# My DVD...is that the only choice?



## shadowen (Jan 30, 2005)

I really love everything about TivoToGo with one exception...My DVD. It is, in my experience, the crappiest DVD authoring program to ever reside on my hard drive.

Just performing simple editing causes several lock-ups and crashes on my system, and Sonic has some of the worst customer support I have ever experienced.

Nero, on the other hand, runs wonderfully on my system and I have never had a single crash with any DVD authoring. However, it does not support the .tivo format.

My question is this... Does anyone know if Tivo has any plans to extend the partnership for TivoToGo with any products other than My DVD?

I was a little upset with only having one choice when this was first released and would love to see this expanded to give consumers more choices with this.


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## greg_burns (May 22, 2004)

Get Video Redo to edit .tivo files for removing commercials. Outputs to vanilla mpeg which works fine with Nero Vision Express.

Another option for using Nero is DSD


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## shadowen (Jan 30, 2005)

DSD is amazing!! Thanks for the tip, it works wonderfully.


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## callmedoug (Jan 19, 2006)

What is DSD?


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## greg_burns (May 22, 2004)

callmedoug said:


> What is DSD?


I whacked my link because technically you are not allowed to talk this stuff... 

But for now...  
<snip>


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## supersportsfan (Sep 15, 2005)

shadowen said:


> I really love everything about TivoToGo with one exception...My DVD. It is, in my experience, the crappiest DVD authoring program to ever reside on my hard drive.
> 
> Just performing simple editing causes several lock-ups and crashes on my system, and Sonic has some of the worst customer support I have ever experienced.
> 
> ...


Very nicely said. I was pretty surprised at the poor performance I experienced with this program, and for me, it came with my computer. I have to say I would be very upset if I had gone out and spent $50+ on this disappointment. To add to what you said, I also noticed the DVD burning is slower then other programs I have used, too. It takes me 2+ hours to burn a half hour show. So to say the least, I have found better ways of burning them, as stated by others in this thread...


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## Hunter Green (Feb 22, 2002)

I have been using Nero without DSD or anything else, just directly, and it works fine. Suite 6, specifically.


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## greg_burns (May 22, 2004)

Hunter Green said:


> I have been using Nero without DSD or anything else, just directly, and it works fine. Suite 6, specifically.


Then you haven't been using it much. 

Dave Z. says that all the time also, but I have problems with just about every other file (screechy audio and garbled video in preview window). Wonder if it has to do with my source for tivo? I am using satellite. I also am using Nero 6. I used to test this bug against every point release that came out, but stopped a long time ago when I switched to DSD.


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## jkalnin (Jan 8, 2003)

callmedoug said:


> What is DSD?


Direct Show Dump

Google it


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## Hunter Green (Feb 22, 2002)

greg_burns said:


> Then you haven't been using it much.


Ummm... I haven't?


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## greg_burns (May 22, 2004)

Hunter Green said:


> Ummm... I haven't?


Just odd that you don't run into that bug with Nero while _almost_ everybody else does (except for Zatz  )

Heck, there is a thread that is 20+ pages long talking about ways around it. 

Can't explain why it works for some, but for others (like me) it is a crap shoot.


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## Re-Hash (Aug 24, 2005)

greg_burns said:


> Just odd that you don't run into that bug with Nero while _almost_ everybody else does


Hmmmm... I've been using DS Dump then Nero 6 with no problems. Source is a SA Tivo (540x). Nero's not the best video editor, but I've had no trouble with the unwrapped files.


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## greg_burns (May 22, 2004)

Re-Hash said:


> Hmmmm... I've been using DS Dump then Nero 6 with no problems. Source is a SA Tivo (540x). Nero's not the best video editor, but I've had no trouble with the unwrapped files.


Yes, that is what I am saying also. "No need for MyDVD, Nero works fine (with unwrapped files)." 

Hunter says it works fine for him with raw .tivo files. Not sure how he is succesfully doing that. About half the files I try that way don't work (screechy audio, garbled video in preview window in NVE).

Edit: unless he is following that other method in the thread about deleting the cache files and such. (too much work for me)


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## mgoblue2215 (Oct 22, 2004)

I also have been using Nero without any problems. I only do about 2-3 shows a week. My coworker also uses Nero without any probs and he does 2-3 shows a day! I did get screeching audio and garbled video once, but that was right after I rebuilt my machine and forgot to install Tivo Desktop. I'm using Nero Suite 6.6.0.6 with NVE 3.1.0.27 and winXP.


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## greg_burns (May 22, 2004)

mgoblue2215 said:


> I also have been using Nero without any problems. I only do about 2-3 shows a week. My coworker also uses Nero without any probs and he does 2-3 shows a day! I did get screeching audio and garbled video once, but that was right after I rebuilt my machine and forgot to install Tivo Desktop. I'm using Nero Suite 6.6.0.6 with NVE 3.1.0.27 and winXP.


I wonder if Nero finally fixed it? I haven't tested it without DSD for quite awhile. The latest version of NVE that I see available is only 3.1.0.21. I'll give it another go.


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## greg_burns (May 22, 2004)

We'll I tried again. And the first two went in fine. The third is messed up. I just don't get it.  

I don't just have this problem with one machine either. I've probably been through 3 machines (and multiple reinstalls of Windows) since Tivo2Go came out. Each time I've dealt with this issue with Nero. What is youins secret?


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## Hunter Green (Feb 22, 2002)

Well, I've seen plenty of threads of people using Nero just fine; I must have just missed that some people also have problems, just like you've missed all the people who don't.


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## mgoblue2215 (Oct 22, 2004)

greg_burns said:


> I wonder if Nero finally fixed it? I haven't tested it without DSD for quite awhile. The latest version of NVE that I see available is only 3.1.0.21. I'll give it another go.


My bad. NVE is version 3.0.1.27. Sorry. Also, we use galleon to transfer our files not Tivo desktop. I wonder if there might be some corruption occurring during transfer?

If I recall my coworker had issues every now and then with some files but he wasn't using galleon at the time. He has been using galleon for awhile now though and he hasn't mentioned any probs lately.


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## greg_burns (May 22, 2004)

mgoblue2215 said:


> Also, we use galleon to transfer our files not Tivo desktop. I wonder if there might be some corruption occurring during transfer?


Interesting theory. I almost never use Galleon. But I have tested the corruption theory before. Same shows never work correctly in NVE no matter how many times I transfer them (with TivoDesktop or web interface).

I also had thought it might have to do with quality settings, but I've tried all quality settings and seen the same issues with each. Although, like I said, it works about half the time. But if one show doesn't, it never will, no matter how it is transferred. IMO.

Wonder if model of Tivo is a contributing factor? Mine is a 240.


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## mgoblue2215 (Oct 22, 2004)

Both of mine 540's bought over a year ago. My coworkers is also 540 about 5 months old.


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## gthomas (Jan 23, 2006)

Well, I've done a littel more experimentation. I almost always recored in high quality that that is a constant here. A show that I had no luck burning using nero with and without DSD and VideoRedo and DVD workshop (the show actually will play but with very jerky playback on the set top.) I finally got to burn clean. BUT, to get it to do this, I had to convert it to DV format using MediaStudio Pro. Then I imported the DV file into DVD workshop, and it looked great. I tried the same show (actually about 10 mins. of the show that had a really offending stutter) in MediaStudio Pro and out put as a DVD formated MPG, and while it didn't stutter, I noticed some serious pixelization at the exact same points as the jitter/stutter, thus indicating to me that there is something strange about the source footage. Just to eliminate any variables, on every test, I used the same DVD+RW disk and also put a short DV clip captured from my video camera on with it. In every case, no matter what I used to burn, my DV->DVD clip was always flawless. Only the .tivo file had problems. So I know it's not the media, and it's not the decoder in the set top, it is definately the source file. That said, this is not a practical solution as DV takes about 13Gigs per hour, and requires converting the file twice. Very time consuming.


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## pcand01 (Jan 31, 2006)

Hi there,
I have to free up space on my tivo box and computer by burning .tivo files to DVD for latter viewing.
I have Sonic (Roxio) MyDVD Plus but it crashes at the end of the burning process.
Sonic support was unable to help so far. Clean re-install and so on, nothing works.

I Tried Nero but it send an error message when verifying the file before burning.
I saw that you could use DSD to convert .tivo to MPEG but the DSD site at prish com etevo has been shut down so no way to get the converter.

So I am a little desesperate. How can I get my tivo shows burned to DVD for my personnal use? I do not see what the big deal is. If I can record it to tivo in the first place, then I should be able to record it to DVD in the second place for later reference or viewing. 

P.S. All my setting is brand new. New PC, new Win XP MCE and new Sonic and new Tivo Desktop

Thanks
Philippe


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## greg_burns (May 22, 2004)

pcand01 said:


> Hi there,
> I have to free up space on my tivo box and computer by burning .tivo files to DVD for latter viewing.
> I have Sonic (Roxio) MyDVD Plus but it crashes at the end of the burning process.
> Sonic support was unable to help so far. Clean re-install and so on, nothing works.
> ...


Prish's site is currently down. Hopefully it is only temporary. 

Edit: just checked, and his site is back up. :up:

If I were in your shoes I would download the free trial of VideoRedo. It will strip the DRM and leave your with an ordinary .mpg file. (That is all DSD does).

Did you install XP MCE yourself, or did you buy it preinstalled. I ask, cause if you did it yourself you won't have an MPEG2 codec on your machine yet. If you can play back .tivo files, then you should be ok in this department.


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## wilkins080808 (Feb 1, 2006)

I must be missing something. I'm having the same problems as everyone else is having so I tried some of the same solutions. I tried DSD. When you click on "open" there is no .tivo file-type available to filter on so that doesn't work. I downloaded the trial version of Video Redo. When you click on a .tivo file to open it, it gives all kinds of error messages so that doesn't work. I didn't realize you needed to be a rocket scientist to burn a DVD...

Any help would be much appreciated.


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## greg_burns (May 22, 2004)

wilkins080808 said:
 

> I must be missing something. I'm having the same problems as everyone else is having so I tried some of the same solutions. I tried DSD. When you click on "open" there is no .tivo file-type available to filter on so that doesn't work. I downloaded the trial version of Video Redo. When you click on a .tivo file to open it, it gives all kinds of error messages so that doesn't work. I didn't realize you needed to be a rocket scientist to burn a DVD...
> 
> Any help would be much appreciated.


I've heard of this problem before...

You have to install TivoDesktop for DSD to work (and I assume VideoRedo). It is just calling TivoDesktop.dll behind the scenes.


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