Audio issue and I've done some searching...

[Drag'nGT]

I've been moving TV shows from my TiVo to my computer for a few months. 1hr of HD is about 3.3gb and I'm trying to get that cut in half.

Just so you guys know the workflow so you can properly help me let me layout the path.
TiVo -> iTivo (takes the .tivo package off and puts it in mp4) -> MPEG StreamClip (remove commercials) this program doesn't touch the file format at all that I can tell because it's really fast at re-saving my file as an mp4. After that I have a perfect TV show with NO issues. It's just a big file. Now I'm sticking it in HandBrake to "shrink" it.

After it comes out of HB the audio is fine for a little while and then it's off by 1 sec then it's back in sync, then it may go out again by 3 sec all in the same video.

My HB settings are
Format: MP4
Video Codec: H.264 (x264)
FPS: Same as Source
Quality: I just chose Average bitrate set at 4000
Picture Size is kept same as source. Some are 720p some 1080p
No picture cropping

Audio:
Unknown (AAC) | Stereo Mix | Auto Samplerate | Bitrate 128kbps

So am I correct in assuming that HB (my incorrect settings) are causing my problem? I stole a few settings off the HB forum but they all are discussing DVD rips. I didn't see a thread discussing how to shrink an existing mp4 file.

I have found another program called QT Sync that can fix my screwed up HB file. But I'd rather have you guys tell me I'm setting something up wrong so I can just Queue up some vids and let it run.

Thank you very much for your help.

 

[huntercr]

I've been moving TV shows from my TiVo to my computer for a few months. 1hr of HD is about 3.3gb and I'm trying to get that cut in half.

Just so you guys know the workflow so you can properly help me let me layout the path.
TiVo -> iTivo (takes the .tivo package off and puts it in mp4) -> MPEG StreamClip (remove commercials) this program doesn't touch the file format at all that I can tell because it's really fast at re-saving my file as an mp4. After that I have a perfect TV show with NO issues. It's just a big file. Now I'm sticking it in HandBrake to "shrink" it.

After it comes out of HB the audio is fine for a little while and then it's off by 1 sec then it's back in sync, then it may go out again by 3 sec all in the same video.

My HB settings are
Format: MP4
Video Codec: H.264 (x264)
FPS: Same as Source
Quality: I just chose Average bitrate set at 4000
Picture Size is kept same as source. Some are 720p some 1080p
No picture cropping

Audio:
Unknown (AAC) | Stereo Mix | Auto Samplerate | Bitrate 128kbps

So am I correct in assuming that HB (my incorrect settings) are causing my problem? I stole a few settings off the HB forum but they all are discussing DVD rips. I didn't see a thread discussing how to shrink an existing mp4 file.

I have found another program called QT Sync that can fix my screwed up HB file. But I'd rather have you guys tell me I'm setting something up wrong so I can just Queue up some vids and let it run.

Thank you very much for your help.

YIKES. If you must send this to handbrake ( and I don't know why...MPEGstreamclip did it all for you already ) Don't save your movie as mp4 from MPEGStreamclip... save it as Apple Intermediate Codec ( AIC ) before you send it to handbrake.

BTW... does iTivo REALLY convert to MP4? it should convert to MPEG2 which is what the tivo native format is underneath.

 

[Drag'nGT]

Yep, iTivo saves the file as mp4. I personally hate the transfer speed but that's another topic.

Holy crap. I never looked at the export as mpeg4 option... I gotta go try that first. Hopefully it'll fix my problem. I've just chosen 'save as' once I've clipped all the commercials out.

I'll post back the results.

 

[huntercr]

Yep, iTivo saves the file as mp4. I personally hate the transfer speed but that's another topic.

Holy crap. I never looked at the export as mpeg4 option... I gotta go try that first. Hopefully it'll fix my problem. I've just chosen 'save as' once I've clipped all the commercials out.

I'll post back the results.

I just read up on iTivo ... have you considered just using the preset it has for H.264 5Mbit? Looks like the iTivo project uses handbrake anyway. You're basically doubly encoding for no reason.

 

[Drag'nGT]

I just read up on iTivo ... have you considered just using the preset it has for H.264 5Mbit? Looks like the iTivo project uses handbrake anyway. You're basically doubly encoding for no reason.

You're correct. I originally wanted the highest quality I could get because I thought I'd notice it but the files are just too big. So I'm using the H.264 3-Mbit and it's great. I use this setting because it's a more common extension to work with. It also plays wonderfully on my PS3 which is a media server for me on my main TV.

My issue is I have every episode of NCIS (Season 1-7) at the 10-Mbit setting and I need them shrank desperately. I don't wanna erase them only to spend time re-downloading them from TiVo.

MPEG Stream clip seems to be doing the best job with shrinking the files without any audio sync issues. Thank you VERY much for pointing out the export function. It never occurred to me to use it. The only downside is I gotta set them up to be done one at a time. HandBrake's queue is worth me begging for better encode settings just so I can program 10 episodes and go about worry free for two days.