Newbie Questions

[Ed]

Archived from groups: rec.video.desktop (More info?)

I have done a lot of reading over the past few weeks, but instead of
being able to sketch out a solution, I feel I'm a lot more confused
than when I started. I apologize if this question has been answered
10.000 times before but I need to make sure before I start spending
money:

I have a Sony DV camcorder, a decent computer, digital cable TV and
around 50 VHS tapes of movies. I would like to be able to:

Record DV tapes to DVD's using firewire
Record VHS tapes to DVD's
Record future shows on cable to HDD and burn them to DVD.

Do I need a high end TV tuner card that has an MPEG encoder on it, or
can I get away with P4 2.4, 1GB ram, and fast IDE drives striped on
RAID if I buy a cheap TV tuner?

What is this pass thru? Can I use this to record to HDD without a TV
card?

What is the best method to burn VHS tapes onto DVDs?

What type of DVD burner do I need to be able to burn DVD's that will
play on regular DVD players? (This is what I have in mind:
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=27-152-023&depa=0
)

Thanks in advance!

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: rec.video.desktop (More info?)

From what you said, it sounds like you have a DVD burner. So in regards to the
"50 VHS tapes of movies," I would highly recommend getting a Netflix account for
$21 per month and rip and burn DVD copies of these movies. The quality of these
DVDs will be vastly superior to going from VHS to DVD, which will borderline
terrible. Give your VHS movies to friends if they want them. You just have to
write them off as going DVD to DVD is going to be vastly superior in quality.

For stuff that isn't available on DVD, like home VHS movies, you can usually use
the video pass-through of many DV camcorders to directly record from the input
of the camcorder through the firewire card on your computer. Read up on your
camcorder and how to do this. Not all camcorders have this option, but many do,
including lots of Sonys. Windows Movie Maker will usually record using the pass
through method. Just make sure you keep it in mini DV format all the way through
the capture process.

As for recording TV and converting to DVD later, something like the MSI TV tuner
for $42 at Newegg would do the trick. Although converting to DVD video, with
something like Ulead Movie Factory (which you can download a free trial) would
be a little time consuming.

As for your comment about "can I get away with P4 2.4, 1GB ram, and fast IDE
drives striped on RAID if I buy a cheap TV tuner?" I mean get real. What planet
are you living on where this kind of computer is considered underpowered? I've
been recording video for ten years with computers that are about 100 times
slower than that. Sorry to take a shot, but it is really sad when people start
thinking really nice computers like the one you describe are too slow.


"ed" <derdest@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:6dcb698a.0407100925.275040c8@posting.google.com...
> I have done a lot of reading over the past few weeks, but instead of
> being able to sketch out a solution, I feel I'm a lot more confused
> than when I started. I apologize if this question has been answered
> 10.000 times before but I need to make sure before I start spending
> money:
>
> I have a Sony DV camcorder, a decent computer, digital cable TV and
> around 50 VHS tapes of movies. I would like to be able to:
>
> Record DV tapes to DVD's using firewire
> Record VHS tapes to DVD's
> Record future shows on cable to HDD and burn them to DVD.
>
> Do I need a high end TV tuner card that has an MPEG encoder on it, or
> can I get away with P4 2.4, 1GB ram, and fast IDE drives striped on
> RAID if I buy a cheap TV tuner?
>
> What is this pass thru? Can I use this to record to HDD without a TV
> card?
>
> What is the best method to burn VHS tapes onto DVDs?
>
> What type of DVD burner do I need to be able to burn DVD's that will
> play on regular DVD players? (This is what I have in mind:
> http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=27-152-023&depa=0
> )
>
> Thanks in advance!

 

[Rich]

Archived from groups: rec.video.desktop (More info?)

"ed" <derdest@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:6dcb698a.0407100925.275040c8@posting.google.com...
> I have done a lot of reading over the past few weeks, but instead of
> being able to sketch out a solution, I feel I'm a lot more confused
> than when I started. I apologize if this question has been answered
> 10.000 times before but I need to make sure before I start spending
> money:

Try one step at a time as you will most likely encounter a variety of
pitfalls.


> I have a Sony DV camcorder, a decent computer, digital cable TV and
> around 50 VHS tapes of movies. I would like to be able to:

First get your system set up so you can transfer/copy/capture the
video/audio created with your Sony DV camcorder to your PC. Come back when
you have successfully done that.


> What is this pass thru? Can I use this to record to HDD without a TV
> card?

Allows you to play an analog source through the camcorder which digitizes it
and saves it to hard drive usually via firewire. I have used it to digitize
VHS tapes and from an analog camcorder.

>
> What is the best method to burn VHS tapes onto DVDs?

For me, transfer my vhs tapes to my MiniDV camcorder. Transfer the MiniDV
info to my PC via FireWire as an AVI file. Edit the .AVI file with a Non
Linear Editor (NLE). Author and burn the DVD with TMPGenc DVD Author.
There are other ways to do it but this is how I get the best results.


> What type of DVD burner do I need to be able to burn DVD's that will
> play on regular DVD players?

There are many inexpensive PC DVD burners you can use. I use the DVD writer
which came with my PC. Authoring the DVD seems to be a common problem for
many people. Compatibility of DVD's seems to be another problem.

Rich

 

[Ed]

Archived from groups: rec.video.desktop (More info?)

> As for your comment about "can I get away with P4 2.4, 1GB ram, and fast IDE
> drives striped on RAID if I buy a cheap TV tuner?" I mean get real. What planet
> are you living on where this kind of computer is considered underpowered? I've
> been recording video for ten years with computers that are about 100 times
> slower than that. Sorry to take a shot, but it is really sad when people start
> thinking really nice computers like the one you describe are too slow.


Thanks for the input, I guess I came across wrong. I know the set up I
have is pretty fast, I didn't mean it's slow. But for special
purposes like these, sometimes the best performance might be
insufficient w/o specialized hardware. i.e. I still have horrible
latency problems with the audio applications I use which can only be
cured by inserting a high-end sound card in this system. I thought my
video projects may suffer similar problems. Nevertheless, I consider
your post as a good starting point, and I already scratched out the
VHS idea.

p.s. I thought I started a new thread but it ended up under this one,
how does that happen?

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: rec.video.desktop (More info?)

"ed" <derdest@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:6dcb698a.0407101912.7121c825@posting.google.com...

> p.s. I thought I started a new thread but it ended up under this one,
> how does that happen?

On my newsreader, this is a new thread.
If you are reading from google then you have melded with other threads that
had the same title in the past.
Sometimes it might pay to get a bit creative with your headings

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: rec.video.desktop (More info?)

If you have Firewire, have a look at the Canopus ADVC100. Uou can
connect camcorder, VHS tape player and TV.

John


On 10 Jul 2004 10:25:28 -0700, derdest@hotmail.com (ed) wrote:

>I have done a lot of reading over the past few weeks, but instead of
>being able to sketch out a solution, I feel I'm a lot more confused
>than when I started. I apologize if this question has been answered
>10.000 times before but I need to make sure before I start spending
>money:
>
>I have a Sony DV camcorder, a decent computer, digital cable TV and
>around 50 VHS tapes of movies. I would like to be able to:
>
>Record DV tapes to DVD's using firewire
>Record VHS tapes to DVD's
>Record future shows on cable to HDD and burn them to DVD.
>
>Do I need a high end TV tuner card that has an MPEG encoder on it, or
>can I get away with P4 2.4, 1GB ram, and fast IDE drives striped on
>RAID if I buy a cheap TV tuner?
>
>What is this pass thru? Can I use this to record to HDD without a TV
>card?
>
>What is the best method to burn VHS tapes onto DVDs?
>
>What type of DVD burner do I need to be able to burn DVD's that will
>play on regular DVD players? (This is what I have in mind:
>http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=27-152-023&depa=0
>)
>
>Thanks in advance!