15 replies to this topic

[bgredtruc@aol.com]

After trying for the better part of the day to get thru on the live chat at the Roxio site, I finally got an answer to my Tivo/EMC8 problem.  I learned that EMC8 is only compatible with v2.0 of TiVo Desktop (TiVo to Go).  The current version is 2.2.  They gave me a link to download the older version.  I haven't been able to try it out yet, since I'm waiting for it to finish downlaoding shows using v2.0 now.  Then I'll try to burn onto a DVD and let you know how it goes.  I also found a beta test version of software to convert tivo shows to mp4 ipod format if anyone is interested.

[czollers@gmail.com]

newbie -

thanks for the post - i have been killing myself trying to figure out why EMC8 will not even recognize my .tivo files as "valid" media files.  is that what you experienced before realizing it's only compatible with 2.0?  please keep me up to date.  i'm currently on 2.1, and will download 2.0 if i gotta...

bgredtruc@aol.com, on Jan 4 2006, 09:57 PM, said:

After trying for the better part of the day to get thru on the live chat at the Roxio site, I finally got an answer to my Tivo/EMC8 problem.  I learned that EMC8 is only compatible with v2.0 of TiVo Desktop (TiVo to Go).  The current version is 2.2.  They gave me a link to download the older version.  I haven't been able to try it out yet, since I'm waiting for it to finish downlaoding shows using v2.0 now.  Then I'll try to burn onto a DVD and let you know how it goes.  I also found a beta test version of software to convert tivo shows to mp4 ipod format if anyone is interested.

[bgredtruc@aol.com]

bgredtruc@aol.com, on Jan 4 2006, 09:57 PM, said:

After trying for the better part of the day to get thru on the live chat at the Roxio site, I finally got an answer to my Tivo/EMC8 problem.  I learned that EMC8 is only compatible with v2.0 of TiVo Desktop (TiVo to Go).  The current version is 2.2.  They gave me a link to download the older version.  I haven't been able to try it out yet, since I'm waiting for it to finish downlaoding shows using v2.0 now.  Then I'll try to burn onto a DVD and let you know how it goes.  I also found a beta test version of software to convert tivo shows to mp4 ipod format if anyone is interested.

CRAP!  I spoke too soon.  The files I moved to my PC using the v2.0 TiVo Desktop weren't recognized either.  I am not a happy camper.  I guess I'm supposed to spend $35 for the priviledge of speaking with an actual human being to help me make the piece of crap I already spent $100 on work the way it is supposed to.  The main reason I bought the thing was to be able to burn DVDs of TiVo shows.  I am ready to throw the whole dang thing in the dumpster.  (Thanks for letting me vent.)

[jaurin]

You're not alone (and I could never get through to live chat either, Roxann is brain dead   ).  I upgraded from MyDVD 6.1 which worked great (even had an easy way to cut out commercials).  Since upgrading, version 8 couldn't read my TIVO files any more.  I thought I tried both versions 2.0 and 2.2 with the same results.  I thought EMC 8 might not have the Media Access key set, but I couldn't find anywhere to set it, so I'm back to MyDVD 6.1 which still works great.  I do have EMC 7 on another computer.  I'll load EMC 8 coresident with it and let you guys know if I "fix" the Tivo issues.

Good Luck,  John

[ken_salwitz]

jaurin, on Jan 5 2006, 01:56 PM, said:

You're not alone (and I could never get through to live chat either, Roxann is brain dead   ).  I upgraded from MyDVD 6.1 which worked great (even had an easy way to cut out commercials).  Since upgrading, version 8 couldn't read my TIVO files any more.  I thought I tried both versions 2.0 and 2.2 with the same results.  I thought EMC 8 might not have the Media Access key set, but I couldn't find anywhere to set it, so I'm back to MyDVD 6.1 which still works great.  I do have EMC 7 on another computer.  I'll load EMC 8 coresident with it and let you guys know if I "fix" the Tivo issues.

Good Luck,  John

I had a similar experience, however, my problem is that when I attempt to load the .tivo files (it does recognize them) the program just hangs and I get the infamous "Not Responding" on the task manager. I also upgraded from MYDVD 6.1 which did have kind of a cludgy UI but at least it worked!! I also had Media creator 7.0 which I liked for burning CD's.  I have also posted a message on the tivo community discussion group. If I find anything I'll share the info.

Ken

[philottewell]

When I used the version of EMC8 that I purchsed on CDs (8.01 if I recall correctly) then .tivo files worked fine. I then allowed the 8.05 upgrade and then it hung every time I added .tivo files to a MyDVD project (and the Ctrl-R method for getting the Settings panel stopped working) so I uniinstalled everything and re-installed from CD the 8.01 version and the .tivo "hang" went away.

[dlebryk]

I've kind of given up on TIVO files, the rendering engine is the worst in the world.

I've "successfully" used TIVO desktop 2.2. So the TIVO desktop version has not a lot to do with it (as long as it can do TIVO2Go.

Here's a couple of tips I have - when you try to open up a TIVO file, be patient. Don't touch your computer until those files have the TIVO icon displayed. I found that if you click on anything until ALL your TIVO files do not have an hourglass, your system will crash. Go figure, it's totally stupid, but seems to be the only way.

So to reinforce - browse to your My TIVO folder, wait until ALL the hourglasses are gone and every vido says TIVO, then click away. Now this might just take a long time. I'd strongly recommend you start a TIVO download and interrupt it. That will give you a small TIVO file to work with. Then move it to a dummy directory. Then upload that file into EMC. If it works fine, you just have to be patient with your bigger files. If it doesn't - well go back to Sonic 6.1.

Now you have to absolutely have 8.05 to get sync to work properly. There's people here who swear that you can apply that patch to 8.0 and it will work. I'm here to tell you, hooey. I could not get audio sync to work period until I upgraded to 8.05. The problem is this - sync starts out pretty good, but after about 20 or 30 minutes, you're at King Kong / Godzilla movies - sound and mouth movement aren't even close anymore.

So now that you can open the files, cut chapters into them, edit them, the sync will work right, and you can even play them as a window media file..... You want the bad news? The rendering engine absolutely sucks. Worst than anything I've ever seen. I'm running a totally tricked out machine (1gb memory, 3Ghz processor, 800Mhz front side bus, 256Mb X800 Pro Radeon video card, and 1/2 terabyte of clean SATA harddrive) and these rotten files render at 1:1. So for every hour of TIVO, I spend one hour waiting for rendering. And then rub salt in the wound - the video is the worst pixelated video you ever want to see. It's not the TIVO source file (I've rendered these elsewhere with other software that creates virtually pixel free video). It's Roxio's rotten rendering engine.

Well here you go - for an hour long TIVO program - It takes me 45 minutes to do the transfer (via wireless - yes wired is quicker), then maybe 10 minutes to edit it up and menu it, then 1 hour to render it, and then 30 minutes to burn..... Hummmm does that make sense to anyone?

Frankly, you'd do much better with S-Video and a capture card - 1 hour to capture, 10 minutes or less to edit, 10 minutes to render and 30 to burn. Roxio just doesn't seem to make sense to me.

So I've spilled my guts about this program and TIVO. Sorry.

[ggrussell]

dlebryk, on Jan 9 2006, 08:30 PM, said:

Well here you go - for an hour long TIVO program - It takes me 45 minutes to do the transfer (via wireless - yes wired is quicker), then maybe 10 minutes to edit it up and menu it, then 1 hour to render it, and then 30 minutes to burn..... Hummmm does that make sense to anyone?

Frankly, you'd do much better with S-Video and a capture card - 1 hour to capture, 10 minutes or less to edit, 10 minutes to render and 30 to burn. Roxio just doesn't seem to make sense to me.

Actually your last statement makes no sense. The only way ANY application can render 1 hour of video in 10 minutes is if it was using smart render which in my experience, hardly ever works when you think it should.

On my machine, I use only DV AVI which take an average of 3 hours to render a 1 hour video. I could spend days editing and I always create a custom menu which could take another day or two.  So your editing of TIVO files sound like a walk in the park to me.

[dlebryk]

ggrussell, on Jan 9 2006, 08:00 PM, said:

Actually your last statement makes no sense. The only way ANY application can render 1 hour of video in 10 minutes is if it was using smart render which in my experience, hardly ever works when you think it should.

On my machine, I use only DV AVI which take an average of 3 hours to render a 1 hour video. I could spend days editing and I always create a custom menu which could take another day or two.  So your editing of TIVO files sound like a walk in the park to me.

Sorry it does make sense in this context - if you capture in Meg2 then there is little or no rendering required to get to a DVD. As long as you don't try to squeeze in more than native video. So to reinforce - it's a capture where the hardware is doing some lifting as it is capturing in real time.

Yeah, when you are making a film that is worthwhile, (home video, wedding, et al)  the long render, the long editing - totally agree with you. I'd buy that. Trouble is here - we're talking TIVO files, they're TV programs you're going to watch and toss on a portable player or whatever. So time is of the essence in this case.

[aeb430]

bgredtruc@aol.com, on Jan 4 2006, 07:03 PM, said:

CRAP!  I spoke too soon.  The files I moved to my PC using the v2.0 TiVo Desktop weren't recognized either.  I am not a happy camper.  I guess I'm supposed to spend $35 for the priviledge of speaking with an actual human being to help me make the piece of crap I already spent $100 on work the way it is supposed to.  The main reason I bought the thing was to be able to burn DVDs of TiVo shows.  I am ready to throw the whole dang thing in the dumpster.  (Thanks for letting me vent.)

I am using Tivo2Go 2.2 and Roxio 8.05 without problems.  however, I have experienced the latency when browsing to the folder with my Tivo files.  I found that if I open Task Manager and stop VCGProxyFileManager.exe, I am able to browse the folder immediately.

I also found a little freeware app that converts .tivo files to .mpg files.  I do this before using Videowave to edit the files.  It seems to work better for me.  The app is called DirectShow Dump at http://prish.com/etivo/tbr.htm.  With this app, you first define the output folder you want to use, then add files/folders to be converted.  It takes about 1-2 minutes to convert a 30 minute recording.

Hope this helps

[Larry]

aeb430, on Jan 20 2006, 07:30 PM, said:

I am using Tivo2Go 2.2 and Roxio 8.05 without problems. however, I have experienced the latency when browsing to the folder with my Tivo files. I found that if I open Task Manager and stop VCGProxyFileManager.exe, I am able to browse the folder immediately.

I also found a little freeware app that converts .tivo files to .mpg files. I do this before using Videowave to edit the files. It seems to work better for me. The app is called DirectShow Dump at http://prish.com/etivo/tbr.htm. With this app, you first define the output folder you want to use, then add files/folders to be converted. It takes about 1-2 minutes to convert a 30 minute recording.

Hope this helps

Thanks for posting this. It should helpful to others working with Tivo files.

[jethrodesign]

I'm just getting started with transferring stuff from my TiVo using TiVo Desktop 2.2. The transfering seems to be going OK (just takes a LONG time).

The next step will be deciding what program to get to burn DVDs. I want it to work smoothly and be good quality.

- It appears that even if you can get EMC 8 to work, the quality is not good. Is this definitely the case??

- Does using DSD to convert the .tivo file first to mpeg, then editing/burning in EMC 8 produce a better quality DVD? Is it quicker?

- Would I be better off to try Nero or MyDVD 6.1? I like all of the features of EMC 8, but I need this feature to work more than anything. It seems sketchy as to how well MyDVD burns DVDs.

Thanks.

[johnata]

jethrodesign, on Feb 18 2006, 12:30 AM, said:

- It appears that even if you can get EMC 8 to work, the quality is not good. Is this definitely the case??

  My experience is that tivo files expand when one uses the "Add movie" feature - so a 2 hour production will take almost two DVDs.  Then the software tries to fit it on 1 DVD so you end up with a very low quality production.  I'm not sure why this has to be the case.  I suspect that if you turn off the "Fit on 1 DVD feature" and burn an image, you can then use other software to "shrink" the DVD... but that's a guess on my part.

jethrodesign, on Feb 18 2006, 12:30 AM, said:

- Does using DSD to convert the .tivo file first to mpeg, then editing/burning in EMC 8 produce a better quality DVD? Is it quicker?

  It seems to be pretty similar to me... the only difference I've seen is that if you try and combine Tivo productions into 1 movie, you get a copyright error... I don't think the MPEG version would have same problem.

-- John

[halmor]

johnata, on Feb 21 2006, 06:19 AM, said:

My experience is that tivo files expand when one uses the "Add movie" feature - so a 2 hour production will take almost two DVDs.  Then the software tries to fit it on 1 DVD so you end up with a very low quality production.  I'm not sure why this has to be the case.  I suspect that if you turn off the "Fit on 1 DVD feature" and burn an image, you can then use other software to "shrink" the DVD... but that's a guess on my part.

  It seems to be pretty similar to me... the only difference I've seen is that if you try and combine Tivo productions into 1 movie, you get a copyright error... I don't think the MPEG version would have same problem.

-- John

Thanks, John and others for all this useful information.  I recently bought EMC8 (ver 8.05) primarily to burn TiVo programs but not having any success.  I'm unfortunately not as computer literate as you guys so maybe you can help me out.  I'm using TiVo software 2.2.  In disk copier when I search my hard drive for the TiVo image files, the software only seems to recognize .gi, .iso, .udi, .cue and .c2d files but not .tivo files.  Am I not following the right procedure for burning TiVo files to disk.  I was able to do it with drag to disk but that didn't help much because the disk cannot be read on other DVD players  Would using DSD help?  Any assistance for this neophyte would be most appreciated.  Thanks.

Hal

[bcpalmer]

Good Morning Hal,
You will need to use the MyDVD section to create a DVD using your .tivo file.  Disk Copier cannot copy a TiVo file to a DVD.  You can also use Video Wave to edit out the commercial although this is a rather time consuming task with TiVo files.  Just keep in mind that TiVo files may take a few minutes to open due to TiVo's digital rights management.  If you are unfamilier with the MyDVD and Video Wave sections, take a quick look at the help to get a good overview on how they work!  Good Luck and have fun!!!

Brian Palmer

halmor, on Feb 23 2006, 07:46 PM, said:

Thanks, John and others for all this useful information.  I recently bought EMC8 (ver 8.05) primarily to burn TiVo programs but not having any success.  I'm unfortunately not as computer literate as you guys so maybe you can help me out.  I'm using TiVo software 2.2.  In disk copier when I search my hard drive for the TiVo image files, the software only seems to recognize .gi, .iso, .udi, .cue and .c2d files but not .tivo files.  Am I not following the right procedure for burning TiVo files to disk.  I was able to do it with drag to disk but that didn't help much because the disk cannot be read on other DVD players  Would using DSD help?  Any assistance for this neophyte would be most appreciated.  Thanks.

Hal

[halmor]

bcpalmer, on Feb 24 2006, 07:14 AM, said:

Good Morning Hal,
You will need to use the MyDVD section to create a DVD using your .tivo file.  Disk Copier cannot copy a TiVo file to a DVD.  You can also use Video Wave to edit out the commercial although this is a rather time consuming task with TiVo files.  Just keep in mind that TiVo files may take a few minutes to open due to TiVo's digital rights management.  If you are unfamilier with the MyDVD and Video Wave sections, take a quick look at the help to get a good overview on how they work!  Good Luck and have fun!!!

Brian Palmer

Thanks for the help, Brian.  I knew I must be doing something wrong because nothing worked right.  I will give this a try.

Hal