I have done some searching and found a thread from the beginning of the year but it didn't really help. I am running Tivo 2 Go 2.2 and have transferred some shows off onto a computer. I have used the Direct Show Dump Utility to convert the file. It started as a .tivo file and now it is a .mpg file. The file size is huge and I need to convert it so that it is formatted for my X51v and to a much smaller file size. I am testing "DVD to Pocket PC" right now. What are my other options? At some point I may want to burn some of the shows from the Tivo off onto DVD. Is there one utility that I can use to do both?

I have installed FairUse, TMPGEnc, and VirtualDub but they all error out when I try to open the .mpg file. The computer I am using does not have a DVD player or software installed.

google search for an mpg to avi convertor. I'm at work on my x50v and don't want to search for you. sorry

Personally, I like to use Windows Media Encoder. There's something to be said for simplicity.

Is Windows Media Encoder something you can download from the Microsoft site? What is this software capable of doing? Thanks

You might want to give Pocket DVD Studio a whirl.. once the file is in .AVI or .MPG format.. you can use the software to further compress the file and format for PPC screen.. I did a DVD yesterday.. 3.5 hrs and the file size was 700MB.. fits nicely on my 1GB SD card.. In fact.. it claims to even just conver the .tivo files for you.. haven't tried this yet.. but would save a step in the process...

If you allready have an .mpg file you could use divx converter. Drop the file and and choose "portable" as an output. No messing with audio/video encoding settings. Very good compression.

From this i am assuming two things?

1)WMP10 wont play .tivo shows?
2)the .tivo file is also too large? How big is a 30 minute show at at the lowest recording quality?

wmp only plays wmv files not mpg or mpeg use tcpmp to play these

 

WMP 10 will convert your TiVo to go 2.2 files directly.
Just add the Tivo show to your Library and select it to synch with your device.
A one hour program recorded at Best quality converted to 160mb on my Ax's CF card. The clarity was excellent

Greg Simon

Yes, that is me in the picture. I'm the one in the big blue mumu, not the other guy. ;-)

Is it that simple? I have been looking for some good information on how to convert my TIVO files and DVDs to video files for my Axim or even my PSP. My issue has always been the conversion process - getting the video and sound quality just right. Any information would be grateful as I am looking to do this more and more. I am practically a noob at this stuff.

Just to be clear WMP10 converts when syncing on activesync right?

what filetype does it convert to?
how long does it take to sync a 1 hour or 30 min show?
can you change these settings or is it auto?

ALSO(apologies for so many questions)
does WMP10 automatically find the .tivo shows or do you have to add them?
are you able to watch the .tivo files in WMP10(if you wanted to?) or do you have to use the tivo software on your pc to view?

just curious am thinking of getting tivo in addition to my cables dvr box. THANKS. Have you had any hurdles to jump?

Teeps and NYC Nigel:
Phew, let's see how I do with all your questions.
It was pretty simple for me. With the Axim in the cradle, turned on and connected, I statrted WMP10 desktop. I selected the Synch tab. WMP saw the device and a Setup Synch button appeared. The Synch setup wizard wanted to know if I wanted automatic or manual synch. I chose manual. That was it for set up. I added the Tivo show I wanted to My TV shows in the Library by using the open file command. Selected that show to synch. Pressed start Synch and it started synching. It took a little over an hour for a one hour show and shrunk the size by 90%. -a 1.5 gig show was synched to my Ax 160mg.
I had the "incompatible or missing codec" error message my first try. I went to the intervideo WinDVD site and downloaded and installed their trial version, rebooted and repeated the steps above (maybe I should have put this part first). Then everything worked smoothly.
I think you can tell WMP to monior your MyTivo programs folder and automatically add the programs to you MyTV list in WMP library. Hope this helps

Greg Simon

Yes, that is me in the picture. I'm the one in the big blue mumu, not the other guy. ;-)

Here's the info I used:
http://www.tivo.com/4.9.19.3.asp#18

Greg Simon

Yes, that is me in the picture. I'm the one in the big blue mumu, not the other guy. ;-)

last post for questions I missed:
yes connect through ActiveSynch
file type on Ax:wmvmy 1 hr show took about an hour and 10 minutes, that included conversion. If you converted in the background earlier, the actual synching would be much faster.
Some settings can be changed in WMP options. I think file size may be dependent on original recording quality.
You can set WMP to monitor the TiVo folder in WMP options
WMP on the desktop plays the TiVo files just fine.
No hurdles other than the codec issue which was easily resolved.
I like tivo more and more as it adds features. One irritation right now is that the ability to burn Tivo file with Sonic MyDVD requires TiVo desktop 2.0 and no higher. Tivo to go transfers to ppc require Tivo to go 2.1 or higher. If you know how to strip the tivo off these files and burn with other software, you're fine. If you're like me and not very sophisticated with this stuff, that's a pain but I'm sure Sonic will issue a patch one of these days.

Greg Simon

Yes, that is me in the picture. I'm the one in the big blue mumu, not the other guy. ;-)

FANTASTIC THANKS! I THINK ILL PURCHASE A TIVO UNIT EVEN IF IT IS GOING TO BE OUT OF DATE IN A FEW MONTHS.