Did you try initiating a recording from the TV using AVCVideoCap? A stream format of "other/unknown" just means the device didn't respond to OUTPUT_PLUG_SIGNAL_FORMAT command (or responded wrong). You still may be able to select the device and start recording, even with this unknown stream format (the app defaults to assume mpeg for capture)

Also when you tried recording with VDVHS2, did the "IN" indicator light up green (on the app's main window)? If not, the TV didn't make a connection for its output, and therefore probably didn't start streaming. Does the TV have a way to initiate recordings using it's on-screen controls? Many do.

AVCVideoCap makes a connection to a device's output plug (which tells it to start outputting). VirtualDVHS expects the device to make a connection to the Mac's virtual input plug (to tell VDVHS to start listening). That's the main difference between the two application's recording models.
I pressed the ff,rr,play buttons on my remote and they all corresponded on the DVHS window that my tv brings up. The record button on my remote did nothing however. Additionally, I did not get a green light on the IN indicator. Maybe time to email LG. I will most likely get nowhere if not jeopordizing my warranty telling them I'm hooking up my mac to the TV.

I can't say for sure that this is the issue...

All I am saying is that it has been seen on Mitsubishi TV's.

Is your TV equipped with a cablecard? If not, you might try looking for a channel that has a limited number of subchannels, and try to record that one?

Here is a link to a short thread about our problems with the Mits TV's:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=610752

Notice the part about recording the weather channel in that thread...

My LG tv claims that it is compatable with JVC, Mits, and PANI DVHS decks. The IEEE ports are specifically for this purpose. It seems that there is no output signal being sent. I have two ports, maybe I'll try the other port.

When you plugged your mac into the Mits TV, could your TV initiate the recording? Or did you do it from VirtualDVHS (at least attempt to)?

I opened up VDVHS2 again and tried to record. No joy. I tried to record using the button on the program window as well as the record button on the TV's remote. No success. No green light on the VDVHS2 window. I then pushed the play button on the TV's remote and VDVHS2 responded by playing an empty file. The green OUT light also came on.

This tells me that the mac and the TV are definately talking. I'm just having trouble with data being sent from the TV to the mac. Back to the drawing board.

I should note that I was able to record with the TV's record controls and (if I recall correctly) with the manual recording controls of Virtual DVHS, also. I used the OLDER version, though...from the previous SDK (not the Tiger version). I think there were two versions in that SDK - one called VirtualDVHS and another called VirtualDVHS2. Can someone correct me here if I am mistaken?

I never used the AVC programs with the TV.

I will try it again with the newer VDVHS and see if it still works when I get a chance.

I tried to press and hold my record button on the TV's remote hoping there was a 2 or 3 second activation...no joy again. I tried each channel on the Recorder Input section of VDVHS again-no joy.

I should have disclosed this earlier, but when I first hooked up the fire wire cable to the TV, it did not seem to snap in very well (no, I did not put it the wrong way). It was very loose, and resulted in my mac not even recognizing the TV on the firewire bus. I thought that this was a cable problem, so I got a new cable. Same results. After I pushed and held the cable in, my computer recognized the TV and the TV saw the computer. I used some zipties and self-adhesive tabs to hold it in place and put the TV back on the wall.

Maybe the connection is just good enough to talk, but not good enough to transfer data? Does this sound plausible? The original cable was a Belkin, the second was a no-name from Best Buy. I tried to get what looked like the 'longest' connection. The other option was a Geek Squad brand with gold connectors. Maybe I should try a third cable. Any thoughts?

Oh, when using VirtualDVHS, what does the CONNECTIONS box in the RECORDER box say? Mine says "0". Should this say "1"?

This is the procedure I use to record from my Sharp LCD TV:

1) Tune the TV to an ATSC or CableCard channel (NOTE: it WILL NOT work with analog sources such as the NTSC tuner).

2) While watching the digital channel you wish to record, press the 1394 button on the remote.

3) The OSD for controlling the VDVHS should come up. Select the record button on the OSD using the remote.

4) Recording should start. The Green "IN" indicator on VDVHS should light up, and the transport should begin.

Are these the exact steps you are trying with your LG TV?

Alternatively, does your LG TV support a built-in TVGuide interactive program guide? Have you tried setting up a recording using this guide. Based on the manual for the LG TV I just downloaded, I believe you may be able to setup 1394 recordings using this guide (though support for DVHS recordings via the guide is not explicitly stated in the manual ). I have seen some HDTVs with ATSC tuners that let you setup recordings using a TVGuide program guide. Remember, though, as I mentioned before, recording to a FireWire VCR will only work with ATSC/CableCard digital tuner sources (since the TV has no way to MPEG-encode analog sources).

Bah, the Firewire port is still not enabled on my 6412, thanks Mediacom.

I got Comcast to finally come out and give me a CableCARD. The guy got to the house and said "Oh, its a Sharp. This won't work". I was at work, and told him to leave me the card and I would get it to work. Sure enough, I installed it in 30 seconds, called Comcast, and it worked a few hours later (I have a Sharp LC45GD7U)

Now that I have it working, I can record using AVCVideoCap, but not VDVHS2. The In light never lights up. The other problem I have, which I hope someone can help with, is that I do not get any of the channels < 119.

Thanks,
David.

I've got a $50 BB gift card burning a whole in my wallet and I can here the siren call of those new mac mini's. Before I shell out my hard earned clams on one of those, I thought I'd ask if it still even works. So...can you still record from your Moto cable box over an enabled firewire port?


-s

I haven't tried it in a few weeks, but it did back then, and nothing should have changed.

Moto 6412 III Comcast Chicago Nth Suburbs works like a charm - follow the links and use AVCVideoCap. Works like a charm - BUT, sometimes have to reset Moto, software quirk loses fast forward and sometimes scrambles code. Just pull the power cord and away you go. Add to this an EyeTV capture box and you would really rock. (I keep waiting for Apple version.)

... Works like a charm - BUT, sometimes have to reset Moto, software quirk loses fast forward and sometimes scrambles code. Just pull the power cord and away you go.
This always happens to me, although I am admittedly new to the process and have attempted only three recordings.

While my recordings from the Motorola 6412 Phase III are successful (manual recording using AVCbrowser 1.2 and Virtual DHVS 2.0, both from Firewire SDK21)*, I am ALWAYS forced to pull the plug on the 6412 to reset it due to the conditions you describe above.

This is highly annoying, as the 6412 loses all its programming information and takes more than two days to repopulate. (And it only goes out a maximum of four days in advance, which is a different annoyance that appears to be specific to my cable company. But it still takes two days to repopulate the four days ahead programming info).

If anyone has any advice on how to stop recording to the Mac and disconnect properly so that a complete reset of the 6412 is not required, I would be quite grateful for the tip.

*I see that instructions for recording have changed since the first page of this discussion thread :). I have yet to try AVCVideoCap.

I used AVCbrowser with my type II box (bothSDK 18 & 20) and it worked like a charm - now it doesn't (no matter what SDK). AVCVideoCap is a good program, but has limited use. You can only run one event at a time - can't link to iCal. I love it when I am copying OFF my DVR - then, you have exact timing from the 6412 and use AVCVideoCap for stop timing. Hope someone has a solution for us.

Hi Brent thanks to your instructions I was able to get a TV show recorded on my PVR cablebox and make a DVD I have not yet tried with a HD program but I will soon. The show I did get onto DVD was originally a digital signal and looks as good as it can on my TV but once I got it onto a DVD and played it I realized the picture quality was not very good at all. Have you found a way to make a DVD without sacrificing picture quality? I'm using AVC video cap to get the show off the cablebox via firewire and VLC to transcode it. Then I import it into imovie cut the commercials and export that to idvd add a title and burn a disc. So what can I do? Do I need a different program or is it not possible to get a better picture?

Thanks for any help

Hi Brent thanks to your instructions I was able to get a TV show recorded on my PVR cablebox and make a DVD I have not yet tried with a HD program but I will soon. The show I did get onto DVD was originally a digital signal and looks as good as it can on my TV but once I got it onto a DVD and played it I realized the picture quality was not very good at all. Have you found a way to make a DVD without sacrificing picture quality? I'm using AVC video cap to get the show off the cablebox via firewire and VLC to transcode it. Then I import it into imovie cut the commercials and export that to idvd add a title and burn a disc. So what can I do? Do I need a different program or is it not possible to get a better picture?

All I can think of is checking the VLC MPEG-4 transcoding settings. I had success at 1024. I found the DVD's picture quality to be nearly identical to the SD broadcast; that makes me think that your file may be too compressed.

All I can think of is checking the VLC MPEG-4 transcoding settings. I had success at 1024. I found the DVD's picture quality to be nearly identical to the SD broadcast; that makes me think that your file may be too compressed.
Hi Brent I have been trying to get a HD show transcoded but it fails every time have you been able to do it? I have not changed the settings in VLC (only used the ones you suggested so far). What do the settings mean anyway? Is it the speed that it transcodes? Or compression? The higher the number the more compressed/faster speed? Also is VLC the only way to do this that you know of? Maybe a different program would work better.

Thanks for any help

I used AVCbrowser with my type II box (bothSDK 18 & 20) and it worked like a charm - now it doesn't (no matter what SDK). AVCVideoCap is a good program, but has limited use. You can only run one event at a time - can't link to iCal. I love it when I am copying OFF my DVR - then, you have exact timing from the 6412 and use AVCVideoCap for stop timing. Hope someone has a solution for us.


have you tried the new iRecord?

BrentHD
Thank you for your easy to read directions on DVR to DVD capture.
Unfortunately, I am having a slight problem: no audio.
I can sucessfully capture video from my Moto 6412 using your instructions with AVCVideoCap on my PowerMac G5, but when I save it out with VLC's streaming wizard I get no audio when viewed in iMovie HD. The funny thing is that viewing the captured video in VLC has no audio either. Until I select audio channel 2 (default is none) then the audio is there. If, however, I use streaming wizard after this I still get no audio in iMovie.
Any ideas?

BTW, iRecord doesn't seem to work at all. :(

Hello all,
I am having trouble recording hdtv content from my motorola 6412 to my mac (powerbook 667 10.4.5 with firewire directly connected to computer). I am able to record via AVCVideoCap (SDK21) the appropriately sized file (i.e. about 130mb/minute recorded), but am unable to open via MPEG Streamclip or VLC (MPEG Streamclip gives an "unsupported file type" error). However, I am able to record SD content easily (about 23mb/minute recorded) and can view and transcode successfully with either MPEG Streamclip or VLC. Thinking it was my 667mhz powerbook, I tried with my 1.5ghz powerbook with the same (unsuccessful) results. I was able to successfully record hd content before switching out the powerbook's hard drive (too small for recording hd). It's not the hard drive's rpm as the one that actually worked (only 30gb) was only 4200rpm. I have never been able to get hd recording to work via a daisy chained system/external firewire drive. Any ideas?
Thanks for your replies,
Brian
[Edit]: HD recordings were via PBS and local HD streams to eliminate 5C as an issue (in response to post below)
[Edit 2]: I found a solution that I can't explain. I put my old hard drive (30gb 2.5" 4200rpm) into an enclosure and daisy chained it with the moto box. I can now record hd content to the external firewire drive but not the internal hard drive. Surely it doesn't matter what the pins are set to on the hard drive??

what channel? is 5c enabled in your area?

BTW, iRecord doesn't seem to work at all. :(
Delete all the recording devices in iRecord preferences and try rebooting the Mac and cycling the power on the STB with the firewire cable disconnected. Then plug in the firewire cable and see if iRecord sees the STB as a device in preferences. Even if there is no device listed in preferences, you can try to schedule a recording anyway and see if there's a device in the scheduler window. (I had to do this with the Intel iRecord beta.)

Also, make sure AVCBrowser is not running--even in background (if AVCBrowser is in the dock--no black triangle is showing.)

Hey guys,

I picked up an SA3250 with Firewire, which they finally provided about an hour after I requested it from TimeWarner Austin yesterday.

I simply want to record SA & HD programming, convert to a burnable format and burn to DVD.

I successfully recorded HD content & burned a DVD, but cannot record any SD channels.

I read through alot of the forums and think that TimeWarner is only allow HD content to be passed thru the firewire port and not SD.

Any ideas out there?

I hope this question has not already been addressed, but I'm stumped here.

The channel for the SA3250 is 0.

Delete all the recording devices in iRecord preferences and try rebooting the Mac and cycling the power on the STB with the firewire cable disconnected. Then plug in the firewire cable and see if iRecord sees the STB as a device in preferences. Even if there is no device listed in preferences, you can try to schedule a recording anyway and see if there's a device in the scheduler window. (I had to do this with the Intel iRecord beta.)

Also, make sure AVCBrowser is not running--even in background (if AVCBrowser is in the dock--no black triangle is showing.)

I'll try that calinb and get back to you.
Thanx
:)

hi all,

just a quick fyi, i was able to connect to my moto 6412 using sdk 21 from a dell inspiron 6000 hackintosh and to successfully capture and playback HD using VLC (universal build).

was also able to connect to my sony hdr-hc1 and to capture and playback HDV content using VLC.

was also able to connect to my sharp lc-45gx6u and playback via iLink with no problem.

cheers.

I have a motorola dual tuner 6412 and when I try to record, my m2t files are created. When I click stop... And check the file. The file size is Zero KB. And they will not play in VLC. I have tried recording on channel 0,1, and 65.

Any suggestions? I have not a clue.

Is anyone aware of software that allows you to watch programming over firewire (for example, from a Motorola 6412)?

I'm able to get Patrick Edson's VLC module (http://home.comcast.net/~macpvr/) working sometimes, but its buggy, picky and requires an earlier version of VLC. Is there a similar solution that is more stable and perhaps supports channel changing?

Thanks.

Not that I know of. A few people have asked questions about the source for that module, but I don't think anyone has posted any changes/fixes they may have made.

I was hoping some interested party would have the time I didn't to keep going on it, but so far no one has that I have seen.

Now that I think about it, there is another round-about way that I explored about 6 months ago. MythTV (http://www.mythtv.org/) supports connectivity over firewire to cable boxes including the 6412, and while the MythTV backend (which supports fw) does not support OS X, the front-end does. So one needs a linux box running the MythTV backend, and then you can stream video to your Mac MythTV front-ends over the network, even changing channels from the front-ends.

I got all of this working in a basic way with an earlier version of MythTV, but it was pretty flaky. They just released a new version, so maybe I'll give it another try.

I'm wondering if others have tried to archive off S-VHS content via their D-VHS with virtual D-VHS?

Does it work? I have some stashed JVC "S-VHS on VHS" mode tapes that I want to convert over to something else when Blu-ray is an option. I'm wondering if the Canopus (Analog->Dig) converter is still a better solution? That would be S-video/stereo content -> .dv -> H.264/Stereo versus S-VHS -> .mts. Obviously .dv is easier to edit, but is the quality going to be better via 1394 from the JVC D-VHS?

I'm wondering if others have tried to archive off S-VHS content via their D-VHS with virtual D-VHS?

Does it work? I have some stashed JVC "S-VHS on VHS" mode tapes that I want to convert over to something else when Blu-ray is an option. I'm wondering if the Canopus (Analog->Dig) converter is still a better solution? That would be S-video/stereo content -> .dv -> H.264/Stereo versus S-VHS -> .mts. Obviously .dv is easier to edit, but is the quality going to be better via 1394 from the JVC D-VHS?

Digitizing your S-video tapes as .dv retains the all the quality in your tapes. Whether you store them on dv tape or on a hard drive until you are ready to decide your next step (Blue ray etc. etc.) you will not only be able to edit easily but any conversions and compressions will preserve most of the values in the S video. By compressing S video today into H.264, a distribution codec, you reduce your control over quality and options. The same for mts, also a compression codec. I have been asked to convert many S-video tapes in preparation for later editing and distribution and that is why I suggest the S video to .dv as a best path. So exercise that Canopus. You will not regret it.

Thanks.

Is anyone aware of software that allows you to watch programming over firewire (for example, from a Motorola 6412)?

I'm able to get Patrick Edson's VLC module (http://home.comcast.net/~macpvr/) working sometimes, but its buggy, picky and requires an earlier version of VLC. Is there a similar solution that is more stable and perhaps supports channel changing?

The processs of recording via firewire is, in my experience, fraught with peril. iRecord has potential but the underlying code (I'm guessing it's based on Apple's examples such as avcvideocap) has mysterious issues, or perhaps it's just my PVR, an SA 8300HD.

For example, avcvideocap has consistently rebooted my PVR for me after a couple of minutes, in fact it's messed it up so badly that even pulling the plug for 30 seconds doesn't reliably bring it back to life (or it confused TW's systems back it TW HQ, or whatever)... maybe it's buggy code in the 8300, since Time Warner doesn't officially support the 1394 ports, maybe TW is sending the Packet of Death to thwart my efforts, who knows?

Oh, and I have a new Intel Mac, too, maybe that's throwing something into the mix.

I know some people on here are getting it to work, and I have hope that someday it'll work for me, and of course YMMV... We're talking major, major flakey here.

Try the newest iRecord, there's a link to it on the page you got the VLC module from; it does support changing channels on a couple devices, the 8300 among them.

Good Luck,

Dave

Digitizing your S-video tapes as .dv retains the all the quality in your tapes. Whether you store them on dv tape or on a hard drive until you are ready to decide your next step (Blue ray etc. etc.) you will not only be able to edit easily but any conversions and compressions will preserve most of the values in the S video. By compressing S video today into H.264, a distribution codec, you reduce your control over quality and options. The same for mts, also a compression codec. I have been asked to convert many S-video tapes in preparation for later editing and distribution and that is why I suggest the S video to .dv as a best path. So exercise that Canopus. You will not regret it.

I'm not posting this to be in anyway argumentative, just to ask your opinion and the opinions on the other smart people around these parts. There are two nice things about the DVHS-VDVHS method: (1) you end up with a MPEG-TS that I would think would be more compatible with the MPEG on Blu-Ray, not requiring further transcoding, (2) coming from the DVHS's firewire, the conversion to digital is being done internally, thus eliminating quality losses associated with cabling and such, and (3) I dunno about anybody else, but my 5U has the most gorgeous SVHS picture I've ever seen, and I'd be surprised if you can match it with any other deck's S-video output.

IIRC, the DV will have a somewhat higher bitrate than the DVHS's internally generated TS file, which is a good thing for picture quality. But for the purpose at hand, is there not something to be said for both methods?

I heartily agree that the quality loss from both mts and H.264 would make this whole discussion moot, and should not even be considered.

Perhaps a short A/B test of both methods is in order? Sadly, I have no Canopus.

I have several files recorded in my Moto 6412 DVR which I would like to get to my Mac (my CableCard is messed up lately and has switched HBO for NBC on channel 703 so I record Earl on the 6412 DVR).

I have tried using AVCVideoCap to record the saved programs after I play them on the DVR, but that results in a file that nothing can read.

Any pointers would be greatly appreciated.

David.

I have tried using AVCVideoCap to record the saved programs after I play them on the DVR, but that results in a file that nothing can read.

Read posts 1162, 1175, 1180, and 1193. You need more than just AVCVideoCap to replay - either VLC or MPEG Streamclip. Using the latter (and maybe the former, but I'm not as familiar with it) you can convert the captured .ts file to a file recognizable by Quicktime.

Sorry to ask this but I am a noob to Mac! I have read the posts but it seems that most of this is written for users that are familiar with the Mac…I have always been a PC person and I am trying to pass on to the other side. I can capture fine with my M$ PC from my Mits 2000U and SA3250 but I understand from my reading that the Mac is better (I have known that it is better from an engineering and video standpoint for years) so finally am giving it a try.

I am fluent in PC but I just got an iMac G3 with 10.3. I downloaded SDK21 and installed it…even though it said that I should have the developer tools installed first!? I thought the SDK was the developer tools. I did not install the Xcode tools first…should I have?

If I try to run AVCVideoCap, it looks like it opens then it hits the bar and goes away.

Please help the lame!

since you never installed the Dev tools, you need to install the extra package for 10.3.9 that comes with the SDK

also make sure you updated to 10.3.9

I have several files recorded in my Moto 6412 DVR which I would like to get to my Mac (my CableCard is messed up lately and has switched HBO for NBC on channel 703 so I record Earl on the 6412 DVR).

I have tried using AVCVideoCap to record the saved programs after I play them on the DVR, but that results in a file that nothing can read.

Any pointers would be greatly appreciated.

David.

If you have a DV videocam use it to digitize the S video output from your STB and capture the video in QT, iMovie, or FCP. The you can turn the resulting DV file into a very nice DVD.
It is likely that the material on your DVR's drive is encrypted.

[/QUOTE]I am fluent in PC but I just got an iMac G3 with 10.3.Note the previous comments but don't expect much from an iMac G3 all-in-one these days. You might get fairly decent DVD playback but definitely no more.

since you never installed the Dev tools, you need to install the extra package for 10.3.9 that comes with the SDK

also make sure you updated to 10.3.9

Thanks for the help but I have no clue what "install the extra package" means...is there a name for the extra pacakage?

Steps on how to install the SDK after a fresh OS install?

since you never installed the Dev tools, you need to install the extra package for 10.3.9 that comes with the SDK

also make sure you updated to 10.3.9

Thanks for the help but I have no clue what "install the extra package" means...is there a name for the extra pacakage?

Steps on how to install the SDK after a fresh OS install?

Note the previous comments but don't expect much from an iMac G3 all-in-one these days. You might get fairly decent DVD playback but definitely no more.[/QUOTE]


I thought that I read that this model would be good enough for capture from my firewire devices? I know that playback would have some problems but I just want to be able to capture, move it to my PC and continue from there.....should work right?

OK....AVCvideoCap is running now....it sees my DVR2160 and identifies the stream as the mpeg2-ts but the "capture from device" is greyed out....what am I missing now?

OK....AVCvideoCap is running now....it sees my DVR2160 and identifies the stream as the mpeg2-ts but the "capture from device" is greyed out....what am I missing now?

Did you click on the device-name in the list to select it?

I thought that I read that this model would be good enough for capture from my firewire devices? I know that playback would have some problems but I just want to be able to capture, move it to my PC and continue from there.....should work right?My apologies for being unclear, you should be borderline ok for HD recording with a 400Mhz iMac DV but forget about playback.

Did you click on the device-name in the list to select it?

Yes I did click on it....but my question is does the DVR2160 need to be playing somthing before I can start the capture? Currently it is downstairs next to the Mac and not with my Mits...I'm thinking that if I move the Mac upstairs and connect all three and have the Mits start playback on the DVR then it will be streaming and then I can capture. Guess I was thinking that the AVCvideoCap may be able to control the DVR....

Thanks all and rcliff....yea this is a 500Mhz and I do only need it for capture and do the rest on the PC.... Mac setup...if the above works...is much easier than the capture with the PC!

Has anyone converted the m2t files into something that can be played back by QuickTime? I know there are a number of formats and tools that could be used to do this. I tried MPEG StreamClip and while it worked for a 58 minute m2t file converting to H.264 on my 1Ghz Powerbook G4 after 6.5 hours it had only made it 56%. I gave up on that.

I know I can playback the m2t files in VLC but I would like to build a library of shows and clips from shows like SNL in HD and I would like to same some disk space but more important I want to be able to use Front Row to playback the content. Any ideas?

Has anyone converted the m2t files into something that can be played back by QuickTime? I know there are a number of formats and tools that could be used to do this. I tried MPEG StreamClip and while it worked for a 58 minute m2t file converting to H.264 on my 1Ghz Powerbook G4 after 6.5 hours it had only made it 56%. I gave up on that.

I know I can playback the m2t files in VLC but I would like to build a library of shows and clips from shows like SNL in HD and I would like to same some disk space but more important I want to be able to use Front Row to playback the content. Any ideas?

do you have the mpeg2 playback plugin for quicktime? its like 29$ I think.

Just be careful with Quicktime plug-ins. I hear that they are only valid for the current version of QT - if Apple releases a new version and you install it, you have to buy a new version of the plug-in as well.
I've used MPEG Streamclip, but primarily to convert files for burning on to DVD (so I don't need as high a resolution), but I don't recall it taking nearly that long. I do have a G5 with 1GB of RAM, so that may help.

I have the QT MPEG2 plug-in, that's required by MPEG StreamClip. QT won't open the m2t files with the MPEG2 plug-in. Perhaps I'm doing it wrong but it doesn't seem to like them. I'm sure my poor PowerBook G4 is rather slow at converting HD content to H.264, I'm sure an Intel Mac or something with a G5 would speed things up. I was thinking of building a system that would consist of my older G4 tower in the backend recording shows from the Comcast box to a bunch of larger HDs that I'll scrape together. Actually I have (1) 250 GB drive right now that I was thinking about using for the task. Then I was planing to buy a new Intel Dual Core Mac Mini for the front end and hook it to my HP md5880 with a DVI to HDMI cable. I was planing to "stream" the content from the G4 over the home network to the Mini.

I don't know if Front Row will look in any other directory than "Movies" for content but I thought I could trick it into using a network drive by using a symbolic link.

broodwich-

Sounds like you should check out the EyeTV 500 (or 2 or 3). It makes a setup like that sooo much nicer.

And you don't need symbolic links to fool Front Row, regular old aliases work. I just have an alias of a huge folder on my NAS in my movies folder...

Z

I have the QT MPEG2 plug-in, that's required by MPEG StreamClip. QT won't open the m2t files with the MPEG2 plug-in. Perhaps I'm doing it wrong but it doesn't seem to like them.

Repeat after me...there is NO WAY to open .m2t or .ts files with QT without converting them to another codec first...The QT MPEG2 plug-in was originally designed for DVD playback and authoring. .m2t and .ts files and all ATSC files are not supported by QT and probably will NEVER be.

I have the QT MPEG2 plug-in, that's required by MPEG StreamClip. QT won't open the m2t files with the MPEG2 plug-in. Perhaps I'm doing it wrong but it doesn't seem to like them.

If you have the plugin, use MPEG StreamClip to open the MPEG-TS file and choose Convert to MPEG. This will convert to an MPEG program stream. It doesn't re-encode, just repacket, so it is fast. Then, QuickTime with the MPEG plugin will open the program stream.

If the audio in the original stream was ac3, QuickTime won't play the audio though. You can either take a few more steps to convert the audio as well, or just play either the original transport stream or program stream in something like VLC.

I have been experimenting with my Mini, trying to capture program streams from two Moto 6412s.
I down loaded iRECORD which seems to see both 6412. Last night with one attached I seemed to be getting a stream and it was saving to the drive. Most importantly, it could be played back using VLC.

Today I added a firewire hub to get enough ports for both DVRs. Now I can not get a file that will play back. VLC returns error messages when I try to play the files. Some show 0KB others 100+ meg.

This is frustrating.

Any suggestions?

Thanks

I have been experimenting with my Mini, trying to capture program streams from two Moto 6412s.
I down loaded iRECORD which seems to see both 6412. Last night with one attached I seemed to be getting a stream and it was saving to the drive. Most importantly, it could be played back using VLC.

Today I added a firewire hub to get enough ports for both DVRs. Now I can not get a file that will play back. VLC returns error messages when I try to play the files. Some show 0KB others 100+ meg.

This is frustrating.

Any suggestions?

Thanks

The mini and other Apple computers have a single FW bus supporting all the ports. So the hub is merely feeding one bus torrents of data. You have discovered one of the drawbacks of the mini. Unlike Powermacs, you have little room to expand. You need to add a PCI card that is FW to create a second bus. The (video) stream is actually two way (queries and tags) so unlike a "simple" write to disk say for text,graphics, math, etc, data are going to and from the mini if they are going at all. The single FW bus can handle one video source(device) but struggles with two devices.

I am very impressed with all of the progress this Thread has taken! I just got into the whole Video editing stuff, and Capturing HD is a new thing to me. In 2 days, I am getting a Moto 6012, which has firewires on it. I have all of the Sdk apps installed, Irecord, and Avc Browser.. Is there anything else that i may need, That may work better with my DCT? Im talkin about applications... or whatever may be necessary.

I Am currently running a G5 Dual 2.5, 1.5 gig ram, and the 2 open firewire ports.. Will those specs be able to cap from the box? I also have 500 gigs of hardd space, so i think in that way i will be alright. BTW, How many megs of data a second does Irecord or Vdvhs record at? Any help would be much appreciated!


Thanks, Haloplaya

I have been experimenting with my Mini, trying to capture program streams from two Moto 6412s.
I down loaded iRECORD which seems to see both 6412. Last night with one attached I seemed to be getting a stream and it was saving to the drive. Most importantly, it could be played back using VLC.

Today I added a firewire hub to get enough ports for both DVRs. Now I can not get a file that will play back. VLC returns error messages when I try to play the files. Some show 0KB others 100+ meg.

This is frustrating.

Any suggestions?

Thanks

The Motorola STBs do not like to be connected to hubs. Have you tried daisy-chaining the STBs instead of using a hub?

Interesting about the Firewire bus and the Hub.

I tried daisy chaining the two 6412s with the Mini.
That seems to work. Captured 5 minutes similtaniously from each this morning SD.

Just set up iRECORD to do two half hour shows in HD this evening -- one from each box. We'll see how that goes.

This naturally raises the quesiton about adding external hard drive. I had thought it would be FireWire connection. Does that still make sense?

The chain would be 6412 <-> 6412 <-> HDrive <-> Mini.

DTW does anyone know of a way to rename the devices in iRECORD? I see two 6412 listings. I would naturally like to differenciate them.

Thanks for the earlier advice it seems to have worked. More to come :)

Interesting about the Firewire bus and the Hub.

I tried daisy chaining the two 6412s with the Mini.
That seems to work. Captured 5 minutes similtaniously from each this morning SD.

Just set up iRECORD to do two half hour shows in HD this evening -- one from each box. We'll see how that goes.

This naturally raises the quesiton about adding external hard drive. I had thought it would be FireWire connection. Does that still make sense?

The chain would be 6412 <-> 6412 <-> HDrive <-> Mini.

DTW does anyone know of a way to rename the devices in iRECORD? I see two 6412 listings. I would naturally like to differenciate them.

Thanks for the earlier advice it seems to have worked. More to come :)

That you can daisy chain STBs is great for you. My STB (dual tuners) requests flags and time code ( which do not exist) and receives a null from my OS. The video stream apparently looks like any one way data flow to your drive so it is likely you can direct the capture to a FW (internal or external) drive sharing the same bus. I use a variety of FW input devices and have installed a large internal drive (SATA) for media capture to avoid traffic conflicts among them along with a PCI card for a second FW bus.

DTW does anyone know of a way to rename the devices in iRECORD? I see two 6412 listings. I would naturally like to differenciate them.


You can't. I might be able to get something into this week's update for you.

Thanks kaadray.
(thought I had sent this earlier wonder what happened)

Anyway got home and found that one show had not recorded. Seems I goofed and set the timer for 6:30a 3/29 rather than 6:30p. Sure would be nice if iRECORD was smart enough to tell us that we are attempting to set a time that is past.

Will set it up again for a dual HD recording.

It appears that the recording works fine. The play back leaves something to be desired but that I imagine is due to the processor and minimum video ram in the MINI.

DMW

Thanks for the detailed instructions brent.

First time mac user, bought a dual core mini. Had the first episode of the sopranos in HD on the 6412. Played it back and captured great. Large file though, 6.5 gigs. VLC works like a champ. Now just contemplating buying eye tv500.

Anyone recommend an external hard drive? Does the cache matter, as I have seen 2mb and 8mb? Firewire vs. USB 2.0? Thanks!

Kellen

Kellen,
Sounds like the video resources and processor on the Core Duo make a difference playing back HD. My 1.42G Mini has a hard time and just can't keep up.

As for the drive, faster RPM, and buffer mean better performance. I would say as long as you equal the specs on the internal drive and use FW everything should work OK. Not sure about USB. I know a techy who really knows MACs, he hardly ever says USB, everything is FW. Wonder if that means anything? :) LaCie has always been slanted toward MAC, but probably any of them will work.

DMW

Anyone recommend an external hard drive? Does the cache matter, as I have seen 2mb and 8mb? Firewire vs. USB 2.0? Thanks!
My choice would be to buy a external enclosure with Firewire and USB 2.0 and then buy a hard drive on sale to go with it. Look for an enclosure that uses the Oxford firewire bridge chipset. I like these Rosewill enclosures (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817173004R) myself.

I just looked at the two test recordings I programmed in iRECORD last night. Both were completed.

Thus I can record from two 6412s that are daisy chained to the Mini using iRECORD. The only thing left to confirm is if an external drive on the same chain can be used.

Thanks for the tip about the chip set for the enclosures. There are some available that will hold multiple drives.

Now the only issue is a playback method. Has anyone had luck with the Roku or another media player?

DMW

Sure would be nice if iRECORD was smart enough to tell us that we are attempting to set a time that is past.

Sorry about that - I have that marked in my code to change, but didn't include it in the version you downloaded.

Now the only issue is a playback method. Has anyone had luck with the Roku or another media player?

I have the Roku. It is passable if you are going to sit and watch a show to completion, and aren't picky about skipping commercials (since skip/ff/rw is kind of iffy in the software players), but doesn't make for a DVR-type experience (watch part of a program, come back later and pick up where you left off easily, skip commercials) in my opinion. The device had potential, but the software never really caught up to the hardware.

If you setting up multiple cable boxes over FireWire and recording to your computer, you'd do fine with the Roku. If you have others in the household who are less technically inclined, they might find it burdensome.

So the Roku plays the m2t streams that are being saved from the STB?

skipping commercials, either by ff or another method is the primary motive behind all this.

We have had Tivo since it first came out. I can not remember the last time I watched a TV program in real time.

Looking forward to you next iteration of iRECORD.

DMW

The Roku does play the transport streams, and you can do basic skips forward and backward, but it is primitive. If you are used to skipping around in Tivo you will be pained by the experience on the Roku :eek:

I just got my MOTO 6200 installed yesterday, and have successfully captured local HD shows. I used AvcVideoCap, and it was the only thing that workd. Irecord just wont record, and VirtualHDVHS I dont get how to work AT ALL! I want to be able to record Uncompressed HD if possible... If anyone could please help me, Maybe by a PM, I would Very much appreciate it!

Thanks, Haloplaya

Seems like one thing works and another doesn't.

I just installed a 250G external hard drive (Compusa has a special $99.00 -- ends 4-1-06)

Its the acomdata external.

Anyway, have it connected to the computer with the two STBs chained to it. I can record from one STB, the one attached to the drive. The other one does not respond.

Before installing the drive I could record from the two STBs.

I have 10 ft FW cables between the drive and the STB with another 10 Ft between the two STBs. That may be a problem.

More to come.

DMW

Yes I did click on it....but my question is does the DVR2160 need to be playing somthing before I can start the capture? Currently it is downstairs next to the Mac and not with my Mits...I'm thinking that if I move the Mac upstairs and connect all three and have the Mits start playback on the DVR then it will be streaming and then I can capture. Guess I was thinking that the AVCvideoCap may be able to control the DVR....

Thanks all and rcliff....yea this is a 500Mhz and I do only need it for capture and do the rest on the PC.... Mac setup...if the above works...is much easier than the capture with the PC!


Quoting myself?

I'm back...finally got a chance to connect the Mac to the Mits/SA3250/DVHS2000u/DVR2160. Now it seems that I still have the same problem. I open AVCvideoCap and all devices seem available to capture from but the DVR2160 is still greyed out. I did try a test capture from the SA3250 and it captured and then I tried a playback to the Mits....looks great! Anyone with some help to get the DVR...Un-greyed?

Wow, what a great thread! Following the instructions I have been able to record and playback HD content directly from a tuned cable channel. What worked best for me on my Intel Duo Imac was AVCVideoCap to record a HD channel. For playback to my KD34XBR960N TV I am using the latest universal version of VirtualDVHS.

One thing I have not figured out how to do, and really hope someone can help. How do I convert quicktime .mov files that I download to my Mac to .m2t so I can play them on my TV over the firewire cable?

I got as far as running a HD .mov file thru VLC encapsulation to Mpeg TS, rename the .mov file extension to .m2t. After playback it will start streaming in the VirtualDVHS stats drawer. The picture in iLink remains black and shows no content???

I sure hope there is a way this can be done.

Help with DVR capture....adding more info...

I have noticed in the AVCvideoCap the DVR shows other whereas the SA3250 shows Tuner; the DVHS shows Tape....please....anyhelp?

Well I managed to get everything hosed.
Now iRECORD will not record from the 6412, it would only record from one when daisy chained trough the hard drive.

Now, after trying various configurations to try to get things working I have managed to get it so iRECORD will not start a recording session even though the MINI is connected to only 1 6412 and no hard drive in the daisy chain.

Also, iRECORD still shows two 6412 even though one is removed.

This has gone from pleasently encouraging to highly frustrating in less than 24 hours.

HELP

DMW

iRecord can be a little difficult at times. Try deleting your iRecord prefs and the iRecord folder in ~/Library/Application Support to give yourself a fresh start. You will lose all your scheduled recordings and settings, of course. If that doesn't work, maybe a reboot of your computer and/or the STBs could solve the problem.

I've seen that sometimes iRecord will stop working with my SA 3250HD while AVC Browser Enhanced will still function. There doesn't seem to be any identifiable reason for it, but the above steps always solve it.

Cleaning out the pref and other items seems to have done the trick.

I recorded a snipit by scheduling with a channel change.

Then I recorded a snipit from a program saved on the DVR using channel 000.

Cleaning out the pref and other items seems to have done the trick.

I recorded a snipit by scheduling with a channel change.

Then I recorded a snipit from a program saved on the DVR using channel 000.
I just finished recording the whole program to see what the file size is and also to see what the play back options are going to be.

More to come

David

Update:
This morning I have been rearranging things on my network. Moved the NAS onto the switch with the Mini and my wife's XP desktop.

I then transfered the HD program file to the NAS and played it with VLC and Windows Media 10 on the XP machine. Renamed the file with a TS ext. to get Media Player to see it.

Good play back -- some interlace artifacts but not too bad.

Now to try to figure out how to play back from the NAS to the DCT6412.

Anyone with success there using virtualDVHS. It's interface is a mystery to me.

DMW

So is there still no definitive way to edit the commercials from the .ts files capped from the firewire cable box?

Searched thru the thread and couldnt find someone who could say for sure that they had a way to do it.

So is there still no definitive way to edit the commercials from the .ts files capped from the firewire cable box?

Searched thru the thread and couldnt find someone who could say for sure that they had a way to do it.

I believe this topic has been discussed several times. Download the free application
MPEGSTREAMCLIP ( search for a download source). Be sure to carefully read the supporting documentation. This application can handle crude trims and the like, but its real power is the ability to handle and convert a variety of codecs. Keep in mind that you are dealing with a highly compressed codec, not intended for real "editing" so you should expect only to be able to slice and dice and play back the resulting ts (m2t file). You may also need to purchase the Mpeg Playback component from Apple to playback in MPEGStream clip.

I believe this topic has been discussed several times. Download the free application
MPEGSTREAMCLIP ( search for a download source). Be sure to carefully read the supporting documentation. This application can handle crude trims and the like, but its real power is the ability to handle and convert a variety of codecs. Keep in mind that you are dealing with a highly compressed codec, not intended for real "editing" so you should expect only to be able to slice and dice and play back the resulting ts (m2t file). You may also need to purchase the Mpeg Playback component from Apple to playback in MPEGStream clip.


I already tried mpegstreamclip. I followed the instructions of another poster, using the "in" and "out" functions to cut the part of the ts, i want, then saved that file, i then did it again as a test, but when i rejoined the two files by opening both, and then saving it, you could clearly see where the cut was made. It wasnt smooth at all, very jerky at that point etc.

Maybe im doing it wrong. Have you used the program and been able to get it to rejoin the .ts stream w/out you being able to tell where the cut was made. Like i said, when i did, it, at the join, the file got jerky and the sound cut out for like a sec or two.

I've read through most of this thread, and used the search feature, so if this is a repeat I apologize, but I really did make an effort to research my question first.

I just got a Blue and White (looks more like turquoise or aqua to me) rev 2 G3.

I installed OSX 10.3 last night.

I installed Firewire SDK 20.

I did not do any other upgrades.

I hooked up my JVC 40K DVHS deck to the built in firewire ports.

Created a folder on the desktop and dragged and dropped it onto the VirtualDVHS application in the finder.

I got the "please reboot screen" (and I've read that others experienced this as well).

I installed a PCI firewire card.

Hooked up the JVC 40K to that card.

Same result with VirtualDVHS (reboot screen).

I then tried using DVHSCap.

DVHS cap enabled me to capture from my JVC 40K, which seemed promising.

I used the option to export the file to the JVC 40K and the image displayed on the 40K was perfect.

I pressed record on the JVC 40K and let it run for a few minutes.

I stopped the recording, and played it back on the JVC 40K.

The recording had lots of pixelation (which was not evident on the image exported to the 40K).

This is the same exact result I got when using my Windows XP PC with capDVHS.

I saw a few people had questions about the B&W G3's, and I can say for certain that VirtualDVHS does NOT work on rev2 G3's, with or without a 3rd party firewire card.

Please keep in mind I've been using macs for a total of about 1 hour now, so I am have no real experience with them.

Does anyone have a solution for the problems I am having?

And has anyone successfully recorded a file streamed from any mac G3 to a dvhs deck?

Thanks,

Don't create two files and rejoin, trim out the part you don't want. Most of the time a program fades to some color going to commercial, typically black, and fades back in. Get near a fade point on either side of the commercial and use the up/down arrows to jump between keypoints. Set in at the start of the commercials, out at the end, and then cut it or trim it. Cut out all the commcercials and then Export to MPEG if you want to avoid reencoding, or something else if you are going to reencode.

Usually you can find a key in a good place (pure black screen w/no sound), but as lpfactor alluded to, the transport streams can have 15-20 frames between keys so sometimes you are going to get part of the first commcerial starting or part of the last commercial ending, or otherwise you'll have to cut a few frames of the program if you want absolutely zero commcerials.

If you do it in the black, the transition will generally be "smooth", but you end up with < 30 frames between segments of the show so going from part 1 of the show to part 2, skipping the commcercials, is still going to be a little jarring because you're looking at less then 1 second to make the jump.

How about using EyeTV to edit? Is there a way to fool it into accepting a file produced by iRecord? Then you would be able to use elgato's excellent and simple editing and exporting interface.

People, people, people...quit making your life so hard trying to edit out commercials on your Mac. Go to Craiglist, Garage sales, Swap Meets, Goodwill (my favorite) and buy yourself a $25-50 PC and download H2M and you will have virtual flawless commercial edits.

I have used a PII and it ran smoothly...H2M is not a CPU hog so any old PC will do....you will not believe how simpler your life will be.

It's never taken me more than a minute or two to edit commercials out of a half hour or hour show with MPEGStreamClip, and have files that play fine. I tried to give a detailed explanation since I wasn't sure of the poster's degree of familiarity with the program, but ultimately the process is trivial on the Mac as well.

It's never taken me more than a minute or two to edit commercials out of a half hour or hour show with MPEGStreamClip, and have files that play fine. I tried to give a detailed explanation since I wasn't sure of the poster's degree of familiarity with the program, but ultimately the process is trivial on the Mac as well.

Does it handle AC3 and leave it untouched in .ts format? Does it handle multi-cast streams and allow you pick which stream to handle? How about multiple audio streams? Does it give you an option of splitting into any size chunks? Does it scan for commercials break to speed up editing?

And the big one...can it do that for free (without paying for the Apple MPEG2 add-on)?

Does it handle AC3 and leave it untouched in .ts format?
Yes.


Does it handle multi-cast streams and allow you pick which stream to handle?

I don't know - the ones I record are not multicast.


How about multiple audio streams?

Yes


Does it give you an option of splitting into any size chunks?

Chunks of what? TS packets are 188 bytes. You trim on an existing keyframe boundary if you don't want to reencode. Is there a different way you are looking to chunk it? In general you can pick whatever fraction of the stream you want.


Does it scan for commercials break to speed up editing?

Not that I know of, but I have to admit I haven't really looked. When you do it enough, there is a certain rhythm to the commercial timing so you don't really need to try that hard.

And the big one...can it do that for free (without paying for the Apple MPEG2 add-on)?
The MPEG component costs less than the price you quoted above for picking up an extra PC to do this (and takes up less space ;) ).

Obviously there are tools on the PC to do it as well. I'm just not as quick to give up on using the same machine to record and edit, depending on your needs and requirements.

[QUOTE]Obviously there are tools on the PC to do it as well. I'm just not as quick to give up on using the same machine to record and edit, depending on your needs and requirements.

My results in using MPEGSTREAMCLIP to slice and dice are the same as described by Kaadray and Kaadray's technique of working with the "fade to black" is strongly recommended mainly because it works. In my case, I see no reason to get yet another piece of iron (Wintel) involved in what often can be addressed by simply using fast-forward while watching. I thank Kaadray for patiently describing how do do slice and dice the right way.

MPEGstreamclip certainly allows for basic editing, but I agree with the posting saying that if there was anyway to get the file into EyeTV, the editing could be much more precise.

I'ld be happy even to have MPEGstreamclip transcode to a different file format, just to get the file into EyeTV.

For advanced editing of files captured from a Motorola 6412 via firewire, what would be the best solution (or set of solutions) for accomplishing the following...

edi out commercials
fade to black for a couple seconds
add DVD chapter stops at breaks or other logical places
burn to DVD

Can iMovie and iDVD do all this? Do I just reencode with MPEG Streamclip first? to Quicktime? or some other format?

For advanced editing of files captured from a Motorola 6412 via firewire, what would be the best solution (or set of solutions) for accomplishing the following...

edi out commercials
fade to black for a couple seconds
add DVD chapter stops at breaks or other logical places
burn to DVD

Can iMovie and iDVD do all this? Do I just reencode with MPEG Streamclip first? to Quicktime? or some other format?

The m2t format is highly compressed and not actually suitable for editing. To edit in iMovie or FCP one would have to first convert "up" the m2t stream to another codec, resulting in a serious loss of video quality, worse for example than what comes out of composite video. Once in a format that iMovie can handle for basically slicing, cutting, and pasting, you would then have to compress to make the DVD. The losses there are quite great. So there is nothing "advanced" in this flow. Try it out on a short set and see if you like what you see. If your aim is to slice, cut, and paste on somerthing that is worth watching why not capture the video and audio out onto DV tape as you play the stream and then use that as your starting material for iMovie. It will not be HD perfect but the video quality can approach the original more closely than all the compression by moving from one distribution codec to another.You can add chapters etc.
Or, as has been suggested use MPEGSTREAMCLIP on your m2t files very carefully for the best result and cut and paste. See KAADRAY's excellent post for how to do this. MPEGSTREAMCLIP does not support very much and you cannot do chapter insertions.

I should have mentioned that I'm working with SD programs that I captured from the 6412, not HD programs.

m2t is just MPEG-2 in a transport stream, right? I was expecting I could use MPEG Streamclip to strip the MPEG-2 bitstream out and place the raw MPEG-2 into a different container that iMovie would recognize. From your post, it appears that this is not possible with iMovie. Can FCP Express handle MPEG-2 editing without reencoding?

When working with HD files, what software can handle the native MPEG-2 stream? Final Cut Pro?

I should have mentioned that I'm working with SD programs that I captured from the 6412, not HD programs.

m2t is just MPEG-2 in a transport stream, right? I was expecting I could use MPEG Streamclip to strip the MPEG-2 bitstream out and place the raw MPEG-2 into a different container that iMovie would recognize. From your post, it appears that this is not possible with iMovie. Can FCP Express handle MPEG-2 editing without reencoding?

When working with HD files, what software can handle the native MPEG-2 stream? Final Cut Pro?

m2t is m2t and it does not matter whether you are streaming SD or any def. Mpegstreamclip transcodes, but in doing so you still dealing with a compressed file with different "handles" on it. MPEGSTREAMCLIP will convert your stream to Quicktime DV but that just gives you a Quicktime movie from compressed material and the losses in video from compressed cannot be recovered and thus when you open the QT file and see it on your video monitor you can decide for yourself if it worth the effort. FCP is a video editing application and will not accept distribution formats. You can convert your m2t stream with MPEGSTREAMCLIP to QT DV NTSC (example) and just as in iMovie FCP will handle it, but you must be prepared for inferior video. Garbage in, garbage out. Mpeg-2 is (compression) codec for DVD distribution, yes. The same principles apply.

I'm confused. Where does the picture quality loss come in? I thought you could transcode and extract the MPEG-2 stream from a m2t file and get a bit-perfect copy of the original MPEG-2 stream in a new container file. Are you saying the quality loss comes from extracting the MPEG-2 stream in transcoding or are you saying that the quality loss comes in when editing?

In particular, I thought transcoding to QT DV meant just taking the raw MPEG-2 stream and packaging the exact same bitstream (with no loss of quality) in a new container file. Is this wrong?

If the quality loss comes from editing, I can understand how you might get artifacts from making edits that cut out I-frames, but I don't know enough to understand how this gets handled in iMovie or FCP. Does it convert to Apple Intermediate Codec (something I've seen mentioned a few times) in order to edit and the conversion loss comes in there?

Thanks for hanging with me here - I really want to produce the highest quality DVD that I can from some captured video and I want to make sure I do this right the first time.

The vulnerability to loss occurs first when you display the "trans-coded" stream to "edit" it. There is no mechanism to interpolate the transcoded version. The resulting video suffers loss. After slicing and pasting ,you then have to compress again to reduce the file size to fit onto a DVD (4.5- 8.5 GB). The file size may be larger but the amount of quality data has declined. To make the DVD, more "pixels" are thrown out and what makes the situation worse, the amount of bits and data about color,including chroma,that had already been reduced, now suffers even greater loss since there are fewer "reference" data points.

It is my opinion that the time invested in the process is not satisfying for me. The video looks awful compared to the edited version that results from a capture from the analog signal(displayed) generated by the stream, which is digitized into an "acceptable" DV NTSC QT video. which in turn is edited in FCP or iMovie and then compressed onto DVD. I have to admit that I get these jobs about 3 times a month and clients prefer that output to transcoding. Keep in mind that what one ends up with is a crisp video, resembling S-video quality on a DVD. By the way, SD streams make great DVDs this way, in my view. But please, you must decide what you like to watch and spend time doing. Please try maybe 2-3 minutes of each method, but make sure you use sections that contain lots of color and movement, with backgrounds that include horizontal lines and or clean edges. I believe there are some stronger editing tools in the Windows world and given the trend, maybe you should consider storing your streams and see what happens.

I've read through most of this thread, and used the search feature, so if this is a repeat I apologize, but I really did make an effort to research my question first.

I just got a Blue and White (looks more like turquoise or aqua to me) rev 2 G3.

I installed OSX 10.3 last night.

I installed Firewire SDK 20.

I did not do any other upgrades.

I hooked up my JVC 40K DVHS deck to the built in firewire ports.

Created a folder on the desktop and dragged and dropped it onto the VirtualDVHS application in the finder.

I got the "please reboot screen" (and I've read that others experienced this as well).

I installed a PCI firewire card.

Hooked up the JVC 40K to that card.

Same result with VirtualDVHS (reboot screen).

I then tried using DVHSCap.

DVHS cap enabled me to capture from my JVC 40K, which seemed promising.

I used the option to export the file to the JVC 40K and the image displayed on the 40K was perfect.

I pressed record on the JVC 40K and let it run for a few minutes.

I stopped the recording, and played it back on the JVC 40K.

The recording had lots of pixelation (which was not evident on the image exported to the 40K).

This is the same exact result I got when using my Windows XP PC with capDVHS.

I saw a few people had questions about the B&W G3's, and I can say for certain that VirtualDVHS does NOT work on rev2 G3's, with or without a 3rd party firewire card.

Please keep in mind I've been using macs for a total of about 1 hour now, so I am have no real experience with them.

Does anyone have a solution for the problems I am having?

And has anyone successfully recorded a file streamed from any mac G3 to a dvhs deck?

Thanks,

Updating to 10.3.9 was the trick. Sort of... Since the update the Mac doesn't want to start. I takes several resets before the OS finally loads. I don't even have the little chime when the system powers up anymore.

Anyway, once I have it running it seems to be ok.

VirtualDvhs is just about useless to me. It worked once copying from my JVC 40K to the Mac's HDD on channel 63. That stopped working after a reboot. Now it doesn't work on any channel.

It also is not communicating with my 4200HD STB. I've followed ths instructions here to the letter, but it's still not working.

I am able to record m2t files using AVCVideoCap. That works like a charm.

I tried using DVHScap to export the recorded m2t back to the 40K and the recording is no better than what I was able to accomplish with my windows xp machine. It hasheavy pixelation. I tried running mpeg2repair on the file, and it found errors. I tried the "fixed" file and got the same results.

If anyone can help with any of these problems it would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

MPEGstreamclip certainly allows for basic editing, but I agree with the posting saying that if there was anyway to get the file into EyeTV, the editing could be much more precise.

I'ld be happy even to have MPEGstreamclip transcode to a different file format, just to get the file into EyeTV.

No need, you just need to wait 'realtime' for eyeTV to record the file. Here's (http://faq.elgato.com/index.php/faq/more/311) the procedure to recover files, but, you can also use it with 'raw' transport streams.
Search through the eyeTV 500 thread for Joe S's extra comments--once it starts to tune to the file hit pause, then record and you should get the file. Just remember to set the record time long enough to get the whole program. ('Get Info' with the 'recording' highlighted in your 'Recordings' folder.)

Hello,

I've been trying desperately for the past four hours to get 3 HD CBS news minutes off my Motorola 6412 and onto either my Powerbook or Macbook Pro, to no avail. Using AVCVideoCap, MPEG Streamclip, and Quicktime, I have successfully recorded and made quicktimes of regular SD content, but when trying to record a clip from ch 705 KPIXD here in San Francisco, the resulting 300MB file is not a recognized file type by anything. Same result with iRecord.

This is driving me crazy. I need these 3 minutes. Is there any solution out there for me to get these onto a hard drive or videotape, or am I going to have to set up my camcorder in front of my TV? I am astonished at how much torture it is to replicate the VCR experience in the digital age.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Hello,

I've been trying desperately for the past four hours to get 3 HD CBS news minutes off my Motorola 6412 and onto either my Powerbook or Macbook Pro, to no avail. Using AVCVideoCap, MPEG Streamclip, and Quicktime, I have successfully recorded and made quicktimes of regular SD content, but when trying to record a clip from ch 705 KPIXD here in San Francisco, the resulting 300MB file is not a recognized file type by anything. Same result with iRecord.

This is driving me crazy. I need these 3 minutes. Is there any solution out there for me to get these onto a hard drive or videotape, or am I going to have to set up my camcorder in front of my TV? I am astonished at how much torture it is to replicate the VCR experience in the digital age.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

There is the possibility that the HD stream is encrypted.
I suggest you download VLC which can play just about any kind of unencrypted video codec and see if VLC can play it. If it cannnot and comes up with some sort of message about the file format not being readable, there is not much you can do.
If VLC ( search for a download site) can play your stream back, I suggest you consider transcoding with MPEGSTREAMCLIP but I think you will be disappointed with the result. But take a close look at all the options offered by MPEGSTREAMCLIP. One of them (h.264) may be sufficient for your purposes. Other than QT DV, you may have to demux the stream first and then transcode the audio and video separately.

I suggest that if you managed to save the segment of interest on your cable PVR that you capture the analog output from the cable box to a DV camera and then capture the material into iMovie. It will not be HD, of course.

Hello,

I've been trying desperately for the past four hours to get 3 HD CBS news minutes off my Motorola 6412 and onto either my Powerbook or Macbook Pro, to no avail. Using AVCVideoCap, MPEG Streamclip, and Quicktime, I have successfully recorded and made quicktimes of regular SD content, but when trying to record a clip from ch 705 KPIXD here in San Francisco, the resulting 300MB file is not a recognized file type by anything. Same result with iRecord.

This is driving me crazy. I need these 3 minutes. Is there any solution out there for me to get these onto a hard drive or videotape, or am I going to have to set up my camcorder in front of my TV? I am astonished at how much torture it is to replicate the VCR experience in the digital age.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

The version of AVCVideoCap from FireWire SDK21 shows the EMI (then encryption-mode-indicator) of the incoming stream. When you capture with AVCVideoCap, does the EMI show "Copy Freely", or something else? If it's something else, then the stream is encrypted, and won't be useable. If it is a "Copy Freely" recording, VLC should play it fine.

Updating to 10.3.9 was the trick. Sort of... Since the update the Mac doesn't want to start. I takes several resets before the OS finally loads. I don't even have the little chime when the system powers up anymore.

Anyway, once I have it running it seems to be ok.

VirtualDvhs is just about useless to me. It worked once copying from my JVC 40K to the Mac's HDD on channel 63. That stopped working after a reboot. Now it doesn't work on any channel.

It also is not communicating with my 4200HD STB. I've followed ths instructions here to the letter, but it's still not working.

I am able to record m2t files using AVCVideoCap. That works like a charm.

I tried using DVHScap to export the recorded m2t back to the 40K and the recording is no better than what I was able to accomplish with my windows xp machine. It hasheavy pixelation. I tried running mpeg2repair on the file, and it found errors. I tried the "fixed" file and got the same results.

If anyone can help with any of these problems it would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Well, it's sad that I'm the only one that replies to my posts but ...

I figured out why the mac wasn't booting sometimes, and now all is well from that aspect.

Now the only problems I have are related to firewire recording.

VirtualDVHS doesn't seem to be able to see my SA 4200HD. I've tried every channel, and I can't get any results.

I tried loading the avcbrowser first and clicking connect. I notice the channel number, I try that channel number and I get zero bytes.

I noticed that if I load the avcbrowser in the sdk20, it gives me different channel numbers than the browser for sdk21 comes with. What's up with that?

Right now I am using AVCVideoCap, and that's working a bit, but it seems to get stuck for no reason at all and stop recording.

DVHSCap isn't working with my jvc 40K either still. I can cap from the jvc 40K, but sending back results in heavy pixelization.

Any suggestions? I've been going at this 3 days straight, and I'm starting to go nuts!

Thanks,

There is the possibility that the HD stream is encrypted.
I suggest you download VLC which can play just about any kind of unencrypted video codec and see if VLC can play it. If it cannnot and comes up with some sort of message about the file format not being readable, there is not much you can do.
If VLC ( search for a download site) can play your stream back, I suggest you consider transcoding with MPEGSTREAMCLIP but I think you will be disappointed with the result. But take a close look at all the options offered by MPEGSTREAMCLIP. One of them (h.264) may be sufficient for your purposes. Other than QT DV, you may have to demux the stream first and then transcode the audio and video separately.

I suggest that if you managed to save the segment of interest on your cable PVR that you capture the analog output from the cable box to a DV camera and then capture the material into iMovie. It will not be HD, of course.

Thank you this seems to be working. However, there is a balck border all around the picture, going from the 6412 to the camcorder. Is there anything I can do about that?

Sorry if I'm dragging the thread off topic, but I think it's long enough that it already covers every possible topic :)

OK, I have a Mac and I don't yet have digital cable but am considering it. My ultimate goal would be to record football games of my favorite team in HD off the sports networks (ESPNHD etc.), through the firewire port, for personal archival purposes. I could already do it in SD over the s-video out of the cable box, but 480i just leaves a lot to be desired. I know I cannot record an encrypted HD stream (such as that of ESPNHD) at the moment because of the 5c encryption. But I have a question:

Can VirtualDVHS (or anything else) record a 5c encrypted stream? Obviously I wouldn't be able to do anything with it, but could I at least get the stream, split it up and archive it onto DVD-Rs, in anticipation of some day in the future when software will exist to defeat 5c? Is there consensus that 5c will eventually be broken? Or does 5c not work this way? Would it just be a waste of DVD-Rs to do this?

Obviously, defeating 5c would be illegal under the DMCA, and this is all hypothetical of course. :)

One more question. Considering 5c, is there ANY way to capture a stream, in HD, from an encrypted channel, such that it is unprotected? Through HD analog component video for example?

Thank you this seems to be working. However, there is a balck border all around the picture, going from the 6412 to the camcorder. Is there anything I can do about that?

I am not sure what you mean. Are you referring to what you see in the Videocam LCD viewer? Or what you see when you play some DV tape back of the material you captured via the DVCAM? Check your settings of the camera for recording and once recorded, settings in iMovie etc. Some one may be able to help more with some additonal information that you can provide.

One more question. Considering 5c, is there ANY way to capture a stream, in HD, from an encrypted channel, such that it is unprotected? Through HD analog component video for example?
The easiest is to capture the Svideo from your STB. If you have the various interconnects and cables you can certainly "adapt" component ouput. But none of these are "HD" of course. Encryption is intended to restrict your use to "fair use". That is, one downlaod for you on the drive of your pvr to be played back only and exclusively through the device supplied by your secondary distributor. You do not own the broadcast feed. You have the right to one(1) fair use copy. It is not your property.Keep it on your pvr drive and play it back as many times as you like in HD. That's it. For the moment.

The easiest is to capture the Svideo from your STB. If you have the various interconnects and cables you can certainly "adapt" component ouput. But none of these are "HD" of course.
Component can do HD can't it? Analog component out on HDTV source --> analog HD component input to a computer with the necessary hardware? Or do cable boxes not support HD output over component?
Encryption is intended to restrict your use to "fair use". That is, one downlaod for you on the drive of your pvr to be played back only and exclusively through the device supplied by your secondary distributor. You do not own the broadcast feed. You have the right to one(1) fair use copy. It is not your property.Keep it on your pvr drive and play it back as many times as you like in HD.
I'm aware of my fair use rights and I have no intention of violating copyright, as I only want to make 1 copy of each game, for personal use only. I could already do this in 480i via s-video like you said, but that's not good enough for me and fair use doesn't have anything to do with video quality.
That's it. For the moment.
So might saving encrypted program streams for the future be worthwhile after all? :)

Component can do HD can't it? Analog component out on HDTV source --> analog HD component input to a computer with the necessary hardware? Or do cable boxes not support HD output over component?

I'm aware of my fair use rights and I have no intention of violating copyright, as I only want to make 1 copy of each game, for personal use only. I could already do this in 480i via s-video like you said, but that's not good enough for me and fair use doesn't have anything to do with video quality.

So might saving encrypted program streams for the future be worthwhile after all? :)

I was certaintly not trying to remind you of what you already know, but rather to share a certain level of frustration about dealing with the barriers that prevent us from personal use in HD. If the method of adapters you can find will handle component out and give you a captured video and audio which you find suitable, it's worth a try. As far as I know, the only way to bring video into a Mac is via Firewire. So I suppose you need a capture card or device that takes in component and converts its to a digital FW format. I have never tried that route. Maybe some one on the Forum has done that. I guess keeping your stream as a saved document on your hard drive is still worthwhile until you find a clearer path. Here is a site with a card etc that may address what you are trying to do. http://www.videoguys.com/ACEDVio.html

Well, it's sad that I'm the only one that replies to my posts but ...

I figured out why the mac wasn't booting sometimes, and now all is well from that aspect.

Now the only problems I have are related to firewire recording.

VirtualDVHS doesn't seem to be able to see my SA 4200HD. I've tried every channel, and I can't get any results.

I tried loading the avcbrowser first and clicking connect. I notice the channel number, I try that channel number and I get zero bytes.

I noticed that if I load the avcbrowser in the sdk20, it gives me different channel numbers than the browser for sdk21 comes with. What's up with that?

Right now I am using AVCVideoCap, and that's working a bit, but it seems to get stuck for no reason at all and stop recording.

DVHSCap isn't working with my jvc 40K either still. I can cap from the jvc 40K, but sending back results in heavy pixelization.

Any suggestions? I've been going at this 3 days straight, and I'm starting to go nuts!

Thanks,

Ok, after much trial and error I have turned a $65 G3 into a very nice DVR with over 400 GB of storage space (add an extra $100 for the extra storage space).

I am still NOT able to successfully record streamed content from the G3 to the JVC 40K DVHS deck.

Is anyone else successfully recording streamed content from a mac to a DVHS deck?

I have a $300 vcr that borders on being useless to me without this functionality.

I have to say I've always found avsforum a great place to share information but I am discouraged that I am the only one that replies to my posts.

Any help is great appreciated.

Component can do HD can't it? Analog component out on HDTV source --> analog HD component input to a computer with the necessary hardware? Or do cable boxes not support HD output over component?
Cable boxes like the Motorola 6412 DVR support HD over component output, but the computer hardware to capture analog HD in real-time is still pretty expensive. Prices are coming down, but we're still talking about thousands of dollars. In most cases, it's not practical to consider analog, so firewire is the only real choice for most people.

I was certaintly not trying to remind you of what you already know, but rather to share a certain level of frustration about dealing with the barriers that prevent us from personal use in HD. If the method of adapters you can find will handle component out and give you a captured video and audio which you find suitable, it's worth a try. As far as I know, the only way to bring video into a Mac is via Firewire. So I suppose you need a capture card or device that takes in component and converts its to a digital FW format. I have never tried that route. Maybe some one on the Forum has done that. I guess keeping your stream as a saved document on your hard drive is still worthwhile until you find a clearer path. Here is a site with a card etc that may address what you are trying to do.
Well I did a little research into HD component capture - I guess that would be the only way to go at the moment - and it looks like it's possible, but the hardware to do it starts around $1k, not factoring in the RAID that would be necessary to capture 150MB/sec or whatever it is of uncompressed video... I already have a DV camcorder with s-video input, so barring any miracles on the DTCP thwarting front I guess I'll be capturing DV over s-video on the encrypted channels for the time being.

What I wonder though is, does VirtualDVHS have the capability to capture encrypted streams? Or will the cable box '"see" VDVHS, say "sorry, you're not 5c compliant" and refuse to send the stream at all?

What I wonder though is, does VirtualDVHS have the capability to capture encrypted streams? Or will the cable box '"see" VDVHS, say "sorry, you're not 5c compliant" and refuse to send the stream at all?

As far as I know, the main encryption is contained in the stream so you could capture the stream in any of the usual methods involving VDVHS. I know certain brands and models of hardware based DVHS will not accept encrypted streams. I am also wondering if the following might be possible. a) capture stream via FW from Motorola STB onto Mac hard drive. b) Using a Mac hard drive as the source, play the stream through the STB using the STB as the decoding and display device.
However, I doubt that many STB's FW ports are enabled for "external" storage sources, even if the stored material is encrypted.

I am also wondering if the following might be possible. a) capture stream via FW from Motorola STB onto Mac hard drive. b) Using a Mac hard drive as the source, play the stream through the STB using the STB as the decoding and display device.
However, I doubt that many STB's FW ports are enabled for "external" storage sources, even if the stored material is encrypted.
Now that would be interesting. If not the Firewire ports of the STB as the decoding/display device, then how about the Firewire ports of a 5c-compliant DVHS VCR? Hmmmmmmm....

The version of AVCVideoCap from FireWire SDK21 shows the EMI (then encryption-mode-indicator) of the incoming stream. When you capture with AVCVideoCap, does the EMI show "Copy Freely", or something else? If it's something else, then the stream is encrypted, and won't be useable. If it is a "Copy Freely" recording, VLC should play it fine.

Thanks for posting this... I have been wrestling with trying to play several captures (including several from CBS) and this was the only way to actually confirm that they video stream was encrypted. On my 6412, on certain channels, a stream is created but the EMI says, "Copy Once." It seems to be random as to which channels are marked this way... On my cable system (DC Comcast), CBS, PBS, NBC are marked as "Copy Once" but FOX, NBC, HBO, iNHD, and all of the SD channels are "Copy Freely."

Some of the SD channels seem to be encoded in a format that MPEG StreamPlayer cannot handle, but VLC plays all "Copy Freely" files OK.

And in Diagnostics, the value of 5C Implementation for all channels is "0", so I'm not sure what that indicator is really for.

It's so annoying that so many SD channels like Discovery and SciFi channel are using 5C to prevent firewire recording of them. I can see the fear of HD copies getting on the web, but why hold back the SD content?

i have the motorola bmc9012 box and i could not get the virtual dvhs to work i followed the instructions and it sais recording but the bitrate sais 0 and the file created is 0k

i know how to get the box into diagnostic mode but where do i look for any info i need to determine if the signal is recordable or what ever?

i have the motorola bmc9012 box and i could not get the virtual dvhs to work i followed the instructions and it sais recording but the bitrate sais 0 and the file created is 0k

i know how to get the box into diagnostic mode but where do i look for any info i need to determine if the signal is recordable or what ever?

Have you tried AVCVideoCap? It's better for recording from Cable STBs. VirtualDVHS wont work, because it's designed to be controlled by a TV, and so are the cable boxes. When VirtualDVHS and a cable box are used together, no one takes control (i.e, no point-to-point connection is established to get the STB to start streaming).

Also, AVCVideoCap will display the EMI (the encryption flags), so you will be able to tell if the stream is encrypted, or in-the-clear.

Hey,

With the help of this forum and a few others, I have been able to succesfully record HDTV and digital TV programs to my computer. I am now wondering how I can back them up as I have recorded a few sports games that I would like to have permanent copies of on a DVD. I was wondering if there is a program that would allow me to convert the m2t file that comes from Virtual DVHS to a format that would play in a DVD player on the tv, something that would convert the mt2 to a disc image that could then be burned with Toast maybe, but I have no idea whether this would work or not. If this doesnt sound like it would work, is there a program that would allow me to convert the mt2 files to something that could be stored as a Quicktime conmpatible form that could then be burned to a DVD but would only be playable on the computer. I dont know if this would make any sense to anyone, but any and all help is greatly appreciated.

Thanks again,

i know how to get the box into diagnostic mode but where do i look for any info i need to determine if the signal is recordable or what ever?See post 1175 if you still want to do this.

is there a program that would allow me to convert the mt2 files to something that could be stored as a Quicktime conmpatible form that could then be burned to a DVD but would only be playable on the computer. I dont know if this would make any sense to anyone, but any and all help is greatly appreciated.See post 1193. My method for doing this is a little different, but let us know if it works for you.

Thanks for the advice gakon, but after I restarted the computer the mt2 files seems to play fine, but I do have another question. After I have the tv feed in mt2 format is there a way I can burn it to a DVD that will play on my DVD player that is connected to the TV, basically I am hoping to back up sports games that can then be played on any TV in the house and not just the computer. I have converted one of the mt2 files to mpeg2 format and it will play okay on my computer. I did notice that post 1194 seemed to address this, but when I dragged the MPEG-4 file that VLC "wizard" made, an error came us stating that quicktime did not recognize that type of file. Im guessing the answer is probably in the 46 pages here, but unfortunately, I dont have the time or the patience to go through them lol.

Thanks again for any help.

I use a program called MPEG Streamclip to convert the m2t files to a format that iMovie can read (I think I've done it in DV format, but it's been a while), then just open up a new project via iMovie and burn it that way. I have had some problems with iMovie DVD's being able to play on some DVD players, but most of the ones I've made work on the three players I have (2 Samsung and 1 Sony), in addition to a PC Laptop.
MPEG Streamclip requires a $20 upgrade (the Quicktime MPEG-2 Playback Component) on top of the free version in order to be able to save files like this. You can find both programs on Apple's web site.

Ok, after much trial and error I have turned a $65 G3 into a very nice DVR with over 400 GB of storage space (add an extra $100 for the extra storage space).

I am still NOT able to successfully record streamed content from the G3 to the JVC 40K DVHS deck.

Is anyone else successfully recording streamed content from a mac to a DVHS deck?

I have a $300 vcr that borders on being useless to me without this functionality.

I have to say I've always found avsforum a great place to share information but I am discouraged that I am the only one that replies to my posts.

Any help is great appreciated.

Have the same problem with an early "sawtooth" G4 was with the onboard firewire port. However, the firewire on a Sonnet "Trio" card works great with the JVC 30K, and JVC 40K. (The Sonnet a little pricey [even on eBay], but gives large drive support, two USB 2.0 ports, and two good firewire ports and only takes one PCI slot.)

I have run the VirtualDVHS application both compiled from the SDK and the modified version. I can run the AVCBrowser and see my cable box via firewire and the channel is 63. In both versions of the VirtualDVHS app, I can click record, but and a file is created, but is always lenght 0 bytes. I have tried dragging the recording folder to the app. The modified version launches but records nothing. The compiled SDK version doesn't highlight and doesn't launch using the drag and drop method.

I have run a number of versions of VirtualDVHS from SKD's 19 thru 22 with the same results. Does anyone have a suggestion? thanks.

I have run the VirtualDVHS application both compiled from the SDK and the modified version. I can run the AVCBrowser and see my cable box via firewire and the channel is 63. In both versions of the VirtualDVHS app, I can click record, but and a file is created, but is always lenght 0 bytes. I have tried dragging the recording folder to the app. The modified version launches but records nothing. The compiled SDK version doesn't highlight and doesn't launch using the drag and drop method.

I have run a number of versions of VirtualDVHS from SKD's 19 thru 22 with the same results. Does anyone have a suggestion? thanks.


If you scroll up about 7 messages FriarWyer just answered this one. (AVCvideoCap)

anyone looking for a G4 tower already setup to record/archive HD?

I just got a new Mini, so I no longer need the G4.

Specs:

400Mhz G4
448MB SDRAM
20GB 5400 rpm (OS)
120GB western digital
Gigabit Ethernet card
USB 2.0 card
Firewire PCI card
OS X Tiger 10.4.6

I have run the VirtualDVHS application both compiled from the SDK and the modified version. I can run the AVCBrowser and see my cable box via firewire and the channel is 63. In both versions of the VirtualDVHS app, I can click record, but and a file is created, but is always lenght 0 bytes. I have tried dragging the recording folder to the app. The modified version launches but records nothing. The compiled SDK version doesn't highlight and doesn't launch using the drag and drop method.

I have run a number of versions of VirtualDVHS from SKD's 19 thru 22 with the same results. Does anyone have a suggestion? thanks.

Procedure to use the modified version of VirtualDVHS for capturing saved programs from the Motorola DCT-6412 to the Mac:

1. Start VirtualDVHS (I use the modified version) and wait until connection info appears in message box,
2. Hide but DO NOT close the VirtualDVHS application,
3. Start AVCBrowser, the AV/C Devices window will open,
4. click and highlight the device in the window,
5. now click on the "Open Device Controller" button (top right corner),
6. a new window entitled AV/C Device: (name of device) window opens,
7. click and highlight the device in the Output Plugs window (middle box),
8. now click on the "Connect" button under Output Plugs,
9. bottom box should display something like: Compare-swap to output plug 0 successful. OldVal=0x80008178 NewVal=0x81008178
10. Hide but DO NOT close the AVCBrowser application,
11. start playback of the program on the Motorola,
12. click the record button on the VirtualDVHS application and you should notice that you are capturing the data

If you want to use the unmodified VirtualDVHS application that comes with the FirewireSDK, the procedure above will work with 1 addition in step 1.
When you start VirtualDVHS, click on the "Stats Drawer" button and change the "Broadcast Record Channel:" to "0" then follow steps 2 thru 12.

I feel like I'm in a timewarp to 2003. Why would you do all that when you can just use AVCVideoCap now? :)

I feel like I'm in a timewarp to 2003. Why would you do all that when you can just use AVCVideoCap now? :)

I do it this way to pre-edit the movie or tv program cutting out the commercials. In the long run it saves me time converting these to Quicktime files.

I'm not sure I understand. Those twelve steps are equivalent to pressing record in AVCVideoCap. Are you doing additional steps during recording to pre-edit?

I'm not sure I understand. Those twelve steps are equivalent to pressing record in AVCVideoCap. Are you doing additional steps during recording to pre-edit?

Remember I am trying to transfer to my Mac existing shows that I have already saved to the Motorola DCT-6412 and not using my Mac as a DVR to schedule recordings on my Mac.

The 12 steps that I perform only takes about 15 seconds and I only have to do it once per session or as long as I don't quit the AVCBrowser and VirtualDVHS applications.

When I mentioned that I pre-edit, what I actually do is playback the program on the Motorola and record it to the Mac using VirtualDVHS, when commercials come on, I stop the VirtualDVHS recording, fast forward thru the commercials on the Motorola, start recording again on the Mac after the commercial break and so on. Most hour long shows have about 15 minutes of commercials in them so this leaves about 45 minutes of the actual program broken into between 5 or 6 clips depending on the number commercial breaks.

I then use MPEG Streamclip to convert the clips to Quicktime files. I then copy and paste into one movie stream, do a little cleanup and then save. This way I have one Quicktime movie of about 43-45 minutes per episode. This way I don't spend time converting 15 minutes worth of commercials that I am going to delete anyone.

Remember I am trying to transfer to my Mac existing shows that I have already saved to the Motorola DCT-6412 and not using my Mac as a DVR to schedule recordings on my Mac.

The 12 steps that I perform only takes about 15 seconds and I only have to do it once per session or as long as I don't quit the AVCBrowser and VirtualDVHS applications.

When I mentioned that I pre-edit, what I actually do is playback the program on the Motorola and record it to the Mac using VirtualDVHS, when commercials come on, I stop the VirtualDVHS recording, fast forward thru the commercials on the Motorola, start recording again on the Mac after the commercial break and so on. Most hour long shows have about 15 minutes of commercials in them so this leaves about 45 minutes of the actual program broken into between 5 or 6 clips depending on the number commercial breaks.

I then use MPEG Streamclip to convert the clips to Quicktime files. I then copy and paste into one movie stream, do a little cleanup and then save. This way I have one Quicktime movie of about 43-45 minutes per episode. This way I don't spend time converting 15 minutes worth of commercials that I am going to delete anyone.

Man...that is a lot of work to edit out commercials...it would be easier to buy a very cheap PC ($25) and transfer the files via LAN and use H2M to edit out the commercials.

I then use MPEG Streamclip to convert the clips to Quicktime files. I then copy and paste into one movie stream, do a little cleanup and then save. This way I have one Quicktime movie of about 43-45 minutes per episode. This way I don't spend time converting 15 minutes worth of commercials that I am going to delete anyone.

If you are already using MPEG StreamClip, just cut the commercials from the transport stream in StreamClip before you encode. You can trim all commercials from a one hour show in StreamClip a lot faster than starting/stopping VDVHS, manually fast forwarding, through the actual commercials, and all of that cut and paste. You're working too hard :)

Man...that is a lot of work to edit out commercials...it would be easier to buy a very cheap PC ($25) and transfer the files via LAN and use H2M to edit out the commercials.

Maybe to you it might a lot of work, I don't think it is and I enjoy doing it this way. Once you develop a rhythm it goes quickly.

I don't have the room for another system to clutter up the desk. I would rather have one system to do all of my work on.

Plus I was trying to answer the question that was Originally Posted by rschluet

So, can one somehow play photos or movie trailers back to the TV thru the firewire port from the Mac? You would need to encode your Quicktime files into .m2t. Has anybody tried this yet?

Hi everyone. Thanks for all your hard work -- there is a lot of expertise in this thread (I know this for sure after reading all of the nearly 1400 posts here over the past two days)!

I need some help. I have ZERO experience with Macs, although I am an IT professional with 20+ years of PC experience. I have been experimenting for the past couple months with firewire recording to my XP machine from SA3250HD (BrightHouse cable in Orlando). I have had mixed results on the PC side -- only 2 HD channels routinely work well. Other OTAs, even though set to 5c=0, give me garbled recordings. So, on the advice of folks over in the XP firewire thread, I am interested in trying this the Mac way.

What I need is some specific advice on what Mac hardware to buy. I want to spend as little as necessary to test this out, however, I definitely want it to be a laptop for portability and space reasons. I am thinking of picking up some model of G3-equipped Powerbook. Looking on Ebay, it seems I can find these in the $150 - $400 range (whereas even the cheapest G4 PBs seem to start around $450-$500 -- more than I want to spend on an experiment).

So, having read about the issues with early implementations of firewire (problems with the non-OHCI chipsets that were used in the Blue & Whites), I need to know for example whether the Pismo Powerbook G3 is a reasonable choice. Does anyone know whether the Pismo uses the OHCI or the older PCI-Lynx chipset for the firewire ports? I think from my research that the Pismo was the only G3 PB to have integrated firewire (but please correct me if this is wrong).

Alternatively, has anyone found a PCMCIA firewire card that successfully works for HD capture on an older G3 Powerbook?

Thanks in advance for guidance. My main concern is just not being knowledgeable enough about Mac hardware and winding up with a poor choice of system (particularly incompatible firewire ports).

-Michael

Hi everyone. Thanks for all your hard work -- there is a lot of expertise in this thread (I know this for sure after reading all of the nearly 1400 posts here over the past two days)!

I need some help. I have ZERO experience with Macs, although I am an IT professional with 20+ years of PC experience. I have been experimenting for the past couple months with firewire recording to my XP machine from SA3250HD (BrightHouse cable in Orlando). I have had mixed results on the PC side -- only 2 HD channels routinely work well. Other OTAs, even though set to 5c=0, give me garbled recordings. So, on the advice of folks over in the XP firewire thread, I am interested in trying this the Mac way.

What I need is some specific advice on what Mac hardware to buy. I want to spend as little as necessary to test this out, however, I definitely want it to be a laptop for portability and space reasons. I am thinking of picking up some model of G3-equipped Powerbook. Looking on Ebay, it seems I can find these in the $150 - $400 range (whereas even the cheapest G4 PBs seem to start around $450-$500 -- more than I want to spend on an experiment).

So, having read about the issues with early implementations of firewire (problems with the non-OHCI chipsets that were used in the Blue & Whites), I need to know for example whether the Pismo Powerbook G3 is a reasonable choice. Does anyone know whether the Pismo uses the OHCI or the older PCI-Lynx chipset for the firewire ports? I think from my research that the Pismo was the only G3 PB to have integrated firewire (but please correct me if this is wrong).

Alternatively, has anyone found a PCMCIA firewire card that successfully works for HD capture on an older G3 Powerbook?

Thanks in advance for guidance. My main concern is just not being knowledgeable enough about Mac hardware and winding up with a poor choice of system (particularly incompatible firewire ports).

-Michael

I would stick with a desktop, G4 towers can be had sometimes for under 100$ on craigslist.

I would stick with a desktop, G4 towers can be had sometimes for under 100$ on craigslist.

Probably excellent advice for most people but for space reasons a desktop is just not possible in my case, so I realize I am going to have to pay more.

Let's accept for the discussion that I have to have a laptop to do this with. Given that premise, is it possible on any model of G3 (Pismo, for example) or will I *have* to look at a G4 to find OHCI-compatible firewire?

Also, let me note, I have no need whatsoever to play back on the Mac, only to capture there. I'll bring the capture over to the PC side and use playback / editing / authoring software that I already have in place and working.

Thanks again.

PS My next move if this doesn't work satisfactorily is to build a new XP machine with an AJA Xena card (captures uncompressed HD via component in), which will be about a $3500 - $4K total cost, so I guess I shouldn't be worried about being *too* cheap with the Mac solution. : )

Let's accept for the discussion that I have to have a laptop to do this with. Given that premise, is it possible on any model of G3 (Pismo, for example) or will I *have* to look at a G4 to find OHCI-compatible firewire?)

From your post I am wondering if the issue is with your source. Before moving to test another capture method, are you sure you can confirm that your cable source is available on all the channels you have attempted to download? While Apple's implementation of FW may be more focused than on a windows machine ( depends on which one(s)), if your cable company is not really supporting that port it will not matter which platform you use. I know of few cable companies that actually "support" FW ( allow all streams for all channels). They are required only to offer the port.
If you feel you must test, test with the best. I would suggest that you invest in the latest mini or a G4 laptop. Skip the G3 since these generally cannot support the latest "capture" technologies with ease.
Out of curiousity what are you using to edit and author on your PC system(s)?

From your post I am wondering if the issue is with your source. Before moving to test another capture method, are you sure you can confirm that your cable source is available on all the channels you have attempted to download? While Apple's implementation of FW may be more focused than on a windows machine ( depends on which one(s)), if your cable company is not really supporting that port it will not matter which platform you use. I know of few cable companies that actually "support" FW ( allow all streams for all channels). They are required only to offer the port.
If you feel you must test, test with the best. I would suggest that you invest in the latest mini or a G4 laptop. Skip the G3 since these generally cannot support the latest "capture" technologies with ease.
Out of curiousity what are you using to edit and author on your PC system(s)?

I don't dismiss the idea that there may be a problem with the source. However, I know that when I run the firewire connection from the STB directly into my Samsung DLP set, I get a very nice picture on all channels. So, there is definitely output coming through.

There are two HD channels I can "always" capture from perfectly to my XP setup (they happen to be UPN-HD and ESPN-HD). All of the other OTA channels are clearly set to 5c=0, they do capture and show data being received, but it is all garbled. The video has small squares of actual picture with mostly black or green garbage, and the audio has about the same success. Definitely not a 5c problem. Maybe some other kind of stream problem??

I don't know enough about how the cable co.'s side of this works to argue with them intelligently, so thus far I have been reluctant to get too deeply involved with BrightHouse. I also haven't wanted to actually hear them say they won't support it. :(

I know that I may very well see the same results on the Mac. BUT, someone else on the XP firewire thread indicated they had the exact same problem as I do on XP captures with most channels but that the very same channels from the very same STB would capture perfectly on their Mac. So... seemed worth a try to me.

On the PC side, I mostly use Womble MPEG-VCR for editing and Ulead DVD Workshop 2 for authoring. As needed I also make some use of TMPGEnc, VirtualDubMod, and other tools.

Thanks for the advice. Maybe I'll just try to pick up a G4 PB from Ebay and resell it if it doesn't solve my issues. I was just hoping that a really cheap G3 experiment would be a fair enough test to say definitively where the problem lies. Sounds like you are not convinced that is a good way to go.

On the PC side, I mostly use Womble MPEG-VCR for editing and Ulead DVD Workshop 2 for authoring. As needed I also make some use of TMPGEnc, VirtualDubMod, and other tools.
I have only a guess and that is you may be using a playback application that is not versatile. Have you tried playing back your captured m2t files using VLC, a free app which plays back just about everything and is available for the PC? See:www.videolan.org/vlc/
Please understand that I am not discouraging you with regard to Mac but dealing with material in a codec meant for distribution and not editing such as m2t can lead to odd ball problems whether or Mac or PC. If you are using an app that can handle mpeg-2, for example, it may compress on the fly, which means something compressed is being compressed more. By the way, VLC only plays back and does not edit so if you can play your raw m2t material in VLC captured via your PC, that suggests the problem is not due the stream you are getting but maybe what you are using to convert it to an analog version. I assume you can capture the stream as untouched m2t.

O
I have only a guess and that is you may be using a playback application that is not versatile. Have you tried playing back your captured m2t files using VLC, a free app which plays back just about everything and is available for the PC? See:www.videolan.org/vlc/
Please understand that I am not discouraging you with regard to Mac but dealing with material in a codec meant for distribution and not editing such as m2t can lead to odd ball problems whether or Mac or PC. If you are using an app that can handle mpeg-2, for example, it may compress on the fly, which means something compressed is being compressed more. By the way, VLC only plays back and does not edit so if you can play your raw m2t material in VLC captured via your PC, that suggests the problem is not due the stream you are getting but maybe what you are using to convert it to an analog version. I assume you can capture the stream as untouched m2t.

I am using VLC on the PC side for playback. I have also tried other apps to play back -- they all give the same results. On XP the capture app (CapDVHS) produces .ts files, not .m2t files, but I don't think the extension is significant. They are MPEG2 Transport Streams. I am playing those back directly, not converting the files. No problem with having enough horsepower to play back either like on a lot of the Macs. I have a couple stunningly beautiful recordings of baseball games from ESPN-HD. Just nothing usable from the other OTAs.

I'm running into a strange new problem capturing from a Moto 6200 to the Mac (either iRecord, avcvideocap, or the modified av/c browser) ...

Something happens ... I don't know what - either a cable box reset, the mac burps, or something ... and the 6200 is all of a sudden a DV stream device.

This causes all the mac ts capture software (avcvideocap/iRecord) to fail, as they don't support DV.

Unplugging the firewire, and replugging the firewire, and the 6200 is now once again a "Other/Stream" device (as reported by avcvideocap) and all the capture programs work once again.

anyone got any ideas as to cause, or a solution?

What I'd like is something I can do software to fix this, as it's pretty difficult to unplug and replug a cable when you're out of town ... :-)

- litz

Good lord! 70+ pages in this topic... I hope that whast I need I will find with further searching (and huge thanks to all of you doing all the hard work to make this ever possable!)
I found the info on using the firewire output on a cable DVR interesting but all the info that I have found so far after reading the first dozen or so pages is about 2 years old and deals witholder set top boxes like the motorola 6200 series or SA 3250 or 4200 or the samsungT165 or MIT MDR-200 I am not finding anything on using the firewire output on my DCT6412 III with OS-X

so are there any consolidated FAQs and or scripts ical etc. for the DCT6412 III?

I did find this which might be of interest to folks with this box

Apparently there is a “30 second skip” command that is available to the Motorola DCT6412 III PVR. If you have this version of the Comcast brand (and other cable carriers, to be fair) you can use the following instructions to map the 30 second skip feature to a button.
1. Make sure the PVR is on. Press and release the “Cable” button.
2. Press and hold the “Setup” button. Release after the “Cable” button blinks twice.
3. Using the number pad, type “994? and look for the “Cable” button to blink twice.
4. Press and release the “Setup” button.
5. Using the number pad, type “00173?.
6. Press the button that you wish to have the FFW feature mapped to. the person that posted this recommend a button that isn’t used normally. he used the “HD Zoom” button in the lower right corner.


oh I am on Adelphia cable in Maine
Cheers
Windy
BTW as to my hardware if it matters I have a pair of firewire 800 Lacie 500 gig drives that I normaly use on my 17" 1.333 ghz (1 gig ram 80 gig HD) powerbook for video and backup but I have an old 800mhz 15" G4 iMac also running 10.4.6 and also with internal 80 gig and 1 gig ram) and I could put one of the 500 gig drives on it (I am waiting fot the desktop intelmac replacement for the G5 to upgrade to the intelMac so these will be it for hardware till it comes out in Aug (i hope)))

What I'd like is something I can do software to fix this, as it's pretty difficult to unplug and replug a cable when you're out of town ... :-)

Have you tried repairing permissions? Allow cron to work or schedule a cleanout of the cache?
You might also try Alsoft's Disk warrior. Since many of the apps are not supported by Mac there are lots of ways for conflicts and interrupts to occur. So I've suggested some basic things one can do to keep the OS running.

so are there any consolidated FAQs and or scripts ical etc. for the DCT6412 III?

I did find this which might be of interest to folks with this box...

First of all, thanks for the 30 second skip steps.
As far as consolidated scripts, what are you trying to accomplish by connecting your Mac to your 6412? It's been a little while since I've seen people talking about using iCal, but I can't remember the context.

I had been recording for over a year (Mac G4 from Motorola DCT6200) on TWC. Now, I can only record two digital channels, NBATV and TNT-HD. I checked 5C just now and it is set to 1. I never checked the value before, but am guessing that 5C has now been turned on. I took a little sample from an unplayable file and ran it through BBDMUX. Here is the report:

File 2.ts is an MPEG-2 Transport Stream

Found PID 0x1902, Other Stream
Found PID 0x1C1B, Other Stream
Found PID 0x0D6D, Other Stream
Found PID 0x0653, Other Stream
Found PID 0x19A8, Other Stream
Found PID 0x1AFD, Other Stream
Found PID 0x182D, Other Stream
Found PID 0x1260, Other Stream
Found PID 0x1373, Other Stream
Found PID 0x1682, Other Stream

Summary:

MPEG Transport Packets = 21
PID 0x0653, Other packets = 1, total bytes = 99
PID 0x0705, Other packets = 1, total bytes = 0
PID 0x08B6, Other packets = 1, total bytes = 0
PID 0x09B6, Other packets = 1, total bytes = 0
PID 0x0D6D, Other packets = 1, total bytes = 184
PID 0x0D94, Other packets = 1, total bytes = 0
PID 0x1260, Other packets = 1, total bytes = 179
PID 0x1354, Other packets = 1, total bytes = 0
PID 0x1373, Other packets = 1, total bytes = 184
PID 0x13E1, Other packets = 1, total bytes = 0
PID 0x1682, Other packets = 1, total bytes = 4294967275
PID 0x171D, Other packets = 1, total bytes = 0
PID 0x175B, Other packets = 1, total bytes = 0
PID 0x182D, Other packets = 1, total bytes = 96
PID 0x18D0, Other packets = 1, total bytes = 0
PID 0x1902, Other packets = 1, total bytes = 184
PID 0x19A8, Other packets = 1, total bytes = 184
PID 0x1AFD, Other packets = 1, total bytes = 184
PID 0x1C1B, Other packets = 1, total bytes = 159
PID 0x1CD9, Other packets = 1, total bytes = 0
PID 0x1E87, Other packets = 1, total bytes = 0

Can anyone confirm that my problems are 5C related? The tech support folks at Time Warner are utterly clueless. Thanks.

Sean

While I can't confirm that those messages are related to 5C, I can say that I've run into a similar problem here in Denver. Even some of our local channels now have either 5C or a broadcast flag set to "copy once", preventing me from copying programs to my Mac. I wrote one of the local stations (I was trying to copy one local and one NBC news clip - not something you'd thing would really need to be copy protected), but got no response. I certainly don't advocate hacking, but if we're constrained to recording via analog means, alternative methods for downloading recordings might hold more appeal.

Does the message at the start of this thread (How-To: Guide to MacOS X firewire HDTV recording) need to be updated? It was created on April 2, 2004 and a lot has changed on the Mac since then. Perhaps this is one reason why this thread has grown to nearly 50 pages...

Does the message at the start of this thread (How-To: Guide to MacOS X firewire HDTV recording) need to be updated? It was created on April 2, 2004 and a lot has changed on the Mac since then. Perhaps this is one reason why this thread has grown to nearly 50 pages...

Good question. How can a thread be turned into a FAQ on the AVS Forum? It seems if there is any single topic in the Mac HTPC forum deserving of being a FAQ, this is it.

ok, I'm new to the mac enviroment. So after reading A LOT in this forum, I tried to get some HD from my comcast DVR (Motorol@ 6412). I live in the Silicon Valley. First I tried on my brand new laptop (Toshib@) with a Firewire "Margi" PCMCIA Card. Of course nothing happened, after following every step I've read. So my next try is with my brand new Mini M@C (awesome machine). I install SDK 18, then 20 and 22. After checking my DVR's settings, it says that my firewire port IS Enable. But I still have no connection. The only thing I'm thnking is wrong, is that the firmware on my DVR is 4.09. I'm becoming desperate, since I wanna record the world cup matches in HD, and this is he ony way for me. I thank anybody than can help on this!!
E-mail with an answer to norbisf at yahoo_com

You will most likely NOT be able to record the world cup matches. In many markets, copy protection will prevent you from making another copy of what you've recorded on your DVR. If you're just trying to pass the information through the DVR to your Mac for recording, that might be possible. It seems odd that your DVR firmware version is so old. But how are you making the connections? Are the boxes (the Mac and DVR) both powered up when you connect the cables? Did you try both firewire ports on the DVR? (I think it makes a difference). What programs are you using to try and capture the content from the DVR?

You will most likely NOT be able to record the world cup matches. In many markets, copy protection will prevent you from making another copy of what you've recorded on your DVR.
OK, on this matter, I know that there's some of the matches available on Torrent.

But how are you making the connections?
Firewire between the DVR and the Mac.

Are the boxes (the Mac and DVR) both powered up when you connect the cables?
Itried both of them on, both of them off, and one of and the on.

Did you try both firewire ports on the DVR? (I think it makes a difference)
I tried that too.

What programs are you using to try and capture the content from the DVR?
Well, I downloaded SDK 18, 20 and 22, and they came with AVC Browser, AVC Cap, VIrtual DVHS, and I think one more, but don't remember.

I also talked to a Comcast Technician, and he said he had no idea when my DVR's Firmware was gonna be update. At this point, I'm thinking in returning the Mac, can U help me!??????????????

Thanks.

mac-newbie:

I'm not sure about recording from the Comcast DVR but since you have a Mac, you can easily record via either an EyeTV 500 or Miglia Mini HD. Since (please correct me if i'm wrong) all of the coming World Cup matches will be broadcast on ABC - KGO in the Bay Area, which is unencryted, you can record via the above method.

Hope this Helps.

The BIG problem here, is that I have no signal from the firewire connection, the Mac doesn't connect to the DVR, that's the real problem.
Thanks again for answering so fast!!

Make the connections with everything powered off. Once you've started, run AVC Video Cap and let us know if you see anything. You should see a line item in the window for something like DCT-6412. Click on it and one of the buttons should become enabled for you to start capturing data. If you don't see the 6412, then maybe you have a bad firewire cable, or it's a problem with the 6412.

Hey everyone.

Got the Moto 6200 from Comcast yesterday and spent some time today trying to capture to my 12" powerbook via firewire.

iRecord seems to work... sometimes. I've found I had to trash the preferences several times. Also, how do you know if you are trying to record something that is protected. Is there any way to know?

Hey everyone.

Got the Moto 6200 from Comcast yesterday and spent some time today trying to capture to my 12" powerbook via firewire.

iRecord seems to work... sometimes. I've found I had to trash the preferences several times. Also, how do you know if you are trying to record something that is protected. Is there any way to know?

I'm curious, how do you know when you need to trash the preferences? Were you getting an error or crashing or something?

Also, how do you know if you are trying to record something that is protected. Is there any way to know?

Also, found the answer to your question:

How To Check If DTCP/5C is Enabled
Tune to the channel you are checking for DTCP/5C use.
Turn the STB to Standby/Off and press OK/SELECT on the remote within 2 seconds to enter the Diagnostic Main Menu.
Use DOWN ARROW and then OK/SELECT to select the "d11 INTERFACE STATUS" option.
Look at "5C IMPLEMENTATION". A "0" indicates DTCP/5C is not being used, a "1" indicates DTCP/5C is being used.
Press OK/SELECT to go back to the Diagnostic Main Menu.
Press Power to exit the Diagnostic Main Menu and Power again to turn the STB back on.

For more cool stuff like this, go here: http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/How_to_use_a_Motorola_DVR/Configuration

Hey, great link... thanks. I just have the 6208 (single tuner, no dvr) but it worked the same for accessing the service screens. I found that my signal to noise on the upstream is only "fair" :-(

The reason I decided to trash the prefs on iRecord is because I would try to initiate a recording and it would just sit there as "pending" but after trashing the prefs it would kick in.

OK, now after they updated my firmware (amazingly they did one day after I called to to do this!!) I'm finally able to capture SD channels. Only using AVCVideocap Version 1.05b
When I try to see any HD video I download, VLC shows an error (maybe is because the machine is not enough to play those files)
The thing here is that I have .m2t files of SD, that I can play with VLC; but the problem are all the .m2t files from HD. None of them are playable.
PLEASE HELP!! I need to record Argentina-Germany 2morrow and I don't have space!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
There's any place where I can find MPEG-2 playback component for quicktime FREE!
Thanks for all your help!!!!!

I'm running out of time, so here's another thing that pop into my head. If I have a recording of minute (a 125mb .m2t file from the Tonight show), that means is good?
what I'm thinking right now is downloading all the files, and see what I can do with them later on. How can I check that my files R good if I can't see them?

If all you want to do is play them back, MPEG Streamclip will do that. I believe it is free; you only need to pay to upgrade if you're going to try to convert the file to Quicktime.

ok, I have .m2t files (with 5c encryption, I suppose) but can't see them, in any way. I'm gonna buy the upgrade, do U think I will be able to see it?
Thanks.

VLC can play MPEG transport streams on its own. MPEGStreamClip requires the QuickTime MPEG Component to display MPEG streams, as well as convert them.

If you cannot play them in VLC, the QuickTime MPEG component will not help you see them in MPEGStreamClip. They are likely encrypted.

ok, I have .m2t files (with 5c encryption, I suppose) but can't see them, in any way. I'm gonna buy the upgrade, do U think I will be able to see it?
Thanks.

If the stream is 5c encrypted then there is no way in hell that you can view it with a Mac or PC.

Procedure to use the modified version of VirtualDVHS for capturing saved programs from the Motorola DCT-6412 to the Mac:


Pardon my ignorance (and for quoting a slightly old post), but does this procedure work with encrypted channels too? In other words, if I saved programs on my Motorola 6412, would I be able to bring them over to my Mac later on using the above procedure, in unencrypted form (so that I can play it using VLC on my Mac and display to my monitor)? Or does the 6412 still send an encrypted stream to the Mac?

I currently rented (from Comcast, in NH) a Motorola 6200 so I could record some programs from Discovery HD mostly, but was disappointed to see that though AVCVideoCap (from the latest Firewire SDK 22) is able to capture from that channel, VLC is unable to play the resulting .m2t file. A similar capture from a local HDTV channel is played fine by VLC. If I can get recorded programs to my Mac from the 6412 in unecrypted form, I can replace the 6200 with the 6412, or else it's just local channels for me.

Thanks in advance.

Discovery HD is most likely encrypted as are other cable and premium channels (HBO, Showtime, ESPN, etc.). There's a procedure just a few pages (2 or 3) back that describes how to determine if 5C encryption is active for a specific channel. It provides a link to a Wikipedia page. Most local channels do not have 5C encryption turned on. However, even if 5C is not on, I've found that some of my local channels are now applying some other type of protection so that recordings are now coded as "copy once", meaning the DVR copy is the only one I can have.

Does any one knows if we can change the fast forward key to 30 second ( So we can skip commercials)!!!!!

Right now, every click on FFW goes up 4 seconds.

Thank you

I've spent some time here searching this thread, but I'm looking for a direct yes or no answer. Thanks ahead of time.

Are both the Virtual DVHS and Elgato solutions, limited by signals that are encrypted? I just want to archive and play back high quality HD to and from my HDTV (from files on a Mac or tapes or whatever) when my HD-DVR is too full.

Must I resort to ripping files directly off of the HD-DVR hard drive or some sort of analog recording solution just to archive shows I have already paid good money to watch?

Thanks,
Christopher

If the stream is 5c encrypted to copy-once then you are SOL. You can always buy a DVHS deck and record to tape. That is the only way to record copy-once content.

Thanks bro. I am also looking into the $1000 Black Magic Design HD Extreme PCI card for Mac tower slots. Video editors use this card. That would be a component analog solution and would be even cheaper than a D-VHS deck paired with a FireWire mod to my Dish HD-DVR. I could record to a codec that isnt too lossy, like DVCPRO-HD.

By the way, I cant use my Sony HDTV with FireWire Ports as a pass-through device, could I? Like HDMI from the Dish box to the Sony HDTV and then FW from the TV to a FW record device?

Thanks.

-Christopher

Thanks bro. I am also looking into the $1000 Black Magic Design HD Extreme PCI card for Mac tower slots. Video editors use this card. That would be a component analog solution and would be even cheaper than a D-VHS deck paired with a FireWire mod to my Dish HD-DVR. I could record to a codec that isnt too lossy, like DVCPRO-HD.

By the way, I cant use my Sony HDTV with FireWire Ports as a pass-through device, could I? Like HDMI from the Dish box to the Sony HDTV and then FW from the TV to a FW record device?

Thanks.

-Christopher

One small problem...there is no way to capture the ac3 track. FCP only captures 2 channel audio.

One small problem...there is no way to capture the ac3 track. FCP only captures 2 channel audio.


That's true. Analog stereo would be OK, though. Or this guy used the optical audio in on the G5 tower when capturing HD footage from an XBOX to Final Cut Pro via a Aja Kona card. Dont know if copy protection would come into effect on a movie, though.

Here is a link to the PDF where he explains it.

http://www.silverado.cc/xbox.html

Any ideas about my Sony XBR960 HDTV turning a Component HD or HDMI signal into a FireWire signal for Virtual D-VHS or a real D-VHS? My Dish VIP622 HD-DVR does not have FW out.

-Christopher

Well, I just stumbled across this after getting a Mac Mini Dual Core with the intention of using it as an HTPC. I read through most of the thread (although I will admit to skimming large sections), which gave me a rather large headache, but I'm not sure if I see the answer I am looking for.

I have a Moto 6412 with Firewire and an Intel Mac Mini Dual Core. I plan to still use the 6412 to record shows, but is it possible to pull recorded shows from the 6412 to the Mac Mini (if the 6412 is running out of space and/or I want to archive something) and then add the show(s) to Front Row for later viewing? What would be the best way of going about this?

Thanks for any help!

I don't know that iRecord would work good for me; I'll have to check it out, because I don't need a scheduler... The TV does the recording scheduling for me, and that's the way I need to keep it; it's much simpler. It's bad enough that I have to VNC into the mac to select which program I want to watch... I'd rather keep the mac interface as much hidden as possible. This is why VDVHS works so well for me; I don't need an interface to it. It could be a command line only program for all I care ;) ..

..Also, does anyone know how to change the protocol in VDVHS to AVC Disc (hard drive) mode? Why is it there if it's going to be greyed out all the time? I'm thinking that if I can get it to disc mode it should actually send it's playlist to my TV, letting me choose programs from my TV instead of having to do that from the VDVHS program.



There is no code for AV HDD and that is why it is greyed out in VDVHS and not present in VDVHS2.

I set this up over the weekend using Firewire SDK 22 and 10.3.9, and was able to record from my Mits 73927 using the QAM tuner and CableCard as the source. I too would love to see some code developed to enable the AV HDD mode, such that you could browse the recorded content much like you do from the Mits' integrated AVDISK.

How difficult of an endeavour is this type of thing? I know the (buggy/temperamental) Vividlogic Firebus for Windows allows you to switch between DVHS and AVHDD compatibility modes, but have no idea if the development of the VDVHS capability is the trivial part, and the AVDISK exponentially more difficult, or if it is nearly identical code, with just a bit flipped here and there?

Sure, we can do all of this but it is WAY too much work, dontcha think, folks? What is really needed is a way to mount the Comcast box' firewire drive on the Mac desktop. Then copy the files and THEN use Streamclip to convert. BUT...no where on the 'Net does anyone say or know anything aboout how to do this. C'mon, hackers, tinkerers, AV gurus... there MUST be a way: something you can set in the Comcast box set-up function (you know, the ugly white screen you call up with the box off)...a sequence of buttons to keep pressed upon startup of the Comcast box? A Mac mounting utility? Is the hard drive Linux formatted and you need a linux box to see the drive? Anyone? Let's think outside the box for a change (pun intended!)

Sure, we can do all of this but it is WAY too much work, dontcha think, folks? What is really needed is a way to mount the Comcast box' firewire drive on the Mac desktop. Then copy the files and THEN use Streamclip to convert. BUT...no where on the 'Net does anyone say or know anything aboout how to do this. C'mon, hackers, tinkerers, AV gurus... there MUST be a way: something you can set in the Comcast box set-up function (you know, the ugly white screen you call up with the box off)...a sequence of buttons to keep pressed upon startup of the Comcast box? A Mac mounting utility? Is the hard drive Linux formatted and you need a linux box to see the drive? Anyone? Let's think outside the box for a change (pun intended!)

There isn't...and you can thank Hollywood and Congress for that.

Right.

If I knew how to do that, it would be because I had engaged in illegal activity. And if I told you or anyone else how to do that, that would be illegal, too.

DMCA

I set this up over the weekend using Firewire SDK 22 and 10.3.9, and was able to record from my Mits 73927 using the QAM tuner and CableCard as the source. I too would love to see some code developed to enable the AV HDD mode, such that you could browse the recorded content much like you do from the Mits' integrated AVDISK.

How difficult of an endeavour is this type of thing? I know the (buggy/temperamental) Vividlogic Firebus for Windows allows you to switch between DVHS and AVHDD compatibility modes, but have no idea if the development of the VDVHS capability is the trivial part, and the AVDISK exponentially more difficult, or if it is nearly identical code, with just a bit flipped here and there?

Yeah, I would really love that capability too....it would be great. I like the way you think. :)

Newbie here...

TWC, Cary NC, just had my 8300HD die and got one with 2 1394 ports.

I've installed FW SDK 2.2, and iRecord (with my Duo Mini)

I've tried iRecord and avcVidCap, trying to get just short clips (2-3 minutes) as a test.

I get non-zero length files stored (~45M for 2 minutes), and avcVidCap reports Frame/pkt count, but I can't play the clips back... making me wonder what I'm actually capturing, or if everything is cop protected. So far I've tried TNTHD, CNN, and a local ABC station, all with the same result.

Would appreciate any advice.

EDIT: I'm trying VLC and VirtualDVHS for playback.
EDIT2: avcVidCap reports "Copy Freely" for the attempts so far, but again, the files seem to be filled with data that VLC and DVHS won't touch.

Thanks,
Mike

If the stream is 5c encrypted to copy-once then you are SOL. You can always buy a DVHS deck and record to tape. That is the only way to record copy-once content.
MickeyDora:

Can I record an encrypted show to the Mac, and play it back through a DVHS deck? Or copy it to a DVHS tape that can then be played? I finally have all the pieces to do this, but I'm reluctant to hook it all up unless I have a good chance of it working.

My goal is to place-shift with only one DVHS deck.

MickeyDora:

Can I record an encrypted show to the Mac, and play it back through a DVHS deck? Or copy it to a DVHS tape that can then be played? I finally have all the pieces to do this, but I'm reluctant to hook it all up unless I have a good chance of it working.

My goal is to place-shift with only one DVHS deck.

Nope. There is no way whatsoever.

Nope. There is no way whatsoever.I would tend to say something more like "not easily, but it depends how ambitious and motivated you are" ;)

I would tend to say something more like "not easily, but it depends how ambitious and motivated you are" ;)

Sssshhhhh, that's supposed to be our little secret. ;)

rcliff

Thanks a lot for the lengthy and helpful explanation. I did already come across something very similar. And I followed all the instructions, including getting and installing the Apple Developer Tools, XFirewireSDK18b, then found the AVC Browser and Virtual DVHS. I am running OS 10.3.9. I tried so many ways of turning things on an off, switching ports, etc. Nothing. I cannot get my Mac to recognize my Motorola DCT 6400 Series III. Nor does the mac appear anywhere on my TV set (not that I was expecting that).
Now, in addition to being so frustrated by all this (days and days of scouring forums, reading, trying, and seeing periodically people saying they are able to do this or the least connect an external firewire drive for added storage) I now just read your caution---"If you are running Panther, do NOT install the prerelease components which will overwrite some firewire components with older versions." Ugh. Now what? Did I screw up what was working and make things worse? Do I need to go back somehow and reinstall a version of firewire - and trash the SDK 18? This is terribly rediculous. It ought to just work! Right? That's what Macs are good at.
Any further ideas, suggestions - and what about the SDK 18 that I already installed?
Thanks for any help you can provide.

One other thig - I am not trying to capture HDTV. I know that's the forum but I could not find related articles/threads anyplace else. I am only trying to transfer SDTV from already recorded shows in SDTV, to my laptop of an external hard drive.
Thanks again to any and all who offer input.

rcliff

Thanks a lot for the lengthy and helpful explanation. I did already come across something very similar. And I followed all the instructions, including getting and installing the Apple Developer Tools, XFirewireSDK18b, then found the AVC Browser and Virtual DVHS. I am running OS 10.3.9. I tried so many ways of turning things on an off, switching ports, etc. Nothing. I cannot get my Mac to recognize my Motorola DCT 6400 Series III. Nor does the mac appear anywhere on my TV set (not that I was expecting that).
Now, in addition to being so frustrated by all this (days and days of scouring forums, reading, trying, and seeing periodically people saying they are able to do this or the least connect an external firewire drive for added storage) I now just read your caution---"If you are running Panther, do NOT install the prerelease components which will overwrite some firewire components with older versions." Ugh. Now what? Did I screw up what was working and make things worse? Do I need to go back somehow and reinstall a version of firewire - and trash the SDK 18? This is terribly rediculous. It ought to just work! Right? That's what Macs are good at.
Any further ideas, suggestions - and what about the SDK 18 that I already installed?
Thanks for any help you can provide.

If you're running Panther 10.3.9, and unfortunately installed the FireWire pre-release components from FireWire SDK 18, then go download FireWire SDK22, and install the "FireWire 10.3.9 Components" package. That will make sure you have the latest FireWire components for Panther. Then, for working with your cable STB, don't use VirtualDVHS, and AVCBrowser, use the AVCVideoCap application that is part of FireWireSDK 22 instead. It is designed to discover, control and record from cable STBs.

If you're running Panther 10.3.9, and unfortunately installed the FireWire pre-release components from FireWire SDK 18, then go download FireWire SDK22, and install the "FireWire 10.3.9 Components" package. That will make sure you have the latest FireWire components for Panther. Then, for working with your cable STB, don't use VirtualDVHS, and AVCBrowser, use the AVCVideoCap application that is part of FireWireSDK 22 instead. It is designed to discover, control and record from cable STBs.

This sounds very promising. Big thanks, FriarWyer (nice neme) for the new tip. I am working on it and will post results.

No dice. I mean, I found and downloaded Firewire SDK22, then installed the 10.3.9 Components package. Then tried AVCBrowser. Nothing happens. It is not reading any devices. I went into the very many folders now inside the Developer folder. One of these folders is FirewireSDK22. Inside that are folders: Appllications, Docs, Firewire Components, etc. I first treid Applications and found AVCVideoCap. But, as I said above, nothing happened after opening. I read some of the documentation (I'm pretty over my head at this point) and it seemed I should also install FireWire 10.3.9 Components. Iinstalled FW_Panther7W98 #1.pkg which was inside the Components folder. Rebooted. Tried AVCBrowser again, still nothing.
I have a firewire cable from the laptop to the back on the DCT6400, using one of the two firewire ports. I tried switching them. Rebooting, and so on. I am stalled again.
Anybody got a clue how to make this work?

No dice. I mean, I found and downloaded Firewire SDK22, then installed the 10.3.9 Components package. Then tried AVCBrowser. Nothing happens. It is not reading any devices. I went into the very many folders now inside the Developer folder. One of these folders is FirewireSDK22. Inside that are folders: Appllications, Docs, Firewire Components, etc. I first treid Applications and found AVCVideoCap. But, as I said above, nothing happened after opening. I read some of the documentation (I'm pretty over my head at this point) and it seemed I should also install FireWire 10.3.9 Components. Iinstalled FW_Panther7W98 #1.pkg which was inside the Components folder. Rebooted. Tried AVCBrowser again, still nothing.
I have a firewire cable from the laptop to the back on the DCT6400, using one of the two firewire ports. I tried switching them. Rebooting, and so on. I am stalled again.
Anybody got a clue how to make this work?

If AVCBrowser doesn't see the STB, then either your STB's FireWire is broken (or possibly disabled), your Mac's FireWire is broken, or the FW cable is bad. Do you have a DV camcorder available to check the functionality of the Mac's FireWire? AVCBrowser should see the camcorder, and so should AVCVideoCap. You could also use a FW disk-drive to test the functionality of your Mac's FireWire and your cable.

noodlehead:

hae you tried looking at your "drive" pane in the Finder to see if the Mac OS has mounted your STB as a device. another way to check this out is to do the "about this Mac" and choose "get more info" to see what it says is hooked up the firewire bus.

Man, this is frustrating. But I really appreciate all your help.
I just tried: a) connecting the same cable from the laptop to an external firewire hard drive. It worked; b) using a different cable connected from the same laptop port - to a DV camera. It worked. In fact, AVCBrowser saw it and identified it. So my feeling is, the FW cable is in working order, and the FW port on my laptop is in working order. Anything I'm missing here?
By the way, I live in the woods, upstate mountains of new york. So I don't have a high profile provider. Nevertheless, they do a decent job with providing me high speed internet access, and digital cable TV - including this pain-in-the-foot DCT6400. But when I talk with them about this - about the on/off possibilities of the firewire ports, they look at me like people must have looked at Alexander Graham Bell when he suggested talking over wires. Maybe they're functional, maybe not. They don't know. Is there any way for me to tell? Also, by the way, I have been in email contact with reps from Motorola - the manufacturers of this machine. They pretty much defer to the various forums and folks like yourselves for any real answers.
It's a good thing I have time on my hands. And no children. The (not) kids would suffer my absence. And the time on my hands, well, I quit working. I'm thinking of going back.

Not the same box, but if you look back a page or so, I can see my SA8300HD with the various Mac tools, and seeming record, but never get any content across to my Mac.

Mike

Mike
Can you tell me what you did to make the connection? I simply cannot get anything to mount/see/identify/notice/glimpse or peek at my Motorola DCT6400. There are two firewire ports on the back and tried them both. See above for other things I tried.

Mike
Can you tell me what you did to make the connection? I simply cannot get anything to mount/see/identify/notice/glimpse or peek at my Motorola DCT6400. There are two firewire ports on the back and tried them both. See above for other things I tried.It sounds like the firewire ports on your STB are disabled. Cable providers are now required to provide firewire if requested by the customer. Talk to a supervisor at your provider.

Everyone seems to be able to get there Comcast box to work using this process except me. I get to AV/C browser and the device is listed. when I click on **connect to device** it shows some info but I don't get a channal and I get some message I don't know what it means. it says

"Compare-swap to output plug 0 successful. OldVal=0x80008178 NewVal=ox81008178"

This is as far as I can get. I'm bout giving up here. :(

which firewire kit did you download? which OS are you running?

i had trouble with the browser too (although after random fiddling, i could get it to work), but then i read the more recent posts and realized that for my case:

-Comcast Motorola 6200
- OS 10.4.x (can't remember which revision of Tiger)
- Firewire SDK 22

if i run ACVideocap, i have an all in one solution for recording, and timed at that.

hope this helps

Everyone seems to be able to get there Comcast box to work using this process except me. I get to AV/C browser and the device is listed. when I click on **connect to device** it shows some info but I don't get a channal and I get some message I don't know what it means. it says

"Compare-swap to output plug 0 successful. OldVal=0x80008178 NewVal=ox81008178"

This is as far as I can get. I'm bout giving up here. :(

which firewire kit did you download? which OS are you running?

i had trouble with the browser too (although after random fiddling, i could get it to work), but then i read the more recent posts and realized that for my case:

-Comcast Motorola 6200
- OS 10.4.x (can't remember which revision of Tiger)
- Firewire SDK 22

if i run ACVideocap, i have an all in one solution for recording, and timed at that.

hope this helps

Derek Dude.. Your my hero!!!!.. I'm actually a brand spanking new Mac user. Been on PC's for 2 years now, but starting college for video editing and filming and was told Mac's is where I needed to be for it. So I just got this Mac 5 days ago and I'm still trying to figure out the workings of the system. Your info was right on the money. Thank you. It was perfect help. You must have been GOD sent.

-SDK 22 firewires = The AVC VideoCap

After recording is done ran
-MPEG Streamclip.app opens the file and convert to MPEG

then watch the recorded material on
-VLC.

It worked out great!!!! Only thing is it doesn't seem to want to record HBO, Showtime, ect. Cable system must have them blocked, but it works bueatifully for Fox and WB in digital and HD. I'm assuming it would work just the same with all the other none sunscription channels. Thank you to Derek you were the help I needed. I hope the name info I placed here will help another just the same.

samdgadi,

you are welcome. that's what this forum is all about: sharing information to help each other.

enjoy!

BTW, i don't have the premium channels, so i don't know if they use any different encryption or blocking. for Comcast in the SF Bay Area, all of my subscribed HD channels (Fox, CBS,NBC,ABC, INHD, ESPN-HD, etc. ) record just fine.

Also, although it's a big file, you should (at least i can) be able to view the raw file from AVC VideoCap in VLC.

It sounds like the firewire ports on your STB are disabled. Cable providers are now required to provide firewire if requested by the customer. Talk to a supervisor at your provider.

My cable provider returned my call this morning and told me he "cannot" unblock the port because he says the programers (I think he is talking about the major productions companies-HBO, etc) won't allow him to. He says it is against the law. I read somewhere along the way that there is a FCC ruling that says otherwise - as you are saying otherwise. Can you direct me to this ruling or requirement so I can forward it to my cable guy? Thanks.

My cable provider returned my call this morning and told me he "cannot" unblock the port because he says the programers (I think he is talking about the major productions companies-HBO, etc) won't allow him to. He says it is against the law. I read somewhere along the way that there is a FCC ruling that says otherwise - as you are saying otherwise. Can you direct me to this ruling or requirement so I can forward it to my cable guy? Thanks.


I am not sure you have confirmed that your STB cannot be mounted. i.e appears as a FW device in About this Mac. The connect sequence to the computer for STB is clunky. It is my experience that your computer must be off to start. All other FW devices should be removed from your computer. Then connect the FW cable from the STB (the STB is powered on) to the computer. Then turn on the computer.
I cannot tell from your posts if this is what you did just to see if the STB can be mounted.
If you cannot get your STB to mount then it is likely the FW port on the STB is disabled. Your "cable guy" is only required to provide a FW port ( search the net for the FCC rules) , but not required to support it. So even if your "cable guy" is willing to get you an STB with an enabled FW port, he is not required to help you etc in any way. If your "cable guy" has purchased program feeds from the main distributors, such as Comcast etc., he may not have a license to allow more than one copy even for network programming such as CBS etc. That one copy will go on the hard drive inside your STB ( if you have that box) from which it will never escape. HBO and the rest of that type of program source rarely allow access via FW. I believe Comcast in SF used to have access to HBO for a short time.

HBO and the rest of that type of program source rarely allow access via FW. I believe Comcast in SF used to have access to HBO for a short time.These licenses typically do not prevent the computer from seeing the DVR. Many of the channels here in Denver (including at least 2 of the locals) have some type of protection that prevents transferring the file from the DVR to my Mac. But I can still see the DVR using AVCVideoCap.

My cable provider returned my call this morning and told me he "cannot" unblock the port because he says the programers (I think he is talking about the major productions companies-HBO, etc) won't allow him to. He says it is against the law. I read somewhere along the way that there is a FCC ruling that says otherwise - as you are saying otherwise. Can you direct me to this ruling or requirement so I can forward it to my cable guy? Thanks.
According to this article (http://www.unmediated.org/archives/2004/04/fcc_requires_fi.php) it's the way the FCC is interpreting an existing law in the Telecommunications Act of 1996. I would contact a law library's reference service for more expert guidance on the topic.

I just got a second Moto DVR from Comcast and have not been able to firewire-record any HD content that has been recorded to the DVR.

I can record DVR-recorded SD content and seem to be able to record HD content from the direct feed on unencrypted channels (tried it on one channel).

I can still record HD DVR-recorded content from my old Moto DVR.

Anyone else have this issue with the newer DVRs?

This is similar to my issue, but last time I checked I thought I was still able to record one local. It's been a while since I tried it, but I wonder if Comcast is setting a flag that prevents further copying. Where are you located?

It's been a while since I tried it, but I wonder if Comcast is setting a flag that prevents further copying. Where are you located?

I'm in San Francisco.

I also thought that they might be setting a flag to prevent further copying for HD content, but I would think that a flag would also block copying from my old DVR (which I can still do).

i have a comcast box 3412 and i'm able to record anything that doesn't have the "copy once" flag no problem... it's too bad that almost everything has the damn flag! hackers where you at?? hahhaha

I have an SA 8300HD that I'm trying to record live from. The device shows up in AVCVideoCap as a tuner, stream type Other/unknown. When I capture from an HD channel, I get about 100MB per minute. But I can't open the resulting M2T file in anything -- MPEG Streaminfo says it has no audio/video stream, and VLC just refuses to open it.

AVCVideoCap captured ~2,500,000 frames over 5 minutes, EMI is "copy freely". AVCBrowser lists it as a Type-5 device.

I've also tried renaming it to .ts and opening in Media Player Classic in Windows, to no avail.

Any ideas?

I have an SA 8300HD that I'm trying to record live from. The device shows up in AVCVideoCap as a tuner, stream type Other/unknown. When I capture from an HD channel, I get about 100MB per minute. But I can't open the resulting M2T file in anything -- MPEG Streaminfo says it has no audio/video stream, and VLC just refuses to open it.

AVCVideoCap captured ~2,500,000 frames over 5 minutes, EMI is "copy freely". AVCBrowser lists it as a Type-5 device.

I've also tried renaming it to .ts and opening in Media Player Classic in Windows, to no avail.

Any ideas?

I had the exact same experience. Saw the 8300... seemed to capture frames.. couldn't find anything to view afterwards. :(

Mike

Actually, I got it to work but with one caveat -- It will only capture pre-recorded video. which is to say, live tv won't work, but record it and play it back, and it captures fine.

I've hacked together one using the SDK samples. Here it is.

Usage: ./pvr <filename> <time in minutes> <channel>

Channel is optional (if you want to record what's playing back without changing channels).

Enjoy!

Actually, I got it to work but with one caveat -- It will only capture pre-recorded video. which is to say, live tv won't work, but record it and play it back, and it captures fine.

Brilliant!! Works for me too. Now to learn how to knock down the size.. looks like ~60M/min of HD (PBS show).. ack!

Mike

Does anyone have a recommendation for an effective tool to recover deleted files on a Mac? I made the mistake of transferring an entire directory from one drive to another. Unfortunately, that directory existed on the other drive and instead of adding the new files into it, it deleted the existing files (after I said OK to the prompt that should have said, "are you sure you want me to F-up your day?").

I tried binarybiz, but it's tool requires me to select the type of file to look for, and the VirtualDVHS transport stream extensions (.m2t) were not on the list.

I remember that Norton used to have something for this in the DOS days, but that was before all of the new security.

I would appreciate any help from you Mac experts. And, yes...I know enough not to write any other data to the drive.

Thanks in advance!

Does anyone have a recommendation for an effective tool to recover deleted files on a Mac? I made the mistake of transferring an entire directory from one drive to another. Unfortunately, that directory existed on the other drive and instead of adding the new files into it, it deleted the existing files (after I said OK to the prompt that should have said, "are you sure you want me to F-up your day?").

I tried binarybiz, but it's tool requires me to select the type of file to look for, and the VirtualDVHS transport stream extensions (.m2t) were not on the list.

I remember that Norton used to have something for this in the DOS days, but that was before all of the new security.

I would appreciate any help from you Mac experts. And, yes...I know enough not to write any other data to the drive.

Thanks in advance!
The only one I have experience with is Data Rescue II, but I don't think any undelete program would help you. :(

Your HD stores files in chunks, which are small, like 512K each. When you save a file, your Mac writes it to random areas of the disk wherever there's space, and enters all of these locations on the disk into the filesystem, so that when you open the file, your Mac knows all of the locations on the disk it lives on and in what order. When you delete your m2t file, all references to these chunks in the filesystem get purged, and you end up with a bunch of nameless, disassociated chunks in random areas on your drive.

An undelete program scans through all the clusters on your drive and restores the ones to which there are no references in the filesystem. Sometimes the chunks are stored sequentially in which case the undelete program will "know" that they make up one file. But you pretty much have no chance in hell of recovering an m2t file assuming it is any more than a few megabytes in size (due to the many-nameless-chunks factor). Well, you could maybe do it, but you would have to splice together 1000+ brief segments of what was once your m2t file... since they are split into tiny chunks. (First putting them back in the right order and separating them from all your other deleted chunks, of course.)

I went through this a while ago with my MP3 collection. Some I was able to restore, but many songs had missing endings, some had missing beginnings, and nothing out of what I ended up recovering was more than a few megs in size. :( This was with Data Rescue II, though. Maybe I am wrong and there is a better, smarter undelete program...

I'm looking for guidance since I corrupted (and restored) my Mac OS after loading SDK 18 then 22.

I just bought my first Mac (love it!) NoteBook Pro 15" (Intel Duo Core), with Mac OS 10.4.7. Before recovering the OS, SDK 22 saw my Pioneer PRO-1120HD as a Pioneer PDP-5045. But neither virtual DVHS nor AC/P applications were able to record from the HDTV (file size = 0 Kb; bit-rate = 0). The HDTV recognized that a firewire device was connected (provided on/off & record buttons) but also indicated that the the firewire device (NoteBook) device could not be controlled.

Does anyone have any guidance on what I need to do to use the Mac to record from the Pioneer PRO-1120HD?

Thanks

Been playing more with the SDK and my cable box (SA8300HD). What I'm finding is this...

- I cannot record live from the air
- I cannot record from the chase buffer (ie. start a recording and then play it back while its going)
- I can record _some_ recorded shows that are "copy freely", but am seeing some that come back as random blocks of video noise and no sound.. perhaps I am missing key frames?)
- I cannot record (to my Mac) anything that is "copy once"... my guess is that the DVR is "using up" the only copy, since it will not pass thru directly, no further copying is permitted from the DVR'd copy since its already be "copied" once.

And for the few shows I can record this way, I have yet to find a way to transcode to a compression format (video) (to reduce recording size) and be able to preserve the 5.1 soundtrack.

Mike

Been playing more with the SDK and my cable box (SA8300HD). What I'm finding is this...

- I cannot record live from the air
- I cannot record from the chase buffer (ie. start a recording and then play it back while its going)
- I can record _some_ recorded shows that are "copy freely", but am seeing some that come back as random blocks of video noise and no sound.. perhaps I am missing key frames?)
- I cannot record (to my Mac) anything that is "copy once"... my guess is that the DVR is "using up" the only copy, since it will not pass thru directly, no further copying is permitted from the DVR'd copy since its already be "copied" once.

And for the few shows I can record this way, I have yet to find a way to transcode to a compression format (video) (to reduce recording size) and be able to preserve the 5.1 soundtrack.

Mike
Sorry I can't help with any of your other problems, but I think Toast should be able to do the transcode thing while preserving the 5.1 audio.

I'm looking for guidance since I corrupted (and restored) my Mac OS after loading SDK 18 then 22.

I just bought my first Mac (love it!) NoteBook Pro 15" (Intel Duo Core), with Mac OS 10.4.7. Before recovering the OS, SDK 22 saw my Pioneer PRO-1120HD as a Pioneer PDP-5045. But neither virtual DVHS nor AC/P applications were able to record from the HDTV (file size = 0 Kb; bit-rate = 0). The HDTV recognized that a firewire device was connected (provided on/off & record buttons) but also indicated that the the firewire device (NoteBook) device could not be controlled.

Does anyone have any guidance on what I need to do to use the Mac to record from the Pioneer PRO-1120HD?

Thanks

First of all, a short primer in DVHS operation. The way things work is you have a kind of master slave relationship. The ATSC/QAM tuner is the 'Master' and your DVHS deck, AV hard drive, VirtualDVHS would be the slave. The tuner controls everything, the DVHS is just a dummy box that can accept commands from the tuner, you rarely play with it directly. (The exception is when it is hooked up to a DVHS deck and you're dumping recordings to disk.) So, what you want to do is setup your HDTV so that it controls the VirtualDVHS app like it would control a standard DVHS deck.

VirtualDVHS should work, the trick is getting the settings right. I think you'll need to check back in this tread for what channel number you need (63 I think was the magic number, and AV/C browser may help too). Make sure VirtualDVHS is on before starting up your HDTV, and your HDTV should see the 'deck'. Start on page 54 of your manual for all the various firewire stuff (they call it i.Link). You just need to set it up in the Home Menu->Tuner Setup->Recorder Setup->iLink Setup->iLink List, you should see something with Macintosh its name. After this you just need to make sure everything on you Mac is on, and that VirtualDVHS is running. Then <b>everything</b> else will be done from your Pioneer. This is a little awkward, so, you'll want to setup folders to record to. The easiest way is to open VirtualDVHS and drag the folder you want to use to its icon, in the dock or the finder. Then quit and reopen VirtualDVHS, and now when you use your Pioneer to record it will be in the folder you used.
It's been a while since I did a lot with VirtualDVHS, but, you should be able to then setup a group of recordings (all in one folder) and play them off your drive. Though transitions may not be so great.

Sorry I can't help with any of your other problems, but I think Toast should be able to do the transcode thing while preserving the 5.1 audio.

Toast might transcode to DVD video (video_ts) and preserve, but I'm looking for an avi container of any variety. I cannot find a 5.1 option under the DIVX options for Toast?

Toast says my clip is DD, but the DIVX options say mpeg-layer 3 for the export format. :(

Thanks,
Mik

It's easy to record "over the air" high-definition programs on your Sharp LC37D90U and your Mac Mini (or other Mac) using a large external HFS formatted hard drive.

1) Connect a firewire cable between your TV and your Mac.
2) Download the "FireWireSDK22" directory (developer/Development_Kits/FireWireSDK22.dmg) from the Apple ftp site then open the "Virtual DVHS" video recorder application that's included.
3) Open the bottom door of your remote control and press the iLink button.
4) Add the "Apple Computer" video recorder item to the list of devices.

Now you can use either the Mac's "Virtual DVHS" video recorder or the TV's "Apple Computer" video recorder (i.link button on remote) to record, play, fast forward, or rewind after tuning to the station you want to record. Make sure you set the recording path to your large external hard drive since this records up to 9 GB per hour!

I am currently automatically recording programs on a weekly basis using Applescripts within iCal on my Mac Mini. If you are interested, I can give you scripts that record in 30 minute intervals, 1 hour intervals, or 2 hour intervals.

This is has been working flawlessly for me!

The Sharp LC37D90U is an outstanding HDTV, 37" 1080p computer monitor, and an HD recorder. What an incredible value!

GDMeyer:

Wow, I am interested in your scripts!

I have a Sony 34XBR960 and I had not really played with the i.link stuff since I tried it a year or two ago and decided it didn't work. I was wrong, it works great on the Sony. Luckily I had a 6 to 4 pin firewire converter courtesy of the good old days when the firewire iPods shipped with them. It, of course, does not work when the 6412 Moto Cable box is sending anything but off the cable splitter it works great, both playing and recording.

Now I just need a terabyte or two network disk farm and I will be good for a while....

Thanks,
BB

GDMeyer:

Wow, I am interested in your scripts!

I have a Sony 34XBR960 and I had not really played with the i.link stuff since I tried it a year or two ago and decided it didn't work. I was wrong, it works great on the Sony. Luckily I had a 6 to 4 pin firewire converter courtesy of the good old days when the firewire iPods shipped with them. It, of course, does not work when the 6412 Moto Cable box is sending anything but off the cable splitter it works great, both playing and recording.

Now I just need a terabyte or two network disk farm and I will be good for a while....

Thanks,
BB

Here is my "Record 1 hour" AppleScript. You may need to increase the "delay 3" to a higher number if your Mac is slow in opening up the application. (It does not format well in this thread). You can use this in iCal to record each week for the whole television season. I have set several shows to end recording May 2007:

tell application "VirtualDVHS" to activate
delay 3
tell application "System Events"
if (system attribute "sysv") < 4144 or UI elements enabled then
tell application process "VirtualDVHS"
click button 12 of window "VirtualDVHS - Version 2.15"
end tell
else
tell application "System Preferences"
activate
set current pane to pane "com.apple.preference.universalaccess"
beep
display dialog "GUI Scripting is not enabled." & return & return & "Check \"Enable access for assistive devices\" in the Universal Access preference pane (authentication is required), then run this script again." with icon stop buttons {"OK"} default button "OK"
end tell
end if
end tell
delay 3600
tell application "System Events"
if (system attribute "sysv") < 4144 or UI elements enabled then
tell application process "VirtualDVHS"
click button 11 of window "VirtualDVHS - Version 2.15"
end tell
else
tell application "System Preferences"
activate
set current pane to pane "com.apple.preference.universalaccess"
beep
display dialog "GUI Scripting is not enabled." & return & return & "Check \"Enable access for assistive devices\" in the Universal Access preference pane (authentication is required), then run this script again." with icon stop buttons {"OK"} default button "OK"
end tell
end if
end tell

the manual actually says that you can not connect a computer to the firewire port. I tried last night using AV/C browser and had no luck. I think that av/c browser returned channel 1 as my channel. However, the TV will not recognize the computer while the computer recognizes the tv. I was just hitting the ilink button rather than going through the setup advice that you give here, so I will try that this evening. Any other suggestions?

What I plan to do this evening:
connect computer to TV
Start the computer.
Run Av/c browser to find the channel.
Set the channel (in the output portion?) using open this device.
start the tv
Go to the tuner menu and follow your suggestions.

Anything I missed?
Thanks


First of all, a short primer in DVHS operation. The way things work is you have a kind of master slave relationship. The ATSC/QAM tuner is the 'Master' and your DVHS deck, AV hard drive, VirtualDVHS would be the slave. The tuner controls everything, the DVHS is just a dummy box that can accept commands from the tuner, you rarely play with it directly. (The exception is when it is hooked up to a DVHS deck and you're dumping recordings to disk.) So, what you want to do is setup your HDTV so that it controls the VirtualDVHS app like it would control a standard DVHS deck.

VirtualDVHS should work, the trick is getting the settings right. I think you'll need to check back in this tread for what channel number you need (63 I think was the magic number, and AV/C browser may help too). Make sure VirtualDVHS is on before starting up your HDTV, and your HDTV should see the 'deck'. Start on page 54 of your manual for all the various firewire stuff (they call it i.Link). You just need to set it up in the Home Menu->Tuner Setup->Recorder Setup->iLink Setup->iLink List, you should see something with Macintosh its name. After this you just need to make sure everything on you Mac is on, and that VirtualDVHS is running. Then <b>everything</b> else will be done from your Pioneer. This is a little awkward, so, you'll want to setup folders to record to. The easiest way is to open VirtualDVHS and drag the folder you want to use to its icon, in the dock or the finder. Then quit and reopen VirtualDVHS, and now when you use your Pioneer to record it will be in the folder you used.
It's been a while since I did a lot with VirtualDVHS, but, you should be able to then setup a group of recordings (all in one folder) and play them off your drive. Though transitions may not be so great.

the manual actually says that you can not connect a computer to the firewire port. I tried last night using AV/C browser and had no luck. I think that av/c browser returned channel 1 as my channel. However, the TV will not recognize the computer while the computer recognizes the tv. I was just hitting the ilink button rather than going through the setup advice that you give here, so I will try that this evening. Any other suggestions?

What I plan to do this evening:
connect computer to TV
Start the computer.
Good, up to here. And, yes it seems the CE companies are loath for its consumers to hook their precious device up to a computer.
Run Av/c browser to find the channel.
Set the channel (in the output portion?) using open this device.
Oops, sorry I wasn't specific enough. The problems with recording have been that VirtualDVHS is not on the right channel. So, with VirtualDVHS open (version 2.0 or greater), hit the "Stats Drawer" and go to set the appropriate "Broadcast Record Channel"
Though this will need to be done with the TV on, since the AVCBrowser needs the TV on to check the channel.
start the tv
Go to the tuner menu and follow your suggestions.

Anything I missed?
Thanks

You also need to set a folder to record too (as I noted in my previous post, or use the "Set Recording Path" button in VirtualDVHS). Now I'm not sure when it sets it, so best is to quit, then restart, probably do this before turning the HDTV on and do the rest.

Hopefully I've explained this right, but, I've only used a ATSC tuner to do this, but, it did work well, and that is what your HDTV is (granted with a monitor attached). I just know from being in the forum (since before the 'HTPC - Mac Chat' was created) that there are many ideosyncracies of the system (especially with IEEE1394/Firewire/iLink). Just keep plugging away is the trick is to getting the HDTV to recognize your mac (running VirtualDVHS) as a DVHS deck that it can record to. To recap, with edits:

connect computer to TV
Start the computer.
Start VirtualDVHS and "Set Recording Path"
Restart VirtualDVHS
start the tv
Run Av/c browser to find the channel of the tuner/HDTV.
Set the channel using "Stats Drawer".
Go to the tuner menu and follow your suggestions.

Good luck.

My cable provider returned my call this morning and told me he "cannot" unblock the port because he says the programers (I think he is talking about the major productions companies-HBO, etc) won't allow him to. He says it is against the law. I read somewhere along the way that there is a FCC ruling that says otherwise - as you are saying otherwise. Can you direct me to this ruling or requirement so I can forward it to my cable guy? Thanks.

The relevant law is found here (http://www.fcc.gov/mb/engineering/part76.pdf). The part you want to send them is 76.640 Section 4 Subsections i and ii, found on page 145 of the PDF.

They state:
(i) Effective April 1, 2004, upon request of a customer, replace any leased high definition set-top box, which does not include a functional IEEE 1394 interface, with one that includes a functional IEEE 1394 interface or upgrade the customer's set-top box by download or other means to ensure that the IEEE 1394 interface is functional.
(ii) Effective July 1, 2005, include both a DVI or HDMI interface and an IEEE 1394 interface on all high definition set-top boxes acquired by a cable operator for distribution to customers.

The copy protection he is referring to has nothing to do with the FireWire port being turned on or not. The copy protection will simply determine if your Mac can record all your HD channels or just some of them.

Broadcast channels cannot be encrypted.
76.630 (page 142)
Cable system operators shall not scramble or otherwise encrypt signals carried on the basic service tier.
76.901 (page 155)
The basic service tier shall, at a minimum, include all signals of domestic television broadcast stations provided to any subscriber ...
76.1904 (page 315)
Commercial audiovisual content delivered as unencrypted broadcast television shall not be encoded so as to prevent or limit copying thereof by covered products or, to constrain the resolution of the image when output from a covered product.

Toast might transcode to DVD video (video_ts) and preserve, but I'm looking for an avi container of any variety. I cannot find a 5.1 option under the DIVX options for Toast?

Toast says my clip is DD, but the DIVX options say mpeg-layer 3 for the export format. :(

Thanks,
Mik

The app you need is ffmpegX (http://www.ffmpegx.com/index.html) . It's not the prettiest or simplest app to use, but it will get the job done.

Simply drag your .m2t/.ts file onto the "Source Format" side of the Summary tab, then pick "DivX" from the "Target Format" To menu. Go through the rest of the tabs to nail down the details (resolution, bitrate, etc). To keep the 5.1 sound pick "passthrough" and your DivX AVIs will have AC3 audio. You can make a preset to save time and only do this once.

I personally forgo the 5.1 and use VisualHub (http://www.techspansion.com/visualhub/) to set up 720P MPEG-4 H.264 encodes with AAC audio. The program is based on the same free tools as ffmpegX, but I find it works better and produces more reliable AV sync. However, it has less options and doesn't easily put out DivX AVI with AC3.

With my settings, the audio still sounds decent with my Dolby ProLogic II-capable receiver, and the picture quality is just about exactly the same as the original MPEG-2 while the bit rate is only 3500 kbps. The end result is a 2 - 3GB file that looks spot-on. The DivX based files will need to be about double the bitrate to have similar quality at 720P (which means double the file size), but they will transcode faster.

Good luck!

The app you need is ffmpegX (http://www.ffmpegx.com/index.html) . It's not the prettiest or simplest app to use, but it will get the job done.

Simply drag your .m2t/.ts file onto the "Source Format" side of the Summary tab, then pick "DivX" from the "Target Format" To menu. Go through the rest of the tabs to nail down the details (resolution, bitrate, etc). To keep the 5.1 sound pick "passthrough" and your DivX AVIs will have AC3 audio. You can make a preset to save time and only do this once.

I have not had luck with ffmegX... I can get it to transcode to mp3 (2 ch) audio, but any/all combinations of ac3 encoding/passthru have failed for me... ???? I was using the latest version (up to the .9rc2 that came out yesterday)

Mike

I have been able to record HD content to my iMac G5 (2.0 ghz) from my SA 8300HD, but only prerecorded content. Recording any live station records onluy about 3 seconds of video and then stops. Any thoughts on why this occurs?

Archiving content is another issue. I edited a half hour of HDTV to 20 minutes by removing commercials using MPEG Streamclip and then output to H.264 mp4 files with bitrate of 3500. resulting file looked good, but my G5 struggled to play it well. It also took about 10 hours to encode 20 minutes of video. What type of machines are people using to reencode the ts files and what experience are people having playing these reencoded files?

Archiving content is another issue. I edited a half hour of HDTV to 20 minutes by removing commercials using MPEG Streamclip and then output to H.264 mp4 files with bitrate of 3500. resulting file looked good, but my G5 struggled to play it well. It also took about 10 hours to encode 20 minutes of video. What type of machines are people using to reencode the ts files and what experience are people having playing these reencoded files?
VLC should be able to play the ts files as they are. Of course, they will use up 6x the disk space of 3500Kbps H.264. I personally don't bother with transcoding, because it takes forever, and HD space is cheap and getting even cheaper.

ffmpegX is 10x faster than Streamclip.. but will not preserve the 5.1 audio.. but if you are ok with downgrading to mp3, its soooo much faster. But of course, I'm hoping ffmpegX will find a way to fix this. Obviously it can decode the 5.1 (to create the 2 ch mp3)... so the question is why not able to pass it thru??

Mike

I have an FFMPEGX question.

Here is my set up
CableVisoin SA4300HD cable box
24"iMac
iRecord to hand the channel changing and recording.

iRecord gives me a nice .ts file. But sometimes that .ts file includes 3 or 4 seconds of the previous channel before the box changes. This gives me a hiccup in the stream. when i try to transcode that ts file in ffmpegx it stops at that hiccup. How can i trim my recording or confiugre iRecord to not start recording until the box is at the right channel?

Also, what is a good format to transcode to? I want to preserve the HD resolution (1080i or 720p depending on the station). I don't care about 5.1 audio

You can edit the file in MPEG Streamclip.

It's easy to record "over the air" high-definition programs on your Sharp LC37D90U and your Mac Mini (or other Mac) using a large external HFS formatted hard drive.

1) Connect a firewire cable between your TV and your Mac.
2) Download the "FireWireSDK22" directory (developer/Development_Kits/FireWireSDK22.dmg) from the Apple ftp site then open the "Virtual DVHS" video recorder application that's included.
3) Open the bottom door of your remote control and press the iLink button.
4) Add the "Apple Computer" video recorder item to the list of devices.

Now you can use either the Mac's "Virtual DVHS" video recorder or the TV's "Apple Computer" video recorder (i.link button on remote) to record, play, fast forward, or rewind after tuning to the station you want to record. Make sure you set the recording path to your large external hard drive since this records up to 9 GB per hour!

<snip>


Hope you don't mind me asking a question even though you were replying to someone else :) .

I have a Pio 1130HD plasma with a media receiver that has 2 i.link ports on it. I am only watching OTA channels (no cable card, cable STB, etc) using the built in ATSC tuner.

I am able to record some stations, but not all. On the stations I can record, the counter counts up and I'm able to fully control the connection from either the TV remote or from the DVHS app on the Mac. On the stations I can not record, the counter does not change, though it does stream data from the TV to the Mac. (1 hr of 'Lost' resulted in a ~9GB file) The data, however, is just a black screen when I play it back (via VLC or on the TV itself).

Do I have a configuration issue here? or is this simply what copy protection looks like? If the former, any tips on what to look for? if the latter, am I simply SOL?

tia,
Mike

Hope you don't mind me asking a question even though you were replying to someone else .

I have a Pio 1130HD plasma with a media receiver that has 2 i.link ports on it. I am only watching OTA channels (no cable card, cable STB, etc) using the built in ATSC tuner.

I am able to record some stations, but not all. On the stations I can record, the counter counts up and I'm able to fully control the connection from either the TV remote or from the DVHS app on the Mac. On the stations I can not record, the counter does not change, though it does stream data from the TV to the Mac. (1 hr of 'Lost' resulted in a ~9GB file) The data, however, is just a black screen when I play it back (via VLC or on the TV itself).

Do I have a configuration issue here? or is this simply what copy protection looks like? If the former, any tips on what to look for? if the latter, am I simply SOL?

tia,
Mike

If VirtualDVHS is recording a stream from a TV, but the counter doesn't count up, then it is most likely due the fact that the stream is DTCP encrpyted. The counter is driven by VirtualDVHS analyzing the incoming stream, and counting received frames. In an encrpyted stream, it cannot properly identify frame boundries, so the counter stays at 0:0:0.

I've seen similar problems with a recent JVC HDTV. Why these TVs encrypt streams from some stations and not others is perplexing. I though broadcast-flag wasn't yet implemented, but obviously some stations are transmitting copy-control information, and some TVs are honoring it.

gaderson, thanks for your help. I got it to work, and the picture as well as sound are great. Do you have any idea whether I can play with PIP while recording, so I can watch one channel while recording another? I figured I would try, but I suspect someone here has already.

Thanks.

If VirtualDVHS is recording a stream from a TV, but the counter doesn't count up, then it is most likely due the fact that the stream is DTCP encrpyted. The counter is driven by VirtualDVHS analyzing the incoming stream, and counting received frames. In an encrpyted stream, it cannot properly identify frame boundries, so the counter stays at 0:0:0.

I've seen similar problems with a recent JVC HDTV. Why these TVs encrypt streams from some stations and not others is perplexing. I though broadcast-flag wasn't yet implemented, but obviously some stations are transmitting copy-control information, and some TVs are honoring it.
The TV doesn't encrypt anything, all encryption is done by your friendly local cable co. on a per-channel basis. The TV won't pass decrypted data out through the firewire output because it's been designed to not be able to do that. This isn't the broadcast flag.

The TV doesn't encrypt anything, all encryption is done by your friendly local cable co. on a per-channel basis. The TV won't pass decrypted data out through the firewire output because it's been designed to not be able to do that. This isn't the broadcast flag.

This person was asking about OTA streams from the built-in ATSC tuner in his TV, not from a cable company STB.

In this case, DTCP encryption is indeed added by the FireWire hardware in the TV. Something in the over-the-air stream from certain broadcast channels in his area (and in mine too) is causing it to do so.

Even in cable STBs, the DTCP encrpytion is generated by the FireWire hardware in real-time prior to streaming over the FireWire bus. The encrpytion on the coax between the cable co. head-end, and the STB is a completely different type of encrpytion, it's not DTCP.

This person was asking about OTA streams from the built-in ATSC tuner in his TV, not from a cable company STB.

In this case, DTCP encryption is indeed added by the FireWire hardware in the TV. Something in the over-the-air stream from certain broadcast channels in his area (and in mine too) is causing it to do so.

Even in cable STBs, the DTCP encrpytion is generated by the FireWire hardware in real-time prior to streaming over the FireWire bus. The encrpytion on the coax between the cable co. head-end, and the STB is a completely different type of encrpytion, it's not DTCP.
That I did not know. Very interesting. I have not heard of any type of encryption being present in any area of the OTA signal chain. I almost wonder if that is not legal, because I thought I had heard that the broadcast flag was defeated in court. :confused:

Thanks for the answers!

So here's a question in a similar vein. If (some of) the local Boston stations are encrypting the ATSC / OTA signal, why does something like Tivo HD work? Forgive me if it's a question that's been asked before....

Thanks for the answers!

So here's a question in a similar vein. If (some of) the local Boston stations are encrypting the ATSC / OTA signal, why does something like Tivo HD work? Forgive me if it's a question that's been asked before....
If my understanding is correct... Tivo HD works because the Tivo company has paid the fees to the 5C consortium for a license to make their Tivos compliant with the encryption. The Tivo HD should be honoring the copy flag on the material (once/never/freely). Note that there is no way to get any programming out of the Tivo box in an unencrypted digital form. What goes into it (that isn't marked copy freely), can't come out, except in analog. In this respect, the Tivo is just like a DVHS VCR, except with a non-removable hard drive instead of removable videotapes.

gaderson, thanks for your help. I got it to work, and the picture as well as sound are great. Do you have any idea whether I can play with PIP while recording, so I can watch one channel while recording another? I figured I would try, but I suspect someone here has already.

Thanks.

Probably not, as most HD cable boxes can only stream one program at a time, so you'd have to figure out what is the main stream. Couldn't help to play, but, it can be a trial just to get the main channel to stream--PIP may just mess things up.

Probably not, as most HD cable boxes can only stream one program at a time, so you'd have to figure out what is the main stream. Couldn't help to play, but, it can be a trial just to get the main channel to stream--PIP may just mess things up.

Depends on the receiver. On the SA 8300HD you can watch a program that you send out to the "Record to VCR" channel while transfering the video to your Mac/PC over firewire. I have only gotten this to work on non-HD channel though over the secondary video connection.

I apologize if this has been asked and answered before but after searching through the 50 or so pages I still don't see exactly what I want to do being done.

I want to dump some of my EyeTV 500 HD programs to DVHS I have a JVC HRMD30000.

Can this be done via Virtual DVHS or other means?

I apologize if this has been asked and answered before but after searching through the 50 or so pages I still don't see exactly what I want to do being done.

I want to dump some of my EyeTV 500 HD programs to DVHS I have a JVC HRMD30000.

Can this be done via Virtual DVHS or other means?

Use the "Export" capability of the DVHSCap application (from FireWire SDK 22).

Hi,

I PMed you about the same time you responded here I think. Last night I tried but I was using an older version of DVHSCap from SDK18 and got a blank recording. Is there an updated version in SDK22 that I should use instead?

Do I need to pull out the large QT file from the EyeTV (2.3) package and point to that specific file to get this to work?

Do I need to purchase/install the Quicktime MPEG-2 codec as well?

Use the "Export" capability of the DVHSCap application (from FireWire SDK 22).

Hi,

Do I need to pull out the large QT file from the EyeTV (2.3) package and point to that specific file to get this to work?

Do I need to purchase/install the Quicktime MPEG-2 codec as well?

Inside the .eyetv recording file, there is a .mpg file. That is a MPEG-2 transport stream file. That's the file you need to point DVHSCap at for the export to work.

You do not need the Quicktime MPEG-2 codec. In fact, though the .mpg file shows up as a quicktime file (because of the extension), Quicktime cannot open a MPEG-2 transport stream file.

The FireWire SDK 22 version of DVHSCap has improvements in the MPEG2Transmitter, so I'd suggest that version instead of the SDK 18 version.

Excellent. Will try again tonight using the latest version and point it to the .mpg file itself this time.

Many thanks,

Hi,

I PMed you about the same time you responded here I think. Last night I tried but I was using an older version of DVHSCap from SDK18 and got a blank recording. Is there an updated version in SDK22 that I should use instead?

Do I need to pull out the large QT file from the EyeTV (2.3) package and point to that specific file to get this to work?

Do I need to purchase/install the Quicktime MPEG-2 codec as well?

Your questions prodded me into hooking one of my stockpiled 30K's to my main computer, a project I had been procrastinating on for some time.

I moved the .mpg file from the package contents into another directory, launched DVHSCAP (SDK22) and sent it right over to the 30K. It worked great. I would guess that your problem is either:

1) The wrong input was selected on the 30K. It should be "I-X", where X is a number and corresponds to your computer if you have more than one device in your firewire chain; or

2) As you suspect, maybe you just need the newer version SDK.

I did purchase the Quicktime Pro upgrade in the past, but I doubt if that was a factor.

Good luck.