Capturing Video .. Cool Method!

[jmes]

To All,

Please forgive me if this has already been addressed. Over the years I've converted video sources (TV, Laserdisk, etc.) to DVD. I have probably converted over 100 items. The other day I came across a great idea and it works extremely well.

In the past I connected a VCR/LD player, etc. to a Dazzle bridge. I then captured the video to AVI, converted it to MPEG, editted commericals out and then converted to DVD. My primary tool for all this was TMPGEnc (Standard and DVD versions) The whole process took many hours (based upon the length of the item being converted) (Not to mention the multiple conversions reduced the quality a tad)

While walking in a store I noticed a DVD recorder for sale for under $100 - taking a chance, I bought it (the brand is "ILO"). Instead of recording to a VCR and then using the process described above to create a DVD image, I just record directly to a DVD (the ILO only supports +R and +RW and works just like a VCR). I then use DVDDecrypter to rip it onto my computer. From there I use DVDShrink to edit out the commericals. Other than the fact that DVDShrink doesn't allow me to choose an EXACT frame to edit on, (if you know of a friendly utility that will, please let me know) the process works GREAT - fast, easy and no quality loss from multiple conversions.

If you do any amount of conversions, this is the way to go (IMHO). (Also, a few times a year Costco has a buy one get one free sale on 100 TDK Blank -R and/or +R - good time to stock up)

Any positive thoughts and/or suggestions are welcome ..

Jim

[mod]

What about a standalone hard disk recorder? There're models with 100+ gb.. You don't even need to burn the 1st dvd, just record, copy to pc, edit and burn..

[Piper]

@mod: Do you own one of these or can you provide examples of ones worthy of consideration?

Perhaps something like this would be of interest. LG DVD Burner Captures Video (http://www.itreviews.co.uk/hardware/h893.htm)

From the looks of things it can capture and encode to MPEG-2 - directly to your PC. You can then do whatever you like to it before burning it to DVD.

[jmes]

What about a standalone hard disk recorder? There're models with 100+ gb.. You don't even need to burn the 1st dvd, just record, copy to pc, edit and burn..

I know EXACTLY what you mean. I have Cox Communications as my cable supplier and I have one of their DVR units (Digital Video Recorder (?), similar to a TIVO - I THINK it is a Motorola box). I have looked and looked (and talked to Cox), and while the DVR has ethernet and USB connections, they aren't enabled - or at least the firmware doesn't support them.

If I could get the F/W, I could do exactly what you suggest - capture on the DVR, xfer it to the PC, edit and burn. However, since I won't be able to do this until the F/W is upgraded, it's not an option.

Regards,

J

[mod]

I have looked and looked (and talked to Cox), and while the DVR has ethernet and USB connections, they aren't enabled - or at least the firmware doesn't support them.
This is a pity.. Well, the dvd recorder seems the only 1 solution..

@Piper: I don't have one because the TV signal in my house is terrible.. so I record with Radeon9600XT Vivo and reencode, the quality is the highest I can get. Take a look at Philips products and you'll find what I'm talking about.