# Need adivce too many options MKV to Tivo..



## alton987 (Aug 28, 2011)

Looks like I have a couple of options for what I want to do.

What is the best app to monitor a folder for MKV files, automatically add meta data, remux them to .mp4 and auto push them to my Tivo?

It seems like pyTivo is the best just want to make sure, I am a noob


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## Charles R (Nov 9, 2000)

In a lot of cases TiVo will play the naive MKV files... transfer or stream them and you are good to go.


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## aadam101 (Jul 15, 2002)

I've never seen Tivo play a MKV file on it's own. 

I use PyTivo.


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## Iluvatar (Jul 22, 2006)

If you primarily will be remuxing mkv files (that have h264 video) to play on the TiVo start with the lucasnz fork of pyTivo it has more features that are oriented towards remuxing such as allowing incompatible audio (such as DTS) to be transcoded. It works great, I can have an MKV with DTS audio transferred to the TiVo within 5-10 minutes. The main pyTivo code would require a full transcode of the file if the audio is not compatible. You can follow the normal pyTivo installation instructions from here.

After that you should look at the pyTivo Video Manager which would allow you to push your files directly from the TiVo instead of having to go to the computer to do it. Handy.

This takes care of 2 of your 4. Check the pyTivo forums for other addons to help.


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## Charles R (Nov 9, 2000)

aadam101 said:


> I've never seen Tivo play a MKV file on it's own.


Try MakeMKV... TiVo will play your DVD (native video and audio) within 10 minutes or so. Not so much for Blu-rays.


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## alton987 (Aug 28, 2011)

Thanks that makes since I have been playing with pyTivo but did not get the whole fork thing. What about metadata is there any automatic tools? I found a tool where I can search for it and add it manually.


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## innocentfreak (Aug 25, 2001)

It looks like based off the PyTiVo forums, MetaData Generator 3 has the most recent activity. I haven't tried it personally.

You could also use a tool like SickBeard which has an option to generate TiVo metadata files among doing other things. I know there is a slight issue with the metadata tool right now that is pending an update.

I know Media Center Master was looking into it at one point, but I don't know if he ever added it.


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## Iluvatar (Jul 22, 2006)

alton987 said:


> Thanks that makes since I have been playing with pyTivo but did not get the whole fork thing.


Forks are just an offshoot of the main development, by other users who wanted a specific feature that the mainline pyTiVo did not have. The lucasnz fork is one of those having (among others) a feature that makes it much quicker to remux files like MKV automatically onto your TiVo than the main pyTivo code.

These are occasionally rolled back into the main pyTivo development.


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## innocentfreak (Aug 25, 2001)

Cool didn't know about the lucasnz fork. I knew there were several forks, but I may have to install his to give it a try.


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## jcthorne (Jan 28, 2002)

Charles R said:


> Try MakeMKV... TiVo will play your DVD (native video and audio) within 10 minutes or so. Not so much for Blu-rays.


Tivo will not natively play an MKV file no matter what software generated it. Quit trying to sell folk useless software.


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## leiff (Aug 24, 2005)

how about xvids/AVI 4gb 720p torrents I download. Is there an easy way to play these on premier?


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## Charles R (Nov 9, 2000)

jcthorne said:


> Tivo will not natively play an MKV file no matter what software generated it. Quit trying to sell folk useless software.


First it's free for DVDs...

1. Install MakeMKV
2. Insert DVD
3. Run MakeMKV
4. Start the transfer
5. Enjoy your DVD in its naive video and audio quality

Second I guess it works as I have gone it at least twice.


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## Iluvatar (Jul 22, 2006)

leiff said:


> how about xvids/AVI 4gb 720p torrents I download. Is there an easy way to play these on premier?


pyTivo will work fine for these. They will be transcoded to mpeg2 though as TiVo can not decode xvid. This can be fast or slow depending on your PC and connection to the TiVo. You may want to switch to files that are mkv/mp4 with h264 video instead of the xvid/avi as these will transfer much faster to the TiVo in most circumstances.

You can find more info at the pyTivo wiki or forums or the thread here on TCF.


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## jcthorne (Jan 28, 2002)

Charles R said:


> First it's free for DVDs...
> 
> 1. Install MakeMKV
> 2. Insert DVD
> ...


No you have not.

Your tivo has never natively played an mkv file nor even accepted one as a transfer. Tivo only supports a very few formats and mkv is not among them.

There exists software that can recode the file on the fly to a format tivo can understand but why would you suggest folks convert a video twice. They would be far better off and have better quality video if it was converted to a format tivo supports natively the first time.


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## jcthorne (Jan 28, 2002)

leiff said:


> how about xvids/AVI 4gb 720p torrents I download. Is there an easy way to play these on premier?


All of those can be converted to play on Tivo, none of them will play in thier current form.

Please read the pyTivo forum for how all this works. Its actually very easy to use once set up. See the link in my sig for instructions on how to install if you are running a windows system.


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## Charles R (Nov 9, 2000)

jcthorne said:


> There exists software that can recode the file on the fly to a format tivo can understand but why would you suggest folks convert a video twice.


There is no transcoding involved (within MakeMKV). My Mini couldn't transcode anything in 10 minutes  and I use the Mac version of pyTiVoX to transfer the file. Are you saying pyTivoX transcodes? The transfer is faster than _real-time_. I can view the movie within a few seconds.


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## Iluvatar (Jul 22, 2006)

Charles R said:


> There is no transcoding involved (within MakeMKV). My Mini couldn't transcode anything in 10 minutes  and I use the Mac version of pyTiVoX to transfer the file. Are you saying pyTivoX transcodes? The transfer is faster than _real-time_. I can view the movie within a few seconds.


Well pyTivoX contains pyTivo so, yes, it CAN transcode. I can't remember the last time a video transfered (transcoded) to my Premiere that was slower than real time. My older S3 was much slower. Just because your video is transferring faster than real time does not mean you are not transcoding.

pyTivoX has many functions so it's hard to say what you are experiencing as we do not know exactly how you are requesting your files or what codecs they contain.

My guess with MakeMKV is that it is taking your DVD which is mpeg2 with AC3 audio and dumping those into an MKV. Which makes it remux compatible most likely. Although it is not the most space efficient way to backup your videos.


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## Charles R (Nov 9, 2000)

Iluvatar said:


> My guess with MakeMKV is that it is taking your DVD which is mpeg2 with AC3 audio and dumping those into an MKV. Which makes it remux compatible most likely. Although it is not the most space efficient way to backup your videos.


I think you are right. MKV is simply a container (not a codec). My point was it's completely painless to play MKVs (DVD naive video and audio). Simply dump the DVD to MKV and transfer to TiVo. You're done within a few minutes. Using handbrake (or whatnot) took hours on my Mini and I would lose quality along the way.


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## jcthorne (Jan 28, 2002)

That was my point. The tivo is not playing the mkv. Also, MOST mkvs do not contain mpeg2 video, rather h264.


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