Convert DVR-MS Files

[ColTom2]

Hi:

Does anyone know a good freeware that I can convert and also reduce DVR-MS
files of recorded TV programs to a different file format (ext) to allow DVD
burning?

Also I would like to know the recommended file type to be converted to,
i.e. MP4, AVI, etc.There are so many different file types and I am not that
familiar with what I am trying to do that I need someone to assist me in
this matter.

Thanks,

ColTom2

 

[Nigel Barker]

Hi:

Does anyone know a good freeware that I can convert and also reduce DVR-MS
files of recorded TV programs to a different file format (ext) to allow DVD
burning?

Also I would like to know the recommended file type to be converted to,
i.e. MP4, AVI, etc.There are so many different file types and I am not that
familiar with what I am trying to do that I need someone to assist me in
this matter.

Thanks,

ColTom2

Crunchie does a good job of automatically converting DVR-MS files to DivX which is a form of MPEG4 &
just about the most commonly used compressed video file format.
http://www.xpmediacentre.com.au/community/crunchie/ Many standalone DVD players support playback of
DivX files.
--

Cheers

Nigel Barker
Live from the sunny Cote d'Azur
MCE MVP

 

[peter]

http://www.deskshare.com/Resources/articles/dmc_DVRMS.aspx
peter

 

[Jaime]

Others have already mentioned the conversion possiblilties, but understand
that you don't need to convert them to create a DVD that will run in a
standalone DVD player. You may want to convert for other reasons however
(size/editing/software perference/etc.), but MCE will directly burn the
files to a DVD for playback.

 

[ColTom2]

The dvr-ms files that I have are to large for a DVD CD.

 

[John Lockwood]

Hi:

Does anyone know a good freeware that I can convert and also reduce DVR-MS
files of recorded TV programs to a different file format (ext) to allow DVD
burning?

Also I would like to know the recommended file type to be converted to,
i.e. MP4, AVI, etc.There are so many different file types and I am not that
familiar with what I am trying to do that I need someone to assist me in
this matter.

Thanks,

ColTom2

DVDs are MPEG2 only, DVR-MS files are in reality MPEG2 files inside an ASF
wrapper.

You can convert DVR-MS files to other smaller formats such as DivX or MPEG4,
but if you are then going to burn it to a DVD this is a bit pointless
(besides it would cause two generations of conversion and therefore two
generations of loss of quality).

e.g. DVR-MS = MPEG2 --> convert to DivX --> Convert to DVD = MPEG2

If you goal is to simply burn the DVR-MS to DVD then you could do this
directly without any conversion within Media Center itself.

If your goal is to burn it to DVD but with a better choice of DVD menu and
possibly to edit/trim the recording then I would suggest converting it to a
'proper' MPEG2 file (which basically leaves the MPEG2 untouched but puts it
in a normal MPEG2 file format instead of a DVR-MS file and thus causes no
loss of quality.

There are numerous utilities to convert from DVR-MS to MPEG2, I use
TSConvertor available here http://dvbportal.de there is also DVRMSToolbox
which can also do editing see
http://thegreenbutton.com/forums/thread/53128.aspx

 

[John Lockwood]

Even a dual layer 8.5GB disk?

If so you are still better off keeping the file in MPEG2 format (as per my
previous reply) but you can then use various utilities to reduce the quality
(and hence file size), e.g. Instead of 4000kbps you could reduce to
3000kbps.

Some DVD burning software will do this automatically for you (e.g. Roxio).

 

[ColTom2]

Hi John:

Thanks for your informative replies. The only reason that I wanted to
convert dvr-ms to smaller files is that I tried to burn a copy of the recent
PBS series "The War" with MCE onto a DVD directly and it said the file was
to large.

What are your alternatives when this happens?

Thanks.

ColTom2

 

[mcp6453]

You will either have to split the file to fit on two disks, or you will
have to re-encode the file to a lower bit rate. A great tool for editing
the files (and other MPG files) is VideoReDo at
http://www.videoredo.com. It's not free, but it's cheap. There is a free
trial. Their next version will have the ability to burn DVDs, I'm told.

 

[Shenan Stanley]

Does anyone know a good freeware that I can convert and also
reduce DVR-MS files of recorded TV programs to a different file
format (ext) to allow DVD burning?

Also I would like to know the recommended file type to be
converted to, i.e. MP4, AVI, etc.There are so many different file
types and I am not that familiar with what I am trying to do that I
need someone to assist me in this matter.

http://www.videohelp.com/

 

[Guest]

I use Nero 7 to take dvr-ms files and author a standard DVD from them, after
editing out the start, end and adverts.

You can download a free trial from their website and since they are in the
process of launching Nero8, there are some offers on Nero 7 around -
http://www.pcworld.co.uk/martprd/product/seo/739711

Mind, even Nero 8 seems to be discounted -
http://www.pcworld.co.uk/martprd/product/seo/617394 (although my experience
of Nero 7 was it took a few months to be stable, so I couldn't recommend
leaping in too early!)

 

[ColTom2]

Hi Eric:

I have Nero 6, but had never installed the Nero Recode 2 component. Is
this the same Recode Application that you are using in Nero 7 and/or do you
think this would do what I need?

Thanks

 

[ColTom2]

Hi Eric:

I have obtained and installed a Nero 7 Ultra and would like to ask you
what specific component do you use for editing and also converting the
dvr-ms to standard DVD.

Thanks,

ColTom2

 

[John Lockwood]

Ah! Now that you mention it, I remember last time I tried to directly burn a
DVR-MS recording to DVD it also gave me the same message, even though the
DVR-MS file was only about 2.5GB and would easily fit on a DVD. A much
smaller recording did work. It would seem another example of Microsoft not
being very good at maths, see
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=55613

Note: my recordings are from DVB-T which broadcasts in MPEG2 and I use a
digital DVB-T tuner, the behaviour if you use an analogue tuner to
'digitise' and convert analogue to MPEG2 might be different. Other than
being in Microsoft's proprietary DVR-MS wrapper, these DVB-T recordings are
normal MPEG2 and can be converted to DVD without re-encoding, they have an
MPEG1 Layer2 stereo audio track (aka. MP2).

It looks like the DVD burn option in Media Center is to put it mildly 'not
very good'. I ended up as I mentioned, converting the DVR-MS to a 'normal'
MPEG2 and using a different DVD burning application and created my own menu
(the menu produced by SonicEncoders - the DVD burning engine for Media
Center, is ugly as sin anyway).

Sigh! Another example of Microsoft spending 90% of their time and effort on
ever more offensive DRM, and not enough on producing a decent product in the
first place.

 

[Guest]

In Nero 7, it is Nero Vision.

Fire it up, say you want to create a DVD. Add the DVR-MS file and then use
the edit function to cut bits out (I add a fade transition between cuts so it
isn't so obvious). Create chapters, either at the cuts or about every 10
minutes (I do both). Then go to 'next' to add a menu. I take a screen shot of
the MCE metadata page and cover the MCE buttons with the DVD artwork, taken
from Amazon or somehwere in the internet. Slam a disk in your DVD writer and
off it goes.

If you start with a 2 hour film, it'l be down to about 1 hour 35-40 mins
after you have cut the rubbish out and will probably take about an hour to
transcode and burn. If your film is longer, it takes longer - it can go to
about 4 hours on 1 DVD at low quality. I got Spartacus on one DVD, but used 2
for Cleopatra.

I find it gives a great result.

 

[ColTom2]

Thanks!

I used Nero Vision to burn a DVD, but had no idea about the editing part.
Looks like you have me on the right road finally..... I really appreciate
yours and all the other postings, as I have never really gotten into this
arena. Recording the recent PBS series "The War" is what led me to all this.

I have had MCE since day one, but mainly used it to watch TV when nothing
else much was going on. I was about ready to give up right before you
brought me out of the hole!

ColTom2

 

[Guest]

Pleased it helped.

There are lots of threads and people out there talking about loads of other
tools. In particular, people seem to like Videoredo.

But I got OEM Nero 6 with my PC and after a short haitus when an early
version of Nero 7 broke my PC when it was first released, it has done
hundreds of DVDs for me. So much so that it feels really odd whenever I find
myself watching adverts!

Hope you find it useful too.

 

[Guest]

Sorry - one thing I forgot to mention. Nero 7 also comes with Media Center
plugins for taking recorded TV and making DVDs from within the MCE interface.
You will see them under the More Programs part of the interface, and there
are guides on the Nero website.

I have never used them myself, because I'm happy wit the result I get
outside the MCE interface. I don't think the plugins give as much
functionality or flexibility - for example, I don't think you can top, tail
or remove ads. Nevertheless, you might find them useful.