This is a "plugin" for the Video Disk Recorder (VDR).

Written by:		     John Germs       <brighthaven@mail.com>

Project's homepage:          http://linux.brighthaven.com/vdr/roaster
Latest version available at: http://linux.brighthaven.com/vdr/roaster

See the file COPYING for license information.

Name:	VDR-ROASTER
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Description:
------------
  Vdr-roaster is a plugin that makes it possible to create dvd compliant mpg's
from vdr recordings, build ISO's from them then burn them to DVD. 


History:
-----------
  This plugin started off as a simple script for repairing vdr recordings back
when vdr had some serious recording issues and the methods previously employed
for burning recordings to dvd were failing. It has since expanded into more
scripts and they've been implemented into the vdr interface via the structure
of the filebrowser plugin. (Thanks Holger Brunn !!)   


Prerequisites:
--------------
replex 			http://www.metzlerbros.org/dvb/
mplayer/mencoder	http://www.mplayerhq.hu/
mjpegtools		http://mjpeg.sourceforge.net/		
ffmpeg			http://ffmpeg.mplayerhq.hu/
dvdauthor		http://dvdauthor.sourceforge.net/
mkisofs  		http://cdrecord.berlios.de/old/private/mkisofs.html
dvd+rw-tools		http://fy.chalmers.se/~appro/linux/DVD+RW/


Installation:
-------------
Place the roaster folder containing the sh files, etc.
into your /video/plugins directory
Build the plugin as usual, no other special requirements necessary

Add -Proaster to your vdr command line

If you plan to use vdr-roaster in a different folder structure than
the vdr default you'll have to alter these variables:
dvd_compliant.sh
 MPG_FOLDER="/video/mpgs"
 AVI_FOLDER="/video/avis"

make_iso.sh
 MPG_FOLDER="/video/mpgs"
 ISO_FOLDER="/video/iso"

commands.conf
 Make MPG?:*:/video/plugins/roaster/dvd_compliant.sh %f:r
 Make ISO?:*:/video/plugins/roaster/make_iso.sh %f:r
 Roast ISO?:*:/video/plugins/roaster/roast_iso.sh %f:r

You'll need to make sure you have proper permissions on your folders as well

Patch replex with supplied patch, compile and install.
 (patch suppresses warning messages which has been)
 (contributing to the remote input freeze syndrom)
 (there were just too many carriage returns!)


Recommended Recording settings:
-------------------------------
For easier use of Roaster ensure you have these settings:
 Setup - Recording
 - Max. video file size: 2000
 - Split edited files: no
With these settings vdr's editing feature will create the least amount
of segments possible.


Recordings Prep prior to Roaster usage:
---------------------------------------
It is recommended that you take advantage of vdr's editing feature.
This can resolve certain flaws recordings sometimes have. This is
covered in the vdr users manual. Here is a quick howto:
  STEPS FOR EDITING RECORDINGS:
	Go to recordings
	Play the recording
	Skip ahead to when the show starts
	Hit pause
	Hit 0 to create a mark
	If you want to move the mark a bit use 4 or 6 depending on the direction
	Hit play
	Skip ahead to the commercial (or end of the show if it's commercial free)
	Hit pause
	Hit zero to make another mark
	If you want to move the mark a bit use 4 or 6 depending on the direction
	When you have reached the end of the show and are happy with the mark
	 locations hit 2 to begin the process of cutting and combining the
	 recording
	Hitting 2 will take whatever data is between your first and second
	 mark.. your third and fourth mark .. and so on and use that data as the
	 new recording file.

   TO RE-EDIT RECORDINGS:
	Using 7 and 9 enable you to jump from mark to mark.
	 This is useful when wanting to move the marks slightly.
	The VDR users manual can be found here:
	 http://www.linuxtv.org/vdrwiki/index.php/VDR_User%27s_Manual
  

Usage:
------     
Select Roaster from the main menu
Browse to your recordings folder and select the video file (ie. 001.vdr)
Press the 'Make MPG' button
Repeat this process with any other recording segments (ie. 002.vdr, etc)
Upon completion browse to the mpgs folder and select the first segment you want to include
Press the 'Make ISO' button 
Upon completion browse to the iso folder and select the iso
Press the 'Roast ISO' button (provided you have a burner in your satbox)

Make MPG
 - This process can take some time. It is safe to exit the status window.
 - If you wish to look at the status again simply follow these steps
 ----- Enter Roaster
 ----- Press the blue button (>>)
 ----- Press the green button (Status)
 ----- Highlight the thread
 ----- Press OK
 - If your recordings end up out-of-sync** you may need to use the 'encoding method'
 ----- Open your /video/plugins/roaster/dvd_compliant.sh in an editor
 ----- Change USE_REPLEX="yes" to USE_REPLEX="no"
 - AVI files are now supported

Make ISO
 - This will include any segments following the first selected



Known Issues:
-------------
The main interface of roaster has been based off of the filebrowser plugin.
The filebrowser plugin has been known to have the issue of sometimes robbing
vdr of it's user input until the running threads have finished. In other words
at these times vdr will operate and play video as normal, but will not be able
to change channels, etc. A work-around for this is to simply start these long
processes (make mpg) before you go to bed. Another work-around seems to be to
use the remote now and then while the background process is running.
Recordings that have titles like Overhaulin' may fail to load directory.
Workaround is to rename the folder and remove the '

** There is a known issue with nexus setups utilizing 'tv-out only' (ie. no desktop viewing)
    The current work-around is to momentarily launch a program that accesses the stream.
    (tvtime, mplayer, etc)
If you have or create a script that launches vdr you can put these lines in the beginning:

#!/bin/bash
#
# NEXUS 'TV-OUT-ONLY' WORK-AROUND
# --------------------------------------------
sleep 7 && tvtime &
sleep 12 && killall tvtime &
# --------------------------------------------
# Command line to launch vdr
cd vdr-1.4.3
./vdr -Pyaepg -Psc ..etc..etc..

Instead of tvtime you could use an mplayer command something like:
 (make sure you use the correct device and input commands)

#!/bin/bash
#
# NEXUS 'TV-OUT-ONLY' WORK-AROUND
# --------------------------------------------
sleep 7 && mplayer -tv driver=v4l:norm=ntsc:device=/dev/video0:input=1:width=640:height=480:fps=30 -vo xv -fs tv:// &
sleep 12 && killall mplayer &
# --------------------------------------------
# Command line to launch vdr
cd vdr-1.4.3
./vdr -Pyaepg -Psc ..etc..etc..

The problem with this is you'd have to have your box running X in order to successfully launch tvtime. Maybe someone else here might have another idea. it would be best if we could narrow this down and determine why we are getting these recording issues.

There is also a lot of talk that perhaps the old firmware version 261d is less affected. (unconfirmed)

