9 aspect ratio depending the podcast feed or to pad out the top, bottom and sides of low-res videos to keep the image small and prevent pixilation as much as possible. I can also specify the Category Name and Channel Name based on the podcast feed so each podcast feed gets put in its own channel. There is also a 'volume' variable that allows the reduction of the volume in an attempt to normalize the audio level between various podcasts.

These parameters are set for each various podacst feed by adding a section like this in ':FEEDSETUP':


rem ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
rem Set Aspect and Category for TWIT
if "%Feed%"=="TWIT" set Aspect="small_STANDARD"
if "%Feed%"=="TWIT" set CATEGORY_ID="1"
if "%Feed%"=="TWIT" set CATEGORY_NAME="Tech"
if "%Feed%"=="TWIT" set CHANNEL_ID="1143464776"
if "%Feed%"=="TWIT" set CHANNEL_NAME="TWIT"
if "%Feed%"=="TWIT" set Volume="128"
if "%Feed%"=="TWIT" goto monoAudioCheck
rem ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

This file is only provided as an example of the flexibility of Wreck's original script. It will not work on your system without editing to match your feed names, their aspect ratios and the unique channel and category IDs of your DVArchive install.

Additonally, the directory_convert.bat does not work with directories that have spaces ' ' in the path.

June 21, 2006