# VideoReDo



## greg_burns (May 22, 2004)

Continued from here 


lizardking said:


> What's the advantage of a .vob file over a .mpg file? Does VideoRedo also create the .ifo and .bup files?


VideoReDo does not creat the .ifo and .bup files. That is what DVDStyler does when it "authors" the disc.

http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?p=4179724&&#post4179724


Dan203 said:


> outputting from VideoReDo as a VOB adds blank NAV packets which dvdauthor (the engine behind DVDStyler) needs to turn the mpg into a DVD. If you simply try to use DSD to convert a .tivo file to a .mpg the process will simply fail.
> 
> If you want to stick to free tools you could demultiplex the .tivo file to elementry streams then remultiplex it using mplex (the only other multiplexer I know of that can create blank NAV packets) However if you go this route you'll also need some way to figure out the audio video offset or you'll end up with sync issues. You can use mpeg2desc to get it, but it only works with mpeg files which have MP2 audio, which means it will not work with tivo files from DVD units which use AC3 audio.
> 
> ...


This linky is not currently up, but is a great description of what a vob is compared to mpg file.
http://www.mpucoder.com/DVD/vobov.html


> A VOB file is an MPEG-2 system stream. This means that it complies 100% with the MPEG-2 system level standard, ISO 13818-1. However, VOB files are a very strict subset of the standard. *So while all VOB files are MPEG-2 system streams, not all MPEG-2 system streams comply with the definition for a VOB file.*


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## lizardking (Sep 27, 2006)

greg_burns said:


> Continued from here
> 
> VideoReDo does not creat the .ifo and .bup files. That is what DVDStyler does when it "authors" the disc.
> 
> This linky is not currently up, but is a great description of what a vob is compared to mpg file.


Well, I'm thoroughly confused, but I'll give VideoReDo a try. Thanks for all your advice!


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## dlfl (Jul 6, 2006)

I wouldn't be without VideoReDo but just FYI:

I tried a "regular" (non-VOB) mpg as input to DVDStyler and it worked fine. However it made the authoring time about 60% longer because it had to demux the input file. I posted this  on the VideoReDo forum and one of the company folks confirmed that the only advantage of VOB is the time savings (which is significant).

There is a thread on this forum  about a (free) Source Forge program called TiVoDecode that will free the mpg from the TiVo without having to use VideoReDo and easier than DirectShowDump, but not quite as easy as VideoReDo -- TiVoDecode is currently a command line program.

Anyway, as I said, I wouldn't be without VideoReDo!


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## Dan203 (Apr 17, 2000)

It's true that DVDStyler has it's own built in remultiplexing engine. However it is not very good at keeping audio sync, so if you use it you could end up with DVDs that are terribly out of sync. VideoReDo is specifically designed to correct steam errors, including poor audio sync, so it's output is always in sync.

Dan


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## dlfl (Jul 6, 2006)

Dan203 said:


> It's true that DVDStyler has it's own built in remultiplexing engine. However it is not very good at keeping audio sync, so if you use it you could end up with DVDs that are terribly out of sync. VideoReDo is specifically designed to correct steam errors, including poor audio sync, so it's output is always in sync.
> Dan


The mpg I tried this on actually started out as a TiVo and was saved from VRD as .mpg, which means VRD had already "cleaned it up." Not that there's any point in doing it this way (as opposed to just saving as VOB) but does this clean up make it less likely that the remux in DVDStyler will result in audio sync problems?


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## Dan203 (Apr 17, 2000)

Yes. The VideoReDo "clean up" routine corrects any sync problems so that all subsiquent muxs/remuxs will also maintain their sync.

Dan


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## leswar (Apr 14, 2005)

I'm trying VideoReDo on two dif. tivo files I've transferred
and I'm getting confetti-like breakup on the bottom portion of the preview screen in VRD.

Why?
The two tivo files play fine in WMP via TTG interface.

I've tried dif. settings; quickstream fix; save video as; options.
Stream PARAMETERS: resync audio frames, max audio frame output = 32000, convert All I frames to gops, double video memort,skip encoder conformity chs,ignore transport stream maps, multiplexor audio lag = 20, output pts w/ each video frame,output ps pack header w/ all packets,output packet lenght mpeg2=2028-dvd.

All results are that the program is slow, then it stalls and crashes w/ error message that VRD needs to close.

help.


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## Dan203 (Apr 17, 2000)

Weird. Try messing with the options under Tools -> Options -> Playback Devices, especially the video driver. If that doesn't fix the problem then let me know and I'll check into it a little deeper for you.

Dan


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## glevin72 (Dec 9, 2006)

First let me say that I have had no success with getting content from the TiVo onto dvd before coming to this forum . . . Now I have just one last problem that appears to be a setting issue.
I am having a problem with playback of my DVD's. The screen appears to be split partially when it plays back on the DVD player connected to a 4:3 television. My portable player which has a 16:9 screen has no trouble. I cannot seem to find the setting that assures me that the disc is being converted/authored/burnt in to 4:3. Furthermore, I'm not exactly sure which process is causing the problem, either. It may not be VRD. It may be in DVD styler or Imgburn. Any Suggestions?

Let me describe the split a little more clearly. About 5/6 of the way to the far right of the screen there is a thin black vertical line then the picture starts over again. On the far left of the screen the picture looks cut off. 

Thanks, everyone!

Glev


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## leswar (Apr 14, 2005)

Dan203 said:


> Weird. Try messing with the options under Tools -> Options -> Playback Devices, especially the video driver. If that doesn't fix the problem then let me know and I'll check into it a little deeper for you.
> 
> Dan


Thanks for the reply. I had tried playing w/ those settings to no avail.

And after further experimenting I think I found the problem.

I made some shorter programs of 5 mins and dif. qualities,
and tried ouputing one of them to an .iso using Sonic's Roxio 8 (which has built-in .tivo support via native MyDVD). Saved it to harddrive, and when I tried to extract and view I got an error msg. that It could not be viewed because the media key used to transfer was difference than the one in Windows.

Ah, This is my brother's laptop which I had just fixed for him and was trying out his TiVoToGo Desktop 2.1 and all that. I had changed / added my media key to TTGDt and picked my Series Two 5400 system which was now included in its list of tivo dvrs. There's a dialog box where you choose.

So I think that's what is happening- conflicting Media access keys.
Then I downloaded and used 
DirectShowDump and under VideoReDo the 5 min.test file plays fine now .

So does anyone know where else I need to change the media key in windows registry? or somewhere else. Or remove TivoDesktop and then do a new reinstall? 
Should I upgrade to 2.3? I read where folks are having problems w/ 8.0 and 2.3...?


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## greg_burns (May 22, 2004)

leswar said:


> So does anyone know where else I need to change the media key in windows registry? or somewhere else. Or remove TivoDesktop and then do a new reinstall?
> Should I upgrade to 2.3? I read where folks are having problems w/ 8.0 and 2.3...?


You can change the MediaKey in TivoDesktop off the file menu.

I would upgrade to 2.3. Version 8.0 of what? Tivo's OS, or MyDVD? The problem people are having transferring shows is due to the lastest Tivo release (8.1). It doesn't matter which version of TivoDesktop you use, it will behave the same.


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## leswar (Apr 14, 2005)

greg_burns said:


> You can change the MediaKey in TivoDesktop off the file menu.


Sorry, forgot to mention-I did change the media key in
Tivo Desktop when I changed the the TiVo machine from my brother's to mine.

There must be somewhere else that TiVoDesktop did not forward the media key to -like Windows digital rights management? or Windows Media Player or Roxio.
..........
Yup, I meant the tivo 8.1 upgrade issues and tivodesktop.
So TiVo 8.1 os will effect my Tivo Desktop 2.1 as well?


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## greg_burns (May 22, 2004)

leswar said:


> So TiVo 8.1 os will effect my Tivo Desktop 2.1 as well?


Yes, the bug is apparently in that latest Tivo software. Not on the TivoDesktop software.

Not sure about the problem you are seeing. But I would uninstall TD altogether. Manually delete the folder is Program Files and kill this key in the registry:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\TiVo

Have seen in the past where an incompatible codec would cause WMP to complain about the MAK being wrong. Have you ever been able to play .tivo files on this computer using WMP?


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## dlfl (Jul 6, 2006)

greg_burns said:


> Yes, the bug is apparently in that latest Tivo software. Not on the TivoDesktop software.
> ............


Greg, what is "the bug" ? There are always posts about rebooting during transfer ever since I've been on this forum, and I've had the occasional incident myself, but not often enough to even bother going from DT 2.3 to 2.3a.

I have a Series2 DT (649 model) and 8.1-01-2-649 TiVo software.

Thanks


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## leswar (Apr 14, 2005)

greg_burns said:


> Have you ever been able to play .tivo files on this computer using WMP?


Yes, it plays fine with WMP.......
I'll look into the registry setting.

Also,
There is no problem using TiVo Desktop 2.1 to download
shows and having Tivo's 8.x O.S. on my Series II machine.
I haven't exprienced any of those problems as some have.


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## greg_burns (May 22, 2004)

leswar said:


> Yes, it plays fine with WMP.......
> I'll look into the registry setting.
> 
> Also,
> ...


Plays fine now using WMP, or played fine before? 

You can download from Tivo using any 2.x version of TivoDesktop you like. I haven't experienced those issues either.


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## greg_burns (May 22, 2004)

dlfl said:


> Greg, what is "the bug" ? There are always posts about rebooting during transfer ever since I've been on this forum, and I've had the occasional incident myself, but not often enough to even bother going from DT 2.3 to 2.3a.
> 
> I have a Series2 DT (649 model) and 8.1-01-2-649 TiVo software.
> 
> Thanks


The bug I am referring to with 8.1 is the transfer stopping early (probably due to pixelation issues in the video from changing changes, etc.).

http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?t=325793&page=1&pp=30


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## lizardking (Sep 27, 2006)

VideoReDo+DVDStyler+ImgBurn has been working great for me. The quality is SO much higher than MyDVD ever made, and takes less time! Thanks greg_burns!

Can DVDStyler make transition videos that play when buttons are pressed?

I work for a CD/DVD duplication company and brought in a DVD that I had created with VideoReDo+DVDStyler+ImgBurn and had it tested for being properly created. Except for the audio, which was MPEG instead of AC3, the disc passed all tests, meaning that it was fully compliant with all DVD standards.


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## Dan203 (Apr 17, 2000)

As long as the program was recorded at Basic or Medium quality then it will be in a DVD compliant resolution.(i.e. 352x480) However High and Best both use 480x480, which is not DVD compliant. Unless you're using straight cable and have the RF Video Smoothing option turned on. In that case all video is recorded at 352x480.

MPEG2 audio is completely acceptible for DVDs. The only other compliance issue you might see is the length of the GOPs. The DVD specification requires a maximum length of 18. TiVos can sometimes use GOPs much longer then that. However I've never seen a DVD player which kicked a disk for the length of it's GOPs so that shouldn't be a big concern.

Dan


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## jpc112 (Apr 22, 2005)

Hi All. 

I just started using VideoRedo and it's a great product. What I'm using it for mainly is to strip out commercials. In the process I'd like to rename the file something else. I can do this in VideoRedo. The problem is that I see the new file name in My Tivo Recordings but when I go to one of my Tivo's I don't see the new file name just the old file name. Any thoughts?

Thanks 

Jim


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## greg_burns (May 22, 2004)

jpc112 said:


> Hi All.
> 
> I just started using VideoRedo and it's a great product. What I'm using it for mainly is to strip out commercials. In the process I'd like to rename the file something else. I can do this in VideoRedo. The problem is that I see the new file name in My Tivo Recordings but when I go to one of my Tivo's I don't see the new file name just the old file name. Any thoughts?
> 
> ...


Not sure what is going on there. But if you are just cutting commercials, you may want to save as .tivo file again. That way you keep the meta data about your recording.

Does VideoRedo still hide the option to save as .tivo file? Used to have to hold down shift or something when going into options menu to turn it on.


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## msmart (Jan 3, 2007)

greg_burns said:


> ...Does VideoRedo still hide the option to save as .tivo file?


No. I have version 2.5.3.501 and .tivo is one of the 5 options (.mpg, .mpv, .vob, .ts, and .tivo)


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## Dan203 (Apr 17, 2000)

When you save a file as a .tivo file the encrypted guide data from the old .tivo file is copied bit for bit to the new file. This data contains everything for the program including the name, title, description, etc... The TiVo uses this information, and not the file name, when displaying the recordings on your TiVo. If you simply delete the old, unedited, version then the new one should show up on your TiVo just fine.

Dan


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## jpc112 (Apr 22, 2005)

Thanks All for responding.

I have a show I edited and saved with a different name and as a Tivo file. I deleted the original unedited version. In My Tivo Recordings folder on my pc I only see the edited version with the new name. When I go to my Tivo box and look in the Now Playing List I still see the original name. 

Any ideas as to what I'm doing wrong?

Thanks again,

Jim


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## steve614 (May 1, 2006)

I don't think your doing anything wrong.
From what I've read above, if you saved the file as a .Tivo file, it doesn't matter what you rename that file.
The Tivo box uses the metadata file that is copied via VideoReDo, and that data contains the original name of the file.

Does that sound right, Dan?


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## greg_burns (May 22, 2004)

steve614 said:


> Does that sound right, Dan?


It does to me. Not sure what the jpc112 is trying to accomplish that isn't working for him.


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## Dan203 (Apr 17, 2000)

That is correct. You can't edit the meta data so you have two choices...

1) Leave it as is with all the metadata intact. 

2) Run it through Quick Stream Fix and save it as an MPEG file, in which case all you'll get is whatever the file name is as the title and nothing else.

Dan


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## steve614 (May 1, 2006)

I want to pose this question and see if anyone has an answer.

For example, let's say I recorded 4 episodes of Heroes. I transfer those to my computer. I use VideoReDo to edit out the commercials, and then save as .Tivo file.
Now, when I transfer back to the Tivo, 3 of the 4 transfer fine, but one of them (according to Tivo) fails to transfer "because the video in in an unknown format".

 Why would Tivo think that since obviously all 4 shows are of the same format?


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## WayneCarter (Mar 16, 2003)

Try retransferring the 4th show to the PC (if you still have it on the TiVo). Re-remove the commercials, and try sending to the PC. The file may have gotten damaged in transit or editing. If you don't have the original show on the TiVo, do you have an unedited copy on the PC? In other words, go back as far as possible and try again.


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## Dan203 (Apr 17, 2000)

Actually before you do all that just run the edited file through VRDs Quick Stream Fix first. It's possible that a header got messed up and is reporting something incorrectly to the TiVo.

Dan


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## steve614 (May 1, 2006)

Dan203 said:


> Actually before you do all that just run the edited file through VRDs Quick Stream Fix first. It's possible that a header got messed up and is reporting something incorrectly to the TiVo.
> 
> Dan


I got to thinking after reading Wayne's reply, remembered the Quick Stream Fix option, and ran the affected videos through it.
All videos then transferred fine.

I will note that, of the 4 "backlogged" shows I transferred, 2 of them went into the folder that "current" shows are in (which is what I think _should_ happen), and the other 2 transferred in as if they were individual files.  
When I hit 'info' for each show, they seem to each have their original program info intact.


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## Dan203 (Apr 17, 2000)

That's odd. Do you still have the original, unedited, .tivo files? If so the run the edited files back through Quick Stream Fix but save them as .mpg files. Then use greg_burns' TiVo Attach program to attach the TiVo metadata from the original files to the edited mpeg files.

If that doesn't work then the metadata must have been corrupted in the original transfer.

Dan


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## steve614 (May 1, 2006)

Dan203 said:


> Do you still have the original, unedited, .tivo files?


No, all the saved shows I have on the PC are already edited.
Even though it would be nice if the shows transferred back and grouped together, all I _really_ care about is that they get back to the Tivo.



Dan203 said:


> run the edited files back through Quick Stream Fix but save them as .mpg files. Then use greg_burns' TiVo Attach program to attach the TiVo metadata from the original files to the edited mpeg files.


Next time I'll remember to keep some original unedited shows and try this.

Thanks.


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## Icarus (Jun 15, 2002)

I wonder if at some point, vrd+ will be able to deal with h.264 and resolution changes, based on profiles? And, maintain the meta data in the h.264 output file, when converting from tivo to h.264? ttg+ can do that now, but I'd really prefer a one-step solution. (ok, it's multiple steps qsf, ad-scan, manual review, cut, output to h.264 with resolution profile).

-David


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## Dan203 (Apr 17, 2000)

We're beta testing a version of VRD right now that can handle H.264 files. The official release should be available in a couple of months.

However it will not be able to maintain TiVo metadata when converting to MP4 files. The reason for this is on TiVo, not us. The metadata in .tivo files is encrypted. The encryption is easy enough to break, but unfortunately that's technically illegal and could end up getting us sued. We have talked to TiVo on numerous occasions about getting a simple API from them that would allow us to access just the metadata, but unfortunately they have yet to give us anything anything.  Until they either provide us with an API or stop encrypting the metadata there is really nothing that we can, legally, do to extract the metadata from .tivo files.

Dan


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## dlfl (Jul 6, 2006)

Dan203 said:


> We're beta testing a version of VRD right now that can handle H.264 files. The official release should be available in a couple of months.
> 
> However it will not be able to maintain TiVo metadata when converting to MP4 files. The reason for this is on TiVo, not us. .........there is really nothing that we can, legally, do to extract the metadata from .tivo files.
> Dan


Automation of inserting metadata into MP4 files encoded by a TVAP post-process batch file using Atomic Parsley is already underway -- see this post. TVAP already creates pyTivo metaData files for each TiVo file it processes. The new process will read this file to get the metaData and call Atomic Parsley to put it in the MP4 file. This functionality is already in kmttg.

Question for Dan: Will the H264 version of VRD have either a COM or command-line interface that would allow TVAP to automate the H264 encoding?


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## Dan203 (Apr 17, 2000)

Right now we're just trying to get the main feature set working. Once we've got most of the bugs worked out then I'll look at adding some of the new functionality to the COM interface. (the way files are saved in the new version is completely different, so it will require a fairly major overhaul)

Dan


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