Guide: Making DVD / DiVX Media for Games

[sandgk]

NOTE - This is a work in progress. Once refined (with the help of input from other contributors) this will be replicated on the BPWiki page and this thread will be deleted.

The thread is closed any input should be made by PM to the author.

Italicized areas are those for which some verification could help. If not italicized I consider (perhaps presumptively) that the advice offered is authoritative.

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Making Media for Serving By Torrent

This guide lays out some of the requirements for making a media file or package offering for serving as a BP Torrent. BP users with an interest in making media to serve as a BP Torrent can use this as a starting point and find links to authoritative guides on using specific methods for getting those TV broadcasts trimmed, tamed and ready for playing on PC or burning to DVD.

Primary Methods of Media Creation

There are probably 9,999 ways to skin the cat of getting game broadcasts down to size and ready for serving as a BP Torrent.
For the purpose of this guide three primary methods of media creation are assumed, each method demands one type or another of hardware:

1. TV broadcasts recorded directly on a computer using a Personal Video Recorder (PVR) card or USB connected box, then converted to a ready-to-serve format.
2. TV broadcasts recorded on a set-top box Personal Video Recorder or Digital Video Recorder then copied to PC for work-up into ready-to-serve media - the only such devices that this will work for are open TiVO boxes or those with Tivo2Go.
3. Conversion of archived media on VHS or closed system set-top PVR/DVR boxes to ready-to-serve media, this is best done on a dedicated DVD-Recorder unit.

Ready-to-Serve Media - Defined

For this guide ready-to-serve media defines the characteristics of the file size of the components of the package. It is not rigidly tied to one specific file format. This guide does recommend avoiding certain file formats as they are not universally recognized and playable / burnable on DVD for playing on TV.

Ready-to-serve media is defined as follows:

• The media itself, or the component files of the media package are less than 2GB in size.
• The component files of the package, when converted from original footage using any of the three methods of file creation will be either MPG, .AVI or standard DVD video files (.VOB).
• Video Recorder files (.VRO) or other machine dependent formats should be avoided.
• The instructions for the conversion methods, when followed, should yield lightweight media packages that are directly playable on PC AND directly burnable onto DVD using standard software tools.

1 - Taking Broadcasts Directly Into Your PC

Sage advice, TV on your PC was no Myth even before Media Center PC's were endorsed by the Devil (M$oft) - in fact Titan's would help you set up a "TiVO like" recorder using PCI cards in your PC to accept over the air (OTA) or cable TV channels on a PVR card, such as those from Hauppage - to name just one.

Getting from the original broadcast to a finished product is a relatively simple, though time-consuming process.

The Original File
These cards will record a game broadcast, typically to a file in .mpg format. Note, the files will be quite large, especially if you recorded the broadcast in a standard definition format. Editing is needed to make for a usable media package.

Luckily, all the PVR cards come with at least one lightweight video editor. This can be used to split games into halves or quarters for easy editing. Some editors will seek and extract commercials from the original file. If not, third-party applications like VideoReDo (and others) can extract commercials leaving a nearly seamless game.

The Intermediate Product
The intermediate product after all commercials have been removed is likely just about the right size to fit on a double-layer 8.5GB disc. That is still too large for most users - due to the time taken to download the content.

There are two options for handling this situation:
Option1 - DVD it Then DVDShrink It

• Convert the product to a series of DVD Folders for a Double-Layer disc. Note - no actual discs are made, these are simply the content converted to the structure of a large DVD disc. A DVD authoring program like those from ULead or Nero or the FREE DVDFlick is required for this stage. Commercial programs give you more flexibility over things like the menus seen by users downloading the media you author. DVDFlick and similar programs handle the rudiments of making a DVD amongst other tasks (see here).
• Shrink the resulting folders and their content using either the shrink to fit functions of the commercial programs, or use the venerable DVDShrink to accomplish the same task as shown here on Doom9. DVDShrink can typically take a commercial free gme video and shrink it to fit easily on a single-sided DVD disk (i.e., the entire package is less than 4.3 GB).
• Save the output as the VIDEO_TS folder - playable on PC before burning (alternatively a disc image can be written and served).

You should now be ready to serve the game files as a torrent of your VIDEO_TS folder or as the disc image you created above.

Option 2 - Make it DiVX Please
Clarification - DiVX is not some mysterious entity. It is simply a codec which enables compression of video into MPEG-4 (see we are getting too detailed already!) Think of it as next generation DVDShrink and you have it in a nutshell - but with two very important differences (see below).
[Commentary On]
There has been discussion in the forums about DiVX and attempts made to distinguish it from standard MPG-2 video as seen on all commercial or standard DVDs. Without going into details much of that discussion, though possibly correct, is way too involved for the typical user. We should assume they just want to download and burn the product for viewing. Worse some material presented has been either downright wrong, rife with misinformation or replete with irrelevant detail.[/Commentary Off]

Assumption - Commercial-free video files have been made as described above.

Process - Original Guide Concerning DiVX Encoding / Authoring: (Doom9). An alternative guide written from the perspective of backing up an original DVD is also on Doom9 - it is specific to an encoding front-end called AutoGK).
Process - Updated (from VideoHelp) Another AutoGK guide - with out to .AVI - a "for dummies" treatment. Lastly an example using freeware tools.

For easy use by those wishing to burn a DVD after receipt it is preferred that the resulting file be less than 2GB in size, this will likely mean that there is one file for each half of the game you are going to make into a torrent. You probably split the file earlier when editing the original file. If not, do so now.

You should now be ready to serve your DiVX game files as a torrent following the make a torrent guide.

2 - Making Ready-to-Serve Media from an Open PVR/DVR box (TiVO):
A - From the older Series2 TiVO Models:
The first method demands substantial computer expertise. It is not for the neophyte.

External Information on TiVO to DVD methods - Using the old DirecTV TiVO boxes, making the boxes communicate so files can be freed from the box.
A - From WeetHeet
B - WeetHeet's Preferred OS6 Method

The above guides cover everything needed to get from Video files to DVD out of an older TiVO box.

Specific steps that are demanded include downloading the files to your PC. (WeetHeet) and converting those files to a DVD compatible format (also WeetHeet).

For those who wondered how timbuck2 worked his magic it was using that type of arduous process. (I still say we did not thank timbuck2 enough for his ground-breaking work - rep him here). For those who want to bravely follow in his footsteps another starting point to hacking that TiVO is here.

B - From TiVOToGO - The Networked TiVO box
So much for that - there are alternatives these days if you are using a TiVO branded box that has TiVOToGo. Less arduous, but still something to read, learn and inwardly digest before implementing.

TiVOToGo to DVD - Discussion thread on TiVO's Official Forums

From this it is clear that TiVOToGo demands a specific version of Roxio for burning DVD media. In addition you will need TiVO's Desktop Software - Windows version shown here. An upgraded version ($25) allows you to make highly compressed video that uses the same compression found in DiVX (MPEG-4) but is not needed for making DVDs.

From there the process of DVD creation is as guided by Roxio's special version.

Of course, computer users always want to find a "free" way to do these things and somebody has found a way to do things that didn't require buying Roxio's software.

In principal, if you have got the files onto your PC and they are not encrypted then some of the other methods described in the first method can be used to make media suitable for serving by torrent.

C - What About (Insert Cable or Satellite Company Name Here) DVR - Can It do The Same as TiVO?

No, the authors are not aware of any boxes permitting easy access to the encrypted content in the manner of TiVOToGo. But, these things change over time. If users find cable company boxes with free access to content like the TiVOToGo service, with a full description of the methods and requirements for transferring content and making it free of encryption, then we can link that here.

What you can almost always do is connect the box to a stand-alone DVD-Recorder and use the "record to VCR" or other similar functions to record the program to a standard DVD disc. Then follow the instructions below for massaging the content.
(Almost being restricted to the following - no HD content out, and the material is not otherwise encrypted).

3 - Converting VHS Tapes to DVD / DIVX Media

The only important step that differentiates this method from the prior two is the act of recording from the VHS tape to a DVD recorder.

In principal one can pipe the video out from the VCR through into a Capture card (PVR card) - but the results may not be of excellent quality. If this works for you then go that route and follow the guides linked in the first method. (Another guide is also available here sing the Capture Card method). But, this method is about DVD-Recorders.

The method presented below is not the only one, but it is the method least fraught with difficulty.

• Either link the video and audio outs from the VCR to a stand-alone DVD-Recorder - OR
• Use one of the dual deck VHS to DVD recorders that are on the market.

Follow the manufacturer's instructions to set up DVD recording into a standard DVD, be aware of the maximum recorded length of program. The best compromise is to sacrifice one double-layer DVD to this end.
A guide, based on burning set-top DVR to DVD-Recorder is available here.
One key step, as you will wish to massage the video on your PC, due to commercials or length, or both, is to finalize the disc - allowing it to be played on a variety of other players. The process is shown graphically for the recorder I use here.

The next steps are straightforward enough:

• Transfer the recorded files to PC by copying from the DVD-Drive - this may take a long time.
• Edit in the manner used earlier for video captured using PVR cards.
• Split into halves and games as needed, remove commercials
• Either make DVD and Shrink - OR
• Make into DiVX game files.

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As I said - a work in progress.
PM author with contributions - thanks, sandgk