How to have fun with Video and Dlna servers

[Reeman]

There is a really simple way to take multiple video files and stitch them together so that they easily stream with dlna servers.
One of the biggest problems with DVDs and streaming the VOB files to a client is the fact that menu .VOB files usually cause havoc. The individual vobs are usually set to episodes and even then they are time stamped for the menu interface to be set by a player.

To overcome the stream breaks that separate vobs played in succession on a dlna client creates it is better to create one large .vob or m4v or mpeg4 file for the server to stream continuously to the client.
In my case the client is a Samsung Allshare LED tv that has an eithenet jack and a busy-box Linux based dlna client and software running the TV..Amazing how far embedded Linux has come! It almost rules the roost in consumer electronics today.

To stitch the vobs (or whatever) together you can simply use the good old cat command.

First use Brasero to create a DVD iso and then extract the VIDEO_TS folder to your /home folder. Brasero will retrieve the dvd keys for you.

Look through the files to find which vobs are the actual content that you want to work on. They will be in order and the ones that have a file name like VIDEO_TS_1_0.VOB will most likely be the menu. Ones like VIDEO_TS_1_1.VOB will be the actual content. You can tell easily by the preview or by playing them individually and or seeing how big they are and their number sequence.
Once you have separated all the menu stuff and other files from the sequenced mpeg files then you can do the deed.

Either cut and paste or copy (depending on how much space have) the files to a made up folder then cd into that made up folder with a terminal. Then issue the cat command and list the files in order with spaces complete with file extensions. At the end of the files that you want to combine into a single mpeg file use a space then > another space then the name that you choose to make the output file along with the correct file extension for the mpeg. Last one that I did was an m4v of ElizabethR (the BBC video classic). This is a screen shot of the actual process of doing VOB which I am watching as I write this.

doingdeed.png

All and all Linux Mint has become the most multimedia friendly distro going and is much more user friendly than proprietary ware that costs big time.
Thank you guys for doing the distro!
Here is the running characteristics of Mint doing a wifi stream to a Samsung allshare tv though a lan. The lan details are 1. source is my laptop (IBM-t42 with 1.5 gig of ram running at 1.7ghz) wlan is abg so it is most likely running a g down to the router. 2. a linksys n single stream router 3. a cat 5 directly from the router to the Samsung tv which has built in Linux-Busy box Samsung specific dlna.

This is a screen shot of the Serviio server running and how much process and band width the actual stream takes.

The stream is not dropping out and when it does it is only because something else bumps the actual g based 2.4 megahertz stream signal. No stutter or missed sync of audio and video. As I write and post this I am watching this huge VOB that I just created with the process described above.