.tivo File Conversion - Is there a better way?

[kirky99]

OK, for the past week, I've been trying to get this working without much success. Here's the problem and so far, my solution. Would appreciate if anyone could assist on a better way to achieve the same result. Here goes...

This is my source:
Video size: 480x480 (5800kbps) 29.97 FPS
Audio: MPEG Layer 2 - 48000hz, 16bps, 2ch (192kbps)

As you can see, at least the video is out of DVD spec. For some reason, along the way I thought I saw the audio was 44.1 but I've been through all kinds of different conversions, I could be wrong. My goal is to get this into a DVD spec DVD as my standalone doesn't support SVCD (That would be too easy!).

So, here's what I'm doing...

Start with video1.tivo

I first run the .tivo file through Graphedit to make it an .mpg file instead of a .tivo file. Many apps seem to not like the .tivo file.

Now I have video1.mpg

I next run the file through VirtualDubMPEG to rip out the audio (now I'm wondering why I'm doing this, maybe a throw back to when I thought it was a 44.1 audio stream.) But anyway...

Now I have: video1.mpg and audio1.wav

I next run the video1.mpg through DVD2AVI to produce a .d2v file for AVISynth.

Now I have: video1.mpg, audio1.wav, video1.d2f and video1.d2v.

Next, load the following AVISynth into TMPGEnc which I use to clip out commercials, and change it over to a widescreen version of the show. I output it as elementary streams, so now I end up with video2.m2v and video2.wav.

vid=Mpeg2Source("video1.d2v") 
aud=WAVSource("audio1.wav") 
AudioDub(vid,aud) 
ResampleAudio(48000) 
AssumeFPS(29.97, True) 
ConvertToYUY2()
Clip1=Trim(360,10516)
Clip2=Trim(16242,31622)
Clip3=Trim(37023,51109)
Clip4=Trim(57571,71373)
Clip5=Trim(78903,102549)
Clip1++Clip2++Clip3++Clip4++Clip5
Crop(6,60,470,360) 
LanczosResize(720,480)

Next up, I load the wav file into GoldWave to fix the audio. Seems somewhere along the line the audio comes out longer than the video file. It's about 3 seocnds longer, so I shorten it up to match the video.

Now have: video2.m2v and video2.wav (fixed length)

Load all this up into DVDLab Pro and burn to a DVD.

Now, can anyone recommend a better way, or point out some mistakes? What really kills me is the audio sync problem, just doesn't make sense. But, maybe I'll just have to deal with it. I'm using TMPGEnc MPEG Editor to pull the frames for the different sections of the show.

Also, just wanted to mention that Tivo does now allow shows to be put to DVD. They recommend running the .tivo files through a proprietary version of Sonic MyDVD. I honestly haven't tried it, I can't believe I would have the same flexibility on menus etc that I have using my own tools.

Thanks in advance for the help...

[kirky99]

Well, I spoke too soon, just did a final render in DVDLab Pro and audio is SO far out of sync it's not even watchable.

Back to the drawing board I guess.

[vhelp]

vid=Mpeg2Source("video1.d2v")
aud=WAVSource("audio1.wav")
AudioDub(vid,aud)
ResampleAudio(48000)
AssumeFPS(29.97, True)
ConvertToYUY2()
Clip1=Trim(360,10516)
Clip2=Trim(16242,31622)
Clip3=Trim(37023,51109)
Clip4=Trim(57571,71373)
Clip5=Trim(78903,102549)
Clip1++Clip2++Clip3++Clip4++Clip5
Crop(6,60,470,360)
LanczosResize(720,480)

I would suspect that you audio went out of wack because you were TRIM() 'ing
your video portion, but not your audio. I could be wrong, but that sounds
about rights.
.
Also/or could be caused by any one of these lines:

AudioDub(vid,aud)
ResampleAudio(48000)
AssumeFPS(29.97, True)

If your end product is MPEG-2 for DVD, then you don't need to perform any
resampling ( 44.1 to 48 or 48 to 48 ) as it looks like in your above script.
That could be one cause. the AssummFPS() could be another, but I'm not
100% sure.

-vhelp 3133

[kirky99]

OK, just got done with the following:

GraphEdit to get .MPG
(Audio in sync)

TMPGEnc MPEG Editor to make commercial free .MPG
(Audio in sync)

VirtualDubMPEG to rip out the audio to .WAV (PCM 48.0)

TMPGEnc Plus to get .M2V and .WAV
For inputs I used the MPG from the editor above and .WAV from VirtualDubMPEG

Created DVD in DVDLab Pro played on PC and audio is now out of sync. Audio seems a little fast actually, not slow, if that helps.

Maybe I'll just use the edited .MPG through TMPGEnc Plus with the sound from that file and see what happens. What's a little more time, I've spent this much, what's another couple hours.

Regarding AVISynth, I'm under the impression that the Clips are from the combined vid and aud streams, so I was hoping that wouldn't be the cause. I snipped like 20 minutes of commercials out, and the audio is off by seconds. So I don't think it's AVISynth. As you can see, I didn't even use AVISynth this last attempt, so I'm guessing that's not it.

Just picked up a DVP642 so I probably don't need to go through too much more, BUT I do like to have things in DVD spec if possible. Never know when you need to play a DVD on different equipment.

[jtoolman2000]

This may be out of topic but, can you out put a Tivo recording directly to a stan alone DVD recorder as you would to a TV? Then from recorder to TV for viewing while recording the Tivo shows? With DVD recorders being so cheap now a days it would seem like a quick and more direct aproach.

[kirky99]

I'm not sure about to a standalone DVD player. I'm guessing, yes, but then you need to worry about working on all DVD players, I would still be watching commercials, and I also wouldn't be burning all these coasters and having all this fun.

[xpavement]

My process for converting ReplayTV mpegs (it may help with your tivo ones, I hope):

1. Open mpg file with DGIndex, save project creates .d2v and .mpa file (with delay calculation in filename)

2. Convert mpa to wav with BeSweet (GUI), making sure to check and fill in the delay box. (Replay audio is recorded at 48, so I keep it at that)

3. Use AviSynth to AudioDub the d2v and wav, as well as light filtering, cropping, triming commercials and resizing to spec. Save resulting file as huffy avi with virtualdub.

4. Encode avi to mpeg2 dvd spec using CCE basic.

5. Author with dvdauthor (GUI)

I haven't had any audio timing issues with this method, and while it takes extra time than other ways, the results are good and in sync.

[kirky99]

Thanks, I'm going to try with a differen tencoder as well, I'm thinking it may be TMPGEnc.

Tried:

GraphEdit >>>-----> TMPGEnc MPEG Editor >>>-----> TMPGEnc Plus >>>-----> DVDLab Pro

It still failed. Audio was OK until TMPGEnc Plus. Times listed differently in DVDLab Pro, so I wasn't expecting much.

I'll let you know on your process, I'm in the middle of something else, so might take a bit.

Thanks again...

[mkelley]

Please forgive me as I don't want to get off topic, but I can't get graphedit to work with the TiVo file.

I can get video just fine, but using the Moonlight demuxer I can't get audio output to feed into the Muxer properly. I realize the original poster may not be using Moonlight, but if they could tell me exactly what filters they are using on the TiVo file to get an MPEG that would be great.

TIA for any help.

[kirky99]

I'm using the Moonlight MPEG2 Demultiplexer to the Moonlight MPEG2 MultiplEX (mpeg2mux.ax).

Hope that helps...

[mkelley]

Yeah, I've been able to get audio just fine but because the video is out of DVD spec it's a problem for me (and it may not be one I can overcome -- if I have to reencode this stuff I might as well just capture straight to AVI and edit from there).

Back to your problem: the timing is probably a DVDLab problem. It's well known to have audio sync issues with edited MPEG files. I'd try Encore or some other authoring program (I really like DVDLab and have been using it since it first came out but when Encore released their newest version I switched and I have to say I don't miss Lab much).

Why the heck is the TiVo file in 480x480? That's my whole problem -- does this mean that TiVo is stretching the video or somehow cropping it differently? It just doesn't make sense that it's such a non-standard format.

Because I don't care about cutting out commercials like you (I'll just fast foward through them like I do TiVo and there is *some* nostalgic value to them) if I could find some graph filter that would convert the video to a standard DVD format I'd be fine but the only way to do that is to convert the MPEG to Video, and then I'm back to reencoding again.

[mbellot]

OK, for the past week, I've been trying to get this working without much success. Here's the problem and so far, my solution. Would appreciate if anyone could assist on a better way to achieve the same result. Here goes...

This is my source:
Video size: 480x480 (5800kbps) 29.97 FPS
Audio: MPEG Layer 2 - 48000hz, 16bps, 2ch (192kbps)

I would suggest a visit to www.dealdatabase.com/forum if you want to learn about tivo file extraction/conversion.

Just be forewarned, they do not take well to people who ask questions that are easily answered with a read through the stickies (or a simple search).

BTW - Assuming you have a standalone (non-DirecTivo) you should be able to change the recording format to 720x480.

[mkelley]

Um... don't think so.

That is a very nice resource site, but mostly they direct you to use tystudio, which are basically obsolete tools with the release of TiVo to Go (since you already have the TiVo file on your hard drive) -- for goodness sake, it doesn't even run well on XP!

I'll risk asking a question there, but after about an hour or searching last night I wasn't any close to getting a simple answer (how to take the MPEG and have it cropped without reencoding -- I still don't think this is possible).

[mkelley]

BTW - Assuming you have a standalone (non-DirecTivo) you should be able to change the recording format to 720x480.

Hmmm -- I got to thinking about this and maybe I'm not understanding you here but you seem to be implying I could actually change the way the TiVo records video?

I have a standalone series 2, but without hacking it I don't see any way to change the way the video is recorded (other than the different levels of MPEG quality like High, Standard, etc. but even at "Best" it's still only 480x480).

Or maybe you meant to hack -- but I'm not about to go to that much trouble just to record a show or two (let's face it -- nearly everything ends up on DVD nowadays, so there are very few shows people actually need to TiVo and translate).

[dmets]

I'll try to find the link, but the different TiVo settings encode at different resolutions... So you can manipulate your end file, by telling TiVo to encode it with Best rather than Better or Medium...

I have had great success with the Graphedit method from Evillabs (using the moonlight stuff) to 'unwrap' my .TIVO into a .MPG

I then take the resulting MPG and do one of two things:

1) File is going to my Treo600

I use pocketDIVXencorder (once ot convert, once to correct audio) to make a minature divx file from the .MPG that can be played on my Treo600 - would cause most people around here to gasp - but believe it or not the file is watchable and is only about 30-50 mbs per 1/2 hour. (1gb SD card holds a ton of programs). I have also done the one step DrDivx route - but that produces audio that is to far out of sync for my taste... (which being someone who watches video on a 160x160 screen you have to question from the outset

2) File is going to be burned to DVD

I currently use TMPGenc Plus to take the .MPG and make it DVD compatable (M2V+WAV).

Then I use TMPG DVD AUTHOR to create the DVD (it can take the (M2V+WAV). I edit the commercials out with TMPG DVD AUTHOR - its so easy. Create chapters and burn the DVD.


SO - here is my question - how can I set up a graph in Graphedit that will skip the reencoding with TMPGenc Plus step?

Is it possible to set up a graph in graphedit to take a .TIVO and turn it directly into the two files (M2V+WAV)? Thanks in advance. Just looking to refine the process.

Dustin

[Jrny2IL]

I'm using the GraphEdit method to convert my .tivo files to .mpg, but use VideoReDo to trim and edit the .mpg file. VideoReDo is lossless since it doesn't re-encode the file. Then, since the file(s) are 480X480, I simply author them in SVCD2DVD. No loss in quality whatsoever, and the process is very quick. Conversion, edit, author, and burn can be completed in less than an hour, depending on your project Size, and hardware used.

[Abond]

@kirky99
Make sure the file is not telecined - in this case the video is 29.97, but the audio is 23.976 and at the end you have asynch.

[kly577]

abond, interesting thought. Would this only apply if I cut off the end of my video file, or would it not matter what part I cut out? I have this audio problem with every single TiVo file I attempt to remove commercials from. I am trying to use Womble MPEG-VCR. I would love to find out exactly what is causing this issue, and I am not sure why they are coming out of graphedit in 480x480 because the evillabs instructions have you change the compatibility to DVD in the M71 muxer properties, so it should be coming out 720x480 as 480x480 is not DVD compatible.

[Abond]

Sorry, I don't know really . My comment was about earlier post in this topic where kirky99 described his (her) workflow.
I do not work with tivo files (even I don't know what they are for sure) but I assume they are kind of transport mpeg streams. I would use the programs and methods described by xpavement.
If I was at your situation I would try firstly to demultiplex audio and video as elementary streams. After that I would use Cuttermaran to cutout commercials and other stuff.
Next to analyse the video for telecining in VDubMod.
Then DGindex - avisynth - encoder - authoring - burning. It is a bit diferent from xpavement process, but as I said, I don't have to work with tivo files. Then might be it is correct and I am wrong.
About your particular question - no, I don't see the connection between telecining, cutting and audio synch.

[SLK001]

vid=Mpeg2Source("video1.d2v") 
aud=WAVSource("audio1.wav") 
AudioDub(vid,aud) 
ResampleAudio(48000) 
AssumeFPS(29.97, True) 
ConvertToYUY2()
Clip1=Trim(360,10516)
Clip2=Trim(16242,31622)
Clip3=Trim(37023,51109)
Clip4=Trim(57571,71373)
Clip5=Trim(78903,102549)
Clip1++Clip2++Clip3++Clip4++Clip5
Crop(6,60,470,360) 
LanczosResize(720,480)

Your code looks okay, but try this one first:

vid=Mpeg2Source("video1.d2v") 
aud=WAVSource("audio1.wav") 
AudioDub(vid,aud) 
Clip1=Trim(360,10516)
Clip2=Trim(16242,31622)
Clip3=Trim(37023,51109)
Clip4=Trim(57571,71373)
Clip5=Trim(78903,102549)
Clip1++Clip2++Clip3++Clip4++Clip5

Because your last video clip before your CLIPS was AUDIODUB(), your trim statements should properly trim both, so I think that this should be in sync. If it's not in sync, then remove all the CLIP statements and see if it regains sync. There are no processor hungry commands, so your system should have no problem playing in sync. Play it in VirtualDub and if okay, go to FILES > SAVE WAV and save your audio. Do all your audio manipulation OUTSIDE of AVISYNTH - ie, use your GOLDWAVE.

You don't say how your audio is out of sync - does it start in sync, then gradually slip out, or does it start out and stays out of sync the entire clip?