[alanwjones]

Hi, would this.- http://www.dabs.com/ProductView.aspx...4&v=1#infoarea
enable me to record directly from camcorder to dvd and then enable me to play the dvd's on my pc and tv? I'm having no luck so far downloading the footage to pc, everything looks pixelated, any advice gratefully received. Alan.

[redsox_mark]

Yes - any DVD recorder can take camcorder input and create a DVD. Best if it has Firewire/I-Link input. If you get a DVD/HDD recorder you will be able to do some simple editing and menus as well. Quality will vary depending on the encoder.. I'd look at a Panasonic, Toshiba, Pioneer, or Sony.

Mark

[senu]

Probably,
I would spend a bit more ( £150) on a Panasonic or known brand with an establised pedigree. (I may be wrong and this mustek may give good results)

This is not being snobbish as I genuinely feel the hardware mpeg encoders in these known brands tend to be better .Perhaps sombody with experience of the mustek may come to its defence!. I had a great Panasonic recorder in the recent past and a Medion ( from Aldi) which was underwhelming, hence my waryness of non big name brands.

With a good DVD recorder your finished DVD is more likely to have better PQ.
Of course this also depends on your starting material.

It is also possible to then edit the material off the DVD if you desire a little editing then make a menu of sorts. That will mean finding out why your PC is being uncooperative now though

Any DVD recorder should do the trick, although if you have a digital camcorder you're best off getting one with a Firewire input as already suggested.
If you're taking footage from a half-decent camcorder to the PC via Firewire then the picture shouldn't end up pixelated. If you're transferring it using an analogue signal and a cheap TV capture card, then you'll lose some quality, and you should also check what resolution your program is set to capture it in.

I'm guessing for the PC transfer you haven't transferred via firewire, keeping the footage in DV format (which takes about 11GB per hour of footage), and that it has either been transferred through another means or compressed to another format. In either case, I'd look at what formats or methods you're using, so see what changes you can make.

[senu]

Pixellated footage could result from
A fragmented HDD

or one with errors

A slow HDD : 5400rpm or a near full one

A windows system with too many background processes or one needing optimising for video work

or as suggested: Capture via usb ( esp usb1) as opposed to firewire.

Many video editing setups have a dedicated HDD for video capture to take the heat off the system HD

Poor footage could also mean the footage is probably not being captured as DV AVI assuming there is no other problem with the PC setup.
If you are keen on the PC route some troubleshooting is needed to fix the capture problems
Ideally , a resonable Digital camcorder with good footage connected by firewire (not always present in the more budget DVD recorders) or s-video should result in a reasonable DVD
.
If the PC route seems daunting ,get a setop recorder as suggested above but not just any
They are all the same insofar as they do all record to DVD. PQ ,durability and dependability are what you pay for when you move slightly more upmarket. Hence the hints to look at the "names"
Check the DVD recorder section in these forums youll see what i mean
Any car will take you from a to b : spending a bit more will get you there in style
Good Luck

[Snubtray]

I've used a Cyberhome CH1600 DVD recorder (£70 from Asda) and it gives very acceptable results. Like the camera you link to, it has a front iLink which makes the process very simple.

On other forums (e.g. digitalspy.co.uk) there is a lot of discussion of different PVRs and DVRs and it's true to say that cheaper machines are not always reliable. I have been lucky so far, but I have made no comparison with big brand recorders.

[alanwjones]

Thanks theres a lot of sugestions here for me to go on with, I think I'll have another go at running it through the PC and see how it goes there, as sugested I did not use a firewire, so I'll run everything through again and see how it goes, Thanks all for your input. Alan.