One of the BIG problems with MCE is that it is limited to only using the DVR-MS file format to save recorded TV shows.  This is not yet a widely recognized and supported format and means you’re stuck to only using MCE or Windows Media Player 10 to view these files.  Another problem is that the recordings can be huge.  So what to do if you want to keep or share your recordings with other people?

Formats:

There are plenty of options available to you if you want to convert from DVR-MS to something a bit more widely supported.  Realistically there would only be 3 you would use.  MPEG-2, DivX, WMV.

MPEG2 - This is the same standard that is used for DVD video, and is what your Hardware encoding card records to.  Converting to this format allows you to share with all DVD player devices, and PC with Mpeg2 / DVD decoder software.  It is also the first step in editing.

DivX - This is an increasingly popular format because of the high quality and small file size.  There are also more and more hardware playback devices on the market  - most notably DVD players that now support DivX.  This format is ideal for playback on supported hardware, PC, Pocket PC, Xbox etc.

WMV - Windows Media Video is also starting to come along – has some of the advantages of DivX but it real strength is in being able to be streamed.  Not a personal favorite of mine though.  

DVR-MS conversion tools:

DVR-MS Toolbox:  This amazing piece of freeware allows you to convert your dvr-ms files to Mpeg2.

Womble MPEG Video Wizard:  This or any other video editing software allows you to manipulate you video – apply filters, take out ads, crop the recording before and after.

DivX Encoder / Converter: This allows you to encode your edited video into the DivX format.

Practical Example of how to use all this:

Depending on what you are going for you would use different formats, and post processing.  I use this all the time for the following.  I record music videos, cut out all the junk, and then share with different people.

Steps

1 Convert DVR-MS file to MPEG with DVR-MS Toolbox

2 Edit MPEG file with Mpeg Video Wizzard and export to MPEG

3 Use DivX Converter to create the completed video file.

File Size:

Original Hour long Recoding (Better): 2,675,048,448 bytes
Converted to MPEG2 with DVR-MS Toolbox: 2,229,764,096 bytes
Selected video out to MPEG 2: 170,022,916 bytes
Selected video converted to DivX : 38,570,162 bytes

Tools to have a look at:
AutoDVRConvert
DVR-2-WMV
Tsunami MPEG Xpress
dCut
PowerCompress
GraphRenderer
CyberLink PowerDirector
PQ DVD to iPod Video Converter
VideoReDo
DVR-MS Toolbox

Thanks to Etienne for submitting this article.