How To Edit Metadata Text Without Converting Video?

[iAmSyberKnight]

recently bought Toast 11 for Mac to use with my new Tivo Premiere 4.

 

used the Tivo Transfer app that came with it to get a bunch of tv shows off my old Tivo HD so that i can then get to them from my new Tivo via the Mac2Tivo included app.

 

trying to figure out how i can edit the metadata of these ".tivo" files so i can have a better sense of what show is which when getting from the Tivo itself, but cannot figure it out.

 

have scoured google & these forums. only found other old open source programs that i'm nervous/confused about using.

 

i can open these .tivo files in Toast, and click the EDIT option and easily edit the text that goes along with the show (title & episode etc); but then there's no way to just save it back. it makes me export/convert it to something other than what it is.

 

is there no EASY way to just simply edit the meta text of a file without going thru all the conversion & exporting process???

[tsantee]

I spent some time trying this out. The easiest thing to do is to add your TiVo Transfer folder to the Mac2Tivo window. You don't need to do anything else. The videos in the folder are recognized by the TiVo and can be transferred. As for the metadata you'll just have to use your Mac to look at the description displayed in TiVo Transfer. I don't think the metadata should be a concern after the transfer because my TiVo states that any transfer will be automatically deleted in 24 hours.

[iAmSyberKnight]

@tsantee

thanks for your reply.

 

i am using the Mac2Tivo app to get them back to the Tivo just fine.

 

the reason i want to change the Metadata tho is because, when i look at them from the Tivo/TV, i can't tell which episode to watch first - what order they are in. I've got several episodes of the same show and the dates are not when they aired but when i transferred them. so i wanted to add the date or episode number in the metadata so when i see it in the listing, i'll know which is next in line to watch.

 

thanks.

[tsantee]

@tsantee

thanks for your reply.

 

i am using the Mac2Tivo app to get them back to the Tivo just fine.

 

the reason i want to change the Metadata tho is because, when i look at them from the Tivo/TV, i can't tell which episode to watch first - what order they are in. I've got several episodes of the same show and the dates are not when they aired but when i transferred them. so i wanted to add the date or episode number in the metadata so when i see it in the listing, i'll know which is next in line to watch.

 

thanks.

Why not just change the program's names in the Tivo Transfer folder so the title guides you as to the order? I was confused when you mentioned using Toast to export/convert because there is no reason Toast needs to be involved. I don't see any way for the TiVo to include metadata when importing videos from Mac2TiVo.

[iAmSyberKnight]

Why not just change the program's names in the Tivo Transfer folder so the title guides you as to the order? I was confused when you mentioned using Toast to export/convert because there is no reason Toast needs to be involved. I don't see any way for the TiVo to include metadata when importing videos from Mac2TiVo.

because the files already have metadata in them and the Tivo uses that to display & sort the list in My Shows. the filenames don't show at all. i can change them to whatever and it won't make any difference.

 

for example...

here are 3 shows i transferred from my old Tivo to my Mac, and they are in alphabetical order based on their filename on the Mac:

Being_Human_Dead_Girls_Just_Wanna_Have_Fun_57 SYFY_1358830800.TiVo

Being_Human_It's_a_Shame_About_Ray_57 SYFY_1358226000.TiVo

Being_Human_The_Teens_They_Are_a_Changin_57 SYFY_1359435600.TiVo

 

on the Tivo itself, they show up as:

 

Show: Being Human

Episode: Dead Girls Just Wanna Have Fun

Episode: It's a Shame About Ray

Episode: The Teens They Are a Changin

...and these can be sorted by alphabetical by episode name or by recorded date.

 

problem is, when i transferred them to my Mac, the "recorded date" changed from when they were actually recorded to the date that i transferred them to the Mac. so the only order possible is alphabetical. but that's no good because i want to watch these in the order in which they came out. so i guess i'll have to print out all the episodes listed with their dates or episode numbers in order so when i look at the Tivo to watch, i can pick the appropriate one.

 

i tried changing the filename like this...

 

1-14 Being_Human_It's_a_Shame_About_Ray_57 SYFY_1358226000.TiVo

1-21 Being_Human_Dead_Girls_Just_Wanna_Have_Fun_57 SYFY_1358830800.TiVo

1-28 Being_Human_The_Teens_They_Are_a_Changin_57 SYFY_1359435600.TiVo

 

but like i said, that didn't work. i need to be able to edit the metadata to change the date back to when they originally aired for it to be a more seamless event.

 

not a huge deal in the scope of all things - but i thought if there was a trick or piece of other software i could get to quickly & easily do this, then cool.

if not, oh well.

 

thanks!

[tsantee]

Try putting 01, 02, 03 right after the Being_Human and before the episode description. It may only be ignoring digits at the start of the file name. It does appear there is no way for metadata to return to the TiVo.

[iAmSyberKnight]

@tsantee

will try this as soon as i can get the whole thing to work again

[iAmSyberKnight]

FYI - my other posts in case they're all tied together somehow...

 

 

 

Tivo Transfer & The Myserious Red Circle Slash

http://forums.support.roxio.com/topic/87051-tivo-transfer-the-myserious-red-circle-slash

 

 

Mac2Tivo Crapping Out On Me. I'm Stuck...

http://forums.support.roxio.com/topic/87050-mac2tivo-crapping-out-on-me-im-stuck

 

 

Mac2Tivo 1.2.1 Menulet?

http://forums.support.roxio.com/topic/87048-mac2tivo-121-menulet

 

 

How To Edit Metadata Text Without Converting Video?

http://forums.support.roxio.com/topic/87009-how-to-edit-metadata-text-without-converting-video

[bedelman]

For what it's worth, I've been using pyTiVoX to handle transfers of video files back from the Mac to the TiVo. It doesn't support .tivo files -- but it works for just about everything else. I use a separate application named Identify to put in metadata for video files I process using Handbrake -- and it all shows up when I browse the shows on the computer from the TiVo. And the metadata comes over along with the recording as well.

 

- Bob

[iAmSyberKnight]

hi Bob,

 

thanks again for the tips.

 

honestly, with all the other troubles, i just didn't feel like i had it in me to figure out these other programs. so i just bought the Toast 11 per the Tivo website's advice.

 

but, i guess i'll have no choice if i can't get this all working right.

 

at first look, when i looked, i didn't understand which program did what nor how to get them downloaded & installed. one of them said i'd have to "compile" it... over my head.

 

i've seen mention of:

pyTivo

Streambaby

KMTTG

cTivo

iTivo

Tivo Decoder

iSkysoft something

Tivo Desktop

etc

etc

etc

 

i just want something SIMPLE and EASY and FAST. a way to get shows from my Tivo to my Mac, and also a way to get shows from my Mac to my Tivo without any fuss.

[bedelman]

Here's a link to the pyTiVoX installer download page -- http://code.google.com/p/pytivox/downloads/list

 

There is no need to compile anything (unless someone is so inclined), but I could see where it might be a bit daunting for some folks. It also gets confusing with some of the other applications you mentioned in that those are for Windows and not for Mac OSX

 

Identify is also fairly simple to use to add metadata, but I've only used them with pyTiVoX for pulling them back over to the TiVo.

 

For going from the TiVo to the Mac, I use iTiVo (the installer download is at http://code.google.com/p/itivo/downloads/list'>http://code.google.com/p/itivo/downloads/list) -- but use the most recent "beta" version for Mountain Lion). Description of iTiVo can be found at http://code.google.com/p/itivo/

[bedelman]

Here's a link to the pyTiVoX installer download page -- http://code.google.com/p/pytivox/downloads/list

 

There is no need to compile anything (unless someone is so inclined), but I could see where it might be a bit daunting for some folks. It also gets confusing with some of the other applications you mentioned in that those are for Windows and not for Mac OSX

 

Identify is also fairly simple to use to add metadata, but I've only used them with pyTiVoX for pulling them back over to the TiVo.

 

For going from the TiVo to the Mac, I use iTiVo (the installer download is at http://code.google.com/p/itivo/downloads/list'>http://code.google.com/p/itivo/downloads/list) -- but use the most recent "beta" version for Mountain Lion). Description of iTiVo can be found at http://code.google.com/p/itivo/

[iAmSyberKnight]

hi bob,

 

OH, i see, there's a difference between pyTivo and pyTivoX (LOL). thanks for that.

 

i may just go ahead and try these at some point this week. i'm pretty disappointed with this Toast software.

 

that said, you won't believe this... yesterday we discovered that the reason there was no sound during playback of shows i transferred nor shows played on Hulu -- the HDMI port on my tv was going bad (it's an old tv).

 

so we actually ended up buying a new tv yesterday - hooked it up - and everything works! well, everything regarding the sound issues.

 

i'll update my post @ http://forums.tivo.com/pe/action/forums/displaypost?postID=11083319