Getting TiVo MPEG-2 files onto Blu-ray

[videojanitor]

Hi folks! New guy here. I've read many of the messages and found some that sort of address my question, but nothing that really seems to spell it out. So let me tell you what I'm trying to do, and perhaps someone can set me straight as to why I am running into a roadblock at every turn ...

I am starting with an HD program that was recorded off-air on a Series 3 TiVo. From there, I used TiVo Desktop to transfer the file to my PC. Then using either TiVo Decoder or VideoReDo, I saved it as a plain .MPG. As near as I can tell, there is no re-encoding involved here -- it just strips out some of the metadata that TiVo includes in the file.

The resulting file plays fine on the PC. Now I want to put this on a Blu-Ray disc, and here's where the problems start. My first attempts were with Arcsoft's Total Media Extreme -- it accepts the file and it plays fine in the preview window, but once you burn the project to disc (or a disc image), the audio is WAY out of sync -- like MINUTES off. Obviously, some re-encoding is taking place here, but I can't find any setting where it WON'T do that.

I took the same file, and burned it to a regular DVD as a data disc, putting the .MPG file inside a folder named "Video" -- when I play THAT in the Blu-ray player, it's absolutely fine -- it appears (and sounds) to be a direct copy of the original file. But it only worked in a Sony player -- a Panasonic player didn't see it.

I tried to do the same thing using a BD-RE disc, but it was a no-go. Both the Sony and Panasonic Blu-ray players refuse to play it. Obviously, this file structure is not valid for this kind of disc. I also tried using NeroVision in Nero 9, but it re-encoded the video and it looks like it's running the wrong speed. Not good.

So, I guess my question is, what's the deal here? Is there any way I can just COPY these files to BD media and have the players recognize it? I don't care about menus -- the players seems to generate their own menu when they encounter a data disc -- just want to be able to move the content to a disc without re-encoding it. The file format seems to be totally compliant with the Blu-ray format, but all of the software I've tried wants to monkey with it.

Thanks in advance for any advice! This is really driving me nuts.

[Baldrick]

Tsmuxer can output to blu-ray disc but I don't know if it will work with mpeg2 video.

Is the mpeg2 video withing the blu-ray standard? www.videohelp.com/hd#tech

[poisondeathray]

TsMuxer accepts MPEG2. Use the "create blu ray disk" radio button. This doesn't re-encode, it just puts it into the .m2ts stream format

It will author the correct blu-ray structure (i.e. BDMV, Certificate, m2ts files); when you burn, use UDF 2.50. Not all standalone players will be compatible with all types of blu ray media

[Baldrick]

And you can burn using imgburn, just choose to create a data dvd/blu-ray, add the BDMV folder and imgburn will adjust the correct blu-ray burning settings.

[videojanitor]

Wow, thanks for the quick responses! I will give those tools a try and see what happens. I believe the file is definitely within the Blu-ray standard, as it is pretty basic stuff -- and at least one of the players has no trouble playing it as long as it's burned to regular DVD media and put in the correct folder.

A related question: Is there a difference, as far as the player is concerned, between a BD-RE disc and a BD-R? As you might imagine, I prefer to experiment using BD-RE discs, rather than making a lot of expensive coasters. I am assuming (and I know that's a little crazy) that if I can get something successfully burnt to a BD-RE disc, that I can then burn to a BD-R and get the same result.

[videojanitor]

Ah, sweeeeeeet success! Using TsMuxer and imgburn did the trick! The original TiVo MPEG file made it all the way to the disc without being altered -- looks and sounds just like the original source.

Thanks! You have helped me hold on to whatever sanity I have left!

[zenzen1]

Can someone give me some quick baby-steps on using Imgburn to create a BR-RE disc thanks. I gave the above examples a try out, but my LG Blu-ray player says data disc and stops, so I'm not sure whether I'm using the correct UDF setting, or how to set it.

[videojanitor]

Here's what I did:

Launched app, selected "Write Files/Folders to Disc" option.

In the source window, I dragged the BDMV folder I wanted to burn. The on the right side, I clicked the "Options" tab, selected UDF for the file system, and 2.5 for the "revision." Then I clicked the burn button and that was it. Before it started, it gave me a couple of suggestions for things I should set, and offered to set them for me (can't remember what they were at the moment) -- I said "yes" to them all, and the resulting disc played fine in both a Sony and a Panasonic player.

Hope that works for you!

[PuzZLeR]

To add to this thread:

Blu-ray is very, very picky about the media it accepts, and is not the same for all players (yeah, annoying). Some will play all - even blu-ray content onto a DvD (which is not "standard"), and some won't play a thing on anything burned. However, in my testing experience, if the blu-ray player is AVCHD compatible, it should have no problem - even with blu-ray on DvD burns. You are using this function/feature to achieve successful playback in most cases.

Zenzen1: I will report, the LG players have been the most resilient. I've thrown all kinds of stuff at them, even slightly off-standard, and they played fine, so I'm surprised yours had issues. It's probably your settings.

Here's how I burn on ImgBurn (2.4 and above), similar to VideoJanitor:
Tools -> Settings -> Write tab -> enable "DVD-RAM / BD-RE FastWrite"
Click OK
Now, in the intro interface, choose "Write files/folders to disc"
Options tab -> select UDF -> 2.50

It's now ready to burn.

[engineerer]

I began wrestling with the same question, before I found this thread.
Two more pieces of potentially helpful info:
1. A company called Pavtube issued "Free Video DVD Converter Ultimate", version 1.1.0.5359. It has a fairly nice and intuitive GUI, which makes it easy enough to decipher and select options. And, it converts entire files, with no watermarks, into any of numerous formats, including Bluray formats with 1080 resolution.
Pavtube apparently realized they were missing a chance to persuade customers to upgrade to their paid version, so they re-issued their free software, in a form that now places an (unwanted) watermark on any file that was converted by their >> revised << free version.
So, the obvious choice is to find a download link for the earlier version that doesn't put watermarls into converted files. I will see if I can find such a link, and I'll post it here, if I can.
2. An additional route is available for Mac users, via some Google project code called "ctivo".
My experience has been that both Pavtube and ctivo tend to fail, on the same files, and any Tivo recordings that extend for more than an hour are at high risk of failure. So, I'll be checking out the other options listed above.
***************
Once I get an mpg file from a Tivo file, I normally drop it into Adobe Premier Elements 11. It takes only a few minutes to delete the segments with commercials, which makes for a much cleaner and more enjoyable (and smaller, and faster-burning) file. Since Premier Elements 13 is now available, discount prices are available on the earlier versions.