Dtivo Video extraction, splitting, and muxing - Scripts, programs, and How-to's only

Here is release 2 of Tytool Version 6.

This version added a new GUI element in the options menu for the selection of VCD/SVCD output. The 2324 byte pack sizes. This means there is no remuxing of the output stream needed.

This is not new code. it is what was in the vsplit bin I just created some GUI controls for the mode.

In this zip is only the updated Client binary. The server and NowShowing.tcl parts will be found in ohter places, the 6r1 release etc...

--jdiner

I've been at this extraction thing for a couple of months now, and I believe myself and others find it somewhat daunting to to get started when the information is scattered around in various posts. In my attempt to help, I have zipped up all the latest files needed to run TyTool and wrote up a step-by-step tutorial for downloading the muxed files.

It's available at Downloading programs stored on TiVo to an MPEG-2 (.mpg) file (TiVo Extraction). I hope it helps.

***NEW**********************************************
I just finished my how-to for burning TiVo files to DVD. Here's the link:
Downloading programs stored on TiVo and burning them to DVD (TiVo Extraction)

Ok folks. Sorry this took so long. Work has been a bear and then the evil-forces-against-the-tivo (EFATT) went and released the newest expansion pack to HOMM IV and well that took all of my time for the last 5 days or so.

Anyway, here it is. This version corrects AFAIK the rest of the audio bugs. Should be no more popping, skipping, or just plain no audio.

In the archive is the mac, linux, and win32 dos versions of VSplitmux2c.

--jdiner

This is the latest version of TyTool. It includes the audio fixes from the mux2c release of vsplit.

That is it for the fixes or changes in this version. More things to come but I wanted to get this out for people to test.

--jdiner

This version of vsplitmux2c (mac r1) has some fixes for endian issues so that the key files generated from the mac can be edited by the PC/Win32 version of the GOPEditor.

That is the only change so only the mac bin is being released.

I can now edit the output on my PC from the mac run VSplit program.

Hope this helps the mac users out.

--jdiner

I have been asked a number of times about the Tystream format. As I get ready to move onto other things I thought I would write up a quick WORD document on most of what I know. I left of many details that are at the lowest levels. If people still ahve any questions I can flesh it out further. Most of this has become well known which is why I never worried about it. But should it help anyone have at it.

--jdiner

The TyStudio Team also want to share it's view/findings of the TyStream format and is therefor posting it's TyStream doc. Note: This has been posted a long time ago in the tydemux thread.

Cheers The TyStudio Team

PS: Added MS doc to the zip - forgot to save it as doc zip udated

Here it is. For those that want it or to take a look at it.

The source code for my tservers_mfs.

For those that are just using it this will do you no good. For those that wanted to try and fix it or whatever here it is.

--jdiner

I just posted instructions for patching SpruceUp so it ignores the resolution of .m2v files. That means you don't need to patch your files with DVDPatcher before importing them.

Link to a post with some 'How-to's creating DVDs with DVDLab from Dtivo and SA tivo.

I thought I would share my TY-to-DVD process with you guys, because I seem to be doing things a little different from most of you. After testing a bunch of different ways, I feel like I've got it down to a science now. This works for me and it works fast, and I hope posting this info can be useful to someone else.

I do appreciate being able to do it all much faster in TyTool, but if I want more presentable menus or if I want to do frame-accurate cuts, this is the process I follow:
_______________

With TyTool or MFS_FTP:

1) Pull down TyStream file

With TyStudio:

2) Convert to Generic MPG & upsample audio to 48k

With MPEG2VCR 3.14:

3) Make cuts

With ULead DVD MovieFactory 2:

4) Make menus and auto chapters, burn to DVD
_______________

Start to finish it takes probably 30 minutes to edit four hour-long shows down to commercial-free files, create menus and start the burn to DVD. This is the only way I can get things to consistently work doing frame-accurate cuts without getting any audio synch or time code issues. A nice bonus is the fantastic and speedy interface for doing cuts in MPEG2VCR. ULead MF2 is an easy way to make good looking menus in a hurry, but I'd imagine your DVD mastering application of choice would also work fine with this process.

There's also a little more detail to step 2. Rather than go through the GUI, I use command-line parameters to invoke TyProcess, which is one of the tools within TyStudio. Since we're not doing cuts in TyStudio, we don't need to make key files. All we want to do is convert the Ty files into standard MPG files. To accomplish this, I wrote the following batch file, which parses the directory from which it is invoked for any files with the .ty extension, and automatically passes them to TyProcess for batch conversion (in other words, it converts all .ty files in the folder to .mpg automatically):
_______________

@echo off
set PATH=C:\Program Files\TyStudio;%PATH%

FOR /F "eol=/ tokens=1,2 delims=;" %%I in ('dir /b *.ty') do call :check "%%I"
goto :done

:check
echo File: "%~nx1"
echo Processing started at %time%
typrocess -d 4 -la I:\TiVo\process.log -it "%~nx1" -d 4 -demux { -s 2 } -tcode { -m -s 48000 } -mplex { -f 3 -V } -om "%~n1.mpg"
echo.
echo Processing completed at %time%
echo.

goto :eof

:done
echo Check process.log file for detailed results
pause
_______________

Your path to TyStudio will need to be set differently if you did not install it in the default location. Also, TyProcess has a tough time with long filenames or with certain characters in filenames (such as the "&" symbol), so sometimes you'll need to rename a file in order to get it to process.

Todd

Tested using TyTool7r7a, TMPGEnc 2.513.53.162, Nero 5.5.10.35, HeadAC3he 0.23a, BeSweet v1.4 w/GUI v0.6 b76.

These guides are mostly for DTivos, but SAs could work. Straight extracted DTivo .MPGs are over spec for SVCD, so we must re-encode to be compliant. SA Tivo .MPGs can almost be recorded to spec, so re-encoding the video might not be necessary, but the audio needs to be 44.1kHz. There are 4 workflows to choose from, Dolby Digital audio with & without video cuts, Mpeg audio with & without video cuts.

Make sure you have a good MPEG-2 video decoder plug-in in TMPGEnc by checking Option->Environmental Setting->VFAPI plug-in. A good one to have is Ligos at the top of the priority list. Follow the instructions in this thread to get TMPGEnc working with Ligos and be able to read .MPG files. Get the codec full pack here, or search for "k-lite codec pack". You'll need to do this if you're getting the 'File "..." can not open, or unsupported' error message when you try to load a .MPG into the TMPGEnc project wizard.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------
IF YOUR AUDIO IS MPEG LAYER II
& YOU'RE NOT GOING TO CUT VIDEO

TyTool - Create .MPG
...Select "File->Network Options->Multiplex Mode" option and "Patch Audio Holes" and "sVCD 44.1 @ 224". Get your show from the "Now Playing" list. You now have a .MPG file.
TMPGEnc - Create new .MPG
...Use the Project Wizard for Super Video-CD, pick your encode method. Load the .MPG file. You can use "Source Range" to make more precise frame-accurate trims at the beginning and end. Once you're done with the Wizard, you now have a new SVCD compliant .MPG file.
Nero - Create SVCD
...Create a new SVCD project. If you want, create a menu if your DVD player supports SVCD menus. Add your new .MPG (should not complain about compliance). Burn to disc.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
IF YOUR AUDIO IS MPEG LAYER II
& YOU'RE GOING TO CUT VIDEO

TyTool - Get .TY
...Select "File->Network Options->TyStream Mode" option then get your show from the "Now Playing" list. You now have a .TY file.
TyTool - Create .KEY
...Select "File->Make Key File". Choose your .TY file. You now have a .KEY file.
TyTool GOP Editor - Create .CUT
...Select "File->Open KeyFrame File". Choose your .KEY file. Make cuts. Select "File->Save Cut List". You now have a .CUT file.
TyTool - Create .MPG
...Select "Patch Audio Holes" and "sVCD 44.1 @ 224" options, then multiplex the .TY file into a .MPG file by selecting "File->Multiplex File".
TMPGEnc - Create new .MPG
...Use the Project Wizard for Super Video-CD, pick your encode method. Load the .MPG file. You can use "Source Range" to make more precise frame-accurate trims at the beginning and end. Once you're done with the Wizard, you now have a new SVCD compliant .MPG file.
Nero - Create SVCD
...Create a new SVCD project. If you want, create a menu if your DVD player supports SVCD menus. Add your new .MPG (should not complain about compliance). Burn to disc.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Of course there are several options you could change to suit your needs, like a different audio bitrate @ 64 - 384. The audio, at least from a DTivo if it's not AC3, is 48@192, so going to 384 might not help. You could also encode the video at CBR, VBR, MVBR, CQ_VBR, or CQ. Experiment with CDRWs to see which is better for you (file size vs. quality vs. encoding time). You could also create your own custom template in TMPGEnc to make future encodes easier. It helps to read and learn about the software you're using too.

Also the lower the audio bitrate means the more video bitrate/quality you will have. So you could use audio @128 using TMPGEnc if you don't care too much about audio quality perfection, and do care about video quality.

These guides could also make VCDs too. Just select the correct Project Wizard in TMPGEnc.

Until TyTool can transcode AC3-->MPEG audio, use the below method for conversion.

IF YOUR AUDIO IS DOLBY DIGITAL 5.1 (AC3)
& YOU'RE NOT GOING TO CUT VIDEO
(this will take a lot of hard drive space)

TyTool - Get .TY
...Select "File->Network Options->TyStream Mode" option then get your show from the "Now Playing" list. You now have a .TY file.
TyTool - Create .MPG
...Select audio "Patch Audio Holes" and Transcoding "none", then multiplex the .TY file into a .MPG file by selecting "File->Multiplex File". You now have a .MPG file.
TyTool - Create .AC3
...Select "File->Process Single File". Choose your .TY file. You now have 2 files .M2V & .M2A. Delete the .M2V file, it's not needed & will cause sync problems. Rename the .M2A file to .AC3.
HeadAC3he or BeSweet - Create .WAV
...Use either program you're comfortable with. I like HeadAC3he, as it created a bit larger .WAV when the .AC3 had a CRC error. I think BeSweet may have removed the audio chunk, creating a smaller .WAV. Strange though, they both use Azid for conversion.
TMPGEnc - Create new .MPG
...Use the Project Wizard for Super Video-CD, pick your encode method. Load the .MPG file for the Video File, and the .WAV for the Audio File. You can use "Source Range" to make more precise frame-accurate trims at the beginning and end, and you'll probably have to use "Audio gap correct" to sync your audio perfectly. 50-80 worked for me, yours will be different. Select "Display Audio" and try to find a frame of video you know has a sudden audio spike, adjust the audio gap setting until your audio spike syncs with the correct frame. Maybe use a small range for a sync test at the beginning. Then try at the end. Once you're done with the Wizard and encoded your content, you will now have a new SVCD compliant .MPG file.
Nero - Create SVCD
...Create a new SVCD project. If you want, create a menu if your DVD player supports SVCD menus. Add your new .MPG (should not complain about compliance). Burn to disc.
--------------------------------------------------
IF YOUR AUDIO IS DOLBY DIGITAL 5.1 (AC3)
& YOU'RE GOING TO CUT VIDEO
(this will take a lot of hard drive space)

TyTool - Get .TY
...Select "File->Network Options->TyStream Mode" option then get your show from the "Now Playing" list. You now have a .TY file.
TyTool - Create .KEY
...Select "File->Make Key File". Choose your .TY file. You now have a .KEY file.
TyTool GOP Editor - Create .CUT
...Select "File->Open KeyFrame File". Choose your .KEY file. Make cuts. Select "File->Save Cut List". You now have a .CUT file.
TyTool - Create .MPG
...Select audio "Patch Audio Holes" and Transcoding "none" options, then multiplex the .TY file into a .MPG file by selecting "File->Multiplex File". You now have a .MPG file.
TyTool - Create .AC3
...Select "File->Process Single File". Choose your .TY file. You now have 2 files .M2V & .M2A. Delete the .M2V file, it's not needed & will cause sync problems. Rename the .M2A file to .AC3.
HeadAC3he or BeSweet - Create .WAV
...Use either program you're comfortable with. I like HeadAC3he, as it created a bit larger .WAV when the .AC3 had a CRC error. I think BeSweet may have removed the audio chunk, creating a smaller .WAV. Strange though, they both use Azid for conversion.
TMPGEnc - Create new .MPG
...Use the Project Wizard for Super Video-CD, pick your encode method. Load the .MPG file for the Video File, and the .WAV for the Audio File. You can use "Source Range" to make more precise frame-accurate trims at the beginning and end, and you'll probably have to use "Audio gap correct" to sync your audio perfectly. 50-80 worked for me, yours will be different. Select "Display Audio" and try to find a frame of video you know has a sudden audio spike, adjust the audio gap setting until your audio spike syncs with the correct frame. Maybe use a small range for a sync test at the beginning. Then try at the end. Once you're done with the Wizard and encoded your content, you will now have a new SVCD compliant .MPG file.
Nero - Create SVCD
...Create a new SVCD project. If you want, create a menu if your DVD player supports SVCD menus. Add your new .MPG (should not complain about compliance). Burn to disc.

Quote:

---

Originally posted by Pro-289
SA Tivo .MPGs are usually under spec, so we must re-encode to be compliant.

---

For those who don't know, you can modify the recording resolution and bitrate with TiVoWeb so that the TiVo natively records DVD-compliant files. The process I use and listed above allows frame-accurate edits and no reencoding is required, so you can really made DVDs in a hurry. Don't waste your time reencoding if you can help it.

EDIT: Quick moderators note. There is a great deal of information about this. But to try and keep things clean I removed a few other comments. (This is not a comment thread but a howto/bin thread.) These settings DO WORK but only on a StandAlone (SA) Tivo. --jdiner

This script automates the burning of single- or multiple-show DVDs from the Tivo in an attempt to minimize the effort required to do so. It should be helpful for anyone who wants an easier workflow process to DVD under MacOSX.

- You need to have the tyserver and tyindex executables from tystudio running on your tivo.
- Edit the top of the script so that $tivoaddr points to the hostname or IP of your tivo. Default is "tivo".
- Rename the script to "tivo2dvd.command" and make it executable ('chmod +x tivo2dvd.command' [from the Terminal]), so you can run it by double-clicking in the Finder. And give it a pretty icon while you're at it... :)
- The script expects you to have the tystudio command-line tools (tyls, tyget, tydemux) in the working path or current directory.
- Your tydemux must have the debug switch compiled in (unlike the betas they are distributing).. see below.
- You'll also need the command-line tools mplex,dvdauthor, mkisofs and the restoggle.sh script
All of which can be found in the Sizzle.app package and/or in this post by tungsten2k (thanks!)
http://www.dealdatabase.com/forum/sh...ggle#post82867
- Additionally, you'll need 'du', which might be in OSX by default, I don't know -- but if it is not, get it from the fileutils package in Fink (fink.sourceforge.net - use FinkCommander, included with Fink)
- There is no editing (ala tyeditor / tytool). I figure the commercials will be pretty funny to watch in a few years anyway ;)
- You can't mix shows with mpeg2 audio and ac3 audio on the same disc (It violates a DVD standard)

Thanks to everyone whose posts have led me to this point. I greatly appreciate your time and dedication.

Suggestions are welcome.

Click here to Download

click here to download tydemux w/ debug compiled in (for MacOSX 10.2)

Updated 7/29/03: Now displays approx. size of image before running tydemux and warns if .ty shows are > 4.7GB
Updated 7/30/03: Bugfixes, more feedback
Updated 7/31/03: added tydemux with debug switch enabled
Updated 8/4/03: fixed tydemux output handling (thanks Yzo!)