Removing the Corrupted Start-up GH2 AVCHD Frames.

Skeptikal

I have found a useful little program called "Smart Cutter" which makes removing the corrupt first few seconds of high bit rate AVCHD (from the hacked GH2) relatively easy.

Of course it would be great if the "start-up" corruption issue was solved...but in the meanwhile (and as much as I like the 100 mbps MJPEG) I still would like to use the hacked GH2 at as high a bit rate as is stable.

The problem was finding software that could: 1) handle MTS files; 2) be easy to work with (preferably a "portable" .exe); and 3) most importantly allow quick trimming WITHOUT re-encoding.

It's not free...but it isn't very pricey either ($40). There's a free trial available so you can check it out for yourself.

http://www.fame-ring.com/smart_cutter.html

veloci

Or, even simpler. Use the in camera video divide function, you could use it to just trim the first second of the clip while leaving the rest squeaky clean.

oscillian

I'm looking for a good AVCHD trimmer software. The in camera thing works, but it's a bit fiddly. @Skeptikal "Smart Cutter" might do the trick, bur I've read reviews that mentions artifacts. Downloading the trial now to check it out.

Skeptikal

If it doesn't re-encode (which it definitely doesn't) there can't be any artifacts. I've carefully compared many Original clips vs same Trimmed clips...absolutely indistinguishable.

I prefer not to mess around with original files in-camera. Transferring originals to the HDD allows frame-accurate trimming on a large monitor...with renaming. A lot easier on the eyes as well...

I should have mentioned that it's only for Windows...not that other stuff.

test1

http://www.koyotesoft.com/indexEn.html

Handles .mts - no idea what formats it outputs tho !

And it's free.

Skeptikal

@test1
There's lots and lots of converters (really designed to do a different job) and trimmers/cutters/mini-editors...some even handle MTS. Finding one that does not re-encode MTS after trimming narrows the field somewhat.

Now if only someone could find one that does BULK trims as a batch process...

valdi99

http://www.aunsoft.com/final-mate/
its a good, lossless trimmer. However - the format it outputs does not work well with Vegas.

fatpig

about the artifacts- if it trims the video and does not even add another i-frame in the beginning, but starts with just a p/b frame if you happen to cut there, then of course there are bound to be grusome artifacts until the next iframe, which can be few frames til several seconds, depending on gop length.

Ptchaw

I've been using a bash script with ffmpeg to batch trim the first second of all my GH2 clips. Free, quick and lossless :)

fatpig

@Ptchaw: maybe you can post this script for everyone to check out? :) thanx

Skeptikal

@fatpig

Whatever it's doing the transitions look pretty good to me.

@Ptchaw

"first half a second"...?

With my MTS clips (@ 35-40 mbps) I need to trim about 2 to 2.5 seconds to completely get rid of the crap.

Ptchaw

@fatpig Here you go :)
@Skeptikal I meant second :P If you need to, you can change how much is trimmed.

Uses ffmpeg to trim the first 1 second from all the MTS files in the current directory.

OSGondar

@Skeptikal "I should have mentioned that it's only for Windows...not that other stuff."

teehee

oscillian

This might be OT, but how do you guys (and gals) trim out the good stuff from your daylies? I usually just drag in everything from the card to my computer, preview in mediaplayer (win7) and since every clip is bound to have 50 percent crap, I waste lot of space. It would be great to have a fast previewr/trimmer for mts files. Kind of a Fast Stone for video.

Rambo

Best one out there and it's free is TSmuxer. Been using it for years. It can also change the frame rate etc., very fast and no recompression of cut files.
http://www.smlabs.net/en/products/tsmuxer/

Automatic or manual fps adjustment while mixing;
Level changing as well as SEI, SPS/PPS elements and NAL unit delimiter cycle insertion while mixing H.264;
Audio tracks and subtitles time shifting;
Ability to extract DTS core from DTS-HD;
Ability to extract AC3 core from True-HD;
Ability to join files;
Ability to adjust fps for subtitles;
Ability to convert LPCM streams into WAVE and vice versa;
Track language information injection into blu-ray structure and TS header;
Ability to cut source files;
Ability to split output file;
Ability to detect audio delay for TS/M2TS/MPG/VOB/EVO sources;
Ability to remove pulldown info from stream;
Ability to open Blu-ray playlist (MPLS) files;
Ability to convert SRT subtitles to PGS;
Tags for SRT subtitles support - tags for changing font, color, size, etc.; tag's syntax is similar to HTML;
United cross-platform GUI - Windows, Linux, MacOS.

Oedipax

@Ptchaw, do I need to build ffmpeg with any kind of special options to run this? I just compiled a fresh version with Macports and the script runs, but I get an error when it tries to save out the trimmed file:

[NULL @ 0x7fd09b843c00] Unable to find a suitable output format for 'trimmed.GH2 2011.07.30 - Clip 03.mts'

Any ideas? Running OSX 10.7 by the way.

Skeptikal

@Rambo

I like tsmuxer. One thing I don't understand (maybe I'm doing something wrong)...it allows you to load several files into the preview window but even if they are all ticked it will only trim/mux one file. Is there a way of getting it to do a batch process (same number of seconds) to trim all loaded files?

Even a semi-automatic batch procedure doesn't seem possible, since deleting each file (in the GUI window) as it's muxed doesn't delete the output dialog...i.e. it still thinks the deleted file is the one that needs to be muxed again. Weird.

@Ptchaw

Which GUI will work/would you recommend for doing this with ffmpeg?

Ptchaw

@Oedipax Are you trying to trim interlaced AVCHD files? Otherwise run 'ffmpeg -formats' - libavcodec should be listed.

@Skeptikal Bash shell runs from a terminal - there is no GUI.

Oedipax

@Ptchaw, nope, all 24pN stuff using the 65mbps 3gop kae patch.

When I run ffmpeg -formats, I see libavcodec listed at the top ( 52.122. 0 / 52.122. 0 ), but I don't see MTS mentioned anywhere beneath in the file formats / encode / decode list, or any reference to AVCHD if that matters.

mpgxsvcd

The easiest lossless cutter and joiner out there is AVS Video remaker. It will do a lossless cut and join for the MTS files. It is about $60 and comes with the very full features AVS video editor.

Vitaliy_Kiselev

I think http://www.magix.com/us/movie-edit-pro/plus/ can do it.
Non plus is $39.
You can look at list of other editors here:
http://www.personal-view.com/talks/discussion/273/software-simple-and-cheap-multitrack-video-editor

cbrandin

The "blip" will never entirely go away. The codec needs the first GOP to optimize itself. The best we can hope for is that the first second will suck less. Even the factory, unmodified firmware settings exhibit lower quality for the first GOP than subsequent ones.

Chris

oscillian

@Rambo @mpgxsvcd Great stuff! Gonna check those out :)

oscillian

AVS Video remaker makes glitchy videos. Smart Cutter has a great gui and is fast. No glitches yet :)

Skeptikal

@cbrandin

Why do you think it's an issue with the GH2 but not the GH13?

stoney

@Ptchaw Thanks. I will try your script tonight. How did you verify it's lossless? Did you run StreamParser on a trimmed clip?

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