Replay TV files?

[chain999]

I recently got a Replay TV (for those not familiar with this, it's 'like' Tivo; only better:D ).

It has the capability of pulling recorded shows off the unit and onto a PC. I can view these files with WMP or PowerDVD, but they're not 'standard' MPEG-2 files; they have some kind of proprietary file format that also included files for the commercial-skip feature: This is ONE feature Tivo can only dream about..anyway I'm going off topic.

Has anyone ever converted Replay files to Divx or Xvid using g-knot; or any other conversion method? I tried using g-knot, but I can't figure out how to convert to Replay files into .vob's. I tried v-strip, but it wouldn't accept the files; gave a sync error.

So, any ReplayTV owners out there have any luck converting to Divx/Xvid?

[jggimi]

If the files are MPEG-2, try opening them in DVD2AVI and creating a .d2v project. DVD2AVI supports MPEG-2 files (.mpg, .m2v, etc.).

[chain999]

Thanks for the reply. I'm admittedly behind on gordian knot. It's probably been close to a year since I've encoded a Divx.

Anyway, I downloaded and installed the latest version of g-knot. I see there are a LOT more options and programs than previous versions. I like the fact EVERYTHING is integrated now, but in some ways it seems more complicated and confusing that the earlier versions.

One question I have is why are there 2 different versions of DVD2AVI? Which one should I use. I also noticed that you have to manually add the paths of all the various programs/plugins; I don't remember having to do that in the past, but figured it out none-the-less. I'm sure there's still more 'configuring' I'm going to have to do on my part to get everything working.

I did what you suggested, and DVD2AVI was able to open and read the file. I created a .d2v file, but it didn't extract an audio file; the video file looks fine, albeit interlaced. What is the best method for de-interlacing?

And regarding the audio issue, I selected 'demux all tracks', so I'm not sure why no audio was extracted. I'm guessing it my be the format of the Replay file; I'm not sure of the format of audio Replay uses and don't know if DVD2AVI can read it.

Sorry for all the questions, but like I said; I'm rusty at this.:(

To add: I also noticed DVD2AVI didn't allow me to select the Replay file using the default file type (it is an .mpg file), and I had to select 'all files *.*' for the file to show up.

[jggimi]

You are correct, with DVD2AVI you must select "all files" to see file types other than the default (.vob, .m2p, .m2v, and .mpv).

DVD2AVI can extract several types of audio. Version 1.76 can extract Dolby Digital (.ac3), MPEG audio (.mpa), and Linear PCM (.wav) audio streams. Select your choice, or perform automatic extraction, through the Audio...Channel Format command.

I believe 1.77.3 is included for those who need to extract Digital Theater Sound (.dts) files.

[chain999]

I tried following your suggestions, but couldn't find Audio...Channel Format options; I had 1.77.3 installed. I changed to 1.76 and found those options. I made another .d2v file, and an audio file was ripped, but not in the expected format; but I went ahead and used it anyway. I'm doing a test encode right now to see how things turn out.

I choose to use the original 2-pass method, as I've read there are problems with the new nth pass method. This always worked for me in the past.

The new Divxpro 5.05 features have me confused. The only option I want to use is 'B' frames. Under 'General Parameters' what am I supposed to do with enable crop and enable resize? Do I have to select that option here, as well as where I selected it in g-knot? Never had to in the past. I also saw there is an option to de-interlace all frames. Should I use this, or de-interlace in g-knot like in the past/or both? And finally, under Profiles it asks for the resolution and frame rate. What resolution are they asking for; source or output? And what frame rate do I use i.e.; source is 29.97 my closest choice is 30fps. (of course this is if I choose to use one of the profiles; which I didn't in this case.)

Thanks for the help.

[jggimi]

Most of your processing and operation questions are answered in Doom9's Gknot guide (http://www.doom9.org/gknot-main3.htm). Please review it and see if it helps clear things up for you.

[chain999]

Sorry, forgot to read the new FAQ.:eek:

edit: Just finished previewing my finished result. I pegged it at 350MB and it came out exactly that. The end result was very good; not perfect, but with some more tweaking I think I can improve it further.

I'd still be really interested to hear from anyone else who has encoded these replay files.:)