Tivo Endorsed Sonic Software Makes files fat

[Acadia]

Hi all,

I have been going through as many threads as I could on this board, and can't find the issue I am experiencing. I recently got a new PC, hooked my Tivo's up so it was all nicely networked, and then wanted to burn DVD's.

According to the Tivo site, I needed the Sonic Software. Hooray! That's what shipped with my PC. I have Sonic Digital Media Plus 7.

So I was all happy making menus and whatnot, and bragging to the wife about my wizardry, when all of a sudden I realized that when I bring the Tivo recordings into the software, they get...fatter.

For example, a movie that is 4GB on disk becomes 11GB when I bring it into Sonic. That forces me to drop the quality on the Disc burning to "Saddam's Hanging" and it looks awful when it is burned.

I checked all of the references for burning I could find in these forums, and noticed that they all seem to point to that alternative software. I would rather not go that route if I can avoid it. For smaller shows, the quality on the DVD's are great, and they play on my player.

So if anyone can help me with my bloating, I would appreciate it. You folks seem to know your stuff. I do not.

Thanks in advance.

[usnret]

I first went the Sonic route and also was not pleased. I then bit the bullet, purchased the VideoReDo and went the Direct Show Dump. VRD route and couldn't be happier. Can get 3 1hr shows on one DVD now. It's a wonderful way to burn (and many thanks to Dan for "showing us the light"). Maybe you can get your money back on the Sonic and apply it to VRD??

[Acadia]

I first went the Sonic route and also was not pleased. I then bit the bullet, purchased the VideoReDo and went the Direct Show Dump. VRD route and couldn't be happier. Can get 3 1hr shows on one DVD now. It's a wonderful way to burn (and many thanks to Dan for "showing us the light"). Maybe you can get your money back on the Sonic and apply it to VRD??

After all the research I have donw, it is really looking like you are right. Thanks for the reply. I tried to go to the Sonic Forums, but I can't even register there. As far as I am concerned, the burger joint and the hedgehog > the DVD software.

Mods - if there is no answer to my woes other than buying that other thing - please lock this. I don't wanna clog up your forum.

Thanks again, usnret

[painkiller]

Acadia,

Count me in as a VideoRedo convert from the Sonic software.

If it helps you any, the makers of VideoRedo let you download a trial copy, you register for a free trial key so you can play around and save your edits - but it limits to a max of one-half hour.

I was hooked on it as it does several good things. So I bought it.

1) Edit unwanted portions of video (by frame or GOP).
2) Adjust the sound.
3) Edits tivo files directly and saves a mpg.

There are a lot of other good features that you may be surprised with.
An excellent piece of work, I think.

[CuriousMark]

According to the Tivo site, I needed the Sonic Software. Hooray! That's what shipped with my PC. I have Sonic Digital Media Plus 7.
Same here, it is a brain deadened version supplied on new PCs. Those nag screens to upgrade are your first clue.

So I was all happy making menus and whatnot, and bragging to the wife about my wizardry, when all of a sudden I realized that when I bring the Tivo recordings into the software, they get...fatter.
Yep! The brain dead version of MyDVD on our new PCs will pass AC3 audio through unmolested but takes the perfectly good MP2 audio from your TiVo and blows it up to Stereo PCM. It can double the size of the file.

I checked all of the references for burning I could find in these forums, and noticed that they all seem to point to that alternative software. I would rather not go that route if I can avoid it. For smaller shows, the quality on the DVD's are great, and they play on my player.

There is no good reason for this behavior that I am aware of other than Sonic wanting to "encourage" us to upgrade. It pissed me off enough that I went the other route and bought VideoRedo for the same price as the sonic upgrade. I considered the upgrade, but wondered what I might find still not working the way I want it after spending the money. Their mp2 mangling left a bad taste in my mouth and I didn't want to find out what else they were not doing right.

If you do decide to buy the upgrade, please let me know if it works for you. If it lets you avoid the long winded re-encoding step when you select to burn a basic show to SVCD quality, that would remove a lot of the bad taste.

Mark

[Acadia]

I guess I will buy the new thingy you are all recommending. No sense pissing down a well with that other thing that is screwing me.

Thank you so much for the detailed reply, Mark. And that you as well, painkiller. You have been honest and helpful, and I don't think one can ask much more from a forum.

Maybe this thread should be changed to "the Sonic thing eats it" and made into a sticky :)

Thanks again.

[CuriousMark]

Keep in mind that videoRedo will not do all that Sonic does. You will still need to get a DVD authoring package and DVD burning package. The choices recommended by the others here are free. I don't use them myself. I already had a copy of Vegas baby brother and it works well for creating menu styles and burning the DVD after VideoRedo is done with it. If I didn't already have that, I might have popped instead for Roxio Easy Media Creator 9 instead. It has everything and works with TiVo files. You may want to add that as yet another option to compare in your decision tree.

VideoRedo is wonderful in that it is the only program that makes removing commercials a breeze. It is worth the price for that feature alone.

CuriousMark

[painkiller]

As an alternative to making a DVD, you can also take the mpg output from VideoRedo and compress it using Divx.

(Either Doctor Divx or the Divx Converter. Both free.)

But, to play these on a dvd player on your tv - you need to have a divx certified dvd player.

The truly great thing about this is that you take the divx video files and burn to a cd or dvd as data discs.

This way, the same disc can be played on the computer - or the divx certified dvd player.

(I put half a season of Battlestar Galactica on one dvd+r.)

Just so you have something else to think about. Heh.