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Video Conversion: Windows Media Center (MCE) DVR-MS to iPod Video

I treated myself to an iPod Video a couple of weeks ago, and after loading up my music collection I decided to try and move some recorded TV shows from my Media Center PC onto the iPod.

The iPod won't play the Media Center recording directly, so they need to be converted to the appropriate video format, which is typically H.264 encoded video and AAC encoded audio in an .mp4 container.

After much searching around and trying a variety of video conversion tools I settled on the following fairly straightforward approach using a couple of freely available applications. The first tool is used to convert the media center files to a non-proprietary format, and then the second step is to re-encode the video in a format suitable for the iPod.

Step 1 - Convert the Windows Media Center DVR-MS recording to MPEG-2 video format

Download and install the latest 1.1.0.x version of DVRMSToolbox (the 1.2.0.x versions are for Windows Vista only).

Launch the DVRMStoMPEGGUI tool
Start > All Programs > DVRMSToolbox > DVRMStoMPEGGUI
  • Set the Input File to the Media Center recording you wish to convert.
  • Set the Output File to the location to save the mpeg verison too.
  • Set the Profile, for simple conversion select Convert DVR-MS file to MPEG. DVRMSToolbox can also be set up to strip commercials from the recorded program using the Cut out commercials convert to mpeg option. For full configuration and usage details see the DVRMSToolbox User Guide.
  • Click the Run button.
The conversion shouldn't take too long. Once complete you will have a .mpg version of the recorded TV show in the selected output directory .


Step 2 - Convert MPEG-2 video to H264/AAC

Download and install the latest version of Videora iPod Converter

Launch the Videora iPod Converter tool
Start > Run > All Programs > Videora iPod Converter > Videora iPod Converter
  • First go to the Setup section and set the Output Videos to option to an appropriate location
  • Next go to the Convert section
  • Click on the Transcode New Video button and select the .mpg video file created in the previous step.
  • Set the Quality Profile, Videora provides a number of default profiles to choose from for the video conversion. The H264/320x240/256kps Stereo/96kbps should be adequate for recorded TV shows.
  • Click the Start button
The H264 encoding can take a while, actual time will vary depending on the length of the show and the performance of you computer.

Step 3 - Add the video file to you iTunes library and sync the video to your iPod

The final step is to get the video onto your iPod.
  • Launch iTunes and select File > Add File to Library... from the menu.
  • Select the .mp4 video file created in the previous step.
  • Now sync your iPod with iTunes and enjoy the show.
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