How do I split a mpeg-2 file, then recombine to get the same thing?

I just started using a WinTV PVR-350 to record television. If I
record something that I want to save on DVD, but it's too big to all
fit on one DVD, then I will need to split the file and use 2 DVD's.

I would like to split the file in a way so that it can be recombined
into one file that is bit-for-bit the same as the original file. In
the future, with a greater capacity next generation DVD, I could put
the entire recording on one disc. Of course, I could just use
something like WinZip and make a multiple-disc backup of the file to
save for the future, but it wouldn't be playable since it would be
zipped. I would like to split the big file in a way that I've got two
proper mpeg-2 files so that I can play the files and make them into
DVD's, yet still be able to rejoin them in the future.

Does anyone know how to do this? What software do I need? Thanks
very much.

William Richardson

"William Richardson" <> wrote in message
news: om...
> I just started using a WinTV PVR-350 to record television. If I
> record something that I want to save on DVD, but it's too big to all
> fit on one DVD, then I will need to split the file and use 2 DVD's.
>
> I would like to split the file in a way so that it can be recombined
> into one file that is bit-for-bit the same as the original file. In
> the future, with a greater capacity next generation DVD, I could put
> the entire recording on one disc. Of course, I could just use
> something like WinZip and make a multiple-disc backup of the file to
> save for the future, but it wouldn't be playable since it would be
> zipped. I would like to split the big file in a way that I've got two
> proper mpeg-2 files so that I can play the files and make them into
> DVD's, yet still be able to rejoin them in the future.
>
> Does anyone know how to do this? What software do I need? Thanks
> very much.

http://www.tmpgenc.net/e_main.html It's exactly what you need.

Kimani

"Kimani" <> wrote in message news:<hc6dnSxkOY929EyiRVn->...
> "William Richardson" <> wrote in message
> news: om...
> > I just started using a WinTV PVR-350 to record television. If I
> > record something that I want to save on DVD, but it's too big to all
> > fit on one DVD, then I will need to split the file and use 2 DVD's.
> >
> > I would like to split the file in a way so that it can be recombined
> > into one file that is bit-for-bit the same as the original file. In
> > the future, with a greater capacity next generation DVD, I could put
> > the entire recording on one disc. Of course, I could just use
> > something like WinZip and make a multiple-disc backup of the file to
> > save for the future, but it wouldn't be playable since it would be
> > zipped. I would like to split the big file in a way that I've got two
> > proper mpeg-2 files so that I can play the files and make them into
> > DVD's, yet still be able to rejoin them in the future.
> >
> > Does anyone know how to do this? What software do I need? Thanks
> > very much.
>
> http://www.tmpgenc.net/e_main.html It's exactly what you need.

Kimani, I've been trying to get that program to work for me for awhile
now. I can't get it to split a file, then recombine the two halves to
get the original file. When I try, the recombined file isn't the same
as the original file. The program makes no specific mention that it
will to do this. Like any video editing program, it can split files
and merge files, but I'm trying to get the original file back after
splitting it. Are you sure it can do this? How do I do it?

William Richardson

William Richardson wrote:



>>
>>http://www.tmpgenc.net/e_main.html It's exactly what you need.
>
>
> Kimani, I've been trying to get that program to work for me for awhile
> now. I can't get it to split a file, then recombine the two halves to
> get the original file. When I try, the recombined file isn't the same
> as the original file.

In what way is it different? With Tmpgenc go to File menu, MPEG Tools,
and then select the Merge and Cut tab. Add your parts, enter a new
filename, then click Run. The new file is a merge of the two parts,
and should be what you require.


The program makes no specific mention that it
> will to do this. Like any video editing program, it can split files
> and merge files, but I'm trying to get the original file back after
> splitting it. Are you sure it can do this? How do I do it?

See above, but why do you even need to join the two files again BTW?
If at a later stage you want to burn them to a new double layer (or
whatever) DVD of higher capacity, then the authoring program will do it
for you.

--
Cheers
Oldus Fartus

Oldus Fartus

Oldus Fartus <> wrote in message news:<brp7l9$2dj$>...
> William Richardson wrote:
>
>
>
> >>
> >>http://www.tmpgenc.net/e_main.html It's exactly what you need.
> >
> >
> > Kimani, I've been trying to get that program to work for me for awhile
> > now. I can't get it to split a file, then recombine the two halves to
> > get the original file. When I try, the recombined file isn't the same
> > as the original file.
>
> In what way is it different? With Tmpgenc go to File menu, MPEG Tools,
> and then select the Merge and Cut tab. Add your parts, enter a new
> filename, then click Run. The new file is a merge of the two parts,
> and should be what you require.
>

The file is different in that it isn't a bit-for-bit duplicate of the
original. I'm trying to take a file A, split it into B and C,
recombine B and C to get D, which is equivalent to A. In other words,
when you use fc.exe or WinDiff to compare A and D, those programs will
say "no differences encountered".

>
> The program makes no specific mention that it
> > will to do this. Like any video editing program, it can split files
> > and merge files, but I'm trying to get the original file back after
> > splitting it. Are you sure it can do this? How do I do it?
>
> See above, but why do you even need to join the two files again BTW?
> If at a later stage you want to burn them to a new double layer (or
> whatever) DVD of higher capacity, then the authoring program will do it
> for you.

Of course any authoring program could do some sort of merge when
putting the recording on a higher capacity media. But if that merged
file is a duplicate of the original, you don't have to deal with
header incompatibility, sync errors, etc. If you were spreading a
really huge text file over 2 CD's, would you want to use a zip program
to do that? Or would you be happy to just open the file in Word, and
allow extra tabs to be inserted and grammatical errors to fixed
without you asking it, just because it would be pretty close to the
original. You'd open up the potential to generation loss which kind
of defeats the purpose of digital. Any programmer would appreciate
what I'm saying here. Try changing just a single bit of an exe for a
demonstration. The program will no longer work.

The easy way to do this would be to just split the mpeg file in two
between frames. The trick is finding the separation between frames so
that you don't end up with half a frame in each segment. I'm a
programmer. This would be a fairly easy program to write. You just
need to know the mpeg format in detail. I'm sure there are programs
that do this. I was going to write one myself but I figured someone
would know of one that did it.

William Richardson

William Richardson wrote:

> Oldus Fartus <> wrote in message news:<brp7l9$2dj$>...
>
>>William Richardson wrote:
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>>>http://www.tmpgenc.net/e_main.html It's exactly what you need.
>>>
>>>
>>>Kimani, I've been trying to get that program to work for me for awhile
>>>now. I can't get it to split a file, then recombine the two halves to
>>>get the original file. When I try, the recombined file isn't the same
>>>as the original file.
>>
>>In what way is it different? With Tmpgenc go to File menu, MPEG Tools,
>>and then select the Merge and Cut tab. Add your parts, enter a new
>>filename, then click Run. The new file is a merge of the two parts,
>>and should be what you require.
>>
>
>
> The file is different in that it isn't a bit-for-bit duplicate of the
> original. I'm trying to take a file A, split it into B and C,
> recombine B and C to get D, which is equivalent to A. In other words,
> when you use fc.exe or WinDiff to compare A and D, those programs will
> say "no differences encountered".
>
>
I could very well be wrong, but I doubt whether you will ever get a bit
for bit copy after joining the two halves, which FC would say is
identical to the original. You can though get an MPEG2 file which
plays identically to the original without any skipped or added frames.

>> The program makes no specific mention that it
>>
>>>will to do this. Like any video editing program, it can split files
>>>and merge files, but I'm trying to get the original file back after
>>>splitting it. Are you sure it can do this? How do I do it?
>>
>>See above, but why do you even need to join the two files again BTW?
>>If at a later stage you want to burn them to a new double layer (or
>>whatever) DVD of higher capacity, then the authoring program will do it
>>for you.
>
>
> Of course any authoring program could do some sort of merge when
> putting the recording on a higher capacity media. But if that merged
> file is a duplicate of the original, you don't have to deal with
> header incompatibility, sync errors, etc. If you were spreading a
> really huge text file over 2 CD's, would you want to use a zip program
> to do that? Or would you be happy to just open the file in Word, and
> allow extra tabs to be inserted and grammatical errors to fixed
> without you asking it, just because it would be pretty close to the
> original. You'd open up the potential to generation loss which kind
> of defeats the purpose of digital. Any programmer would appreciate
> what I'm saying here. Try changing just a single bit of an exe for a
> demonstration. The program will no longer work.
>
I appreciate what you are saying, but an MPEG file is not an EXE file
and I have yet to find a problem doing it my way.

> The easy way to do this would be to just split the mpeg file in two
> between frames. The trick is finding the separation between frames so
> that you don't end up with half a frame in each segment. I'm a
> programmer. This would be a fairly easy program to write. You just
> need to know the mpeg format in detail. I'm sure there are programs
> that do this. I was going to write one myself but I figured someone
> would know of one that did it.

Yes. My method is to use TMPGenc. Using batch encode I load the
file, then using Source Range, mark my split point and note the end
frame number, then click to add another job to the batch file. I load
the same file again, and this time mark the start frame as one frame
later than the previous job. If for some reason I ever would need to
join the two halves, then there are no frames missing, and none duplicated.

If you are recording from TV, unless the program is ad free, the ad
breaks can be convenient split points and also convenient chapter points
for a DVD so once again there is no real need, with my usage, to join
them up.

--
Cheers
Oldus Fartus

Oldus Fartus