downsides of vhs to dvd recorder.

[panny300]

finally getting around to editing my old vhs home movies to dvd,but don't fancy paying a couple of hundred quid for a capture card.
have seen a couple of threads advising others to buy a cheap dvd recorder,copying onto a dvd then importing into the pc for editing.
so what are the cons to doing it this way?
what file format do dvd recorders use?,is this format any good for editing?
thanks

[jaymac]

Cons areDVD's are in mpeg 2 format when you import the dvdv(rip) it remains in Mpeg2 and can be edited as such prior to going back on dvd if that is your intention . So there should be little or no loss of quality in the process. In fact with advd recorde that also has a hard drive you can do basic editing on the recorder itself.Most that recommend going the recorder way do so because it is the most straighforward and least troublesome way to go
Of course you will have to purchase software unless you only want to cut bits out and maybe join bits so to speak
for that ther be Freebies.If you want fancy menus and the like then its the commercial route for software.Of course this is only my opinion some may argue the disadvantages of ony 2 hours per dvd and your tapes are probably 3hours etc., but it just means Patience

[panny300]

thanks jaymac,if there will be very little or no loss of qualilty,then this is probably the way i will do it.
i have been looking at the cheaper capture options,like the dazzles,but there seems to be mixed opinions on these type of units,like loss of sound and video sync.
i used to do a fair bit of analogue editing in the 90s using a miro capture card,
it seems there are the same sort of issues around now as there was over 10 years ago.i thought most of these would be non existent by now.

[ade4all]

if you could find a cheap mini dv camera that accepts analogue input then you could link this via firewire & capture to your comp as avi, a much easier format to edit than mpeg2. have a look on ebay, the camera doesnt have to still work as a camera, my friend got 1 to do exactly what you're doing for £10 - could be worth a look

[jaymac]

Originally Posted by ade4all

if you could find a cheap mini dv camera that accepts analogue input then you could link this via firewire & capture to your comp as avi, a much easier format to edit than mpeg2. have a look on ebay, the camera doesnt have to still work as a camera, my friend got 1 to do exactly what you're doing for £10 - could be worth a look

Yes ok for a couple of tapes but if you have alot his 2 or 3 hour vhs ends up as a 26 to39 G/byte file which then has to be converted back to Mpeg but whatever suits the user is always the way to go

[rickyt]

I've transfered quite a few tapes over the years ,some of my old V2000 tapes as well as my VHS ones.I've tried a couple of methods to do it , TV capture cards [they weren't 2 or 3 hundred pounds though], I did have a problem with audio/video sync using these .My other method was a HDD/DVD recorder .This is by far the easiest and quickest way to transfer footage.The capture is on the hard drive which you transfer to a DVD .You can simply copy over the files to your PC or rip the disk to another format ,mpeg1/2 , avi or whatever .Using the right software on your PC you can open a vob file and capture clips to import into a editing program .If you have no wish to edit ,just leave your footage on the DVD , but editing is a better way to finish your videos . Something like Pinnacle [I use version 9 without any problems] will simply let you create titles ,transitions and add background music etc and write straight to a DVD without any fuss. If you need something more professional there's a lot to choose from in terms of software , Sony Vegas ,Serif Movie Plus ,Ulead,Premiere and many others ,it depends on how much time you have and how much moneyyou want to spend .But in reality they will all do the same thing .ie allow you to edit your existing videos and transfer it to disk .
There is one more thing I've yet to try and thats the Aopen device .This gadget will allow you to link your video/game consul/CCTV to a USB2 port and capture footage to your PC .Someone on this forum was selling one ,it has'nt arrived yet so, I havn't tried it yet ,but they say it does a very good job .It is for sale on a well known website [popular for buying your blank media from] for £29.
I've just paid £15 for mine ,so if it's not very good , that's all I've lost but I thought it was worth trying .Time will tell.

[panny300]

thanks for the replys,i will look around for a cheap dvd recorder,with svideo out,i have a few svidieo tapes

[senu]

Originally Posted by panny300

thanks for the replys,i will look around for a cheap dvd recorder,with svideo out,i have a few svidieo tapes

S-video in
and HDD built in: this allows you to record onto it and decide how to comppile your VHS tapes instead of needing to record "on the fly"
Dont go for a " cheap one" just a decent affordable one : LG, Sony, Panasonic ect;
Im pretty sure £199 max will get you something decent. and you can still use
for recording DVDs off Sky, digital camcorders ect later
In truth you can stil use the DVD video discs created by the Settop recorder on a PC for editing if you want to

[panny300]

hi senu.if i am going to spend 190 quid would'nt i be as well to buy one of the advc canopus capture devices and go straight into the pc?

[rogs]

I have both a DVD recorder, and a Canopus capture card, and use both to convert my VHS tapes.

The DVD recorder is great for copying the tapes direct, providing the original tape quality is OK, and records as Mpeg2. Not great for editing, but fine if you just want to copy and keep the footage as it is.

For tapes that need a bit more attention I use my Canopus ADVC50 card (now replaced by the ADVC55) .
Super quality conversion to DV, which is a lot more 'editing' friendly.
But a lot more time consuming - you have to capture (in real time), store the DV footage - at 13GB per hour - and then edit and re encode your edited footage in it's final format - whatever you decide that needs to be.

Originally I intended to do it all through my Canopus card, but it is very time consuming, and the 'direct to DVD as is' starts to look a lot more attractive as time goes by!

[senu]

Originally Posted by panny300

hi senu.if i am going to spend 190 quid would'nt i be as well to buy one of the advc canopus capture devices and go straight into the pc?

rogs post kind of answers that . I also have a very capable PRO break put box frm Avid Liquid 7 but for VHS especially I would not go through the analogue to DV avi , then edit route
You can edit froma DVD videso and as I mentioned you can se the DVD recoder for mre than jut your VHS conversion
In fact I use mine even for Dv capture frm digital MiniDv camcorders where I have no inteest in editing the footage rahet than go via firewire, then encode to mpeg2 for DVD on the PC