Convert Tivo Recordings

How to convert TiVO video files (.tivo) to standard MPEG2 files on the Windows platformSummary:

(NOTE: This tutorial was adapted from the one provided at http://www.apecity.com/tivo)

The reason this document exists is because of my terrible experience trying to use the new Tivo To Go feature. (My Tivo sets were updated in mid February, 2005.) Tivo To Go promised three features:

Download Tivo shows to a computer
Watch downloaded Tivo shows on a computer
Burn downloaded Tivo shows to DVD discs using Sonic’s MyDVD
The only thing that worked was the downloading of shows to my computer. For the other two, forget it. I couldn’t watch them on my computer, even after downloading numerous codecs and other programs. (Briefly, Windows Media Player (WMP) ver. 10, played the .tivo files correctly, but after a reboot that no longer worked. I couldn’t get it working again.) Tivo’s “partnership”–or whatever they’re calling it–with Sonic’s MyDVD product is a joke. Out of the box, Nero handled .tivo files better, and it wasn’t even supposed to! And Sonic’s codec’s (at $15.00) only succeeded in lightening my wallet.

So, here are instructions for downloading and converting .tivo files to MPEG2 files, which are easily handled by just about any software on any platform. Almost none of the information below is originally by me. I found other people’s documentation of their excellent work lacking, and wanted a one-stop-shop for how to do this. I put this together for my own reference as much as anything else.

Use it at your own risk. I have to say that I guess, but THIS WORKS GREAT! I know it looks like a lot of steps, but none of them are hard, all are easy to remember, and once you’ve done it once or twice, you can easily zip through all steps in about a minute. The ‘Preparation’ and ‘Installation’ steps only need to be done the first time.

Remember to obey copyright laws, etc.

This page assumes you have downloaded and installed the Tivo desktop software v2.0 or later.

(EDITORS NOTE: I tried using this conversion method on my main XP machine. I installed the Tivo Desktop and was able to transfer files to my desktop. However, when I tried to view them, I would get a strange “You are not authorized to watch this recording” message, even though I had input the correct Media Access Key (MAK) and password as defined in the preferences. I have researched this topic and MANY other users are experiencing the same difficulties. To get around it, I re-installed the Tivo Desktop on another XP machine, and then the process worked just fine.

I was able to convert about 20 shows using the method described below without a hitch. Depending on the speed of your processor, times may vary, but I was able to convert each 1 hour show in about 3-4 minutes apiece. The converted MPGs are slightly larger than the .tivo files, with each 1 hour show being about 1.3 Gb in size.

I am still playing around with burning the shows to disc. I tried editing out commercials with Adobe Premiere Pro 1.5, but upon exporting, my frame sizes seemed incorrect, resulting in a “tall and skinny” image. This may have to do with the Direct Show CODECS that Adobe uses, or just incorrect preferences, but I haven’t researched it enough to solve the problem. In the meantime, I am using Nero Vision Express v3 (demo version) to burn the shows to VCD (commercials included). I am going to keep experimenting, and will post a follow up to place several shows on one DVD. Good luck!!)
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Preparation

First thing you’ll probably want to do is get Windows Media Player (WMP) 10. Nothing that follows relies on it, but it is Microsoft’s latest & greatest version. It’s what Tivo recommends for Windows XP, too. If there’s a newer version, just get & install that.

Determine your version of DirectX, and upgrade to 9.0c if necessary. Click Start -> Run, and type “dxdiag” (without the quotes) in the Run box. It will ask you something about WHQL, just click Yes. The last item listed on dxdiag’s main screen is “DirectX Version.” If you’re not up to 9.0c, download DirectX 9.0c from Microsoft. Same caveats as for WMP 10. If there’s a new version, just get & install that.

You need to get a program called Graphedit, and some supplemental files for it.
Download a .zip of Graphedit here. It’s a small 278k download.

Download XMuxer Pro from Elecard.com. At the time of writing, Xmuxer pro is a free beta download. But I have found it works perfectly.
Last one. You need to get the .zip file of dump.ax from here.

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Installation

Unzip the Graphedit download. Copy Graphedit.exe, Graphedit.chm and Proppage.dll into C:\Windows\System32.
Hint: Just unzip it into C:\Windows\System32. (Your Windows folder may be called C:\WinNT or something else.)

Unzip dump.ax and copy it to C:\Windows\System32.

Open a Run window (Start -> Run) and enter:
“regsvr32 proppage.dll” (without the quotes). This will register proppage.dll with your system so that Graphedit can find it.

Open a Run window (Start -> Run) and enter:
“regsvr32 dump.ax” (without the quotes). This will register dump.ax with your system so that Graphedit can find it.

The Xmuxer Pro program just has an installer. It asks you at the end to ‘Run Registrator’ or it won’t work. That’s not true. Just uncheck the ‘Run Registrator’ box and click Finish.

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Usage

Run Graphedit, via Start -> Run -> “graphedit”.
Open an Explorer window, and drag one of your .tivo files onto it. For testing, pick a smaller one. You will have to enter your Tivo file password.

You will see Graphedit create several boxes, all linked together with lines. It will look like this. (Well, I had to rearrange the boxes to get a screenshot, but the actual boxes and how they’re linked is the same.)
Delete all of the boxes, except the one box that has your file’s title in it. Delete them by highlighting them and hitting the Delete key. You should only have one box, the one with your .tivo movie’s name, left in Graphedit, and it should look like this.

Click Graph -> Insert Filter -> DirectShow filters

Choose the Dump filter, and click ‘Insert Filter’. You will be prompted for a filename. This is your output filename that your new MPEG2 file will be. So name it “star_trek.mpg” or whatever is appropriate to the content. Remember what folder its in so you can find it when you’re done.

Choose the Moonlight M71Muxer, and click the ‘Insert Filter’ button.

Choose the Moonlight-Elecard MPEG2 Demultiplexer, and click the ‘Insert Filter’ button.

Now to link all the filters correctly. First, draw a line from the Output pin of your video title to the Input pin of the Demultiplexer. It will move it but that’s OK.

Draw a line from the Video Output Pin of the Demultiplexer to the Input pin of the Muxer.

Now you need a second Input pin on the Muxer. Right-click on the Muxer. Click Filter Properties. On the left side of the window, click on the “Program” item. Mine happens to be called “Progam 0×3e8 (#1)” but yours may vary. So now it should be highlighted. Right-click on it and click Create Stream. Click OK.

You won’t see the new Input Pin on your Muxer. Hit the ‘Refresh’ button on the toolbar at the top of the screen (it looks like two arrows chasing in a circle), and your new Input Pin will appear. The program will inconveniently rearrange all of your boxes too.

Draw a line from the Demultiplexer Audio Output Pin to the new Muxer Input Pin.

Draw a line from the Muxer Output Pin to the Dump Input Pin. The Dump box will be labeled with whatever output filename you entered, and will no longer be called Dump.

Your screen should look like this.

Click the ‘Play’ button on the toolbar at the top of the screen. You’ll hear your hard disk whirring, and after a few minutes (maybe many minutes, depending on the size of the file / speed of your computer) you’ll have an MPEG2 file of your .tivo file. Play it anywhere.

That’s it! Congratulations!

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