reencode DVDs with USB2 devices?

[szucsati]

Hi!

Is there a way to reencode a DVD with an external (USB2.0) capture device?
For example to make a frameserver and send it's strem vie firewire to the device and use it to capture the video..? Sounds strange, but maybe...

Devices for example:
http://www.pinnaclesys.com/PublicSite/uk/Products/Consumer+Products/Home+Video/Studio+Family/Studio+500-USB+version+10+Documents/Technical+Specifications/Technical+Specifications.htm
http://www.adstech.com/products/USBAV_703/sysreq/usb703req.asp?pid=USBAV703

Or does anyone know a cheap but good quality hw encoder that can do this?

[setarip_old]

Hi!

What is the ultimate purpose in doing this?

If your PC system includes DVD playback ability (a DVD-ROM/Reader and/or a DVD burner), you could simply use a program such as DVD Decrypter to "rip" the DVD to your hard drive, or DVD Shrink to "rip" the movie-only to your hard drive, with no need to capture (and in far less time than capturing from realtime playback)...

[szucsati]

Just to save processor time. And I wouldn't buy one of these to do this but if I buy one, I would like to use it for this purpose.

[SeeMoreDigital]

Or does anyone know a cheap but good quality hw encoder that can do this?I don't exactly know what you want to do but have you thought about buying/using a reasonably priced (branded) DVD recorder as a hardware capturing device?

[szucsati]

So I was thinking about buying an extarnal MPEG encoder device (such as the Pinnacle and the ADS in my first post) and use it to archive VHS videos and capture from TV.
I thought if I have an MPEG encoder I could use it to reencode MPEG2 files for example DVDs. And I wonder if it's possible at all with such a cheap device.

[SeeMoreDigital]

A few weeks ago I bought an cheapo (£80.00) Tevion DVD recorder for my parents, which seems to produce pretty good looking MPEG-2/DVD captures.

Having said that, Philips recently launched a new budget DVD recorder for around £130.00, which is getting some very favourable reviews ;)


Cheers

[szucsati]

Not really that kind of devices but boxes for the PC.

[Cheesus]

Canopus sell internal and external MPEG2 encoders starting at about US$500, maybe cheaper on ebay.
I've used the external one which is adequate (nothing spectacular though and this was coming off a clean source) when the bitrate setting is high but for longer material where you have to use lower bitrates it's not much good. Professional encoders are expensive.
As your source is VHS the quality is bound to be a bit ropey anyway which is not good for real time encoding. If you're concerned about quality, capturing to your PC and then you using a 2+ pass encoder is by far the best option.
The quickest and easiest way to get VHS to DVD, and with a similar level of quality, is to follow SeeMoreDigital's suggestion and buy a DVD recorder. I believe you can get setups that have a VHS in as well to make the job even easier.