How can I convert and edit Hauppauge WinTV .ts files to make a DVD?

[mgreen10]

I just purchased a Hauppauge HVR-2250 TV tuner card so that I could record high-definition TV programs (over the air broadcasts) to the hard drive on my home theater PC which runs Windows 7 64-bit. My goal is to use Pinnacle Studio on my Windows XP PC to edit these video files to add a title and remove commercials then burn them to a DVD that I can play in my stand-alone DVD player.
Using the WinTV v7 1.2a. software, that came with my TV tuner card, to record live TV generates a .ts file. The .ts file format is not recognized by Pinnacle Studio. How can I convert .ts files to a more common high-def video format that Pinnacle can read and work with? Alternatively, is it possible to use WinTV to record in a different, more common and editable format?
If that isn't possible, I could use Windows 7 Media Center to record live TV which generates .dvr-ms files. I'm not sure if Pinnacle or Windows Movie Maker can edit those either though.
I appreciate your suggestions on how to edit recordings of live TV to create a DVD. Thanks!

[midders]

Try tsMuxeR or ProjectX

Slainte

midders

[Baldrick]

Or hdtvtompeg2 and convert to a standard mpg file

Or use a mpeg2 editor like mpeg video wizard.

(if your ts is in mpeg2 video then, it wont work for h264 ts).

[crazy14muzic]

I have the same hauppage version 1.2a that shipped with my wintv-hvr 1950. On the advanced options tab there is an auto convert mpeg2 recordings to mpg.

[mgreen10]

crazy14muzic,

How did you get the MPEG-2 recording in the first place that is then autoconverted to mpg? WinTV is only generating .ts files for me--not MPEG-2 files. If I had MPEG-2 files, I might be able to read them directly into Pinnacle Studio for editing and wouldn't need to convert them to .mpg first. Perhaps WinTV uses MPEG-2 to refer to the .ts format on the Advanced Options tab since it is just a container format for MPEG-2 video.

MPEG-1 (.mpg) only supports low- or standard-definition video. Since I am receiving and recording in high-definition, and want to keep that quality, I can't use the .mpg format. I need to stick with MPEG-2 instead. That's why, after looking at VideoReDo TV Suite, which can convert .ts to .mpg, I decided not to use it.

It seems like there should be a way to convert .ts files to MPEG-2. I'll check out the software recommended by the other people who replied to my post.

Thanks for your help!

[jman98]

MPEG-1 (.mpg) only supports low- or standard-definition video.

Completely untrue. MPEG-1 can support resolutions as high as 4095x4095.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MPEG-1
The fact that it has not been used for high definition video is not because it is impossible of being used. MPEG-1 is an older codec and certainly newer codecs offer many advantages over old MPEG-1, but you could use MPEG-1 on high definition video if you wanted to do so.

[mgreen10]

Baldrick,

Thanks for your reply. I will try the software you recommended.

Can you explain what you mean by "if your ts is in mpeg2 video then, it wont work for h264 ts"? My understanding is that the .ts file format is a container for mpeg2 audio/video so .ts files always contain mpeg2 video by default. Also, what do you mean by "it won't work for h264 ts"?

Thanks again!

[Baldrick]

A ts stream can also contain h264 video. My TV provider broadcasts for example HD in h264 video. But yours is probably only mpeg2.

[edDV]

DTV ATSC in North America comes as a TS transport stream that can contain multiple MPeg2 video and AC3 audio streams. The ATSC tuner card separates out the "tuned" video and audio stream (e.g. 7-1, 7-2 or 7-3)* from the transmitted TS stream.

The chosen video and audio streams can then be output to a TS, PS or normal MPeg2 file. That is what you are setting in the options. At no point is the video or audio format being converted. You are just setting the container.

Most edit programs want a standard MPeg container or a VOB container. Some will accept TS or PS with single video and audio streams (e.g. Vegas Pro). They will reject multi video stream TS files.


* The job of an ATSC digital tuner card is first to tune the RF channel (e.g DT 7). The tuned channel is streaming a TS stream that can contain multiple sub-channel MPeg2 video and AC3 audio streams and/or data streams. The tuner selects a video and audio pair and saves those to a file while rejecting the others.

[crazy14muzic]

WinTV is only generating .ts files for me--not MPEG-2 files.

check you .ts file with media info, it will tell you if its mpeg or h264.

or you could just check that autoconvert box, record a small clip and see what happens. Worst thing that could happen is the generated mpeg file won't open in pinnacle.

All my channels here broadcast mpeg streams. I have vegas 9 and have no issues opening the .ts files generated by wintv.

[edDV]

WinTV is only generating .ts files for me--not MPEG-2 files.

check you .ts file with media info, it will tell you if its mpeg or h264.

or you could just check that autoconvert box, record a small clip and see what happens. Worst thing that could happen is the generated mpeg file won't open in pinnacle.

All my channels here broadcast mpeg streams. I have vegas 9 and have no issues opening the .ts files generated by wintv.

There is no MPeg4 broadcast in the USA (unless proprietary subchannels). It is all MPeg2/AC3 streams in a packetized MPeg transport stream (TS) format. You may need to extract the MPeg2 before you can edit. HDTVtoMPeg2 will do that. There is no loss.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MPEG_transport_stream

[Nelson37]

"MPG" is used to refer to EITHER mpg-1 or mpg-2. What you have IS an mpg-2 file in a "TS" container. The auto-convert function is EXACTLY what you are looking for. It takes the file you have recorded, which IS an mpg-2, and strips it out of the TS container so that standard programs can deal with it.

[mgreen10]

Thanks to everyone's input, my problem is solved. Here's what I found.

I used media info to report the format of the .ts streams that Hauppauge's WinTV was recording from over the air digital TV ATSC broadcasts in my area. They are MPEG-2/AC-3 format as some of you mentioned. Here is the media info for a one-minute clip I recorded from live TV.

Single video stream: 14.1 Mbps (14.6 Mbps), 1280x720 (16:9), at 59.940 fps, MPEG Video (Component) (Version 2)
Single audio stream: 384 Kbps, 48.0 KHz, 6 channels, AC-3

I used HDTV2MPEG2 to convert the .ts stream file to MPEG-2. Pinnacle Studio 11 was able to read this in and edit it so I will be able to remove commercials, add a title, and burn to DVD.

As an experiment, I also checked the "Auto Convert MPEG-2 recordings to .mpg" in WinTV's advanced setup. That also worked, leaving me with a .mpg file that I could immediately play on Windows Media Player or read into Pinnacle Studio for editing.

Thanks again to everyone who responded. I really appreciate your help!

[robertmaul]

all that work i put into that post is lost...

thanks for nothing

[usually_quiet]

all that work i put into that post is lost...

thanks for nothing

No, your script was moved to its own thread. https://forum.videohelp.com/threads/340525-ts2avi-script-convert-Hauppauge-WinTV-ts-fil...95#post2118695