Not digging VideoReDo - any other program for editing .tivo files?

[Sparty99]

I've given the VideoReDo free trials a couple of tries now, and I'm just not impressed enough to drop the $50 for the full program. Editing the beginning and end of a movie with no commercials is fine, but I've got problems on shows with commercials in terms of switches in the video stream (commercials, etc.).

The problem is that I really like the fact that VRD allows you to keep the files in .tivo format, as I've had some issues with a conversion from .mpg when I transfer up to the Series 3. I'm also a fan of the fact that the metadata info stays the same. So does anyone have any suggestions as to how I can edit these files without first converting them to .mpg?

[steve614]

Sorry, I got nothing except that maybe you should try posting about your problem with more details at the VRD forums (http://www.videoredo.net/msgBoard/index.php).
There may even already be a post about your specific problem.
From what I can tell, the VRD people work very hard at working out "bugs" (better than Tivo at least. :p ).

[jimtaylor61]

Am interested in transferring TiVo files to Mac; editing out commercials, unnecessary content, etc.; and then burning to DVD.

What software/software combination might give me that capability? Would prefer not to do that under Parallels.

Thoughts?

Thanks

Jim

[greg_burns]

I'm also a fan of the fact that the metadata info stays the same. So does anyone have any suggestions as to how I can edit these files without first converting them to .mpg?

First off I would stay stick with VR.

But if you want to work with the .mpg you can always reattach the meta data using this little app I wrote prior to VR doing this natively.

http://home.comcast.net/~greg_burns/tivoattach/

You can use Tivo Decoder (http://www.gmonweb.com/portal/CodingFun/Downloads/tabid/54/Default.aspx) to get at the .mpg file.

[Philipp5]

Try this great little program from moyekj. It does it all in one step, but can be a bit complicated to set up at first:
http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?t=387725

[Dan203]

If you have a specific problem with VideoReDo send me a PM. I'm a programmer for them and I might be able to fix your problem for you.

Dan

[jlb]

For burning to DVD I now use the new VideoRedo TV Suite. It is a one stop shop for editing TiVo files and making a DVD.

Prior to the TV Suite version my process was as follows:

1) Edit each TiVo accordingly with VR.
2) Use DVD Styler to create basic menu and create an ISO image
3a) If necessary, run ISO through DVD shrink to get it under the 4.7gb SL DVD cap
3b) Burn ISO using IMGBURN

But VRTS makes it all quite simple.

[cia_viewer]

Following a suggestion, I downloaded 'DirectShow Dump' utility and ran it to decrypt my file.tivo to file.mpg. They are 640x480. I believe that is equivalent to 480p. They are nature movies that I want to save to show to our grandchildren when they get a little older.

I used Roxio 'MyDVD LE' to burn the .mpg file onto a structure of files on a 4.7GB DVD. The DVD played successfully.

The program, viewed from the DVD(480i), was a little grainer than the original.

I notice that any DVD I play on my DVD Player (Sony SONDVPNS725P) to my HDTV has the resolution indicated by TV Info as 480i (interlaced). The professionally recorded DVDs look sharper.

I have a THEORY that one half of the video data is not being used and the other half is being used twice?

Are there any utilities to convert progressive video data to interlaced video data?

The video authoring programs like 'VideoReDo' seem to be intent on removing advertising, Etc. . I have no need to do that. I am concerned with the full resolution (480p to 480i translation?).

[Dan203]

Your theory is incorrect. All programs broadcast for TV, with the exception of HD, are 480i. In fact there is no such thing as a 480p DVD either. There are DVD players which use a trick called 3:2 pulldown to create a 480p picture from a 480i source, but there is no way to store true 480p video on a DVD and have it conform to the DVD specification.

Now the reason your DVD looks grainier then the original TiVo file when created with MyDVD, is because MyDVD forces a transcode of all videos when saving to a DVD. The process of decoding and recoding the video is what reduces the quality and causes the graininess.

VideoReDo does NOT require you to transcode videos when making DVDs. It has the ability to save any non-HD MPEG-2 file, including TiVo files, directly to a DVD in their original quality. Even if the video is not compatible with the official DVD specification it can create a "non-complaint" DVD which will work in 99% of DVD players. Not having to transcode creates two advantages... 1) You lose no quality from the original video and 2) it's considerably faster.

VideoReDo offers a 15 day trial. You should download it and use it to create these DVDs so you can see the difference.

Dan

[cia_viewer]

Thank you for your response.

...

VideoReDo does NOT require you to transcode videos when making DVDs. It has the ability to save any non-HD MPEG-2 file, including TiVo files, directly to a DVD in their original quality. Even if the video is not compatible with the official DVD specification it can create a "non-complaint" DVD which will work in 99% of DVD players. ...

Dan

I have never worked with video files before.
I have downloaded TVSHelp.pdf.
Looking at page 14:
It would seem that I search and specify VIDEO_TS location:
e.g.: D:\FolderStructure...\TargetProgram.tivo
and specify:
(*) Author to VIDEO_TS and burn DVD
[x] Verify disk after burning


Is this enough to burn the DVD?

[Dan203]

The VIDEO_TS location does not need the .tivo extension. It's actually a folder where the DVD files are stored on your disk drive until the burn is complete.

You should also check the "Delete VIDEO_TS after burning" box as that will get rid of the DVD files stored on your hard drive after the DVD disc is burned and verified. This will prevent you from cluttering up your hard drive with a bunch of files you no longer need. (unless you plan to make multiple copies of a DVD, then leave that box unchecked and you can reuse the files to burn additional discs without needed to go through the whole authoring process each time)

Other then that I would also suggest that you make sure that the menu template and button titles are to your liking before burning.

Also you may need to check the "Accept non-complaint DVD settings" box at the bottom to avoid transcoding the video if the original TiVo video is a non-standard size. But don't worry, even with this setting the resulting DVD will still play in almost every DVD player in existence.

Dan

[greg_burns]

The VIDEO_TS location does not need the .tivo extension. It's actually a folder where the DVD files are stored on your disk drive until the burn is complete.

You should also check the "Delete VIDEO_TS after burning" box as that will get rid of the DVD files stored on your hard drive after the DVD disc is burned and verified. This will prevent you from cluttering up your hard drive with a bunch of files you no longer need. (unless you plan to make multiple copies of a DVD, then leave that box unchecked and you can reuse the files to burn additional discs without needed to go through the whole authoring process each time)

Dan, if you have the VIDEO_TS folder can you just burn that to a "data" disc via Nero, etc. and have a working DVD-Video disc? Or is there more to it?

This came up for me just the other day using VideoRedo TS. I did the authoring process and it made that folder, but I forgot to select the option to also Burn to DVD. So all I had was that folder. When I tried to use Nero to make a DVD (using the data disc option) it explicitly came up and said that wouldn't work to make a DVD-Video disc. Rather than chance wasting a disc, I just redid the whole thing with VRTS.

Thoughts?

[moyekj]

Dan, if you have the VIDEO_TS folder can you just burn that to a "data" disc via Nero, etc. and have a working DVD-Video disc? Or is there more to it? I've been doing that for years. Authoring VIDEO_TS folder with various free and/or commercial programs and then using any CD/DVD burning software to burn it to DVD (as data). Works fine.

[greg_burns]

Thanks Kevin.

[msmart]

I've been doing that for years. Authoring VIDEO_TS folder with...

Ditto... with VRD/TS since it came out. I *always* render to disk first, review it with WinDVD, then launch VRD/TS's burner to burn the disc.

Force of habbit, I guess, but I like to review the video first to make sure everything looks good or I didn't screw something up. Only takes a few extra moments to check, but prevents me from burning coasters (regardless of how cheap discs are).

BTW, if the VIDEO_TS folder is over the single-layer size limit, I don't worry about it (adjusting bitrate), let it fly and use DVDShrink to make it fit, then burn it with VRD/TS.

[Dan203]

Yeah you can manually launch the DVD Burner inside VideoReDo by simply selecting DVD->Launch DVD burner. Then you can use it to burn a DVD folder or ISO image manually.

Dan