Transferring saved content from DVR to Mac??

[Aniej]

I have a few programs on my DVR that I would like to transfer to my Mac so that I can save them because the current DVR I have is experiencing several problems and the cable provider is going to swap it out. Unfortunately, this means the content is going to go with it unless I do something about it. Fortunately, I will now get to learn a new Mac trick if someone is able to point me in the right direction as how to accomplish this.

FYI I did a brief search on this question both on here and google, only the latter of which provided any sort of answers. It appears that I will need a firewire, which is no problem, VLC play which is not a problem again. The instructions I found were pretty convoluted and a bit outdated (2004), which made me cautious and turn to my usual source of info.

 

[balamw]

Which DVR is it? Do you know for sure that it actually outputs on the Firewire port?

B

 

[Aniej]

Cable provider is Comcast and the DVR is by Motorola and has a dual tuner; I can't give you the exact model number of the DVR b/c it is all wired up and hard to access, but if it is critical I will find a way. Hopefully that helps narrow it down. I know for sure it has firewire, and based on what I have read, Comcast is one of the companies that typically leaves this enabled. Thanks for your quick reply.

 

[Aniej]

Balamw, any insight now that I gave you the details?

 

[balamw]

Sorry forgot to subscribe to the thread.


This might help: http://joshnichols.com/2007/02/17/rip-recorded-video-powerbook/

Seems like the DVR sends out MPEG encoded video, so you need to use third party software to capture it http://www.ammesset.com/irecord/ the usual tricks (MPEG streamclip) to convert that back to something you can use with iMovie.

B