MyDVD 8 does not work with Tivo files

[peterm1]

I am amazed that Tivo advertises "easy" burning of Tivo shows to DVD, when it is anything but. They say to buy MyDVD to burn the shows to DVD, when it is clear that MyDVD 8 simply will not work with Tivo desktop 2.2 - Tivo tech support acknowledged this on the phone with me and said others have complained as well.

The suggested fix? Uninstall Tivo Desktop 2.2 and install Desktop 2.0 instead from Download.com. I did this and it still did not work.

This is pathetic - I think Tivo should stop advertising that you can burn DVDs of Tivo shows when you have to jump through hoops and ladders and use third party software (not Sonic software), and spend hours trying to accomplish this just to get a Tivo show on DVD.

Why is it so difficult for Tivo to come up with a solution after such a long period of time?

Peter

[VagabondSW]

Actually, MyDVD does work and it is Sonic software. I am not a "tinkerer" when it comes to audio/video, music files, and DVD stuff. I am strictly an end-user. I like big red buttons that say "Burn DVD" and that sort of thing. My eyes cross when presented with menus about muxing and syncing audio channels with video channels, as was the case with the free software I tried.

So, I paid the money for MyDVD Studio and have since successfully burned a couple of DVD's. One was a Desperate Housewives episode and the other was a DVD of three W.I.T.C.H. episodes with the commercials edited out, which I did with the MyDVD software to do.

The only setting I used that was different than the default setting is that I set Encoding to the highest setting, which takes the most time.

[JacksTiVo]

Per the Tivo.com Web Site it is Sonic MyDVD version 6.2 that is set up to burn DVD's from Tivo files. See FAQ and the link at: http://www.tivo.com/4.9.19.3.asp There is a link to the Sonic Web site to download/purchase the software. I have not used it. Check this Forum for other software to burn DVD's.

[maile-lei]

I am amazed that Tivo advertises "easy" burning of Tivo shows to DVD, when it is anything but. They say to buy MyDVD to burn the shows to DVD, when it is clear that MyDVD 8 simply will not work with Tivo desktop 2.2 - Tivo tech support acknowledged this on the phone with me and said others have complained as well.



I found the same problem. MyDVD V8 does not handle the audio portion of TiVO files correctly.

I started by trying MyDVD V6 trial which *did* work with TiVO files. When I went to purchase, I noticed that there was a MyDVD V8 which claimed to also burn TiVO files. So I bought V8 instead of V6. Video shows up but no audio. And the interface of V8 is much less nice than V6.

I think the issue is not with TiVO but with Sonic/Roxio. It seems to me that there was either a false claim or there are serious bugs with V8 when it come to TiVO files.

The Sonic/Roxio site that shows MyDVD V8 claims being able to burn TiVO files. Since I am a new member to this forum, I am being prevented from posting the full URL in this reply. Google "mydvd 8 essentials" and then click "Compare product features" on the right. You will find that both flavors of V8 make this claim - "TiVo Support, Burn your TiVo Shows to DVD and watch them anywhere"

Here is some contact info might be useful to you. I plan on making contact and finding out whether or not there is a current fix or not. If not, then perhaps I will ask for V6 in exchange for V8. Or ask for my money back.

MyDVD Desktop Support - US:

Tel: 1-877-DVD-1124 or 1-905-482-3000
WebMail: (Sorry - TiVO forum would not let me post this URL since I am a new member to the forum - you can get this at the Sonic/Roxio site)
Hours: Monday - Friday, 9am to 6pm EST

Good Luck! :(

Update - 4/24, 3PM. I asked for a refund - had to explain all the things I tried to do to get MyDVD to work. If you go this route, the number above is not the number to ask for a refund - it is 1866-280-7694, option 1. Explain that you want a refund for V8 of MyDVD.

[retired_guy]

I tbought V8 also when I saw that they claim it works with TiVo files. Can't get it to work either.

[csufmark]

I would like some input about My DVD Media 8 or other program I would need to download from my Tivo to a dvd. Can someone direct me to a step by step procedure? I have a series 2 unit with usb ports and my service is through DirectTV and they don't seem to support this process yet. Thanks in advance to anybody that can help me out.

[tivocat99]

I have MyDVD in whatever version (probably stripped down) that came with the DVD burner I bought last year. I'm hoping it works to burn TiVo files to DVD... going to try it this weekend.

Perhaps this question has been asked and answered but I couldn't readily find it.... once I successfully burn a TiVo program onto DVD, will I be able to watch that DVD on a standalone DVD player, or will have to view it using TiVo Desktop on the PC?

[Tivo11]

I have had Tivo for over 2 years and love the basic service. I purchased the Tivo To Go when it first came out. I had little problems with using a wireless LAN to connect Tivo to "home." Tivo Central is cute and I have used it a couple of times while on the road to schedule something at home.

BUT... when it comes to downloading and burning DVD's ... FORGET IT!!! Both Sonic and TIVO should be hiding in shame over this. I have successfully burned DVD's and played them on several regular DVD players, but it's hit and miss. Some work and some do not. And I have had to rebuild my PC two times while trying to install Sonic software. Finally, I bought a copy of VMWARE and now run all my Sonic software inside a virtual machine to isolate Sonic from the rest of my PC.

Interesting to hear about Sonic v 8 not supporting Tivo. I bought v6 and then v7 hoping life would get better, but v7 does not work well with Tivo To Go -- some DVDs work, but more do not -- I have burned over 300 DVDs so far and about half work OK, the rest I throw out.

[GadgetGav]

I am *SO* frustrated with Sonic / Roxio / TivoToGo...!
After giving up on waiting for Mac support, I bought a PC and shelled out the cash for the Sonic software. The only version in the stores is V8 and it has Tivo logos all over the box and makes clear claims on the box that it is for burning TivoToGo shows to a DVD.
I've set up Tivo Desktop 2.2 (again, the only version readily available) and can sucessfully transfer shows to the PC and watch them in MediaPlayer.
However, I cannot get a show into MyDVD. I'm not a newbie by any means but I cannot figure this out at all. Is there somewhere here that has a step by step for using MyDVD V8..? Sonic's 'support' either talks about issues with V6 or it directs you to Tivo's site. Tivo just claims that it's easy to burn movies if you use MyDVD (the only reason I bought Sonic's software in the first place) and doesn't offer a step by step after the show is on the PC.

Is this really the state of the (official) art when it comes to getting Tivo shows onto DVD? After years of making DVDs with Apple software the Sonic stuff is slow and clunky but I could live with that if it actually did what it says on the box.

I'm about ready to try to get a refund from Sonic and go with one of the unofficial methods - they can't be any harder than this.

[JacksTiVo]

Download "direct show dump utility". Go to: http://prish.com/etivo/tbr.htm and download: DSD ver 0.1.1424.0 . It converts the .tivo file into .mpeg and you can then edit it in any dvd editing software that supports mpeg such as your MyDVD.

It is easy to use. I am now able to convert "Curb your Enthusiam" shows downloaded from TiVo to my PC and using Intervideo's WinDVD Creator, burn four - 1/2 shows onto a DVD.

[solstice]

I see where Roxio Easy Media Creator 8 has been released and states it supports TiVo files, anyone had any experience with that?

[GadgetGav]

Download "direct show dump utility". Go to: http://prish.com/etivo/tbr.htm and download: DSD ver 0.1.1424.0 . It converts the .tivo file into .mpeg and you can then edit it in any dvd editing software that supports mpeg such as your MyDVD.

It is easy to use. I am now able to convert "Curb your Enthusiam" shows downloaded from TiVo to my PC and using Intervideo's WinDVD Creator, burn four - 1/2 shows onto a DVD.

I think that's what I'll have to do... but that's not the supported method that the Tivo / Sonic combination is supposed to give you...

[GadgetGav]

I see where Roxio Easy Media Creator 8 has been released and states it supports TiVo files, anyone had any experience with that?
Yes. It is useless. Sonic's support is non-existant. You can't even get into their support site without specifying a product and a registered email address. OK, no problem. I don't mind registering purchased software to get support. Trouble is, their server always throws a '500 error' regardless of what you put in on the front screen and without getting past that you can't get to the support.

It doesn't burn Tivo shows to DVD in my experience.

[JacksTiVo]

I think that's what I'll have to do... but that's not the supported method that the Tivo / Sonic combination is supposed to give you...
As other postings have noted they have not been able to obtain "support from Sonic..." .

My suggestion is find a reliable DVD burning program, this Forum has several suggestions. WinDVD creator allows me to do detailed editing to produce great movies on DVD. However, the very old version I have is somewhat fragile, so I have to remember to save my work often in case the program stops responding (fortunately not too often).

The direct show dump utility is very simple to use and so far has not given me any problems.

[grateshow]

OK - Here is my question. I bought em8 yesterday with the understanding that I could take it back if I could not get it to work. I have been fooling around with this program since about 7:30 yesterday. No luck yet, I originally had v7 plus on my laptop that worked fine until the last couple of weeks. Now it will not let me burn anything that is edited. So should I keep fighting this latest version that doesn't work very well or are there other suggestions?

[JimBudet]

I see where Roxio Easy Media Creator 8 has been released and states it supports TiVo files, anyone had any experience with that?
I recently purchased Easy Media Creator 8 Suite (version 8.0.5 actually). Although I wouldn't say that it was "easy", I did produce a DVD of two "Cold Case" episodes. This is the only DVD I've made so far, so I don't have a lot of experience with this product.

The entire process took longer than I thought it would; including the time to transfer the shows to my PC (> 2 hrs) and the time it took to render the ISO image (> 6 hrs). Burning the ISO image to the DVD took about 30 minutes. Compare this with the 30 minutes it takes to product an equivalent DVD using my Humax DRT-800.

[GadgetGav]

So was there a trick to getting the tivo show into EMC..? I've been given one hint and I'm about to try it, but I'm still looking for any advice that people who've had success can give..!

[GadgetGav]

OK, so following the tip I got (thanks VagabondSW) I moved a tivo recording into a new folder in My Documents\My Videos\My Tivo
The MyDVD software could now see the recording, but when I tried to add it to a project I got the following error:
You are not authorized to play this recording. It was transferred using a different media access key than the one in your Windows account. For help, see the application you used to transfer the Tivo recording from your Tivo DVR.
This is a lie. I only have one MAK. When I clicked OK, the same error came up again, so I clicked OK again fearing a loop of error messages.
When MyDVD came back to the front, the program appears to be in there, so now I'll try burning a DVD and see if I'm just making coasters.
Is that error just because this was the first time I transferred something? I don't remember putting the MAK in anywhere in MyDVD, does it find it from the registry somehow?

[GadgetGav]

It seems to have worked..! The first DVD I made last night refused to play in anything, but I tried again and this one at least runs in Sonic's software DVD player.
Of course, now the Tivo Desktop software says there's no DVRs on the network (there are 2 and I can ping them both) so I can't transfer any more recordings over at the moment, but that's another issue..!

[omelet1978]

https://yourIPadress

after that enter tivo and then your Media Access Key. That will allow you to download via the web rather than Tivo Desktop. You can only download 1 at a time, but its better than nothing at alll.

Enjoy

[Temptd2]

OK, so I'm a total neophyte at this - hope you'll excuse what is probably a very basic question - I have a Mad Dog multimedia DVD recorder, hooked up via USB to my PC. I have a TiVo Series 2 box. I have TiVo Desktop. Can I get shows from TiVo onto my Mad Dog? Do I need to use the PC to get them there?

Thanks for any help!

T2

[jlc4]

I have MyDVD in whatever version (probably stripped down) that came with the DVD burner I bought last year. I'm hoping it works to burn TiVo files to DVD... going to try it this weekend.

Perhaps this question has been asked and answered but I couldn't readily find it.... once I successfully burn a TiVo program onto DVD, will I be able to watch that DVD on a standalone DVD player, or will have to view it using TiVo Desktop on the PC?


I have the stripped down sonic 7 bundle. Yes -- you can open tivo files (use the Add Files button) & burn 'em to DVD. I ended up buying Video Re Do anyway, though, because editing out the commercials was so tedious.

Sonic flaked out on me once and I had to reinstall it before it agreed that my DVD writer was not just a reader, and it seems to work best with 8x media, even though my writer has 16x capabilities. (16x worked once, then it crashed the next two attempts, and I went back to the slower media and things have been OK since)

I'm glad I didn't pay money for it, but it can get the job done.

[rnortoniii]

I have had a lot of problems with MyDVD transcoding Tivo files. It's incredibly slow. And I never could figure out how to edit out commercials. Finally, I gave up on it entirely. Now I use 3 programs to accomplish this task. Although it's a 3-step process, the speed savings make it worthwhile. First, I use DirectShow Dump Utility to strip the Tivo wrapper and give me an mpeg files that I can work with. This program is free and can be found at http://prish.com/etivo/tbr.htm. Second, I use VideoReDo to remove commercials and output the result to a commercial-free mpeg. This program can be found at http://www.VideoReDo.com. Third, I use ConvertXtoDVD to convert the mpeg to DVD format that is burnable by any DVD creation program. This program can be found at http://www.vso-software.fr. Personally, I prefer CloneDVD2 as a burning program. This program can be found at http://www.slysoft.com. I hope this information is useful. Please feel free to re-post this information anywhere else that it might me useful.

[Scott Atkinson]

EMC/MyDVD are huge embarassments to Tivo, given that they are the 'official' partner.

I tried, really tried, to get EMC 8 to do what it claims it can do. The failures were various, and eventually came down to a very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very long burn that died just as it ended.

Contrast this with Nero, which is far from perfect but works, or - better yet - VideoReDo, TMPG Express 3 (for transcoding) and either Dvd Lab or TMPG's DVD Author for actually turning out usable dvds on a consistent basis.

I'm assuming the people responsible for EMC 8 are simply beyond shame, so there is no point in complaining to them. The most important thing is to spend money on tools that actually work by supporting the various shareware solutions listed above.

Scott A.

[usnret]

Can't a program, such as Nero, convert and burn the mpeg file to a DVD??

[hallcs]

Like many others here I tired the Sonic MyDvd 6.2 trail through the link posted by Tivo. When I purchsed the product I thought I was getting a better package going with the MyDvd 8 but it was terrible. Ran slow, locked up and just diffcult to use. Maybe if I had a 4ghz computer with 2Gb of ram it would have ran better but I don't. I thought I was screwed but I called Roxio Sales at 1-866-280-7694 and explained. They told me many people were having the same issues and as long as I was within my first 30 days on the software they could refund my money and sell me the 6.2 stuido which is what they recommend for use with Tivo. I was impressed, they told me the problem was when people wait past the first 30 days to call, then it becomes diffcult for them to do a refund. IF YOU BOUGHT MYDVD 8 RETURN IT and GET STUIDO 6.2 for sure.

[Stormspace]

Like many others here I tired the Sonic MyDvd 6.2 trail through the link posted by Tivo. When I purchsed the product I thought I was getting a better package going with the MyDvd 8 but it was terrible. Ran slow, locked up and just diffcult to use. Maybe if I had a 4ghz computer with 2Gb of ram it would have ran better but I don't. I thought I was screwed but I called Roxio Sales at 1-866-280-7694 and explained. They told me many people were having the same issues and as long as I was within my first 30 days on the software they could refund my money and sell me the 6.2 stuido which is what they recommend for use with Tivo. I was impressed, they told me the problem was when people wait past the first 30 days to call, then it becomes diffcult for them to do a refund. IF YOU BOUGHT MYDVD 8 RETURN IT and GET STUIDO 6.2 for sure.

Good luck with that 6.2. :rolleyes:

[tivocat99]

I had a different version of MyDVD that wasn't working for this so I downloaded the supposed trial of 6.2 through the link posted by TiVo. After going through the install process (which made me uninstall my existing version), it's asking me for a serial number. Obviously I don't have this. Why is a trial version asking me for a serial number?

[shysterebel]

when attempting to download direct show dump I get a message that directs me to microsoft's website for a NET Framework file. The one I'm supposed to download doesn't appear. Anyone else have this problem?

[greg_burns]

when attempting to download direct show dump I get a message that directs me to microsoft's website for a NET Framework file. The one I'm supposed to download doesn't appear. Anyone else have this problem?

.NET 1.1
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=262d25e3-f589-4842-8157-034d1e7cf3a3&displaylang=en

.NET 2.0 would work, but his installer insists on 1.1 being present

[shysterebel]

Ok, thanks. I'm a real novice at this: now my other problem is now that I installed NET 2.0, I can't install 1.1. How do I find and remove this? I don't need the SDK file of 1.1 too, do I?

[greg_burns]

Ok, thanks. I'm a real novice at this: now my other problem is now that I installed NET 2.0, I can't install 1.1. How do I find and remove this? I don't need the SDK file of 1.1 too, do I?

Did you try to install 1.1? They are made to have both versions installed at once. (You do not need the SDK version, although that won't hurt).

If you want to remove 2.0, you'll find it in the control panel-> add/remove programs (I believe). I wouldn't bother if you can get 1.1 to also install.

[shysterebel]

Found it! After a couple of hours this morning, I was able to convert a file with DSD. Thanks Greg!

[AusBoomer]

Can anyone comment on the quality of the resulting DVD recorded shows?

Here is what I have done:
1) I was able to use Tivo Desktop 2.2 to transfer the shows to my PC
2) I can watch the show through Tivo Desktop on my PC using Windows Media player, but the quality is not as good as the TV directlry connected to TIVO.
3) I was able to record a DVD from transferred shows using myDVD 8.1, but the quality seems worse then when playing the file in windwos media player 10.

So the question is: Is everyone seeing crappy results from DVD recrodings or am I missing something here?

[greg_burns]

2) I can watch the show through Tivo Desktop on my PC using Windows Media player, but the quality is not as good as the TV directlry connected to TIVO.

Regarding #2... this may be simply due to the fact your TV doesn't have as good a resolution as your PC's monitor. For example, hookup your Tivo to a HDTV sometime and you''ll be appalled. :eek: :p

As for #3... if you are doing any sort of transcoding you will degrade the PQ. It gets even worse when MyDVD or Nero wants to compress the show to fit onto a single DVD.

I would suggest investigating the VideoRedo->DVDStyler method. No transcoding (or compressing).

[AusBoomer]

Sounds like good advice.

Beyond the use case of getting TIVO files burned to DVD, my impression from using myDVD 8 is that they have some threading issues; the UI locks continuously as it tries to perform CPU intensive operations.

I was hoping to also use myDVD to master movies from home videos. But if it chokes on a 30 minute clip running on a Dual core P4 2.8 GHz with a gig of memory, it hardly seem worth the drive space.

Time for a refund.

[greg_burns]

Try running your .tivo files through DirectShowDump first. Whatever they are adding to the files seems to gum up Nero as well. (Makes editing super slow). YMMV

[AusBoomer]

I am now getting good results when burning DVD (Thank you Greg for the tips)

What works for me:
Tivo Desktop 2.2
Transfer .tivo files to PC Folder (A)
Slow but schedulable
DirectShow Dump
*process* ;) .tivo files into mpg, and place them in folder (B)
About 1 minute per episode
VideoReDo
Remove commercials and place in folder (C)
Less then a minute per episode
DVDStyle --> Create the DVD ISO
Takes a while about 20 minutes for a full DVD
Nero
Burn the DVD
Less then 10 minutes at 4x (I pulled down the speed on the first try)

Hardware:
P4-2.8 dual core, 1 GB RAM

Observations:
Greg is absolutely right; by using packages like VideoReDo and DVDStyle, you prevent re-coding of the movies, which is what most of the *more sophisticated* packages like myDVD will forcibly do. Recoding makes them bigger, degrades the quality of the recording, and takes a lot of time.

The VideoReDo step is purely to remove commercials and shrink the size of the episodes. Now I can get 6 23 minute kids shows on one DVD.

DVDStyle is not the fanciest DVD Authoring program, but it gets the job done.

Final words:
The reason fro doing all of this is because we are about to go on vacation, and I need to have the Tivo2go functionality without taking my laptop. Mexico is not the safest place for office issued hardware if you know what I mean. I would rather use a personal DVD player to keep the kids quiet in the plane. The same use case should exist for parents wanting to entertain kids on long drives. After the trip the DVDs will be retired to the trash can.

What I do not understand is this; The use case mentioned above is well within the private use guidelines as far as I understand, so why does Tivo make it’s customers jump through so many hoops to get these DVDs burned?

If their sales strategy people had half a brain, they would drive requirements for adding ISO creation functionality to a future version of the Tivo desktop. You do not want to train your customers to work around technical limitations, because at some point the collection of workarounds will make your technology *optional* if you know what I mean.

[greg_burns]

The VideoReDo step is purely to remove commercials and shrink the size of the episodes.

If you own VideoReDo you can skip DirectShow Dump. VR already does that and more.

If you download the latest beta of VR, it will "see" .tivo files without needing to change to all files *.* first.

http://www.videoredo.net/msgBoard/forumdisplay.php?f=24

[greg_burns]

DVDStyle --> Create the DVD ISO
Takes a while about 20 minutes for a full DVD
Nero
Burn the DVD
Less then 10 minutes at 4x (I pulled down the speed on the first try)

While you can definately use Nero to burn your ISO (if you can find the menu choice. :rolleyes: ). ImgBurn (http://www.imgburn.com/) is very simplistic and works great.

[kryark]

Can anyone comment on the quality of the resulting DVD recorded shows?

Here is what I have done:
1) I was able to use Tivo Desktop 2.2 to transfer the shows to my PC
2) I can watch the show through Tivo Desktop on my PC using Windows Media player, but the quality is not as good as the TV directlry connected to TIVO.
3) I was able to record a DVD from transferred shows using myDVD 8.1, but the quality seems worse then when playing the file in windwos media player 10.

So the question is: Is everyone seeing crappy results from DVD recrodings or am I missing something here?
Has the freezing issue for MyDVD been fixed? I just tried using MyDVD 6.1.4 and it freezes constantly.

Seems nice otherwise and I'd like to use, but if it's going to freeze all the time there's no point. Has this been fixed with 8.1?

Thanks!

[Stormspace]

Has the freezing issue for MyDVD been fixed? I just tried using MyDVD 6.1.4 and it freezes constantly.

Seems nice otherwise and I'd like to use, but if it's going to freeze all the time there's no point. Has this been fixed with 8.1?

Thanks!

Even if it has, reports are that 8.1 doesn't work with TiVo files. :down:

[kenrippy]

i have had very good results with Sonic MyDVD Studio Deluxe Suite v6.1.0.0 and tivo desktop v2.2. so far, i've burned about 20 dvd's with no problems. after i boosted the audio 5x everything is perfect.

if anyone needs this version of MyDVD and can't find it online, let me know (PM me) and i'll try to get it to you somehow.

hardware used:
a64 x2 (dual core)
2gb ram

[Wrench]

ok, i'm kinda new at this posting thing and if i've stumbled somewhere i shouldn't be, please let me know. however, i found tivocommunity after a google search and i am at my wits end. i've had tivo since x-mas and being that i work nights, it's a godsend. however, now i'm trying to burn recordings to dvd(to free up space on the hard drive) and i'm having a rough go of it. i bought easy media creator 8, having been lured by all the tivo logos on the box. i was able to create a dvd, but only as a back-up, not as a multimedia disk. i've read all the posts on this page and it seems hopeless. following the advice of a friend, i downloaded DSD ver 0.1.1424.0 and it sems to work great. they also suggested a program by 'cucsoft' to covert the file after using DSD ver 0.1.1424.0 and burn. my trial run seems to be successful, although it has a watermark in the middle of the screen because it is a trial version. i hope i have helped and any further suggestions are always welcome.

[shysterebel]

I've never heard of cucsoft. My experience is you don't need it, as long as you have DSD, Easy Media 8, and TiVo 2.0. HOWEVER, this week I've noticed my Easy Media recognizing TiVo files! I haven't had the need to use DSD. I have not downloaded any updates from any source for fear it would gum up everything that's working now.

[PaulAlex7000]

I have had a lot of problems with MyDVD transcoding Tivo files. It's incredibly slow. And I never could figure out how to edit out commercials. Finally, I gave up on it entirely. Now I use 3 programs to accomplish this task. Although it's a 3-step process, the speed savings make it worthwhile. First, I use DirectShow Dump Utility to strip the Tivo wrapper and give me an mpeg files that I can work with. This program is free and can be found at http://prish.com/etivo/tbr.htm. Second, I use VideoReDo to remove commercials and output the result to a commercial-free mpeg. This program can be found at http://www.VideoReDo.com. Third, I use ConvertXtoDVD to convert the mpeg to DVD format that is burnable by any DVD creation program. This program can be found at http://www.vso-software.fr. Personally, I prefer CloneDVD2 as a burning program. This program can be found at http://www.slysoft.com. I hope this information is useful. Please feel free to re-post this information anywhere else that it might me useful.

I use Microsoft's GraphEdit to convert from Tivo. That was a major pain to figure out, especially since I'm not a video expert. Then I use anything from TMPGEnc to VirtualDub to Adobe Premiere after that.

All in all, it's a pain in the neck. So I don't bother doing it anymore. Most of the shows I want will soon be available in stores on DVD anyhow.

But yeah, MyDVD 8 is painfully sloooowwww.

[greg_burns]

I use Microsoft's GraphEdit to convert from Tivo. That was a major pain to figure out, especially since I'm not a video expert.

DirectShow Dump is SO much easier.

[AUTIGERS1101]

OK, i have tons of movies i need on dvd. so i decided to get the mydvd 8 essentials.
if i use directshow dump to make it .mpg, will mydvd 8 essentials be ok and burn the dvd alright?

also, does the "edit video" button on mydvd 8 essentials edit out commercials? if so is it easy? thanks!

[AUTIGERS1101]

any help?

[greg_burns]

any help?

Have you already bought MyDVD 8?

I've never done any editing in MyDVD, but I've never heard that it can automagically edit out commercials. I am sure it is probably a very manual process.

Give VideoReDo trial a shot for editing. Using it, you will not need DirectShow Dump. (It already removes the encryption and can spit out an .mpg). VR makes editing commercials a snap. It does have an ad-detective feature. It is not perfect, but damn near.

MyDVD and Nero both require transcoding which takes a long time. May want to investigate some alternatives (like DVDStyler).

[AUTIGERS1101]

yea i did the trial for videoredo but it is up. :( if i bought that instead, you said that videoredo can output the commercial free file as .mpg? The only reason I didn't go this way is because I don't know how to use DVD Styler. I tried it the other day, and I could put a menu together, but I don't know how to add the file. Any help would be appreciated.

(Please do not give me the tutorial that they give out, I couldnt understand it)

[greg_burns]

yea i did the trial for videoredo but it is up. :( if i bought that instead, you said that videoredo can output the commercial free file as .mpg? The only reason I didn't go this way is because I don't know how to use DVD Styler. I tried it the other day, and I could put a menu together, but I don't know how to add the file. Any help would be appreciated.

(Please do not give me the tutorial that they give out, I couldnt understand it)

If you have any plans of cutting commercials you are going to want to just break down and buy VR. I don't know if you can then use the outputted .mpg with MyDVD or not. I assume you could. I KNOW you can with Nero Vision Express.

With DVDStyler you need to output from VR as .vob, not .mpg. (Note: you cannot output from DirectShow Dump as a vob. This makes VR a requirement for using DVDStyler. :o )

I just then drag and drop that .vob file onto the timeline at the bottom using Windows Explorer. You'll need to size your windows appropriately. Quick 'n easy.

The "proper" method is to click on the Directories tab on the left of the DVDStyler window. Browse to and find the .vob file. I've read many times that Styler has a bug with this browse feature and it won't show .vob files (hence why they recommend you rename the .vob to .mpg). I have not experienced this bug myself.

If your DVD player will play discs made from DVDStyler you're home free. (They are not completely DVD compliant I guess). Otherwise you wil need to look elsewhere.

Finally, with Styler you do File->Burn DVD. This creates an .iso file from which you can create a real DVD with using ImgBurn (http://www.imgburn.com).

Make sure your default menu format is NTSC not PAL. I think it is PAL by default. Change it under Configuration menu. (If you change it, close and reopen the program. I've seen the old setting stick on any already present Menu.)

[AUTIGERS1101]

OK, I tried to burn one using DVD Decrypter before you gave these instructions so I'll see if it worked!

Right now I am just skipping the VideoReDo step just to see how good the DVD is before I buy it.

[greg_burns]

OK, I tried to burn one using DVD Decrypter before you gave these instructions so I'll see if it worked!

Right now I am just skipping the VideoReDo step just to see how good the DVD is before I buy it.

I assume you just used an .mpg from DirectShow Dump?

May want to read this:
http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?p=4179724&&#post4179724

BTW, you can just mount the .iso in Windows to test using Daemon Tools (http://www.daemon-tools.cc/dtcc/download.php).

Althought that of course won't test for compatibility with your home DVD player.

[AUTIGERS1101]

OK, I bought VideoReDo.

1. Open the .tivo file in VideoReDo
2. Edit the commercials out
3. Output file as .mpg
4. Create menu and chapters with DVDStyler. Add the .mpg files and burn ISO image
5. Write ISO image in DVD Decrypter.

[greg_burns]

OK, I bought VideoReDo.

1. Open the .tivo file in VideoReDo
2. Edit the commercials out
3. Output file as .mpg
4. Create menu and chapters with DVDStyler. Add the .mpg files and burn ISO image
5. Write ISO image in DVD Decrypter.

See my link in the previous post. Dan was saying you MUST ouput from VR as .vob, not .mpg for this to work with DVDStyler. Did it work?