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Automated TiVo to iPod formating
Berkana writes "PVR Wire reports that 'TVHarmony.com has released a new version of its AutoPilot software that supports converting TiVo-recorded shows into a format that's compatible with the new video iPod. It also works with Palm devices that can view video.
"The software automatically transfers, converts and stores your TV programming. You can select shows to be downloaded automatically, in the middle of the night if you like, and process the transfers into popular formats. AutoPilot keeps track of the shows you've already downloaded so you can transfer an entire TV series without duplicates.'
. . . in other words, one of the biggest gripes concerning the new iPod has been addressed."
I know the video ipod is the new hotness, but it should be noted that this will easily / automagically pull content from your tivo2go network connected TiVo and spit out PSP format video for you in batch jobs...
E.
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Videora ipod converter
Easy to use and very useful, free as in beer, check it out.
The AutoPilot software has a ComSkip option that you can turn on during the setup.
The gates in my computer are AND, OR and NOT; they are not Bill.
Cheers,
Ian
Caveats
To prevent copyright validations and to be consistent with Tivo's usage policy, these applications imprint your Tivo Media Access Key as a a watermark on your video which can be tracked back to your account in case of illegal duplication. To validate your media access key, the software must communicate with your Tivo prior to conversion.
So the tiny little screen on your iPod will be filled up with a legible Media Access Key because the author's don't trust end users. No thanks...
Strange women lying in ponds distributing swords is no basis for a system of government.
Moved MAK from watermark into invisibly encoded MAK directly into file.
Strange women lying in ponds distributing swords is no basis for a system of government.
unless i'm mistaken... there's kinda a neat common sense approach to "DRM" at work here. They take out the annoying/retarded .tivo DRM and make a standard mpeg2 (or whatever utility you use, i.e. psp/ipod/etc) BUT they embed your tivo MAK # as a small watermark. So you'll be less likely to spread your drm-less file all over the interweb, so to speak as it has some identifiable info on it (at least somwhere in a tivo database somewhere)
;)
I may be mistaken though, that's how it works with tivo2mpeg, i don't have a video ipod or played with the utily for the sake of spitting out quicktime
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I'm assuming that video iPods use some derivative of Quicktime, and Quicktime AFAIK has no DRM
You assume too much
Take off every sig. For great justice.
Ok, first off, DRM can be added to any compression or container format, and I wish people would get that through their heads and stop confusing the issue. Grand-Ogg-Tarkin or vorbis or MP3 or whatever could be encapsulated in DRM just as easily as WMA or AAC.
That said, the DRMed videos on the iTMS are in a MPEG-4 container file, which while very very similar to a quicktime movie, isn't quite the same thing. AFAIK, no one has made any Quicktime DRM software or movies with any real DRM (i.e. something more than setting a simple flag asking players not to allow saving in the metadata).
It appears the upcoming version of the software described in the post directly above yours should be exactly what you need.
You don't need a Tivo.
Go talk to your cable company and get them to provide you with an HD box, specifically the Motorola DCT6200. It has a FireWire port on the back of the box. It can be connected to your Mac and with one simple application (iRecord) you're able to record television to your hard drive with less compression (AFAICT) than a TiVo.
My favorite part: there is no DRM. You can use another application (VLC) to open the files and save them in whatever format you like, including the new iPod format. It's one of the most slick integrations of technology that Apple has yet to publicize. All you need is a firewire-enabled cable box, a recently-made Mac, a FireWire cable and you're good to go.
I'm not popular enough to be different.
Homer Simpson, The Simpsons
quicktime has the capability but not the necessity of DRM. I have happily encoded quite a lot of video, (from dvd's that I own) into quicktime movies that I can play without killing the battery fast.
I can play them anywhere. No 'translation' necessary. the only time DRM enters into the discussion at all is when you purchase something in the form of a file, and the vendor wishes to prevent you from making copies of that digital file.
It is not, and never has been, necessary to encode files for the iPod using any sort of DRM.
Are we all clear on this?
-- it's ridiculous how many people misspell ridiculous... (damn, damn, damn...)
Since not all the settings in the converter will give you iPod ready videos, I have typed out a quick tutorial.
"When the only tool you own is a hammer, every problem begins to resemble a nail." - Abraham Maslow (1908-1970)
You can use ffmpegx on the Mac to convert your Tivo togo files to iPod ready MPEG-4. It's free (as in beer) and is a great GUI for the ffmpeg app.
Here's a tutorial on using ffmpegx to create iPod ready videos (Link is not worksafe!)
"When the only tool you own is a hammer, every problem begins to resemble a nail." - Abraham Maslow (1908-1970)
Keep in mind that up until TivoToGo was released, TiVo offered full Mac support, and did it very well. There was, and still is compatibility with the latest version of Mac OS and Tivo Desktop which works great with iTunes and iPhoto. Maybe the fact that the CEO of TiVo is a Maccie has and the amount of support TiVo has had, as well as all the buy-out rumors through the years, may have lead many Mac users to consider buying a TiVo...as well as the fact that TiVos weren't compatible with *any* computer without hacking for quite some time.
I have eyeTV as well as eyeHome, and they work well for what they are, but there are huge advantages to TiVo, and what Mac users are complaining about is that the final bridge to compatibility is not something that would be that hard for TiVo to do. Of course, the blame may be just as much directed at Apple as to TiVo.
Not its purpose - I actually did this so that I could listen to BBC radio programmes on my iPod whilst commuting into work. To do offline conversion, look into ffmpegx and mencoder. You'll still need the descrambling hack for certain models installed as far as I'm aware though.
Cheers,
Ian