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    Please do not post a support request without first reading and following the advice in https://retropie.org.uk/forum/topic/3/read-this-first

    [SCRIPT] Batch convert YUV 4:4:4 videos to YUV 4:2:0 in Retropie/Linux

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    omxscriptvideoyuv
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    • mituM
      mitu Global Moderator @chigundo
      last edited by mitu

      @chigundo

      Just save the script into a text file (e.g. 444p-to-420p.sh), make it executable with the command chmod u+x 444p-to-420p.sh, and run it from within your videos directory.

      You can save it in the pi user's home (/home/pi), but you need to execute it from the video folder(s) where your videos are.

      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
      • ClydeC
        Clyde
        last edited by Clyde

        @chigundo For example, let's say you want to convert your videos in /home/pi/Retropie/roms/mame-libretro/images and you saved the script in the text file /home/pi/script, then from within the user pi's home (where you'll be after quitting Emulation Station or after logging into Retropie via ssh), you'll run these commands in order:

        chmod u+x script   # make the script executable
        cd Retropie/roms/mame-libretro/images # change into the videos' folder
        mkdir converted    # create the folder for the converted videos
        sh /home/pi/script # start the script
        

        Everything behind # in a line is a comment and doesn't have to be entered. The chmod and mkdir commands are only needed once and should be omitted at any subsequent uses.

        In the example, I didn't give the file script a filename extension because that's not customary on Linux. You are free to call the file any way you like.

        FYI: To start the script, sh ../../../../script and sh ~/script would also work. The former uses a relative path four levels upwards from the images folder, the latter uses the shorthand symbol ~ for the current user's home directory.

        ClydeC 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
        • ClydeC
          Clyde @Clyde
          last edited by

          @clyde said in Here's a script to batch convert YUV 4:4:4 videos to YUV 4:2:0 in Retropie/Linux:

          FYI: To start the script, sh ../../../../script and sh ~/script would also work. The former uses a relative path four levels upwards from the images folder, the latter uses the shorthand symbol ~ for the current user's home directory.

          I forgot the easiest way: Create a directory named bin in your home directory and put the script there. $HOME/bin (or ~/bin) is part of the paths the Linux shell looks for console commands, so everything put there will be found from anywhere in the directory tree. For example, the starting line in my last post would just be script.

          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
          • thelostsoulT
            thelostsoul @Clyde
            last edited by

            @clyde Thank you for this.
            Until now, I had to test each video manually in Emulation station and then go back to pc, copy and recode each single one by VCL player and update videos. And I did not know what caused this problem. You really helped me a lot with this, plus I know the reason why those videos did not work.

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            ClydeC 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
            • ClydeC
              Clyde @thelostsoul
              last edited by

              @thelostsoul My pleasure. :) Be sure to check out @hiulit's script, too. It has way more options than mine.

              1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 2
              • ClydeC
                Clyde
                last edited by

                Update: 1. The script now creates the target folder "converted" if it doesn't exists. 2. Added the information about the bin folder to the opening post.

                thelostsoulT 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                • thelostsoulT
                  thelostsoul @Clyde
                  last edited by

                  @clyde Funny, did you hack me? I did this update too first time creating it. :P But thanks anyway.

                  Just thinking about it, is it possible to integrate this script to ReteroPie sselph scraper? It could be an optional feature to execute it automatically after scraping.

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                  ClydeC hiulitH 2 Replies Last reply Reply Quote 0
                  • ClydeC
                    Clyde @thelostsoul
                    last edited by

                    @thelostsoul Interesting idea, I'll look into that later when I have more time.

                    1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                    • hiulitH
                      hiulit @thelostsoul
                      last edited by

                      @thelostsoul @Clyde There's already a convert function in Sselph Scrapper -convert_videos. But the script must be run via the terminal, something like this:

                      /opt/retropie/supplementary/scraper/scraper -convert_videos
                      

                      See the RetroPie documentation: https://github.com/retropie/retropie-setup/wiki/scraper#parameter-list

                      P.S. I don't know exactly what it does, it only says "Convert videos for the Raspberry Pi" and Handbrake must be installed.

                      My little contributions to the RetroPie project:

                      • Shell-Script-Boilerplate
                      • Fun-Facts-Splashscreens
                      • Limit-Last-Played-Games
                      ClydeC 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                      • ClydeC
                        Clyde @hiulit
                        last edited by

                        @hiulit It's a script, so we could inspect it for its function. Alas, my Raspberry isn't operational at this time, because my upright cabinet is in its last stages to completion, but currently dismantled.

                        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                        • hiulitH
                          hiulit
                          last edited by hiulit

                          In case anyone in this thread is interested, I released v2.0.0 of RetroPie Convert Videos.

                          My little contributions to the RetroPie project:

                          • Shell-Script-Boilerplate
                          • Fun-Facts-Splashscreens
                          • Limit-Last-Played-Games
                          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                          • hiulitH
                            hiulit
                            last edited by

                            Just released yet another version of RetroPie Convert Videos (v2.1.0).

                            My little contributions to the RetroPie project:

                            • Shell-Script-Boilerplate
                            • Fun-Facts-Splashscreens
                            • Limit-Last-Played-Games
                            1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                            • QuackwalksQ
                              Quackwalks
                              last edited by Quackwalks

                              As I follow the instructions I get this. /home/pi/444p-to-420p.sh: 3 /home/pi/444p-to-420p.sh: Syntax error: word unexpected (expecting "do")

                              For a layman like me this is quite the frustration. It expects the word "do" on line 3? Oh. Okay! It's like, the only word on line 3, so I don't know what more you expect, Mr. fussy computer pants. Please help. This is the last thing I have to do to get my retropie image perfect.

                              ClydeC 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                              • ClydeC
                                Clyde @Quackwalks
                                last edited by Clyde

                                @Quackwalks Hm … it works on the Linux system on my Laptop (KDE Neon based on Ubuntu 18.04). I can test it on my Retropie system this evening.

                                What system did you create and/or are you running the script on? What were the exact steps you took to create the file? Could you please post your script into a codeblock here? (Just to check if there were any copying errors.)

                                edit: Maybe your system saved the wrong line endings. For example, Windows uses CR LF (0d 0a) while Unix-like systems like Linux only use LF (0a). See here how to remove any CR from the file. As a 99% Linux user, I don't have any experience in this, but It may be worth a try.

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                                • QuackwalksQ
                                  Quackwalks
                                  last edited by Quackwalks

                                  mkdir -p converted                         # create the folder "converted" if it doesn't exist
                                  for f in *-video.mp4                       # process all videos
                                    do
                                      c=$(avprobe $f 2>&1 | grep -c yuv444p) # (-c)ount no. of "444p"
                                  
                                      if [ "$c" -gt 0 ]                      # if 444p is present,
                                        then				   # convert into 420p
                                          avconv -i $f -y -pix_fmt yuv420p -strict experimental converted/$f
                                      fi
                                  done
                                  

                                  I highlighted the text from your code block then copy and pasted it into notepad++. Saved it with UTF-8 encoding as a .sh file. Used WinSCP to copy it into home/pi. On the raspberry pi 3b+ running retropie 4.4, I quit emulationstation and used the chmod command with no problem. Then entered cd home/pi/RetroPie/roms/fba/media/videos, then sh/home/pi/444p-to-420p.sh, which gives me the syntax error. The converted video folder was created just fine.
                                  The system I tried it for is fba. I used Skraper and the Screen Scraper database to scrape my roms, which left me with .mp4 files that had names identical to the roms (not having -video at the end of the file names). Don't go to any great trouble for me. I realized last night I had backup videos from a previous image. I used XML Scraper V2 back then, so last night used a bulk rename application to rename them without "-video" at the end. The funny thing is that I used this script about a year ago for the videos I had backed up, so it worked for me then. It's a real noodle scratcher for me.

                                  mituM 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                  • mituM
                                    mitu Global Moderator @Quackwalks
                                    last edited by

                                    @Quackwalks said in [SCRIPT] Batch convert YUV 4:4:4 videos to YUV 4:2:0 in Retropie/Linux:

                                    I highlighted the text from your code block then copy and pasted it into notepad++. Saved it with utc-8 encoding as a .sh file. Used WinSCP to copy it into home/pi. On the raspberry pi 3b+ running retropie 4.4, I quit emulationstation and used the chmod command with no problem. Then entered cd home/pi/RetroPie/roms/fba/media/videos, then sh/home/pi/444p-to-420p.sh, which gives me the syntax error. The converted video folder was created just fine.

                                    It's not the character encoding, but the line endings settings of the file - should be Unix (LF) in Notepad++.

                                    feaeb67f-6276-496d-833f-7e9c2b5fd2b4-image.png

                                    QuackwalksQ ClydeC 2 Replies Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                    • QuackwalksQ
                                      Quackwalks @mitu
                                      last edited by Quackwalks

                                      @mitu Ah, I see now. Thank you to you two for the help. I'll never gloss over line ending settings again.

                                      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                      • ClydeC
                                        Clyde @mitu
                                        last edited by

                                        @mitu @Quackwalks Sorry, for the late answer. I was occupied over Easter and in the days after. Thanks @mitu for stepping in.

                                        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                                        • G
                                          Gogol
                                          last edited by Gogol

                                          Hello, I wonder if someone could help me with this batch converter as I am having some trouble.

                                          These are the steps I have taken...

                                          1. Copied the text from the code block posted by clyde into Notepad++, I saved it as a Unix script file, with Unix (LF) and UTF-8 encoding, the file appears as 444p-to-420p.sh on my PC desktop.

                                          2. Using WinSCP, I moved the 444p-to-420p.sh file to /home/pi on my Raspberry Pi 3B.

                                          3. From emulationstation, I press F4 on my keyboard to get to the command line.

                                          4. I type in chmod u+x 444p-to-420p.sh and press enter and I get an error message "chmod: changing permissions of '444p-to-420p.sh': Operation not permitted"

                                          I have obviously made a mistake somewhere and would be grateful for any assistance.

                                          mituM ClydeC 2 Replies Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                          • mituM
                                            mitu Global Moderator @Gogol
                                            last edited by

                                            @Gogol Are you using WinScp as the root ? It's not advisable and it's probably the cause of this error. Before running chmod, run:

                                            sudo chown pi 444p-to-420p.sh
                                            
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