# How do I get my "home video" stuff on my Tivo



## xberk (Dec 3, 2011)

Just getting my new Premier box running. It's not hooked up to anything yet except an Ethernet cable coming from my router so I can access the built in Internet stuff, YouTube etc. 

Wondering how I can transfer my own "home videos" to my Tivo to build a library of my own "home videos" .. ?


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## xberk (Dec 3, 2011)

Just did a quick search on this topic and discovered Tivo Desktop should do the job...I think .. most of my "home video" has been rendered to Mp4 H264 format or Mpeg2 .. Tivo Desktop seems to allow those formats to be transfered to my Tivo...

They make is sound easy .. is it?


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## Wil (Sep 27, 2002)

xberk said:


> Just did a quick search on this topic and discovered Tivo Desktop should do the job...I think .. most of my "home video" has been rendered to Mp4 H264 format or Mpeg2 .. Tivo Desktop seems to allow those formats to be transfered to my Tivo...
> 
> They make is sound easy .. is it?


I don't know anything about the Premiere; I have the previous generation Tivo 3's and HD's. But I never much liked Tivo Desktop as it glitched sometims and I wanted turnkey and family-friendly, so I use pytivo and streambaby. These are extremely easy to install and use if you have a Mac (a very old but still fine application called pyTivoX installs them both) and not too bad either if you only have a commodity pc.

But truth be known we're gravitating away from Tivo as a platform in favor of a computer-based media center where the computer plays the files (sometimes sourced from the Tivo but mostly from elsewhere). We like Plex for this purpose.


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## ThAbtO (Apr 6, 2000)

I use PyTivo, but you have to make sure your Tivo has Tivo service subscription (required), and in your tivo.com account, under DVR Preferences, to have Transfers and Downloads checkbox'd. As well as have a Media Access Key, assigned to your account, and Tivo. The key is used in Desktop, PyTivo etc., to decrypt


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## xberk (Dec 3, 2011)

Thanks for the reply guys .. pyTIVO looks like a way to go .. was completely unaware of PLEX .. I run a Win7 PC .. Probably will give Tivo Desktop a try for $25 .. my wife would find that the easiest to deal with if the videos could just appear like everything else in her PlayList in folder. Seems like the TIVO solution is to transfer the videos to the Tivo hard drive so they are not streamed but look like everything else to the TIVO for playback. Does pyTIVO do the same thing?


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## jrtroo (Feb 4, 2008)

Yes, but pytivo also allows you to push these to the TiVo from your PC. They will then show up in the NPL.

Tivo Desktop is free- you need to only pay for the Plus version.


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## xberk (Dec 3, 2011)

jrtroo said:


> Yes, but pytivo also allows you to push these to the TiVo from your PC. They will then show up in the NPL.
> 
> Tivo Desktop is free- you need to only pay for the Plus version.


Will the free version handle video? I thought you needed to pay for the version that transfers video.


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## windracer (Jan 3, 2003)

The free version of TiVo Desktop will handle video transfers back to your TiVo, as long as it's in specific formats (MPEG-2). It won't do any transcoding.

There's a link in my sig to a blog post I wrote a while back about the different third-party software options available. There are also some good FAQs on this forum (I think they're still in the TiVo HD area).


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## caddyroger (Mar 15, 2005)

xberk said:


> Will the free version handle video? I thought you needed to pay for the version that transfers video.


The free version will download and upload. The plus converts the program where ipad can play it.
I use kmttg to download and pytivo to push the programs to my tivo


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## xberk (Dec 3, 2011)

caddyroger said:


> The free version will download and upload. The plus converts the program where ipad can play it.
> I use kmttg to download and pytivo to push the programs to my tivo


Thanks guys .. I'll start with the TIVO Desktop software and then compare with pyTIVO .. I really appreciate the help.


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## crxssi (Apr 5, 2010)

xberk said:


> Just getting my new Premier box running. It's not hooked up to anything yet except an Ethernet cable coming from my router so I can access the built in Internet stuff, YouTube etc.
> 
> Wondering how I can transfer my own "home videos" to my Tivo to build a library of my own "home videos" .. ?


PyTiVo for sure. It works great. Runs on Linux, MacOS, and MS-Windows. Seems to handle just about any format via transcoding on the fly. Easily browse the directories of your computer from your familiar TiVo interface and watch anything immediately. For me it has been rock solid under Linux. Gotta love it.


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## xberk (Dec 3, 2011)

crxssi said:


> PyTiVo for sure. It works great. Runs on Linux, MacOS, and MS-Windows. Seems to handle just about any format via transcoding on the fly. Easily browse the directories of your computer from your familiar TiVo interface and watch anything immediately. For me it has been rock solid under Linux. Gotta love it.


I tried the free Tivo Desktop. Mpeg2 files transfer just fine .. look good.

If I go with pyTIVO I could transfer Mp4 H264 files, right? .. But does that mean it transcodes them to Mpeg2 for Tivo? Sounds like that would degrade the quality. Is that the case? Tivo just uses Mpeg2 files?


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## ThAbtO (Apr 6, 2000)

xberk said:


> I tried the free Tivo Desktop. Mpeg2 files transfer just fine .. look good.
> 
> If I go with pyTIVO I could transfer Mp4 H264 files, right? .. But does that mean it transcodes them to Mpeg2 for Tivo? Sounds like that would degrade the quality. Is that the case? Tivo just uses Mpeg2 files?


If you grab the videos from the Tivo directly, it transcodes to .mpg and the file size increases.

PyTivo Push does not transcode. You can push a .mp4, .mkv and the size doesn't increase but stays relatively the same.


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## xberk (Dec 3, 2011)

ThAbtO said:


> If you grab the videos from the Tivo directly, it transcodes to .mpg and the file size increases.
> 
> PyTivo Push does not transcode. You can push a .mp4, .mkv and the size doesn't increase but stays relatively the same.


That's an advantage then. File size stays small. Generally MP4 is good enough for me, even at 1920 x 1080. Guess I'll have to hassle the pyTIVO install and set up .. everyone seems to really like this software. I'm running a PC - Win7 64 bit.


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## crxssi (Apr 5, 2010)

xberk said:


> I tried the free Tivo Desktop. Mpeg2 files transfer just fine .. look good.
> 
> If I go with pyTIVO I could transfer Mp4 H264 files, right? .. But does that mean it transcodes them to Mpeg2 for Tivo? Sounds like that would degrade the quality. Is that the case? Tivo just uses Mpeg2 files?


Yes, sometimes, yes, no.

Pytivo will look at the file you are trying to get from the TiVo. If it is in a TiVo-supported format (video container, video codec, and audio codec) AND at a compatible resolution AND bitrate, it will simply transfer it. If it is not, then it will transcode it on the fly. Yes, some video quality is lost when transcoded, but the alternative is not being able to watch it at all.


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## crxssi (Apr 5, 2010)

xberk said:


> Guess I'll have to hassle the pyTIVO install and set up .. everyone seems to really like this software. I'm running a PC - Win7 64 bit.


Yep, yep, and it took about 5 min to get it working under Linux. Don't know about under MS-Windows (since I don't use it), might be a few extra steps, but it is well documented.


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## xberk (Dec 3, 2011)

crxssi said:


> Yep, yep, and it took about 5 min to get it working under Linux. Don't know about under MS-Windows (since I don't use it), might be a few extra steps, but it is well documented.


Man this pyTIVO is clunky. But it's free and it does work. I'm an old guy. But I've been messing with computers since about 1985 .. talk about clunky .. does anyone remember "basic" or "Dbase" .. Anyway .. forget that (off topic).. the WIKI install instructions for Windows were good .. I have pyTIVO up and running.

THanks for the encouragement. If everyone had not "loved" this thing so much I would have spent $25 bucks with Tivo to get the PLUS version of Desktop... as it is I would have spent the $25 but there was no immediate download. That did it. I installed the pyTIVO.. Got no time to wait for discs in the mail. My first Mp4 file went over to my TIVO without a problem -- and very fast actually .. running WMCBRINE for now.

IS THERE ANY WAY TO MAKE FOLDERS IN THE TIVO PLAYLIST "MY SHOWS" TO TRANSFER INTO? .. I have lots of home video to transfer. More than 100 files ..


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## ThAbtO (Apr 6, 2000)

xberk said:


> IS THERE ANY WAY TO MAKE FOLDERS IN THE TIVO PLAYLIST "MY SHOWS" TO TRANSFER INTO? .. I have lots of home video to transfer. More than 100 files ..


http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?p=8837761#post8837761


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## xberk (Dec 3, 2011)

ThAbtO said:


> http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?p=8837761#post8837761


Thanks for the help but the link you gave doesn't seem to deal with Folders. I found something that did here:

http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?t=435365&highlight=folders

NormB's post is #5 and it was very helpful. In fact, it worked ! .. It all has to do with feeding TIVO the right meta information, which looks like this:

title : Folder Name
SeriesTitle: Folder Name
episodeNumber : 1
isEpisode :true
seriesId : SH999901

NormB's insturctions were written two years ago, but they still apply, even on a Premier unit. With a little trial and error, I got it to work.

The key is the last line, the "seriesId" .. This makes sense. All the TV shows you would record on a Tivo have a specific seriesId embedded in the shows video file. When you record the first episode of the show, Tivo puts it on your playlist. When you record the second one, Tivo sees that another show in your playlist has the same seriesId. Bingo! Tivo creates a folder and puts both shows in the that folder. Shows might have the same name, but to be in a folder together, they must have the same seriesId. Names alone don't cut it. Shows are stored in the folder with the last one recorded at the top. Hence I had to "push" my home videos over last one first.

This method is far from slick -- but using pyTivo and NormB's instructions, it worked.

Now ! .. Has anyone ever created a SUB FOLDER ?


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## crxssi (Apr 5, 2010)

xberk said:


> That did it. I installed the pyTIVO.. Got no time to wait for discs in the mail. My first Mp4 file went over to my TIVO without a problem -- and very fast actually .. running WMCBRINE for now.


Told you that you would like it 
I am also using WMCBRINE.



xberk said:


> Now ! .. Has anyone ever created a SUB FOLDER ?


I don't think subdirectories are possible. Sorry.

But it really shouldn't matter much. You should not need to be transferring tons of stuff to the Premiere all at once. Just grab what you want from the computer when you want/need it. As long as the stuff on your computer is properly organized in subdirectories, everything will be easy as pie.


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## xberk (Dec 3, 2011)

crxssi said:


> Told you that you would like it
> I am also using WMCBRINE.
> 
> I don't think subdirectories are possible. Sorry.
> ...


Easy as pie? .. Well .. yes and no. Easy for me but the wife wants these on her Tivo with access in a few clicks .. .. would be nice to have the full library on her Playlist without making the playlist a mile long .. I imagine I'll have about 2 dozen folders at least. Love to break it down by years or something and have sub-folders within the years. Ahhhh... can't have it all .. not yet .. Maybe with my new ultra fast network, WDTV is the way to go? She just loves the TIVO interface and features.


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## crxssi (Apr 5, 2010)

xberk said:


> Easy for me but the wife wants these on her Tivo with access in a few clicks .. .. would be nice to have the full library on her Playlist without making the playlist a mile long .. I imagine I'll have about 2 dozen folders at least. Love to break it down by years or something and have sub-folders within the years. Ahhhh... can't have it all .. not yet .. Maybe with my new ultra fast network, WDTV is the way to go? She just loves the TIVO interface and features.


I think you are not understanding what I am saying. She *can* have access to your whole library, from the TiVo interface, with just a few clicks, and with organized directories AND subdirectories... She just has to choose your PyTiVo menu entry in the TiVo's "My Shows" menu. That will show her everything... immediately. And anything she wants to watch is transferred almost immediately for watching immediately (while it is still being copied over). You don't really have to store anything on the TiVo Premiere (other than what is being watched).


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## xberk (Dec 3, 2011)

crxssi said:


> I think you are not understanding what I am saying. She *can* have access to your whole library, from the TiVo interface, with just a few clicks, and with organized directories AND subdirectories... She just has to choose your PyTiVo menu entry in the TiVo's "My Shows" menu. That will show her everything... immediately. And anything she wants to watch is transferred almost immediately for watching immediately (while it is still being copied over). You don't really have to store anything on the TiVo Premiere (other than what is being watched).


I understand .. but doesn't the pyTivo have to be running on the network? I'm not using a server to run it. It runs on my PC in another room. I may have shut that PC down .. But if it was running and she could access all the videos that way, she'd start one transferring and could then watch it as it streams .. fine -- but it eventually transfers the whole thing (whether she watchs all of it or not) and those videos don't go neatly into a folder. They wind up on the playlist individually .. I imagine they should really be deleted or the playlist will become cluttered. If you wanted to see that one again, you'd just repeat the process .. if I'm getting this right, it's easy enough .. but then, you don't know my wife .. But perhaps I've under estimated both of our abilities to learn something new.


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## crxssi (Apr 5, 2010)

xberk said:


> I understand .. but doesn't the pyTivo have to be running on the network? I'm not using a server to run it. It runs on my computer in another room. I may have shut that computer down ..


Ah! Sorry, I didn't even THINK of that! I can't imagine actually turning "off" my computer. It runs 24/7, just like my TiVo does. I turn the monitor off, the backup drives spin down, the printer goes to sleep, I don't keep my laptops, etc running, but the "main" computer, itself, is always up.


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## Wil (Sep 27, 2002)

xberk said:


> but doesn't the pyTivo have to be running on the network? ... -- but it eventually transfers the whole thing (whether she watchs all of it or not) and those videos ... wind up on the playlist


As mentioned in the previous post, it's sometimes hard for those who run their home servers 24/7 to remember that there was a time they didn't!

Streambaby does not seem to make a copy of the show being watched, at least not on my system, so there is no entry on the playlist to deal with. I don't know how aggressively streambaby is being updated/supported at this time. it's just _there_ automatically with pytivoX so I don't think about it. You would need to do a separate install.

One slight disadvantage to streambaby is that it may pause for several seconds during a show to rebuffer. Screen freezes and the word "rebuffering" comes up. I remember talk about a patch for that, years ago, but I haven't kept up.


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## wmcbrine (Aug 2, 2003)

crxssi said:


> I am also using WMCBRINE.


I feel so used.


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## Wil (Sep 27, 2002)

wmcbrine said:


> I feel so used.


Well, for the big bucks you've made from this, resulting in living in luxury as you are from the proceeds, you SHOULD feel used.

None of us users, of course, say thanks enough, but thanks.


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## rblum (Sep 11, 2009)

Can pytivo run on a NAS, something like a netgear unit? I know there are some with built in tivo support, but the latest ones don't have that.


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## danjw1 (Sep 13, 2005)

rblum said:


> Can pytivo run on a NAS, something like a netgear unit? I know there are some with built in tivo support, but the latest ones don't have that.


As long as it supports the right version(s) of python, pyTivo should work.


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## xberk (Dec 3, 2011)

wmcbrine said:


> I feel so used.


Indeed! .. HUGE thank you WMCBRINE! .. I know I said it was clunky but damn .. it works just fine and that's what counts!


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## Illyria (Dec 16, 2011)

Ok. Hello! 

First post here, I have a Premiere that I bought a few weeks ago. I have the desktop downloaded fine, and they insisted I get some program called Bonjour,  which I have also downloaded but wont work. The program insisted it is used for so that the tivo and my laptop will talk to each other. I have followed the instructions for the trouble shooting to the letter and still nada. 

My niece was on tv (because she is academically awesome!!) :up: and I am trying to make a DVD for my parents for Xmas. Any suggestions? 

Also, if you could please use what we in my family call "Hey Dummy Language" that would be super. I am okay with tech but I didnt understand half of this thread.


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## ThAbtO (Apr 6, 2000)

Illyria said:


> Ok. Hello!
> 
> First post here, I have a Premiere that I bought a few weeks ago. I have the desktop downloaded fine, and they insisted I get some program called Bonjour,  which I have also downloaded but wont work. The program insisted it is used for so that the tivo and my laptop will talk to each other. I have followed the instructions for the trouble shooting to the letter and still nada.
> 
> ...


OK.... Since this may be your first time trying to transfer from a Tivo, what you need to do first is to go to tivo.com and login to your account (or signup), make sure your Tivo is listed (properly under the correct service number) and subscribed. Then, go to *DVR Preferences*, check the boxes for TRANSFERS and DOWNLOADS. Soon, (within a day) you should get a Media Access Key which you must use to download/decrypt your recordings that you transfer, Tivo Desktop needs to have that set, as well as the key should be listed in your Tivo under System Information menu.

If your have and PC (not a mac), you can get VideoReDo TVSuite (not free, but there's a free trial with a registration key), under this program, you can edit your video and make DVDs.
(VideoRedo Plus does not make DVDs.)


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## Illyria (Dec 16, 2011)

ThAbtO said:


> OK.... Since this may be your first time trying to transfer from a Tivo, what you need to do first is to go to tivo.com and login to your account (or signup), make sure your Tivo is listed (properly under the correct service number) and subscribed. Then, go to *DVR Preferences*, check the boxes for TRANSFERS and DOWNLOADS. Soon, (within a day) you should get a Media Access Key which you must use to download/decrypt your recordings that you transfer, Tivo Desktop needs to have that set, as well as the key should be listed in your Tivo under System Information menu.
> 
> If your have and PC (not a mac), you can get VideoReDo TVSuite (not free, but there's a free trial with a registration key), under this program, you can edit your video and make DVDs.
> (VideoRedo Plus does not make DVDs.)


One, thanks so much for answering! 

Two, Crimeny, sorry I have done the media access key part already.  That has all gone smooth as glass.

I think the problem is the Bonjour program? It simply does not do what it the notes say it will (show up in the browser toolbar for starters) I have seen that it is installed and that it has started but no joy.

I cant seem to get the Tivo to talk to my laptop using this increasingly irritating Bonjour program. Is there another one I can use??


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## ThAbtO (Apr 6, 2000)

Can you use your browser and go to http:// and your Tivo IP address?

You do know that in order to transfer/download from your Tivo, it must be on the same network router as your PC?


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## crxssi (Apr 5, 2010)

ThAbtO said:


> If your have and PC (not a mac), you can get VideoReDo


(You mean, if you are running MS-Windows)


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## steve614 (May 1, 2006)

Illyria said:


> I think the problem is the Bonjour program? It simply does not do what it the notes say it will (show up in the browser toolbar for starters) I have seen that it is installed and that it has started but no joy.
> 
> I cant seem to get the Tivo to talk to my laptop using this increasingly irritating Bonjour program. Is there another one I can use??


If you have Tivo Desktop open, go to 'Services' -> 'TiVo Server Properties' and click the 'Network' tab.
There you can switch to using TiVo Beacon instead of Bonjour.
If using TiVo Beacon doesn't work for you, then you probably have some other problem.


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## schwinn (Sep 18, 2004)

I have used Vuze (formerly called Azureus) which is a bit-torrent program, but it does transcoding and copying to the Tivo as well. Requires very little configuration, and works with pretty much everything I throw at it. In the NPL list, I see the "Vuze" server (auto-discovers) and then can browse whatever I have made available there. Just select to transfer the video, and I'm done.

PyTivo has more power, as you can classify the videos and put them in folders and such, but this works well enough for me... and was easy to setup.


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