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smeg36

macrumors regular
Original poster
Sep 16, 2009
216
6
I got a Tivo earlier this year, and just recently recorded a ton of kids movies to put on my iPad for my kids to watch while traveling. I did so using Roxio Tivo Transfer to get the .tivo files onto my MacBook Air, then Toast Titanium to convert those to .m4v format for the iPad.

The problem came with editing and resolution. Editing the commercials in a .tivo file in Toast is basically impossible. It freezes, and runs horribly slow. It also allows a maximum file output size of 640x480, even when the file is recorded in HD. So I did some searching, and found a program called kmttg that will get the .tivo files from my Tivo, and decode them to the .mpg files they are actually recorded in.

So now I have the 8-10GB .mpg files, and I want to edit the commercials out of those, and convert them to .mp4 files to watch on the iPad. I've searched and searched, and tried many different programs, both free and trials of paid programs, and can't find one that will allow me to edit and convert.

Toast is super buggy trying to edit. Some files it works fine, some of them it just freezes on. I tried Handbrake to convert them, then I could edit and convert again, but I'd really like to avoid double converting. Plus, it was going to take a couple days to convert the 11 movies to .mp4's.

Someone tell me I'm crazy, but I tried iSkysoft Video Converter, and it actually did what I want, and did it much faster than Toast, Handbrake, Nero (on my bootcamp partition), or any other program I tried out. I really hate to shell out $25 for this very specific function, but can't find anything else that really does what I'm looking to do. Sorry for the long read, but if you made it this far, are there any other programs I should try before spending the $25? Thanks.
 
I got a Tivo earlier this year, and just recently recorded a ton of kids movies to put on my iPad for my kids to watch while traveling. I did so using Roxio Tivo Transfer to get the .tivo files onto my MacBook Air, then Toast Titanium to convert those to .m4v format for the iPad.

The problem came with editing and resolution. Editing the commercials in a .tivo file in Toast is basically impossible. It freezes, and runs horribly slow. It also allows a maximum file output size of 640x480, even when the file is recorded in HD. So I did some searching, and found a program called kmttg that will get the .tivo files from my Tivo, and decode them to the .mpg files they are actually recorded in.

So now I have the 8-10GB .mpg files, and I want to edit the commercials out of those, and convert them to .mp4 files to watch on the iPad. I've searched and searched, and tried many different programs, both free and trials of paid programs, and can't find one that will allow me to edit and convert.

Toast is super buggy trying to edit. Some files it works fine, some of them it just freezes on. I tried Handbrake to convert them, then I could edit and convert again, but I'd really like to avoid double converting. Plus, it was going to take a couple days to convert the 11 movies to .mp4's.

Someone tell me I'm crazy, but I tried iSkysoft Video Converter, and it actually did what I want, and did it much faster than Toast, Handbrake, Nero (on my bootcamp partition), or any other program I tried out. I really hate to shell out $25 for this very specific function, but can't find anything else that really does what I'm looking to do. Sorry for the long read, but if you made it this far, are there any other programs I should try before spending the $25? Thanks.

My first question would be
I am curious about this as well-I am thinking hard about a Tivo but if exported to MP4 is a pain, I may re-consider.

In any case, Did you try Smart Converter from the mac App Store? It generally is pretty good.

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/smart-converter/id447513724?mt=12



There are a couple others in the store that you may want to try

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/total-video-converter-lite/id520374433?mt=12

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/video-converter-hd/id456486575?mt=12

I have both and both are generally pretty good. I have never tried mpg files, let alone files of that size, so I cannot say how well they will do. What are your Mac's Specs and what times are you getting on each (approximates would be useful).
 
Getting the raw mpg files off the Tivo is very easy. It's editing the commercials and converting it to mp4 that was giving me trouble. I ended up buying iSkysoft Video Converter, and it's made it much easier to do. The only feature I wish it had that it doesn't is project saving. I've had to go through the same movie a couple times to edit commercials after closing the application, then deciding to convert it to a different resolution.

I have a 2012 MacBook Air with the 1.8Ghz i5 and 8GB of RAM. To get a 2 hour (with commercials) mpg off the Tivo and decoded with kmttg takes around a half hour. Then converting that to a mp4 with iSkysoft Video Converter is around an hour. With Handbrake or Toast trying to convert the 2 hour movie would show 2-4 hours. I never ended up getting one to complete though.
 
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