[mythtv-users] newbie recording and transcoding questions

[starcycle]

On 4/29/08, starcycle <starcycle at gmail.com> wrote:
> I made a couple of recording profiles just to test them out, but they
>  don't show up anywhere to be selected when scheduling a recording. Do
>  I need to add them to the database somehow?
>
>  Another question is when watching live tv, it seems you can hit "r" to
>  record what you've been watching. But it doesn't seem like you can
>  select a profile there, either. Does it just default to the default
>  profile, and is it possible to change that anywhere?
>
>  Lastly (for now, still getting used to all these options) is there
>  anyway to transcode within mythtv from mpg -> mpg without doing a
>  lossless encoding? Or, anyway to go from mpeg2 -> mpeg4 without it
>  being nuv? My set-top player can play most mpg, avi, mov, etc. so
>  ideally I would sometimes just like to reduce the size without having
>  to transcode to nuv first, and then back to mpg or avi. also for the
>  web, etc. i'd like to have smaller sizes without having to do the
>  extra step of encoding to nuv first.
>
>  thanks, I've read the myth guides on transcoding, but I still don't
>  totally get it. also, nuvexport fails on my backend machine with the
>  error below, so i'd like to avoid it if i can. cheers.
>
>  user at myth:~ $ nuvexport
>  Bareword found where operator expected at
>  /usr/share/nuvexport/export/ffmpeg/DVCD.pm line 80, near "224k"
>         (Missing operator before k?)
>  Unquoted string "k" may clash with future reserved word at
>  /usr/share/nuvexport/export/ffmpeg/DVCD.pm line 80.
>  syntax error at /usr/share/nuvexport/export/ffmpeg/DVCD.pm line 80, near "224k"
>  Compilation failed in require at /usr/bin/nuvexport line 72.
>
>  ###

okay, it seems that you can change the recording options when
recording by (somewhat nonintuitively) going into manage recordings ->
upcoming recordings, selecting what's being recorded, and then getting
to the settings screen by selecting "change ending time." whether that
*actually* changes the other settings besides the ending time I don't
know, because it didn't seem to end a recording I was making when I
changed the setting to "don't record this" and saved. I also changed
the encoding from whatever it is when you press "r" to high quality,
but I didn't really notice any difference. so maybe there actually is
no way to select or change recording profile once you've started
recording. ?

still not sure also why the custom recording profiles aren't showing
up to be selected anywhere, if anyone wants to chime in on that. and
if anyone can point me to a tutorial on how to encode down from the
mpeg2 myth encodes in while preserving mpg format that would be a big
help. I managed to get nuvexport running on my frontend machine, but I
would still like to avoid having to do that extra step if possible.

thanks