mpgtx

Section: User manual (1)
Updated: APRIL 2001
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NAME

mpgtx, mpgsplit, mpgcat, mpgjoin, mpginfo, mpgdemux - manipulate mpeg files

SYNOPSIS

mpgtx command [ options ] file [ range | file ] ...

DESCRIPTION

mpgtx can split and join MPEG files in various ways. Three file types are currently handled (more to come): MPEG 1 Video files, MPEG 1/2 Audio files (mp1 mp2 mp3), MPEG 1 System files (audio and video files), MPEG 2 Program files (Experimental), MPEG 2 Transport files (demultiplex and info modes only). mpgtx is a GOP based editor. This means that mpgtx cuts MPEG files on Group Of Picture basis, not on frame basis. A typical GOP duration is about 0.5 s, so is mpgtx accuracy.

COMMANDS

-i

print infos about files, such as duration, dimention, bitrate, ...

-j

join files (ranges may be specified).

-s

split files according to the specified ranges.

-d

demultiplex composite mpeg file.

-T

manipulate ID3 tags from mp3 files. (see mp3tag (1) )

-h

print a (not so) short help message.

-v

print version and exit.

-#

where # is a number, split the given files in # parts.

In addition, when invoked with the names mpgjoin, mpgcat, mpgsplit, mpgdemux and mpginfo, mpgtx will modify its behaviour in the following ways:
mpginfo behaves as mpgtx -i
mpgsplit behaves as mpgtx -s
mpgjoin behaves as mpgtx -j
mpgcat behaves as mpgtx -j -o -
mpgdemux behaves as mpgtx -d

OPTIONS

-f: force overwriting of files, never ask.
-b NAME: each output file will have the basename NAME
-o FILE: FILE will be used as the output file (used with the join command). if FILE is - standard output will be used.

RANGES

Each range must follow a filename or another range. A range in an MPEG file can be specified using one of this three notations:

[a-b]: from value a inclusive to value b inclusive. If you want half opened ranges, you may want to use ]a-b], [a-b[ or ]a-b[.
[n/ntot]: the n th part out of ntot. [1/4] would result in the first quarter of the specified file.
{a-b-...}: with a , b , ... in ascending order. Split specified file at given boundaries. {55M} therefore means from beginnig of file to 55Megs and from 55Megs to the end of file.

VALID VALUES

Values of ranges can be specified in seconds or as a byte offset.

Time Format: HH:MM:SS.SS where the HH: part can be omited
Offset Format: a number optionally followed by M for Megabytes k for kilobytes
Omitted Values: An empty value is valid and is equivalent to the corresponding file boundary:
[-10M] are the first 10 Megabytes of the file.
[1:10:04-] from 1 hour 10 minutes 4 seconds to the end of file.

RETURN VALUE

all programs return 0 upon successfull completion and 1 on failure

EXAMPLES

mpgjoin movie1.mpg [-0:32] [45M-75M] movie2.mpg -o joined.mpg: joined.mpg will contain the first 32 seconds of movie1.mpg followed by 30 Megs of movie1.mpg starting at 45 Megs followed by the whole file movie2.mpg
mpgtx -124 myfile.mpg -b output: will split myfile.mpg in 124 parts with names output-001.mpg to output-124.mpg
mpgtx -i Wazzup.mp3: will print infos about given file such as duration, bitrate, but also album, track, song name if this file has an ID3 tag.
mpgcat myfile.mpg [2/2] | lpr: will redirect the second half of myfile.mpg to your printer, emptying it from toner and paper and make you be fired by your boss... Use carefully.

BUGS

Plenty of :)
GOP based: well this is not a bug but it's a limitation.
Some artifacts with bad MPEG players playing joined files. These players don't take care of the broken link flag used to discard the first B frames they encounter. Hey they SHOULD!

AUTHOR

Laurent Alacoque <laureck@users.sourceforge.net> CopyLeft 2001
Bugs, patch, infos, new releases, girls, money go to :
http://mpgtx.sourceforge.net/

THANKS

for your attention. Have a good day.
Godmar Back and Brent Phillips helped me to tune the command line interface.
Volker Moell patiently teach me how to build rpms. Danke Volker.
Jean Fransisco Sytem (alias Nicolas Schieli) helped me correct some nasty bugs.
Thank you guys.

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Time: 13:17:45 GMT, July 16, 2022