Converting EyeTV recordings to DVD

Hi folks,

I'd like to convert some EyeTV recordings to a format that will let me
use iMovie / iDVD to place them onto a DVD for playing. The built-in
EyeTV export function is dreadfully slow, so I was hoping to be able to
use another tool to do the conversion.

Stainless Steel Rat...

iMovie expects DV streams -- that is, what you get from a digital
camcorder. It won't work with MPEG-2 video (and probably not MPEG-4
either but I've never tried. So whether you use EyeTV or MPEG
Streamclip to do your MPEG-2/4 to DV conversion you're still going to
need the time and disk space that iMovie requires of its input files --
and then you're going to have to encode to MPEG-2 *again* for the DVD
authoring. Yeah. It's a PITA.

MPEG Streamclip relies on QuickTime which is crippled a bit thanks to
the MPEG-LA which says that if you want to play MPEG-2 video then you
have to fork over some cash. Apple is just passing the buck on this one.

That said, if you want cheap, use EyeTV to export as DV. If you want
flexibility then fork over the $20 for the MPEG-2 Playback Component.

Toast may be helpful here. EyeTV can export directly to Toast. If your
recordings are already suitable for DVD playback (resolution, bit rate,
etc.) then using Toast directly from EyeTV may avoid a lot of the
transcoding time and space issues that going through iMovie and iDVD
incur. I've not used Toast in a couple of years and I don't remember if
it is smart enough not to re-encode MPEG-2 to MPEG-2.

Jim...

I'll second this as it's in line with my experience also.

Philo D...

I use the EyeTV export, but that is because the result is my final form.
I think it is no slower than any other Quicktime client at encoding.

Jolly Roger...

The problem is, I run EyeTV on a Intel Core Solo Mac mini. So exporting
with EyeTV is dreadfully slow. A two-hour recording took a couple days
to export. That's not good enough. I can copy a one-hour recording

Gerry...

Something is wrong with your setup. I can convert my eyeTV files on my
G4 PowerBook in about 20 to 30 minutes to a format that Toast can then
burn to a DVD.

Gerry...

I was off on my guesstament on how long it took to convert an eyeTV
program to a format suitable for Toast. Tonight I converted a 94 min.
program in exactly 13 minutes, so your two hour show should take less
than 20 min.

Jolly Roger...

What quality level and settings do you use though?

Gerry...

Encoded at Standard (DVD 120)
Export: Default format for Toast

Huan...

I agree with Gerry; something's not right. I'm using EyeTV on a G4 Cube
and it isn't taking days to export. After that I use ffmpegX. That step
did take all night when I had the original 500 MHz processor, but since
the upgrade I can take a recording from EyeTV all the way to DVD in a few
hours. Your Intel Mini should do better.

over the network in just a few minutes. So I'd like to do the
conversion on another faster machine that way.

If you just want the result in some other form:
An EyeTV recording is a "package", and if you open it up, you will find
an MPEG inside. Drag it out. Done.

Jolly Roger...

Right, but I can't *do* anything with that MPEG-2 file, it seems.

MPEG Streamclip seems to be unable to open the MPG files within the
EyeTV recording packages because I don't have the MPEG-2 playback
component installed. I suppose if that's the best way to do it, I'll
pony up the $20 or whatever it is for MPEG-2. But before I do, I'd like
to ask what others here use to do this.

Philo D...

You can (for analog channels) choose what format EyeTV uses. (At least
for the EyeTV 200 that I have.) Preferences > Devices.
So select MPEG-4, and you won't need the MPEG-2 add-on to read it.

Jolly Roger...

The only choices are MPEG-2 and MPEG-1. I see no MPEG-4 option there.

Can anyone here who has converted EyeTV recordings outside of the EyeTV
application give me any tips?

Kadin2048...

JR,

Could be mistaken here but won't Toast automatically convert recordings
to the proper DVD video format if you drag-and-drop them into a
DVD-Video project? I think versions 6 and newer (possibly 7) do.

I'd say that's probably your best bet, assuming you have a fairly recent
version of Toast.

I don't know how "smart" its converter is -- specifically, I don't know
if it'll realize that you have MPEG-2 video already, and not recompress
it -- but you'll be able to tell immediately based on how long it takes
to encode. (Audio only on a fast Mac should be a few minutes, a full
transcode will be ~realtime or slower.)

DVDs created in Toast aren't necessarily objects of beauty -- it's not
iDVD to be sure -- but it suffices when you just want something quick
and dirty; for archiving TV episodes and the like.

Would that path work for you?

sbt...

I don't actually convert them -- just use EyeTV's "editor" to remove
unwanted material (lead-in, lead-out, commercials, blank space while
flipping a LaserDisc that I'm converting, etc.) and then exporting as
MPEG-2 for use in DVD Studio Pro, which want MPEG Elementary streams.

Jolly Roger...

I would do that, but editing on a Core Solo Mac mini is dreadfully
slow. And exporting seems to go horribly slow at the lowest quality
H.264, and takes much longer at higher quality settings.

If, however, you want to do the conversion, MPEG StreamClip is the
easiest choice, but as you note, requires the MPEG-2 QT codec. ffmpegX
will also do the job and, if you turn off the "Use QuickTime" option,
doesn't require the codec.

Jolly Roger...

Well, after copying a sample EyeTV recording to my dual 2GHz G5 tower,
opening the .mpg file inside the package with MPEG Streamclip, then
waiting what seemed like five minutes without any changes while MPEG
Streamclip sat there spinning and spinning, I finally force quit it.
This is truly laborious! There has to be an easier way!

Alternatively, set your device preferences to encode to MPEG-4 rather
than MPEG-2 and then just shuttle that content off to iMovie.

Jolly Roger...

I see no way to set EyeTV to record as MPEG-4 - only MPEG-1 and -2. I
have an EyeTV 250 - does that make a difference?

sbt...

Apparently this functionality was omitted when the EyeTV 200 was
supplanted by the 250. With the Hybrid, the encoding is done on your
Mac to whichever format you specify.

Jolly Roger...

Well that bites. I can't use the Hybrid on this Core Solo Mac mini,
because the Core Colo can barely keep up with the encoder. : (

Gerry...

eyeTV Preferences / Devices / Encoding / Quality

has the options to record to MPEG-4

Jolly Roger...

On my system, the Quality menu has these items:

Video CD Compatible
Super Video CD
---
Extended Play (DVD 240 min)
Long Play (DVD 180 min)
Standard (DVD 120 min)
High (DVD 90 min)
---
Custom

If I choose Custom, I don't see anything in the dialog box that says MPEG-4.

Gerry...

What version of the software are you using? I'm using version 2.4.1.

Jolly Roger...

I am using version 2.4.1 as well - with an EyeTV 250.

Gerry...

I'm surprised the new version has less features. I use the eyeTV 200
which I purchased at MacWorld-San Francisco several years ago.