Anyone know how to import a TiVo file to VS9?

[PatMaloney]

I've got my TiVo Series 2 connected to my home network so I can upload saved TiVo programs to my computer and watch them there. The files have a .tivo extension and play fine with MS Media Player 10. I've read that they are basically MPEG 2 files with special headers and other proprietary info. Unfortunately, they won't load into VS9 even if I change the extension to .mpg or .mpeg.

Does anyone know how to hack or otherwise convince a .TiVo file that it really should be able to import into VS9? I'd like to edit and/or just save the program to a DVD so if you know of a better way (other than using an analog-to-digital capture card), I'd love to hear ... er, read about it!

Thanks,
Pat

[THoff]

Have you tried Google?

http://prish.com/etivo/tbr.htm

[PatMaloney]

THoff,

Yes, I tried lots of keyword combos last night and didn't get far. But your prompt got me thinking again, so I tried a few more keywords and found another link that ultimately dried up. But THAT reference got me to http://www.zatznotfunny.com/ttg.htm where there is some nice info, including the reference to the etivo URL in your post. I first looked at that URL but didn't quite see the connection to TiVo files, but maybe I didn't look close enough or know what to look for.

ANYhoo, it looks like there is plenty of info at the above site to get where I want to go. Thanks a lot for your speedy and helpful reply!

Pat

[BobH]

I would be very interested. It never occurred to me that Tivo would use a proprietary format. There HAS to be a way to get around this.

[PatMaloney]

Follow-up:

I found a couple of solutions by following the link I mentioned in my post above. But the best one - for me - was the TiVo2MPEG program put out by TVHarmony.com -> http://www.tvharmony.com/main/products.php. I didn't download the entire AutoPilot program, just the smaller TiVo2MPEG utility near the bottom of the screen.

I guess it embeds my TiVo media code somewhere in the file, like it says, but it's not visible on the screen so I don't really care.

But I also just ordered the Roxio Easy Media Creator 8 as an upgrade to my older Easy CD Creator 5 and it seems to include the Sonic MyDVD program which is supposed to deal with .TiVo files directly. But TiVo2MPEG is free and seems to work fine. At least the file loads into my VideoStudio 9 program so I can edit out the commercials. There is a feature in TiVo2MPEG that is supposed to edit out the commercials but I could never get it to work well.

I hope this helps anyone trying to do the same thing.

Pat