Bitrate Scheduler

BitrateScheduler_v0.0.4.exe

To install :

1. Download the application file above (Win 2000/XP)
2. By default the application folder is created as Program Files\Bitrate Scheduler
3. A shortcut is created in the Quick Start menu of Windows system to launch the application

This is an application used to schedule TV programs recording with a TV-Tuner Hauppauge PVR 350 card.

The Hauppauge TV card is already distributed with a scheduler, but it doesn't offer an option to set the output video file size generated by the scheduled record.

I have so written this application to schedule a recording with an automatic bitrate calculation that set the video output file size generated to optimally fill a single DVD, half of a DVD, a CD-R etc...

Verify that the Hauppauge WinTV PVR 350 and the WinTV are installed correctly.
To simply test the application without an Hauppauge TV card you must follow the procedure described here.

Be sure that the Windows task manager is running and is configured to be launched at system start.

To best use the tool you must create at least one channel preset (Win TV will so consider all channels as presets) with a readable name for each channel. The Bitrate Scheduler will so uses those presets and their names in the the edit window to select the channels of each recording.

To schedule a recording in normal mode you must :

1. Add a new schedule with the NEW button of the main window to open the edit window
2. Set the program name of the schedule. It is use to later identify the schedule and the output video file generated by the record
3. Choose the TV channel name. It appears as it has been entered in the WinTV Suite Manager de WinTV. If the channel is not a preset, the channel number will be used instead. It wiil be something like Channel 12, Channel 13, Channel xx ...
4. Set the record start date of the schedule and its length in minutes.
   
   Caution : Defaults margin of respectively 10 and 15 minutes are added before and after the recording. It wiil imply that the recording will automatically start 10 minutes before the recording date you entered and will so stop 15 minutes after. This functionnality is used to prevent TV the recording to start after or stop before the TV program starts or ends. The real date used is not displayed in the date field used to set the start and stop date of the recording but they will be displayed in the main window program list. Those margins aren't used to calculate the recording bitrate, it imply that you must cut margins with a video editor before burning the file on a DVD,CD, etc... You can simply edit the value of this margins in the advanced Edit Window mode.

Main window

Normal mode

Advanced mode

To test the application without WinTV nor Hauppauge 350 TV-Card installed, you must download an imported registration (.reg) file that will simulate the WinTV software installation. This file is named hauppauge.reg, you must simply click on it after download and extraction of the registre_hauppauge.zip that shares it.

It is not necessary, but if you really want to uninstall any of the keys written during the operation you must delete the entry :
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Hauppauge]

Caution : you must not use this file if the Hauppauge WinTv card is already installed

This application is developed and distributed under GNU GPL licence. Its sources can be downloaded from here :
BitrateScheduler_source_v0.0.2.exe

This distribution contains a version of the Xpath AS 2.0 class from xfactorstudio that is under a licence Apache style. It contains .FLA files that uses Macromedia components on their own license. Please refer to the Macromedia components license for more information.

You must download and install mProjector AS2 and DateStepper extensions from this website before opens and exports any of the SWF files.

You must have mProjector installed to create a projector with bitrate_scheduler.swf as main file.

Before I began to develop the Bitrate Scheduler application, I have used a little tool friendly named Bitrate Calculator that allows to calculate the bitrate needed to set the common quality profile in WinTV before schedule a recording.

You do not need any HaupaugeTuner-TV card or WinTV software to use this tool, it only calculates and displays values.

Normal mode

Advanced mode