Convert Native MPG to HEVC, just rename file extension?

[ericsmcdonald]

Hi all, I tried searching and couldn't find a direct answer to this question, figured I'd try here.

I have channels running on a PC, and I run video conversion using handbrake on a Mac. I convert the native MPG to HEVC, which ends up as a .mp4. I can't put it back into the Channels/TV folder as an MP4 because Channels won't find it. If I place it into my Local Content folder, I have to search for a match (if one is found), edit the metadata, and re-run commercial detection.

As a workaround, I tried simply changing the file extension from .mp4 to .mpg. Channels finds the file fine and it appears to play fine on all devices.

Is there anything wrong with this? Am I likely to run into a wall of hurt at some point?

Thanks for any advice

PS - I don't want to run MCE Buddy on the PC running the DVR as I don't want additional tasks running on that computer.

[tmm1]

That's the recommended way

[ericsmcdonald]

So just to confirm (and sorry if this is repetitive), handbrake outputs video.mp4. I go into finder or windows explorer and change it to video.mpg. No issue?

Thanks for being on this forum and responsive. I love the product!

[tmm1]

Correct

[Jay1987]

When i used tonuse MCEBUDDY to compress my recirding and delete my comercials. I edited a file to add change file extension in post processing script. It did not affect PLEX or Channels playback. Its not technically right. But as long as your media player associated with that file extension supports HEVC you should theoretically have no problems

[babsonnexus]

When I was recovering from a massive server/HDD failure, I... acquired... other versions of shows I had recorded previously. All I did was change the extensions and put them where Channels expected them and they played perfectly fine!

[ericsmcdonald]

Thanks. My concern was, after changing the extension, the computer wouldn't play it directly from the file. However, playing through any Channels client (Apple TV, iPhone, iPad, Chromecast, and the web client) works, which I guess should make me happy.

It would make me happier if Channels looked only at the filename and not the extension, so we can use any extension/file type of our choice, without having to "hack" this solution. But, I am happy this works.