Topfield .ref files - no video after conversion

[rpwoodman]

Hi,

I've downloaded a trial of Video Redo TVSuite to convert files from my Topfield.
When I created a .mpg file, the audio is fine, but I get no video.

I copied the .rec file from the topfield using ftp (in binary mode!)
I loaded the file into TVS.
I marked the adverts and removed them.
I saved the file as .mpg

Using the machine I did the conversion on (Win XP), it's all fine. However, other people (and me, if I copy the file to (say) my Mac), find that they get audio but no video - completely blank.
If I use the divx converter on my PC to convert the mpg to divx, this is all fine and viewable on other machines.

So, it would look to me as if it's some sort of codec problem, but as I understand it, a mpg file shouldn't need anything else.

I'm using version 3.1.4 551 Feb 3 2008.

Thanks

[HyperReality]

Windows XP does not come with an MPEG2 video decoder as standard. I'm not sure about the situation with Macs (do you need to buy an upgrade to Quicktime?). This is probably the reason why the output files do not play with video on certain machines.

If you source an MPEG2 video decoder for the other machines, then I suspect the files will play okay.

Alternatively, you can try applications that come with their own decoder, such as VideoLan Client (VLC), or Media Player Classic. VideoReDo has its own internal decoders, rather than relying on whatever is installed on the PC). I think there is a VLC build for Macs too you could try.

The best way to test that an output file is okay is to load it back into VideoReDo and see whether it plays okay.

[phd]

To clarify for MACs, you need to purchase the MPEG2 playback component for QUickTime. Even with that it can be finicky with MPEG files produced by certain PVRs.