Editing of sorts

icarusi

I haven't yet found an editor for the files made by the P+ but I was experimenting with a file splitter, FFSJ v3.3, so I could back up 3 of the 1.5Gb blocks the P+ creates to DVD, which inconveniently are greater than the 4.7Gb of a DVD.

I found unexpectedly that the second part of a block, divided with the FFSJ splitter, would actually still play within Media Player Classic and didn't require the 'joining' process of the whole file to enable it to play.

Unfortunately as a file 'splitter' any 'split' value smaller than half the main file produces 3 files etc. so it's easy to chop a section from the end of a file than to do the same from the beginning.

On BBC HD files 2Mb/sec (120Mb/min) values seem to work so providing you have reasonably accurate time points from the file start it's relatively easy to calculate the splitting pints in Mb.

The splitter doesn't delete the original file, unless you select that option, but being careless with 'joining' processes can overwrite the original file if it's in the same directory, so better to work with a duplicate file.

If 'chopped' files are used within the folders of a P+ hardrive, providing they exist in the order xx.ts, xx.001, xx.002 etc. they should play in sequence as per the original recording, although the 'i' (blue button) duration will remain as per the original recording even though the new 'edited' playing time will be shorter.

You can make a dummy 'event' by recording until a few file blocks have been written, say xx.ts - xx.004 for 60 minutes. The xx.ts - xx.004 can be substituted with any other similar blocks, or edited blocks providing the xx filename and foldername are consistent and the .ts, .001 , .002 sequence is maintained of the file blocks within the folder.

I haven't yet tried mixing BBC HD and ITV HD files within a folder using this method as they have different bit rates so will likely glitch at the boundaries between the file types.

icarusi

I backed up 'Pirates of the Carribean' which runs for 2:09 on to 4 DVDs. I 'clipped' each 3rd 1.5Gb block using FFSJ and added the 'clipped' sections to the final DVD along with the .inf and .idx files. I also included a .txt file of the MD5 checksums of all files.

As a check, I reassembled the 3 clipped files using the 'join' function of FFSJ and copied them back to the hardrive I use on the P+ together with the original .inf and .idx files. I renamed the joined files as .ts, .001 and .002 (all files/folders were renamed 'test'). There were no glitches at the 'joins' and the files played in sequence (with slight glitches) as if they were they were the original first 3 files.

Fast forward and fast reverse worked OK over all the files, so I created some 'bookmarks' at 12,24 and 36 minute intervals, which transfer to the .inf rather than the .idx files, so I can check any future backups (from BBC HD files) using those particular .inf and .idx files as 'dummies' for anything up to 2.09 in length.

The only downside is the length of time required to make the MD5 checksums and the time to copy from DVD to the P+ hardrive over USB. I bought a SATA DVD writer and will try an eSATA connection to try and improve the time.