DescentBB

Now that I have a DVD burner. . .

Has anyone tried to save an old favorite movie, VHS or PAL onto a DVD-R?

I assume a little converter box gizmo would come into play, as RCA, s-video, and coax connectors (friendly to VCRs) are not entirely PC friendly.

It would be great if anyone has done this successfully.

Ned

I am doing so with my camcorder. So far I have burned 4 DVDs with about 8 hours of video. All you need is the following:

1) Video Digitizer Board - I use Pinnacle Studio AV/DV digitizer with Studio 8 software. It now ships with Studio 9 Software and only costs around $90

2) Some good DVD burning software - Studio 8 is supposed to do this but it sucks royally. I use Nero6 for this and it is excellent. You can buy a serial number and download the installer for $70

3) Patch cables to go from your video unit to the DV board. The Pinnacle AV/DV board has both composite and S-Video inputs. I had to rig up an audio cable to go from my camcorder into my (onboard) sound board. All this I either got with my camcorder or bought from Radidio Shak for like $5

Total Cost => $165

From the other thread ...

Iceman wrote: I grab the video off the camcorder with Studio 8 and save it as a DVD compatible MPEG at highest-quality. I then use Nero's VisionExpress to burn the MPEG onto a DVD disk. That disk works with my DVD player in my PC and in the two DVD players I have around the house.

Drum roll. . . . . .

what did the results look like? Compared to the original.

Damn good.

Or you could simply spend $45 on a Leadtek TV2000XP and use the software that comes with it to edit and burn your DVDs for you. Nero is good, but it won't convert the video to the VOB format for you. Not many set-top players can read MPG format.

That card will accept coax, RCA, and s-video connections. Drivers that come on the CD are rock solid stable, and it even comes with a PVR application. (and *gasp* its not bloatware!)

I recommend you use RCA for the video since coax makes for a really shitty picture. You'll also have to hit up Radio Shack for an audio input cable to run from the VCR to the tuner, but that shouldn't run you more than $5 (two RCA male -> 1 3.5mm headphone). Try to get one with a 90 deg bent connector if you can so it won't be as likely to get a kink in it.

oo, it's pretty. Gimme gimme.

Being my monitor is much larger than my TV...

Nero does indeed convert mpeg to vob. Do your homework.

WarAdvocat wrote:Nero does indeed convert mpeg to vob. Do your homework.

Really? Thats funny because I have it installed on my machine right now (6.3.1.6) and I see no such option. Please, enlighten me.

2 stupid questions:

Hey, I got the Pinnacle card:

Does the S-video cable carry sound too? (I only have onboard sound, which I never connected to the front panel due to confusing terminology)

Can drive sizes be dynamically changed in XP under admin tools? I accidently made C: a tad too small

I am confused about the front panel audio thing, I'll post it as a new topic . . .

Ned wrote:2 stupid questions:

Hey, I got the Pinnacle card:

Does the S-video cable carry sound too? (I only have onboard sound, which I never connected to the front panel due to confusing terminology)

No. S-video is video only. Its just four wires with the color channels split up. You might want to read my post above for a solution for audio input.

Can drive sizes be dynamically changed in XP under admin tools? I accidently made C: a tad too small

You'll need a non-destructive partitioning program like "Partition Magic". Its either that, or delete both partitions and start all over.

I just wound up using the rear audio connector

I have a lot to learn, but I got the capture card working. . .

Radio Shack sells an audio cable that will go from your Pinnacle to the microphone jack on your sound card. Then, in Studio9 you just set the audio source to 'microphone'.

not microphone, you want the line in-jack.

Here I am thinking I'd be called an idiot for recommending Line In over Mic.

LOL

Yeah, Line-in is stereo while Mic is strictly mono.

MD-2389 wrote:Really? Thats funny because I have it installed on my machine right now (6.3.1.6) and I see no such option. Please, enlighten me.

It actually is pretty funny...That you can't figure it out. I'm on Nero Ultra 6.0.0.0

Hint: Author a DVD of some meaningless clip using NeroVision express. When it comes time to burn, use the image recorder rather than actually burning it (to save on dvd-r's). Then mount it on a virtual drive, and use windows explorer to take a peek. You'll notice a VIDEO_TS folder when you do the exploring. Guess what you'll find inside

If that doesn't work, maybe you're on the demo version? You need to have the mpeg2 plugin installed, and I believe that requires a fully registered version.

Thing is, I don't use Nero Express. (yes, my copy is legit and is the full version. Came with my Lite-on DVD burner.) Still, thanks for the info.

Firewire/Mini DV ownz .. been using it for over 4 years (audio/video/transport-automation)

Regular Camcorders Suck @$$

Pinnical 9 does everything you need, you just need to read the directions...(pirated copies do not work..BTW)

Nero blows, but it makes newbies feel like pro's who do not want to read instructions

Adobe Premiere/After Effects Ownz

as Far As DVD work, never had a problem with any of them

BUBBALOU wrote:Nero blows, but it makes newbies feel like pro's

Any product that makes noobs feel like pros is doing a good job ...

NeroVision Express is a simplified version of Ahead's video authoring application.

Nero Express is a simplified GUI for Nero Burning Rom.

It's always good to know what the software you have installed on your very own personal computer does, rather than make generalized assumptions due to similarities in naming.

Have a nice day.

(and yes, Nero isn't the best thing going for DVD authoring...but it DOES get the job done. Why are you selling a riding mower to a guy with a 32 square foot lawn Bubba?)

Hahah, I love the smell of DVD authoring in the morning....

This thread was just too one-sided, WA -- you know I had to bite.

I love it when you nibble my ears. And yeah, I'm sure it was irresistable.

But gosh darn it. I'm right you know.

I burned a 2 hour tape onto a 4.7GB DVD. It said "37% quality." Still trying to comppare it to the original and look for artifacts. BTW, I found that if you go find them, you can play the VOB files on the HD with WinDVD. I used the Pinnacle Studio.

In other news, DEP module of SP2 was restarting my PC everytime explorer tried to preview an MPG. Lameness. You can exclude some programs from DEP, so I did.

http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1103_2-5326707.html

totally off topic question:

I tried to use GHOST to back up to a USB drive, crashes everytime, with USB1 OR USB2?

Anyone else understand this lameness? Something about general SMCD fault exception

Ned wrote:I burned a 2 hour tape onto a 4.7GB DVD. It said "37% quality." Still trying to comppare it to the original and look for artifacts. BTW, I found that if you go find them, you can play the VOB files on the HD with WinDVD. I used the Pinnacle Studio.

Ned, just about any modern software DVD player can do the same thing. I do the same thing with PowerDVD all the time.

oh and BTW......

Nevermind...it's too easy