PC to Tivo issue

[ObiWanJenkins]

I did a search on the board for the answer to my question, but I seem to have come up short. I can see all the .mpg and .tivo files on my hard drive, and I am able to transfer them to my Tivo. The problem is in Tivo playback for .mpg. I have been using the Galleon tutorial to transcode my .avi files to .mpg using VLC player, but when I play them on the Tivo, the video is wacky. I installed the K-Lite codec pack on my PC previously, and I can play the .mpg and .tivo files just fine on WMP 10. The Tivo doesn't display the video correctly.

It appears to me that I am not encoding the video properly. Are there specific codecs in the packages that I should be checking, and others I should be unchecking? Or should I be using another source to encode non-Tivo video that I have on my PC?

[gonzotek]

I did a search on the board for the answer to my question, but I seem to have come up short. I can see all the .mpg and .tivo files on my hard drive, and I am able to transfer them to my Tivo. The problem is in Tivo playback for .mpg. I have been using the Galleon tutorial to transcode my .avi files to .mpg using VLC player, but when I play them on the Tivo, the video is wacky. I installed the K-Lite codec pack on my PC previously, and I can play the .mpg and .tivo files just fine on WMP 10. The Tivo doesn't display the video correctly.

It appears to me that I am not encoding the video properly. Are there specific codecs in the packages that I should be checking, and others I should be unchecking? Or should I be using another source to encode non-Tivo video that I have on my PC?The source codec, resolution, bitrate, aspect ratio, and framerate, as well as transcoding engine all matter when transcoding to TiVo-safe mpeg2 files. Can you determine these attributes in the source files? Also, can you describe how the files appear to be wrong(ie. skipping, stretched/shrunk display, etc.)?

The outputted files from whatever you use to transcode have to conform to the specs listed here:
Transferring Personal Video from PC to TiVo DVR (http://customersupport.tivo.com/knowbase/root/public/tv251080.htm?)

Some other transcoding apps are:
Videora (http://www.videora.com/en-us/Converter/TiVo/)
WinAVI (http://www.winavi.com/)
GUI4FFMPEG (http://www.videohelp.com/tools?tool=gui4ffmpeg)

[ObiWanJenkins]

I am transcoding .avi files with no available properties information like resolution and bitrate. I don't do much with video on my PC, so I'm not too aware of how to find the information on the native file.
It's tough to describe. I'll do my best. It would be like watching TV where every other line is not being displayed, and the image is split. Something like this:

______________
_____________________
______________
_____________________
______________
_____________________

where the lines equal an image.

The sound is fine, it's just the video. On VLC, I am transcoding MPEG PS, Video codec mp2v, bitrate 3072, scale 1. My audio is mpga, bitrate 128, channels 2.

I'm going to check that link you posted, but if you see anything wrong in my VLC settings, please let me know.

[jkalnin]

Try videora tivo converter.

[ObiWanJenkins]

I'll try it out.

[MasterOfPuppets]

As mentioned already...Videora Tivo Converter is the way to go...easy peasy lemon squeezy...

[butlertl]

I have the latest version 7.2 on TIVO and on the PC...2.2 but, I do not see my hard drive on the TIVO.....I do see my TIVO's on my PC.....any help?

[ObiWanJenkins]

As mentioned already...Videora Tivo Converter is the way to go...easy peasy lemon squeezy...

It worked beautifully.

[sageone]

videora is great...i recommend it.

[jkalnin]

I have yet to have an issue with Videora, but some people do. I highly recommend it to everyone using torrents. Someone here also figured out how to change the aspect ratios - look it up if you have any probs with the image being stretched or squeezed. Videora rules.

[Chew]

I have been using Videora, but it doesn't seem to work on anything that's not an .avi file. No luck on H264/.m4v or .mov, which means no go on video podcasts. I haven't tried a .wmv yet.

[fred2]

I downloaded the Videora this morning and attempted to convert an AVI file created by my Canon digital (still) camera. It failed.

Debug indicates:

*** Queue Empty
*** Transcoding: C:\Photos\Photos8\SilverStar Mar2006\MVI_5493.AVI
### C:\Program Files\VideoraTiVoConverter\apps\ffmpeg_mp2.exe -y -i "C:\Photos\Photos8\SilverStar Mar2006\MVI_5493.AVI" -vcodec mpeg2video -s 720x480 -r 29.97 -b 2048 -aspect 4:3 -ac 2 -ab 192 -f vob "C:\Program Files\VideoraTiVoConverter\Videos\MVI_5493.mpg"

ffmpeg version 0.4.9-pre1, build 4747, Copyright (c) 2000-2004 Fabrice Bellard
configuration: --enable-memalign-hack --enable-mingw32 --enable-mp3lame --enable-gpl --enable-a52
built on Mar 21 2005 16:41:12, gcc: 3.4.2 (mingw-special)
Input #0, avi, from 'C:\Photos\Photos8\SilverStar Mar2006\MVI_5493.AVI':
Duration: 00:00:41.4, start: 0.000000, bitrate: 2330 kb/s
Total Seconds: 41.4
Stream #0.0 Id: 0: Video: mjpeg, 320x240, 15.00 fps
Stream #0.1 Id: 1: Audio: pcm_u8, 11024 Hz, mono, 88 kb/s
Output #0, vob, to 'C:\Program Files\VideoraTiVoConverter\Videos\MVI_5493.mpg':
Stream #0.0 Id: 0: Video: mpeg2video, 720x480, 29.97 fps, q=2-31, 2048 kb/s
Stream #0.1 Id: 1: Audio: mp2, 11024 Hz, stereo, 192 kb/s
Stream mapping:
Stream #0.0 -> #0.0
Stream #0.1 -> #0.1
[mp2 @ 0068F458]Sampling rate 11024 is not allowed in mp2
Error while opening codec for output stream #0.1 - maybe incorrect parameters such as bit_rate, rate, width or height


Gspot indicates:

320x240 (1.33:1) [=4:3]
2239kb/s 15.00 fps 1.944 bits/pixel

pcm Audio
88kb/s,monophonic Fs 11024 Hz


................

Any help appreciated.

[HDTiVo]

I downloaded the Videora this morning and attempted to convert an AVI file created by my Canon digital (still) camera. It failed.

Debug indicates:

Input #0, avi, from 'C:\Photos\Photos8\SilverStar Mar2006\MVI_5493.AVI':
Duration: 00:00:41.4, start: 0.000000, bitrate: 2330 kb/s
Total Seconds: 41.4
Stream #0.0 Id: 0: Video: mjpeg, 320x240, 15.00 fps
Stream #0.1 Id: 1: Audio: pcm_u8, 11024 Hz, mono, 88 kb/s
Output #0, vob, to 'C:\Program Files\VideoraTiVoConverter\Videos\MVI_5493.mpg':
Stream #0.0 Id: 0: Video: mpeg2video, 720x480, 29.97 fps, q=2-31, 2048 kb/s
Stream #0.1 Id: 1: Audio: mp2, 11024 Hz, stereo, 192 kb/s
Stream mapping:
Stream #0.0 -> #0.0
Stream #0.1 -> #0.1
[mp2 @ 0068F458]Sampling rate 11024 is not allowed in mp2Error while opening codec for output stream #0.1 - maybe incorrect parameters such as bit_rate, rate, width or height


Gspot indicates:

320x240 (1.33:1) [=4:3]
2239kb/s 15.00 fps 1.944 bits/pixel

pcm Audio
88kb/s,monophonic Fs 11024 Hz


................

Any help appreciated.

Fred: It looks like the SAMPLE rate for your audio is the problem. You need to force Videora to transcode it to ideally 48KHz.

Videora has a place in its profiles for custom tags. Place the text -ar 48000 in there.

-ar stands for audio rate in Hz. 48000 is obviously 48KHz, which is the flavor TiVo uses for its own recordings.

Good luck. :)

[fred2]

Fred: It looks like the SAMPLE rate for your audio is the problem. You need to force Videora to transcode it to ideally 48KHz.

Videora has a place in its profiles for custom tags. Place the text -ar 48000 in there.

-ar stands for audio rate in Hz. 48000 is obviously 48KHz, which is the flavor TiVo uses for its own recordings.

Good luck. :)

(amended report - I closed it down, re-entered values, reopened and tried stuff again, did it twice and then suddenly it converted the files. Gremlins or Gray matter, choose one!)


Thanks for the response.

Obviously I am missing an intrinsic aspect of this process. I added your line to the profiles "Custom ffmpeg" opening and called my profile Canon.

I see it says on the convert tab "starting job please wait" and then nothing happens. When Videora is in the task tray, it says "no job queued" and nothing occurs, altho my canon file is listed and debug shows

"*** Queueing: C:\Photos\Photos8\SilverStar Mar2006\MVI_5493.AVI"


I am not usually this dense.

Any ideas of what I'm missing (besides some gray matter)

[HDTiVo]

(amended report - I closed it down, re-entered values, reopened and tried stuff again, did it twice and then suddenly it converted the files. Gremlins or Gray matter, choose one!)

I remember with Videora having problems at times getting a change in profile settings to be saved. Probably whatever you did go it "right" the second time and so it all worked.