OT: DVR Extraction

JimMSG wrote on 5/29/2010, 8:06 AM
My kids captured a bunch of stuff they need on my sister-in-laws TW Cable DVR. I haven't had a look at the unit yet, but they tell me it has HDMI, S-Video, and Composite Video outs. I will not be able to take the unit apart and play with the hard drive. Would I be able to plug the unit into Vegas via HDMI and capture the video that way?

Other ideas?

Jim

Comments

farss wrote on 5/29/2010, 8:30 AM
Does the unit have anything like a USB port so you could simply copy the file(s). That's going to be way quicker and easier than trying to get the unit to playout the video while you capture it. On top of that you're going to need some form of suitable capture device to get the video output from the unit into your PC.

Bob.
JimMSG wrote on 5/29/2010, 8:50 AM
Haven't seen the unit yet. The kids didn't list USB as a plug on the box though. I was hoping if worse came to worse, I could connect with HDMI and play it into Vegas, with the capture utility.
Jim
musicvid10 wrote on 5/29/2010, 8:56 AM
I would think the box would have USB, Firewire, or eSata in some combination. Best to dump the files right to your computer rather than capture, which I give Vegas little chance of doing.

For working with DVR / PVR files, you should test the VideoReDo trial version.
goshep wrote on 5/29/2010, 9:39 AM
Good luck and please post if you're successful. There are quite a few articles and forums with information but the common answer seems to be that it's a no-go. Even if you pull the HDD you'll find that the files are encrypted and unreadable. As for the outputs on your DVR (based on what I've read) you'll find they are disabled by the cable company. I gave up after a couple of hours when I couldn't find a single success story.
JimMSG wrote on 5/29/2010, 10:31 AM
That's what I've been reading too. Still I have found answers here that couldn't be found elsewhere. It seems to me at some point the signal has to go to the TV, and it can't be too encrypted if at all, TV's aren't all that smart. Perhaps I could tap that line to Vegas capture. I once had an All-In-Wonder card I could capture odd things through. But that was a different computer. I'll have to see what it looks like.

Too bad about all the DRM. I have too many clients come in with DVD video, they need re-edited, with no source files. "Can't you just pull it off the DVD?" Sometimes yes, most times no. Still haven't figured out where and how the audio and or video files drop out between .vob files, but that's a different topic.
John_Cline wrote on 5/29/2010, 12:32 PM
HDMI is copy protected via a mechanism called "HDCP," so feeding the HDMI into a capture card like the Blackmagic Intensity Pro, won't work as cable box recognizes that the Intensity doesn't have HDCP and therefore refuses to output any video.

The analog outputs of the DVR are not protected and can be used to feed an analog capture card. On my Scientific Atlanta "Explorer 8300HDC" Comcast box, I can feed the analog component outputs into my Intensity Pro card and record HD. It looks really good. In fact, my DVR even has a "Copy to VCR" mode in which the analog outputs can be used, although in that mode only the SD composite and S-Video outputs work.

Regardless, there is no way to extract the programs digitally from the hard drive. Certain TiVo models will allow you to copy programs digitally via an Ethernet connection.
CClub wrote on 5/29/2010, 12:53 PM
Regarding pulling off the DVD: I've NEVER had a problem ripping a non-DRM DVD via DVDFAB software. But anything your clients bring in that they've produced, DVDFAB (at least the non-US version) will rip the VOB files directly to one file in a format of your choice. I'm not advocating ripping DRM protected DVD's for clients (although DVDFAB will do that also)... I'm assuming that I'm responding to you are asking about clients' own material.
MozartMan wrote on 5/29/2010, 2:06 PM
Regardless, there is no way to extract the programs digitally from the hard drive

John, there is a way to extract programs digitally from cable box, in real time.

Cable box /Firewire Out --> Firewire cable --> PC / Firewire In --> CapDVHS.

The process transfers video content bit for bit in real time via firewire in original quality as it was broadcast from the cable company without any re-encoding. Of course, if it doesn't have 5c flag. Works fine for me.

http://home.comcast.net/~exdeus/stbfirewire
John_Cline wrote on 5/29/2010, 2:15 PM
Mozartman, what cable system are you on? Last time I tried, my Comcast 8300HDC box did not have the Firewire port enabled. I'll try the stbfirewire drivers from your link and see what happens. Thanks for the tip.
MozartMan wrote on 5/29/2010, 2:35 PM
Comcast, DCH-3416 box, firewire to Windows 7 32 bit (1394 OHCI legacy driver), CapDVHS.

John, this forum may be useful:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/forumdisplay.php?f=42
JimMSG wrote on 5/29/2010, 3:08 PM
John I had a look at the box I need to work with. It might be the same one you have. It is a Scientific Atlanta Explorer 8300HD, note it isn't HDC. It has two 6-pin firewire ports, I still have one of those, an HDMI port, and another one labeled SATA. Are these on your box? Do any of the work? The box I'm dealing with is on a Time Warner system.
John_Cline wrote on 5/29/2010, 3:46 PM
Jim, in the "HDC" part of the model name, the "C" stands for Comcast. I have the HDMI port connected to an HDCP-enabled LCD television. I have the eSATA port connected to an external SATA hard drive to provide extra recording time. I had tried the Firewire (IEEE-1394) port before but at the time, I was unaware of these drivers.

I plugged the Firewire output from the box into my computer, the computer recognized the 8300HDC and proceeded to install the drivers which I had just downloaded. I then ran CapDVHS and tried to record something from a number of different channels, the recording time counter decrements but nothing is indicated on the "Data Info" screen and a 0-byte MPG file is created on the drive. The local HD channels here are not encrypted and it didn't even record any of those. I also tried playing some previously recorded material. I'll play with it some more but as of right now, the computer saw the 8300HDC and the drivers installed correctly, but I have yet to be able to capture anything. I suspect that it may not work, the 8300HD is listed as a supported device, but the 8300HDC is not.

Each cable system has the option to enable or disable various features of the 8300HD, Time Warner may have chosen a different set of features so I suggest you give it a try.