Moving Vido from Tivo to Computer

April 22, 2007 5:46 PM

What's the best way of getting a small bit of video off my tivo onto my computer?

My son's band is allegedly going to be on MTV2 for about 30 seconds tonight at 1am. Yes, we're all thrilled and picking out our new cars. Most importantly, I'd like to be able to save this moment for posterity. I'm tivoing it, but I'd like to be able to transfer the tivo program to my computer so I can burn a DVD of it. I've got a wireless connection from my tivo to my home network and I've got tivo desktop but I've never really used it. For something like this, I'm totally prepared to go buy a DVD burner for my television, but it seems like I should have all the tools I already need if I just knew how to use them correctly. And for everyone who's going to suggest that my son should know how to do this - he only knows how to use equipment that plays music.

Thanks for your help.

posted by katyjack to Technology (5 answers total)

I believe the easiest way to do this would be to use Tivo Desktop to transfer the recording from Tivo to your computer, than use either that software or a free third-party application to convert the Tivo file into something you can burn. I've done this before, so I know it can be done.

Not sure what third-party app I used to convert the file, but if no one responds with a suitable one soon, I'll go find the one that I used to do it.

You are certainly right, though: it can be done if you have your Tivo connected to your network, and a DVD burner on the computer.
posted by DMan at 5:53 PM on April 22, 2007

TivoDecode will convert .tivo files to .mpg (DRM-less).
posted by roue at 6:09 PM on April 22, 2007

Best answer: Or you can get the pay-for version of Tivo Desktop that has DVD burning capability built in.
posted by wierdo at 6:10 PM on April 22, 2007

katyjack: Just curious what band your son's in (I Tivo Subterranean every week so I'll certainly see him).
posted by Ike_Arumba at 6:32 PM on April 22, 2007

Response by poster: He's still in high school and his band posted a video of themselves covering Grizzly Bear's Knife on You Tube. Somehow the guys from Grizzly Bear saw it and put it on their My Space page. Some people from MTV called one of the guys in my son's band and asked if they could use some of the video in their feature on Grizzly Bear that MTV was doing. All 6 of the guys were in heaven for a week, but as we all found out after staying up until 2 last night, MTV ultimately didn't use their stuff. Still the Tivo stuff worked great (I did a test earlier in the evening) and the show's great - I'm going to start tivoing it every week and watching it at an hour that's a little more friendly to my schedule. Thanks for everyone's help.
posted by katyjack at 3:04 PM on April 23, 2007