Using Tivo for Fins games?

[FinaciousOne]

Originally posted by grooves12

Also, for those of you that like to archive the Dolphins games and are "computer savvy" the DirecTV DVR can be hacked to allow you to rip the digital broadcast directly from the Hard Drive and onto your computer. This way you can archive the games at the highest quality without any recompression. I then burn them to DVD's using some tools some other hackers created. If you want info on that check http://www.dealdatabase.com

Or this is easier.

http://www.pinnaclesys.com/ProductPa...26&Langue_ID=7

or this depending on your setup.

http://www.pinnaclesys.com/ProductPa...08&Langue_ID=7


I've used Dazzle Video products for a couple of years to record to computer disk. All types of formats, DVD quality, editing ability. No hacking required.

[Lando's Folly]

Which would you suggest? The PCTV DELUX sounds great (TV Tuner card! ), but the PCTV PRO is $120 cheaper. Plus the Dazzle Video Creator comes with that neat video editing software... Ohhh, the choices...

[FinaciousOne]

I have a 4 year old version of the Dazzle Video creator that came with the editing software and external device that has analog inputs and outputs for video and stereo audio and s-video connectors. I've used it both ways (RCA jacks and S-video) on Digital cable and Analog cable and the recording is as good as the original. I don't have DirectTV yet but if I remember correctly from looking at a friend's it would hookup without a problem. My external device doesn't have a channel changer capability - it simply receives what is on the cables- so for analog I use an old VCR just to control the channel going in and on the digital set it sees what the digital unit is seeing. I would expect for satelite to be the same. Mine looks like the DVC150 just older version.

[FinaciousOne]

Also my older version doesn't have any timer control to begin recording when I'm not there, but maybe the newer one does. Other than that it appears it could take the place of TIVO (though I've never used TIVO) and includes the flexibilities of going right to computer.

[Lando's Folly]

Thanks for the info. Im giddy from the idea of recording Dolphins games to DVD. Which brings up another question... Is there somewhere to buy/trade Dolphins games?

[FinaciousOne]

I've got a sneaky suspicion next year there will be.

[Thundercracker]

if you unplug the dvr does it keep the saved items on there or are they deleted?

[FinaciousOne]

Originally posted by Thundercracker
if you unplug the dvr does it keep the saved items on there or are they deleted?

If you're asking about the Dazzle Video the files are recorded to your computer hard disk so once they are there you handle them just like any mpeg or avi or divx file untill you delete them. You can play it back in just about any type of viewer on your computer screen depending on which format you choose or play it back to your TV. The external device just processes which ever signal input you are using into a digital format compatible with their software and them you can edit, cut out commercials, make clips, add audio over, subtitles etc. and save it in various formats.

[Thundercracker]

I was just asking about the tivo receiver itself. like if i got the directv dvr and i recorded stuff on there like the dolphins games, and then i pull the plug, will the stuff on there that was recorded still be there when i plug it back in?

[Thundercracker]

nevermind. Obviously it will since it has a hard drive. duh. :nono:

[grooves12]

Dazzle... may be "easier" but the Tivo version is FREE... and will do nearly everything you need it to do. Including cut commercials, etc. It also has software available to create pretty nice menus for your DVD's.

And best of all you don't lose any quality through more compression.

It will be played from the DVD EXACTLY as DirecTV sent it down to you.

Granted, if you are not computer savvy, it would be difficult to set up and find the learning curve.

But, you can always just get the DirecTV DVR and use the "Save to VCR" feature which outputs the video to an external source to be recorded. (ie. DVD recorder)


But, the DirecTV DVR is the best thing to happen to TV since color.

[Muck]

Great thread guys.

I'm looking into DirectTV/TiVo for this fall. But I have a few questions first.

#1) Does TiVo recording allow you to record as you would on a VCR?? What I really mean is, would I be able to PAUSE the recording like I would a VHS cassette?? That's how I record games with my VCR or TV Tuner card. I only record plays/replays/cheerleaders, etc. No inbetween plays or commercials. That way I can rewatch a game in 20-40 minutes with nothing but back-to-back plays. No post-editing required. No fast forwarding. It's really the only way to record in my mind.

#2) Do you have to have a phone line plugged into the TiVo or DirecTV receiver?? How about for NFL Ticket?? I don't have a land line. Just a cell phone. And I can't see paying $17-$20 a month for a phone line I don't need and won't use.

#3) This was probably covered before, but what kind of inputs/outputs are on the TiVo receiver?? And what interface does the hard drive use?? Is it a standard ATA/IDE?? I'm just curious how you'd go about getting the data from the TiVo to your computer (pull out the drive and attach it to your comp, etc). I've got a DVD burner already and plenty of software. So I wouldn't need the TiVo with the burner.

Really eager to pull the trigger now that I'm back on my feet again.

[grooves12]

Yes, the Tivo is an IDE drive. This allows for EASY upgrades. Mine is an 80GB drive which allows for about 100 hours. But, you can go higher than that with how cheap hard drives are now.

I have a Series 1 DirecTivo. It has an interface which allows you to connect a special made network card (called a TurboNet.) This allows me to FTP/Telnet into the Tivo from my computer and access the Hard Drive to modify scripts or add modifications to the Tivo software. I beleive there is a hack to enable the USB ports and connect a USB network card for the Series 2's (since it doesn't have the internal interface.)

The software package made for extracting the video onto your PC is an application you run from your computer, and it automatically connects to your Tivo and brings up the list of recordings. You can then select which recording you would like to copy to your PC and transfers it over the network .You can perform the post-editing from that same application.

But, NO... Tivo does not allow you to record, pause, record to cut commercials while recording. You have to do that after the fact. I prefer not to have to do that while watching a game anyways... I pause one tuner (Dolphins) when they hit commercial... switch to the other tuners and flip through various games of interest... slip back a few minutes later and fast forward through the commercials now buffered on the Dolphins game. This makes sure I don't miss anything and I don't have to worry about being on the channel on time or missing part of a recording.

[Muck]

Thanks for the reply.

Also, about how large is one 3-hour, unedited game at the highest quality?? And I saw something you said about not losing any quality after compression. That is just huge.

[Thundercracker]

I am going to go out and buy Directv DVR thanks to this thread. I thought TiVo was big time expensive.