Motorola PVR to PC use of HDTVtoMPEG and HDTV2DVD

[brillmtb]

I am attempting to use HDTVt2DVD but when I try to drop my .ts file in the assets plane it the file does not follow and no file then shows up on the assets plane?

I used CAPDVHS and the driver recommeded to play back a movie from the PVR to my PC which resulted in a file. I changed the CAPDVHS seting to have the file name end in .ts which is what I thought I was to do. I then attemtped to yse HDTV2DVD above with the error message.

I have also attempted to bring the .ts file into HDTVtoMPEG but get a "no channel" error eventhough the vidoe PID and audio PID have field info although I dont know if it is correct.

Suggestions?

[Soopafresh]

Just for a test, run one of the TS files through Mpeg2repair and see if the resulting file works.

[brillmtb]

I ran it and it said failed to find video PID

On a separate note, I have been looking for a newbie guide to taking PVR .ts files from my motorola PVR (comcast) to my PC. Mostly I see more technically oriented explainations.

I installed the firewire driver, the pvr is recognized and I get a file that comes to the PC. I have changed the file extensions under the CAPDVHS program under tab "setting" to end in .ts from what I think was there as mpg orginally as I thought I was supposed to. Perhaps this is the problem or the output from the PVR on this unit is something else.

thanks for the help

[rscottg]

This week I’ve been working on the same thing. I too can create the .ts file. But probably 60% of the time, HDTVtoMPEG does not the recognize the file when I drag it to the bottom

So I do have it working some of the time. My problem is with jerky and stalling video.

My first test was from the pvr with something I had taped. Digital show – no hd. The video played, but skipped and stalled. Second test was with hd and ‘American Chopper’ live, same result. The picture on my laptop is great, but it skips and stops.

Another test for something do was recording ‘King of Cars’ in HD. To my surprise, I got two minutes of near perfect video. Just one small skip at the start, otherwise the picture was amazing and the sound worked as well.

I tried using windv to capture the video in the first place because I heard it had a built in buffer and I figured that would help the skipping issue. With that program I can’t get it to work as I just get "Error: Can't find DV output pin."

Has anyone ever got windv to work with a motorola 6412 pvr. Or does it just work with a video cameras and firewire? I’ve managed to successfully burn my not so great results to dvd and play them on a home dvd player, I just can’t get past the jerky video.

I haven’t tried freeing up all the resources possible on the laptop or increasing the ram.

Any help would be appreciated.

[brillmtb]

May I ask what you use to get from the PVR to PC and then step by step what you use. I cant even play the file after I get it to my PC I assume because it is not in a format that can be played and that is why I need to use HDTV2MGEG, or other programs

[rscottg]

I use CapDVHS to capture the video. In fact, it's the only program I've got to work. And I've tried a few (maybe the other programs are looking for a specific video camera at the other end).

I’m guessing that my hard drive is to slow (as it is only like 4200 rpm) or some other interference problem on the computer. When I capture with CapDVHS, it always appears to work (and I have it set to change the extension to .ts) If I try it three times in a row (just two minute or less tests), only one time will it probably work.

When it doesn’t work, HDTV2DVD simply doesn’t respond when I drag the file to the Assets pane on the bottom. When that does work, I can successfully make an mpeg and the files necessary to make a proper dvd.

I’m guessing that if I bought a firewire card for my desktop, which has faster drive , I might have more success. A firewire cord I can return, but a firewire card I cannot. So if doesn’t work, then I’m out of luck. Based on the fact it did work once on the laptop (and it was HD), I’m guessing my desktop might work. Especially if I disable everything.

I really think windv might have solved my problem, but I just can’t resolve the “can’t find pin” error.

Sorry, as I’m not much help to you on this issue.

I follow the following, which is probably the same as you:

“….HDTV2DVD is the easiest way I have found to make DVDs from both HD and SD transport stream captures and preserving the original Dolby Digital audio stream. The flow is very easy with this tool since it automates both the re-encoding to DVD as well as DVD VOB file creation. Note that the tool also generates a DVD-compatible .mpg file in case you like to use your own DVD authoring tool.
• NOTE: You can optionally first use HDTVtoMPEG2 program to edit out commercials from your original .ts file. If you do so make sure that you have HDTVtoMPEG2 output Transport Stream since HDTV2DVD requires transport stream files as input.
• Start the program
• Drag your transport stream (.ts) file into the bottom Assets pane
• Drag the file from Assets pane to the top left Layout pane
• Click on the Auto Fit icon to make sure the encoding can fit within a single DVD
• Click on the DVD icon on top left of the window
• HDTV2DVD automatically produces both a DVD compatible mpeg2 program stream (.mpg) file and a folder with AUDIO_TS/VIDEO_TS folders that can be burned directly to a DVD.
• If you want to produce a DVD with menus, etc. you can use the .mpg file created by HDTV2DVD as input and good authoring programs will know not to re-encode again…..”

[brillmtb]

Yes, that is what I try to do.

I dont wish to keep sending the movie to the pc as this takes a lot of time but when I drag it over it never works, meaning I have never been able to get the file to drop on the HDTV2MPEG program.

Is there any product on the market that allows you to view the PVR HD as a HD where you can just access it and copy over the files to the pc then do the conversions there???

[rscottg]

Over the next couple of days I'm going to re-try this using a desktop computer. Not sure what the result will be, but the hard drive is 3000 rpm faster than the one I was using. The hard drive is freshly formatted, so fragmentation shouldn't be an issue.

If I still have problems, I'll be shutting down every process that is not needed, disconnecting the internet, etc... If I have no luck, I'll just give up for now.

I will tell you if I have any better luck or find better software, etc...

[rscottg]

On the desktop computer it works better, but still not good enough. Still too many dropped frames and jerky video. HDTV2MPEG is now recognizing the file pretty much each time I create it with capdvhs. So I don't know if the computer is the issue or what. I mostly read about people having this problem, with some people saying they never drop a frame.

I shut down all processes that were not needed. Disabled the virus software, and the network connection.

From reading other posts, I think windv might work because of the buffer, but still cannot get past the "can't find pin" error. So maybe that program is strictly for capturing from video cameras?

I also tried using many other program but none of them worked at all with my firewire feed. I thought Pinnacle was going to work, but I couldn't get it to capture the feed.

So if anyone has a good idea of what software to use to capture the video, I would appreciate it. It doesn't matter if it's free or not, just that it doesn't cost hundreds of dollars.

So I still can't help you with your original post.

[rbatty11]

billmtb, I'm having the same problem.. Can you please verify that your captured file is indeed a .ts file. My captured file keeps ending up as an .mpg. I thought I changed the extension to be output as a .ts file but keep getting a .mpg file. Obviously, I'm doing something wrong in CapDVHS setup. Just wondering if that's your issue, as well, because it seems both HDTVtoMPEG2 and HDTVtoDVD only accept .ts files.

Going to re-install CapDVHS and set up again tonight.

[bburgin]

I need to revisit this issue of dragging files to the assets table in HDTV2DVD. The forum post just ended so I'm still at a loss.