.tivo to .mpg to DVD

PumiceT wrote on 2/16/2005, 8:18 AM
A few questions you guys may be able to help me with.

According to my research, I've found the following:
TiVo video is recorded at 2/3 D1 (480x480) resolution at 29.97 frames per second with constant-bitrate MPEG-2 at one of four bitrates:
Best = 5.8 Mbps
High = 3.5 Mbps
Medium = 2.6 Mbps
Basic = 1.47 Mbps
Regardless of video bitrate, audio is sampled at 32 kHz and always recorded with constant-bitrate MPEG-1 Layer 2 at 192 kbps.

Here's what I have questions about...
I can not bring the original file(s) into Vegas (they're protected... shhhhh), so I have to convert them no matter what. I can use TMPGEnc to convert to whatever size, compression, etc, which also allows me to import the result into Vegas.

Assuming these files will ultimately end up on DVD, should I convert to 720x480 DV-AVI right off the bat (and make my editing easier in Vegas, rather than dealing with slow MPEG files), or keep the video as 480x480 MPEG with the same bitrates as the original files and let Vegas do that conversion?

At their relatively small 480x480 resolution and low bitrates (I usually record at Medium quality), I could theoretically fit 3+ hours on one 4.7gb DVD. Since I'm not going to GAIN any quality at 720x480 or with higher bitrates (the data just isn't there in the original files), can I still fit 3 hours per DVD? Will the increase in horizontal resolution from 480 to 720 pixels kill that possibility by adding extra (unnecessary) data? Can I somehow stay at 480x480 and burn that to DVD with DVDArchitect?

If I do render to 720x480, can DVDArchitect set the bitrate to allow me to fit 3 hours on one DVD?

I am sure I have more questions, but this should be a good start...

Comments

B_JM wrote on 2/16/2005, 8:25 AM
480x480 is standard svcd ..

you cant burn a svcd on a dvd , but you can use svcd2dvd to convert (without re-encoding) the svcd to a dvd format that plays back on 95% of dvd players ...

but you want to edit it ? well if all you want to do it cuts i bet - it is better to not re-encode but use mpeg2vcr to edit as it will not re-encode your files ...

then use svcd2dvd and your done ...

johnmeyer wrote on 2/16/2005, 10:22 AM
I don't yet own a Tivo because none of the manufacturers has provided a way to easily archive the original video, without significant recompression loss, onto a DVD. I just recently captured both the Superbowl and the Grammys onto my hard disk, edited out the commercials and put them onto a DVD for a friend who is helping the Tsunami victims in Thailand and therefore missed both shows. If Tivo had the ability to move and edit its MPEG files (or transport them easily to the computer where it could be done), this task sure would have been easier. However, I don't think this will happen because of copyright concerns, however misguided some of those may be.

However, if you still want to do this from your Tivo, rather than capture to your computer as I did, I can recommend two forums: the Doom9 forum and the AVS forum. The AVS forum actually will refer you to another place that is specific to Tivo. Here are the links:

Doom9 Tivo to DVD

AVS Forums

Here's the link provided in the AVS Forums to the Tivo forum:

Tivo Forums

Here are some other posts in the doom9 forum:

Doom9 1

Doom9 2


PumiceT wrote on 2/16/2005, 12:32 PM
John
Thanks for the links. I'll check them out. I'm already on the TiVoCommunity forums, but they won't allow speaking of editing .tivo files. You can talk about burning to DVD directly from the .tivo files, but not about changing formats or anything that would strip away the DRM protection. I understand the logic, but I have 5 1-hour episodes of "And You Don't Stop - The History of Hip-Hop" from VH1, and want to make a nice archive void of extra crap. I'd simply put chapters to make skipping over commercials easier, but that would require user interaction while viewing - kind of a pain.
- PS - TiVoToGo is a recently added feature to TiVo. You can transfer TiVo programs in their original encoding to your PC for viewing, and burning to DVD. File transfers are slow, as TiVo is still limted to USB 1.1 speeds, but it's bearable, especially since TiVo is such a GREAT set-it-and-forget-it device. I wouldn't want to try to deal with any other DVR. I just checked out one of your links, and its reference to TiVo is pre-TiVoToGo, when getting files off the TiVo required hardware hacking - I was never too into that idea.

B_JM
I can use Nero VisionExpress and access the .tivo files directly, and edit them to a degree, but the program is so horribly non-intuitive it's not even funny. Why couldn't they make it just like the Vegas timeline? You'd have to see how they did it to realize how bad it is to even understand what you've edited. *smashes head on wall* I'll have to check out mpeg2vcr. The only problem is, the program has to be able to open DRM-protected files without too much fuss - and possibly more than one at a time.
johnmeyer wrote on 2/16/2005, 1:23 PM
You probably did a Google search. Here's an interesting link:

Tivo to DVD

Also, if you have spare pocket change there are products that can do some of this (although I don't know whether you can edit out the commercials):

CNet reviews of Tivo to DVD recorders