Could someone please capture NASA HDTV of Shuttle Launch

wrote (in part):

I'd be very interested to know 1) whether you can successfully unrar
the set; 2) whether I created the Par and Par2 (SmartPar) files
properly, and; 3) whether the clip is what you expected.

No problem unRARing. Needed a few PAR2s, and there were plenty. And
my only issues with the clip go to HDNet's choices, not yours. The
replays from different cameras showed they had much better views than
they used in the live shot. And what have they got against bass? I
have a decent subwoofer, and I had to overcrank it to get any rumble
at all. I realize no sound system can reproduce the sound (and feel)
of a launch, and I envy anyone who has experienced one in person.

With my 1.8 GHz/ATI 9800 system, VLC played the clip jerkily. Media
Player Classic with HDTVPump played it smoothly but with speedups
every few seconds. No way to tell if there would have been lipsync
issues. Windows Media Player was pretty good, with a number of
freezes at the start. As expected, my MyHD card played it very well,
but FF/RW didn't work at all. If you're not familiar with the card,
it has its own MPEG2 decoding and output, so it doesn't require a fast
processor and the video card's capabilities don't matter.

I had to trim
out the launch sequence from the original capture, which ran for a
couple of hours and was over 13 gigabytes. I believe that in the
process I converted the transfer stream clip to mpeg2.

Speaking for myself and, I suspect, most others who frequent a.b.hdtv,
I'd rather have had the original transport stream, cut into 100 MB
segments as you did the RAR files. No need to RAR them; they're
already compressed about as much as they're going to be. If you look
at other posts there, nearly all are .ts files. HDTVtoMPEG2 can
handle that repackaging very well; just make sure the output format is
transport stream.

One advantage of posting .ts files directly is that one can download
any one or a group of them to view as samples. No need to take the
whole thing just to see if you want it. Though that's not really an
issue with a short clip like this.

The MyHD software is quite good about playing consecutively-numbered
files smoothly if they're named correctly. Though not documented, the
most common naming convention on a.b.hdtv usually works well:

filename.nnnn.ts

where nnnn is a 4-digit number. I'm not aware of a software-only
player that does that, but I haven't really looked. Most will play a
list of files, but with black or a glitch between them.

Those who want one big file can reassemble the pieces with
HDTVtoMPEG2, MPEG2Repair (which can also fix other errors) or even the
venerable COPY /B command. Note that if your clip had exceeded 4 GB,
those still using FAT32 file systems (Win 98, ME, etc.) would not have
been able to unRAR it, though they could have used 100 MB .ts files.

Finally, thank you for uploading this. I don't have HDNet, so this is
the only way I could see the launch in HD.

Del Mibbler

"Edgar J. Hoover"
For an extra $5 you can sign up for a premium usenet service and get it
yourself.

I dont trust usenet services.
I can give you a ftp account on my domain, where you can upload the
packages.

On 2006-07-06 10:54:38 -0700, "Max Gerking" said:

"Edgar J. Hoover"
For an extra $5 you can sign up for a premium usenet service and get it
yourself.

I dont trust usenet services.
I can give you a ftp account on my domain, where you can upload the packages.

And you think FTP is any safer...good luck.

Max Gerking wrote:
"Edgar J. Hoover"
For an extra $5 you can sign up for a premium usenet service and get it
yourself.

I dont trust usenet services.
I can give you a ftp account on my domain, where you can upload the
packages.



Give me access to your ftp site and I will upload a short version.

--
Bill Anderson

I am the Mighty Favog

Hi Bill,

Thank you very much for taking the effort! I'm downloading it now. I really
appreciate it, can't wait to view it on my PLasma.


Steven Bink

http://bink.nu

Amsterdam
The Netherlands

wrote in message
ups.com...
Bonk wrote:
Discovery 'Go' For July 4 Launch

Mission managers have cleared Discovery for launch at 2:38 p.m. EDT on
July
4. A day of additional analysis showed that the loss of a small piece of
foam from the external tank didn't pose a safety concern for launch.



I hope someone manages to record it in HD form HDNET. TS files would be
great.


Please respond here on the newsgroup to let me know whether the clip I
posted is satisfactory. (I think I used "HDTV Post" or something like
that as the sender name.) This is the first time I've ever tried to
post a binary. I've downloaded plenty, but last night when I began
puzzling through my newsreader software I realized I'd never uploaded
any. It took me some time to figure it out, and I'm not sure I got it
right. Had to reboot this morning and (I hope) continue about where
the upload left off. I have my fingers crossed that the entire effort
isn't a waste of time and newsgroup space.

The clip is over two gigabytes. It starts about two and a half minutes
before launch and continues to the end of the HDNET broadcast. Toward
the end when they're repeating video of the launch, there are some
great shots from several Hi-Def camera angles -- shots that weren't
used during the actual launch.

I've seen most of the Shuttle launches -- several in person -- but this
was the first time I recall such a clear view of the solids falling
away. Very nice.

--
Bill Anderson

I am the Mighty Favog

Hello again,

whats the different between these files:

804,1 K Shuttle Launch 4 July 2006 contd. - File 01 of 19 - yEnc
"shuttle_launch_

and these files:

804,1 K Shuttle Launch 4 July 2006 - File 01 of 37 - yEnc "shuttle_launch_

I've only 5GB traffic volume.

Max Gerking wrote:
Hello again,

whats the different between these files:

804,1 K Shuttle Launch 4 July 2006 contd. - File 01 of 19 - yEnc
"shuttle_launch_

and these files:

804,1 K Shuttle Launch 4 July 2006 - File 01 of 37 - yEnc "shuttle_launch_

I've only 5GB traffic volume.



There are 37 files. In the middle of the upload I had to reboot. So
there are two sequences of files that begin with 01. The filenames for
the second sequence include an abbreviation for "continued." Look at
the last part of the filenames and you'll see that the filenames are
different from those in the first sequence.

--
Bill Anderson

I am the Mighty Favog

Bonk wrote:
Hi Bill,

Thank you very much for taking the effort! I'm downloading it now. I really
appreciate it, can't wait to view it on my PLasma.



You are very welcome. Actually, I've enjoyed learning how (or
attempting to learn how) to post large binaries. The process even
prompted me to subscribe to Giganews so I could have a fast connection
to newsgroups. Just $13 a month for two gigabytes of downloads per
month. The problem is that at these new fast speeds, I probably
downloaded a fourth of that last night. I may need to sign up for
unlimited. We'll see.

--
Bill Anderson

I am the Mighty Favog

Del Mibbler wrote:


With my 1.8 GHz/ATI 9800 system, VLC played the clip jerkily. Media
Player Classic with HDTVPump played it smoothly but with speedups
every few seconds. No way to tell if there would have been lipsync
issues. Windows Media Player was pretty good, with a number of
freezes at the start. As expected, my MyHD card played it very well,
but FF/RW didn't work at all. If you're not familiar with the card,
it has its own MPEG2 decoding and output, so it doesn't require a fast
processor and the video card's capabilities don't matter.

Del, you would probably be amused if you knew how many times I have
read and re-read your very helpful response. I am learning a lot and I
find all this fascinating. It has been my goal for some time to
record Hi-Def video successfully, but it's been only during the past
few months that I have learned how to connect my cable box to the
computer and capture a transfer stream. Now I am struggling with the
fact that different HDTV channels seem to provide different types of
video. Some of what I capture -- HBO for example -- plays great.
Other stuff -- ABC Network for example -- seems to be more problematic.
You have helped me with this in another thread, I believe. Thanks.

VLC does not play the launch clip jerkily (or at least not very
jerkily) on my Pentium 3.2 GHz / ATI 9600 XT system, but when the
camera moves quickly, or when the smoke billows from the launch pad, I
do see tearing of the video. This is not as apparent when playing the
clip in the ATI File Player, or Windows Media Player, but still it's
there if you look closely.

So from your note I have inferred that an even faster processor will be
required to play Hi-Def successfully from my computer. I use the ATI
9600XT because it has dual outputs, and I can send video from my
computer to my 42 inch plasma screen display, which has computer
monitor input.


I had to trim
out the launch sequence from the original capture, which ran for a
couple of hours and was over 13 gigabytes. I believe that in the
process I converted the transfer stream clip to mpeg2.

Speaking for myself and, I suspect, most others who frequent a.b.hdtv,
I'd rather have had the original transport stream, cut into 100 MB
segments as you did the RAR files. No need to RAR them; they're
already compressed about as much as they're going to be. If you look
at other posts there, nearly all are .ts files. HDTVtoMPEG2 can
handle that repackaging very well; just make sure the output format is
transport stream.

This makes perfect sense. I used WinRar on the clip because I knew of
no other way to break the file apart into segments. My primary problem
was deciding how large to make each segment. I appreciate you letting
me know that 100 MB segments are about right. I guessed correctly.
Hooray.


One advantage of posting .ts files directly is that one can download
any one or a group of them to view as samples. No need to take the
whole thing just to see if you want it. Though that's not really an
issue with a short clip like this.

Indeed. I downloaded one .ts segment from alt.binaries.hdtv last night
just as a test, and now I understand the value of what you're telling
me.


The MyHD software is quite good about playing consecutively-numbered
files smoothly if they're named correctly. Though not documented, the
most common naming convention on a.b.hdtv usually works well:

filename.nnnn.ts

I assume HDTV2MPEG2 will automatically apply the consecutive numbers as
you've described? I will check this some time over the weekend.


where nnnn is a 4-digit number. I'm not aware of a software-only
player that does that, but I haven't really looked. Most will play a
list of files, but with black or a glitch between them.

Those who want one big file can reassemble the pieces with
HDTVtoMPEG2, MPEG2Repair (which can also fix other errors) or even the
venerable COPY /B command. Note that if your clip had exceeded 4 GB,
those still using FAT32 file systems (Win 98, ME, etc.) would not have
been able to unRAR it, though they could have used 100 MB .ts files.

Finally, thank you for uploading this. I don't have HDNet, so this is
the only way I could see the launch in HD.


And thank you for the very helpful suggestions in both threads.

--
Bill Anderson

I am the Mighty Favog

wrote (in part):

VLC does not play the launch clip jerkily (or at least not very
jerkily) on my Pentium 3.2 GHz / ATI 9600 XT system, but when the
camera moves quickly, or when the smoke billows from the launch pad, I
do see tearing of the video. This is not as apparent when playing the
clip in the ATI File Player, or Windows Media Player, but still it's
there if you look closely.

So from your note I have inferred that an even faster processor will be
required to play Hi-Def successfully from my computer. I use the ATI
9600XT because it has dual outputs, and I can send video from my
computer to my 42 inch plasma screen display, which has computer
monitor input.

I think others have success at that speed. Maybe it needs the right
choice of codecs or some fine tweaking. I haven't gotten into that
much because the MyHD card makes all those issues moot. I think the
company recommends an 800 MHz computer as a minimum for full DVR
functionality. It can record OTA and unscrambled cable digitals, but
you would still need your cable box/IEEE 1394 solution for the
scrambled channels. Cable's retransmissions of broadcast channels
should not be scrambled. But the card would solve your playback
problems, and let you record two channels at once as long as one of
them was a broadcast channel. Since your plasma has a VGA input, you
should be able to loop one output of your ATI card through the MyHD
card (through a supplied dongle) so that you could toggle between the
MyHD and ATI outputs. Or you could run the MyHD output separately to
the component input of the plasma through an adapter cable.


The MyHD software is quite good about playing consecutively-numbered
files smoothly if they're named correctly. Though not documented, the
most common naming convention on a.b.hdtv usually works well:

filename.nnnn.ts

I assume HDTV2MPEG2 will automatically apply the consecutive numbers as
you've described? I will check this some time over the weekend.

Yes. First, make sure you have a recent version. Latest is 1.11.89,
available from:
http://www-personal.umich.edu/~balaz...EG2/index.html

If you Google "hdtvtompeg2" the first entry is the home page of the
original author, and the last version there is 1.07. That confuses
some people.

To crank out 100 MB .ts files, make sure the Output Type is "Transport
Stream," Ext is ".0000.ts" and Max Size is "100" MB and not grayed
out. The Clips button toggles that; if it's grayed out you'll get one
big file. Pick a file name and destination. If you want, select the
parts to include and exclude from the original file. Then click
Process.

Del Mibbler