How to Convert TiVo recordings to MP4 on Windows 8.1 or Mavericks?

What is Tivo?

To put it simply, TiVo is like a VCR on steroids. Also called a personal video recorder (or PVR) or digital video recorder (DVR), TiVo is a electronic filled box you connect to your cable TV. Inside is a hard drive, just like in a computer, that stores dozens or hundreds of hours of TV programming. But instead of complicated VCR programming that no one actually uses, Tivo comes with a spectacularly simple software interface you control through a handy remote control.

How to play Tivo files?

If you're frequent traveler, a question may come up like this - How can I get my TiVo shows remotely with my Android tablet or iPad? Currently there's not yet a good solution for wirelessly play TiVo shows remotely, but here's a way to transfer TiVo shows to your PC and then convert the .tivo files to MP4 video for Android Tablet or iPad viewing on the go, so that you can easily take favorite TV shows when away from home.

How to upload Tivo files?

You many want to enjoy Tivo shows at home and sharing with family or friends. But the Tivo files are saved by digital video recorders with copyright protection, so it would be difficult to playback or sharing on YouTube. In this case, you need to change tivo to mp4 format for better uploading process.

How to edit Tivo files?

My brother has a tivo 2 series and just learned to use tivo to go to move the files to his windows system. But he said he didn't know how to convert .tivo to .mp4 which is what his pinnacle software likes, so he can pull tivo the files directly. So back to the great idea —— converting .tivo to .mp4 for editing tivo files more conveniently.

How to burn Tivo files?

Or if you want to burn tivo files etc., you are also suggested to do tivo to mp4 conversion.

So to get Tivo files worked, in other words, to enjoy, play, share,edit and burn tivo freely, the only solution is to convert Tivo files to MP4, so you can deal with Tivo files in these MP4-compatible apps sucessfully.

To accomplish this, Pavtube Tivo to MP4 Converter is of great help. It supports converting any audio & video format, but mostly I use to convert TiVo video (TV shows and movies) for Personal use. The GUI was much easier to use and had more features. It works fine with reat video quality and it successfully and directly lets me convert Tivo to any popular app or device.

For Mac users, Tivo to MP4 Converter for Mac is recommended to you.

Now get it installed and let's start to quick convert Tivo to MP4 on PC with perfect videoaudio sync technology.

Step One. Transfer the Tivo files to PC.

Although the TiVo Desktop software for the Mac (supplied by TiVo) does not allow user to transfer TiVo recordings to Mac, you can transfer TiVo to Mac MacBook with specific software as long as your TiVo box is connected to your home network. Once you've recorded your favorite shows on your TiVo box, freeware like the TiVoDecode Manager can accomplish this task for you.

Step Two. Launch this Tivo Video Converter.

Click the top left icon to import your tivo files.

It will pop up a window to remind you submit the tivo key. Click Ok and enter your tivo media key.

Here is a easy way to trim out commercial ads in tivo click the pencil-like icon on the top, switch to "Trim", you will be able to set up and start and end point easily.

Step Three. Click the "Format" and choose proper presets for MP4 playbacl.

You can see profiles for iPad, iPhone, iPod, Apple TV and you can choose one according to your device model.

And there are many presets in "Andoroid" column, you can use the search box on bottom right corn and locate proper mp4 presets for your own phonetablet model.

For users who want to upload to YouTube, you are suggested to choose Common VideoMPEG-4 Movie(.mp4)

You can also click "Settings" (which is marked as "3" above) to customize video size, bitrate(quality), frame rate and other settings.

Pls note that the higher bitrate you choose, the better video quality you will get.

Step Four. Click the big red "Convert" to start converting Tivo files to MP4 that suites for playback, sharing, editing and burning. Wait for moments and click "Open" to locate the converted video.

Now connect your phonetablet to PC and enjoy the wonderful TV shows without ads or device limitation!

Learn more Tivo video related guides:

• Convert TiVo to MPEG without quality loss
• Play TiVo Recordings on Windows Media Player on Windows 10
• How to Watch TiVo Recordings on Android Tablet/iPad while traveling
• Convert 3D Tivo to 3D MP4 for Oculus Rift Watching
• Best Software to convert TIVO files to MPEG
• Play TiVo Recordings on Windows Media Player on Windows 10

Decrypt and remove commercials from Tivo recording for playback on Windows/Mac

A Tivo Converter Customer Review From Pavtube:

I have recorded an entire season of favorite TV plays via Tivo box and it have the commercials on it with Tivo. How can I skip them? TiVo DVRs do not offer a commercial skip feature. It’s totally understandable as the commercial is a part of the source signal; but it troubles me a lot when playback the recorded TV plays: I have to pause and skip the ads manually. I used to be fine with that but now my daughter grows up and she’s fond of this: every time when it comes to ads she will cry. I’m totally not computer-savvy but have to look for a good solution.

It’s widely accepted that TV recordings from Tivo box are protected; we cannot edit or change it nor remove the ads within that context. After spending several days browsing the websites, finally I get this Pavtube Video Converter Ultimate to work. It’s very easy to convert tivo files and you don’t need to change any specs; also the ads trimming is quite simple. Moreover, I also convert and copy many Disney Blu-ray movies to my Nabi 2 android tablet, my daughter can watch these movie on Nabi 2 when I'm busying in my yard.

Note: If you only have a Mac, the Mac version is more suitable

My workflow: Decrypt and remove commercials from Tivo recordings for different purposes on my computer

1. Install and launch this Tivo Converter; drag and drop Tivo recordings to it. Or you can click the small “plus” icon to load Tivo recordings. Pls note the first disc-like icon is to load discs – yes this tool also support converting Blu-rays and DVDs. 

2. Submit Tivo Key. 

This Tivo Converter requires your Tivo key to play the recordings. (Tips: How To Find Tivo Media Access Key) 

Right after you drag the media files to this program, it will pop up a window asking for the key; see this screenshot: 

Enter it and import the media files again; it will remember your key automatically so that we don’t need to set it any more. 

3. Remove commercials from Tivo recordings. 

Now back to the main interface; hit the pencil-like icon on the top to enter the video editor. It’s on “Trim” mode by default. Drag the two small triangles on the progress bar, you can customize the start/end point. 

Or you can submit the start and end timing on the below.

Hit “OK”. 

4. Choose format and convert. 

Find the “Format” drop-down list, there’re many presets for different using. As my only need is to watch on computer and Nabi 2 tablet, the MP4 format is most common so I chose it. Then hit the big “Convert” to start converting Tivo recording or Disney Blu-ray movie to MP4 on computer. After it completed, click “Open output folder” to get converted videos and save it to my drive for playback.

Here is some Related articles about Pavtube softwares:

• Put and Play Tivo files on Surface (Pro) 2 effortlessly
• Encode TiVo shows to AVI for playback on Windows 8
• Free change Tivo files to MPEG format without losing quality on Windows
• Convert Tivo files to Kindle Fire HDX on Mac OS X