Tricking Handbrake into opening non-DVD files?

[Honeyko]

Has anyone had any luck in tricking Handbrake into opening and successfully encoding a non-DVD file without re-encoding it first? If so, please detail your procedure.

(I have a number files that are the result of merging, in VideoReDo Plus, several extracted VOBs or MPEG2-ripped chapters from DVD -- but Handbrake won't open them.)

[awk]

Has anyone had any luck in tricking Handbrake into opening and successfully encoding a non-DVD file without re-encoding it first? If so, please detail your procedure.

(I have a number files that are the result of merging, in VideoReDo Plus, several extracted VOBs or MPEG2-ripped chapters from DVD -- but Handbrake won't open them.)

If the resultant file is an MPEG-2 Program stream Handbrake 0.9.1 (the current release) should open them fine if they have the .mpg file suffix.

Watch the log window for messages that might help diagnose why the file isn't opening.

[Honeyko]

If the resultant file is an MPEG-2 Program stream Handbrake 0.9.1 (the current release) should open them fine if they have the .mpg file suffix. Watch the log window for messages that might help diagnose why the file isn't opening.

Here's an example: I've taken one of those horrible DVDs that bust every episode up into half-a-dozen tiny chapters. Now, while each of these is encodable as a chapter when ripped by MagicDVDripper, or Handbrake itself, that presents a logistical nightmare when attempting to determine overall file-size when the fragments are merged.

So, what I do is merge the ripped chapters into one MPEG-2 with the joiner/stream-copier VideoReDo Plus to produce a larger file which I will then encode to a specific size.

But this is what I get when I attempt to open the file in Handbrake:



If, after closing the warning box, I click encode anyway, I get several seconds of this junk scrolling rapidly before it quits with no file saved:



...if VideoReDo is barfing its output, what MPEG-2 joiner/stream-copier would you recommend?

[dynaflash]

I recommend reading this thread:
http://handbrake.m0k.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=864

[zen649]

You might try to use MPEG Streamclip. It it is a little more flexible with the content it can open and export/encode.

http://www.squared5.com/

Just another tool to try.

[jbrjake]

You might try to use MPEG Streamclip.

Err...this works for you?

Per the thread dynaflash linked to just above you, I have never gotten a file touched by Streamclip to open in HB. Pretty sure I tested again after awk's last patches, but maybe I'm wrong.

[Honeyko]

I haven't had any luck getting Streamclip to open/monkey-with/re-save a previously ripped & merged MPEG2 file into anything that Handbrake would deal with.

[zen649]

I may have interpreted the question incorrectly. I was asuming that the purpose of trying to get HB to open the file(s) was to be able to create an MP4 out of it. I was suggesting using StreamClip to open the file and create the MP4.

[Honeyko]

I'm trying to open material in HB.

[SonicLife]

Try setting up the output options of videoredo as per the screenshot in the 1st post of http://forum.toppy.org.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=9625.