The Mac mpeg2 edit question - again

Scott Atkinson · 01-25-2008, 02:43 PM

I know this topic has been beaten for years, so this note is a check-in, more than anything else.

I'm trying to duplicate what I have on the PC side with Tivo Desktop to VideoReDo for frame accurate mpeg 2 editing.

On the Mac side, Tivo decode mgr gets me an mpeg 2 file, but it won't play in QT even with the mpeg 2 extension installed. (I'm assuming it's because the Tivo wrapper is still on the file.)

VLC does play it flawlessly.

So is there an mpeg2 editor on the Mac side that handles Tivo files?

Best,

Scott A.

wmcbrine · 01-25-2008, 06:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Scott Atkinson

(I'm assuming it's because the Tivo wrapper is still on the file.)

No, it isn't. But the MPEG files that tivodecode puts out do leave something to be desired. Exactly what, I don't know... as you see, some programs (mostly players) work fine, while others (mostly editors) choke.

This is with files sourced from Tivos running 9.x software. As I understand it, earlier versions didn't have the problem.

bedelman · 01-25-2008, 10:06 PM

As far as I know, the mpeg-2 files extracted from TiVo have always had issues playing with QuickTime. This goes back to Series 1 days. There's just something different about either the mpeg-2 file itself -- or the QuickTime support. Apparently, this was never a problem with Windows.

For what it's worth, an early showing of TiVo Transfer for Macintosh shown at CES almost a year before release was using VLC as the player at that time as well.

Scott Atkinson · 01-26-2008, 06:55 PM

Does it strike anyone as strange that there is no simple, cuts-only, frame accurate MPEG-2 editor on the Mac side?

s.

pkscout · 01-27-2008, 08:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Scott Atkinson

Does it strike anyone as strange that there is no simple, cuts-only, frame accurate MPEG-2 editor on the Mac side?

s.

MPEG Streamclip would seem to fit that bill to me. It's simple, it will do cuts, and (from what I can tell) it's frame accurate. You do have to have the Quicktime MPEG2 plugin, and (as noted earlier), it won't do the MPEG2 that you end up with when downloading from the TiVo, but other than that, what am I missing?

Marconi · 02-04-2010, 12:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Scott Atkinson

I know this topic has been beaten for years, so this note is a check-in, more than anything else.

...
So is there an mpeg2 editor on the Mac side that handles Tivo files?

None of which I'm aware. I came across this thread while searching for the same answer. (again)

The MPEG2 files from iTivo just do not play in QT Player (with Apple's MPEG2 component installed) and only VLC player can play them back on my Mac.

I'd very much like to see an editor like the one in EyeTV, which allows multiple in/out points to be set for editing its own MPEG2 files.

Every solution I've seen for editing MPEG2 on Mac involves converting to another format.

When I really need to edit TiVo files, I use the comskip/comcut functions of KMTTG. I let KMTTG create the .edl file for me, then I adjust edit points as necessary to get the desired end product following a comcut.

It seems to me that we need a way other than comskip to generate the .edl file from a recording file -- a viewer that will generate an in or out point for the edl file at some point in its playback, based on user action. I.e., view the movie; adjust the playback to a point in the recording and click an 'in' or 'out' button to add an entry to the edl file. When all the points are set, click "Edit" or such to run the file through comcut using the edl file generated.

Something like this might be scriptable with QuickTime Player, if only it actually played the TiVo MPEG2 files from iTiVo. I think we need some Smart Person who understands MPEG file formats to figure out why MPEG2 playback does not work on Mac in QT Player. If we can fix that, we're halfway to an editor.

(Incidentally, in my experience, the edited files generated by comskip/comcut cannot always to transferred back to TiVo. In some percentage of the files, pyTiVo gets only so far before the transfer aborts (probably at one of the edit points). Then I have to run the edited file through Visualhub 'converting' the already MPEG2 file to TiVo format, before it can be successfully transferred back to TiVo via pyTiVo. But that's a whole 'nother issue.)

bbarrera · 02-05-2010, 09:27 PM

If you have the Apple MPEG2 installed then use MPEG Streamclip to view and edit commercials from the decrypted iTivo .mpg. Works just fine here.

Marconi · 02-05-2010, 11:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bbarrera

If you have the Apple MPEG2 installed then use MPEG Streamclip to view and edit commercials from the decrypted iTivo .mpg. Works just fine here.

For me, MPEG Streamclip works just like QT Player -- the audio plays but the image is unchanging. Hard to edit video that way.

bbarrera · 02-07-2010, 10:59 AM

I just download hd and regular shows from my TiVo HD using iTiVo (decrypt only), then edited with MPEG Streamclip. Works for me on both Leopard and Snow Leopard if I have the Apple mpeg2 codec installed.

Phantom Gremlin · 02-07-2010, 11:59 PM

In case anyone missed this comment, VideoReDo works with VMWare Fusion. I know that's not a solution for everyone, but it is a possibility.

Marconi · Yesterday, 11:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bbarrera

I just download hd and regular shows from my TiVo HD using iTiVo (decrypt only), then edited with MPEG Streamclip. Works for me on both Leopard and Snow Leopard if I have the Apple mpeg2 codec installed.

I'm happy for you. But for me, it shows either the initial frame and is unchanging or it shows a totally white image. Sound plays fine.

In case it makes any difference, I'm using recordings from Series 2 TiVo SA DVRs.

I'm on OS X 10.5.8

javabird · Yesterday, 11:58 PM

Mpeg Streamclip worked perfectly for me in OS 10.5 but seems buggy in Snow Leopard.