Ah ... I thought you were going to tell me that the variable frame rate was the problem.

You might be correct that MEP doesn't support MPEG-TS. If that's the case, then perhaps the program should pop up a message when one clicks on the file, saying that "This format is not supported."?

@pmikep

No idea Mike, but the file behaved as I would expect it to following the rough description I got about the differences between the two file formats. The audio came through in groups of evenly spaced bursts and gaps but with no video.

So it sort of played, but far from correctly.

Ray.

Ahh... well then, it's not "just me." Thanks for confirming.

@pmikep

I have also been battling with .TS files. I recorded a streamed YT video (saved as a TS) and had all sorts of dramas with it; not one program (MEP, VideoRedo, VLC, Virtual Dub) on my my machine would open it; the HDD light just stayed on solid red.

However, I did get it to open in MKVToolnix and it converted it in a few seconds to MKV; MEP is now quite happy with it, as it is with yours. You must be an oceanographer?

@AAProds

Hi Alwyn.

I think Mike may be several hundred miles from the sea or have I missed a pun or something?😉

What did you use to record the stream?

Ray.

@CubeAce Gday Ray, I put water and beach sand together! 🙂

Streamlink

I used this command line (but I see there is GUI available):

streamlink "Full You tube in here" best -o H:\igsa\output.ts

The filename and folder for saving is at the end, in my H drive.

@AAProds

Hi Alwyn.

I assume that allows the capture to be at the native resolution of the stream rather than a screen defined one?

Ray.

@CubeAce

Yes, it downloads the highest available ("best") resolution. The one I saved was 720P (a swimming carnival), but the actual quality was pretty average. The video is also now on YT to download and it's quality appears to be the same as the streamed version.

Whether a screen recording would be better or worse is a good question.

@AAProds

Hi Alwyn.

I would think at that point it would make no difference as it would be a third generation copy whatever method was used as long as the produced file does not need further conversion to be useful. The screen is only projecting the incoming information so has little bearing on the actual quality of the video feed.

The main factor would at what quality level could you record at to get as close to the file being copied as possible.

Then if that needed editing you are on to a 4th generational copy. I suspect a screen recorder using a lossless codec would be the best in between method if further editing were needed. The streaming videos from YouTube are nearly always of a lower quality than uploaded videos. Sometimes a channel will release a later version of the same thing as an edited upload which will be higher quality.

Ray.

@pmikep @CubeAce @AAProds

MEP does support MPEG-TS (Transport Stream) .m2ts and .mts files as this is what cameras that record AVCHD create, however there seems to be something wrong with that file and the clue might be in the MediaInfo line that says:- FileExtension_Invalid                    : ts m2t m2s m4t m4s tmf ts tp trp ty.

Peter

@pmikep

Hi Mike

. . . .  The video plays fine in the competing editor, in VLC, in MPC-HC. And when I converted it to m4v in Handbrake. . . .

Unfortunately using VLC to determine if the video is playable or not has no relation to what happens in video editing software. VLC has its own extensive set of video decoders.

Using Handbrake what video and audio settings did you set for the export?

In MEP settings, Display options tab, Preview in arranger section, which video mode are you using? If it is not Standard mode (Direct 3D hardware acceleration) then switch to it and load the video again.

John EB

@Scenestealer

Thanks for the info Peter.

Ray.

@johnebakerIt is set for Standard Mode (Direct 3D Hardware Acceleration).

As for what Handbrake settings did I use - I don't know how to report that. I've attached the json Preset export file, if that helps you. (Naturally you'll need to remove the .txt extension.)

[[OTHER_V2:09430BF4F78F426A8209C3FBD93EFBCB]]

@pmikep

Hi

These are the settings I am referring to:

With the above settings the video imports fine for me.

The json file as a text file cannot be uploaded to the forum - only images and video in the supported formats

John EB

I use H.265 in Handbrake, with FR same as Source. (Plus some other tweaks.) As I reported early, my fake m2ts imported fine into Handbrake.

By way of explanation, I had tried to edit a 3gp video file from my smart phone in MEP. MEP wouldn't open the file. So I had to edit it in Power Director.

When I used PD's SVRT feature to export, it set the export for m2ts. (I don't know why. A bug?)

For grins, here's the Media Info info on the smart phone video:

General
Complete name                            : G:\R1 Camera Folder\On the Beach in MX.3gp
Format                                   : MPEG-4
Format profile                           : 3GPP Media Release 4
Codec ID                                 : 3gp4 (isom/3gp4)
File size                                : 112 MiB
Duration                                 : 1 min 42 s
Overall bit rate                         : 9 197 kb/s
Encoded date                             : UTC 2021-03-09 14:49:06
Tagged date                              : UTC 2021-03-09 14:49:06
com.android.version                      : 8.1.0

Video
ID                                       : 1
Format                                   : AVC
Format/Info                              : Advanced Video Codec
Format profile                           : Baseline@L4.1
Format settings                          : 1 Ref Frames
Format settings, CABAC                   : No
Format settings, Reference frames        : 1 frame
Format settings, GOP                     : M=1, N=30
Codec ID                                 : avc1
Codec ID/Info                            : Advanced Video Coding
Duration                                 : 1 min 42 s
Bit rate                                 : 9 006 kb/s
Width                                    : 1 280 pixels
Height                                   : 720 pixels
Display aspect ratio                     : 16:9
Frame rate mode                          : Variable
Frame rate                               : 30.000 FPS
Minimum frame rate                       : 28.708 FPS
Maximum frame rate                       : 31.414 FPS
Color space                              : YUV
Chroma subsampling                       : 4:2:0
Bit depth                                : 8 bits
Scan type                                : Progressive
Bits/(Pixel*Frame)                       : 0.326
Stream size                              : 110 MiB (98%)
Title                                    : VideoHandle
Language                                 : English
Encoded date                             : UTC 2021-03-09 14:49:06
Tagged date                              : UTC 2021-03-09 14:49:06
Color range                              : Limited
Color primaries                          : BT.709
colour_primaries_Original                : BT.601 PAL
Transfer characteristics                 : BT.709
Matrix coefficients                      : BT.709
mdhd_Duration                            : 102267
Codec configuration box                  : avcC

Audio
ID                                       : 2
Format                                   : AAC LC
Format/Info                              : Advanced Audio Codec Low Complexity
Codec ID                                 : mp4a-40-2
Duration                                 : 1 min 42 s
Duration_FirstFrame                      : 1 ms
Bit rate mode                            : Constant
Bit rate                                 : 128 kb/s
Channel(s)                               : 1 channel
Channel layout                           : C
Sampling rate                            : 48.0 kHz
Frame rate                               : 46.875 FPS (1024 SPF)
Compression mode                         : Lossy
Stream size                              : 1.56 MiB (1%)
Title                                    : SoundHandle
Language                                 : English
Encoded date                             : UTC 2021-03-09 14:49:06
Tagged date                              : UTC 2021-03-09 14:49:06

And okay on not being able to fake out the forum software by renaming json files with a video extension. I'll have to upload files like that on a host somewhere and link to them here.

@pmikep

Hi Mike

. . . . When I used PD's SVRT feature to export, it set the export for m2ts. (I don't know why. A bug?) . . . .

I never used PD much, however IIRC with SRVT it will export to the file format that matches one of the PD SRVT profile in this case as the source video is AVC, SRVT has matched this to the AVCHD file format - .m2ts.

. . . . For grins, here's the Media Info info on the smart phone video . . . .

Only 2 issues with the 3GP file 🙁

1. it is variable framerate, to be expected from a mobile device and not good for audio sync
    
2. the audio is an odd mono format - probably left / right channels combined and put into a centre (LFE) channel - this could cause issues on trying to import into MEP as a LFE channel is supposed to have a maximum frequency of 120 Hz.

Consolations are the video codec and audio samplerate are 'in spec'. 😁

John EB

@johnebaker

Hi John.

Would that be an LFE channel or a central speaker channel?

Ray.

As a side note, I have been using the Nightly builds of Handbrake for a few months now. They've sped it up a lot. (Converting at about 400 fps to h.265.)

@CubeAce

Hi

That would be the centre - just checked definition of Surround Sound channels.

John EB

@johnebaker

Ah! I thought so John.

Ray.