"Ultra MPEG to DVD Burner" Won't Work...

[msgtgumby]

A friend of mine has "Ultra MPEG to DVD Burner" and wants to burn a DVD (off computer playable). She used DirectShow Dump to convert the Tivo file to an mpeg file, but it won't burn it. She said it returned an error saying basically it would have to be converted to either DVD or VCD format in order to burn it to DVD. I thought DSD did that conversion...since it didn't anyone have any suggestions?

Thanks,

Smith

[greg_burns]

DSD just unencrypts the .mpg file. Basically frees it from the .tivo container. I does not transcode it into DVD format. It currently is MPEG2, but probably not in a proper DVD ratio.

Videora (http://www.videora.com/en-us/Converter/TiVo/) will take an .mpg file and transcode to proper DVD ratio. (As will most DVD authoring programs).

Proper DVD rations: 352x240, 352x480, 704x480, or 720x480.

Only 352x480 is a standard ratio for a .tivo file (when recorded using Medium quality). In others words, if your .tivo file was not recorded in Medium quality you will have to use something to transcode it DVD spec.

At least this is my current understanding of this stuff. :rolleyes:

[msgtgumby]

Meh, the file was recorded High quality. We'll give that program a try, thanks.

Smith

[classicsat]

That's not too important. The fil needs to be 720x480 or something.

[Dan203]

Actually both Medium and Basic are recorded at 352x480 by default. Best and High are normally 480x480, however if you enable "RF Video Smoothing"* everything will be recorded at 352x480.

Dan

* This option is only available if you're using strait cable or antenna.

[greg_burns]

Best and High are normally 480x480

Using S-video with Satellite (Dish nework) my High is 544x480. (But maybe that is why you threw in the normal qualifier.)

[Dan203]

That is exactly why I used "normally". The only setup that results in 544x480 is DSS connected via S-Video. All other setups, including digital cable through S-Video result in 480x480 maximum.

Dan

[jethrodesign]

Hmm, Videora is described on their site as an application that converts DVD movies to TiVo format for downloading to TiVo. So it will do the opposite as well??

If so, I'll check it out. I've been trying to get Roxio EMC 8 to work for me to do this, but it's been nothing but trouble. Maybe it will work if I feed it a DVD format mpeg.

- Any other tools that will do this well?

- Any way to aviod the transcoding part (like what does DVD Patcher do)?

Thanks. I'd like to keep the quality as high as possible. But my original files (as you know) are only 480x480 at 3.5Mbps.

[greg_burns]

Hmm, Videora is described on their site as an application that converts DVD movies to TiVo format for downloading to TiVo. So it will do the opposite as well??

That's kinda a misnomer, IMO. It doesn't create a Tivo file at all. It justs transcodes an .mpg (and other video file types) to an .mpg in proper DVD ratio (that Tivo just happens to accept as well). That is my understanding on it.

[jethrodesign]

Well, I gave Videora a shot, but it didn't work at all. Tried it a few times on different files, and it would process for a second, then create some 1kb file. I checked out a small user forum for it and it seems a bunch of people can't get it to work, and there were no replies or support to say how to get it working.

Oh well. I also tried VideoReDo. It worked really well, and was GREAT for cutting out commercials. Unfortunately, it doesn't appear to be able to change the resolution of the final file.

At this point, it appears to be just too complicated to get a smooth setup working to transfer TiVo files to DVD. I'm probably going to just get another huge hard drive and store all of my files there. I can get to them through the network anytime I want, so in some ways it's more convenient than DVD. And I lose NO quality in the process.

Unless someone has a 'tried-&-true' method...

[mfrns0123]

I know it is really frustrating to get things to work properly. I have tried a variety of methods also. Although one thing you might want to look into is Sonic MyDVD. I have version 6.1 and 7 and I have never had a problem transferring a .Tivo show and burning it to a dvd. Don't know if I am just lucky, but it has never let me down.

[HDTiVo]

Well, I gave Videora a shot, but it didn't work at all. Tried it a few times on different files, and it would process for a second, then create some 1kb file. I checked out a small user forum for it and it seems a bunch of people can't get it to work, and there were no replies or support to say how to get it working.

Oh well. I also tried VideoReDo. It worked really well, and was GREAT for cutting out commercials. Unfortunately, it doesn't appear to be able to change the resolution of the final file.

Try using Videora on the edited mpeg file you create using VideoRedo.