bmwracer wrote:

That's a good idea. One thing I did discover, albeit late: when buying DVD-RAM discs get the higher speed ones, not the 2-3X ones that I bought: it takes 25+ minutes to copy the entire 4.7GB to my HD...

Hmm, I wonder what the free disc's speed is....

dochira wrote:

Hmm, I wonder what the free disc's speed is....

I think they'll be the slower ones.

bmwracer wrote:

I think they'll be the slower ones.

Good enough for me. I'll look for the faster ones in the store then.

*Note that it doesn't take much for me to run to an electronic/computer store*

dochira wrote:

Good enough for me. I'll look for the faster ones in the store then.

Yeah, the faster ones are about $20 for five (Panasonic)... BB only had the 2-3X ones and I needed 'em, so.... They cost $15.

Quote:

*Note that it doesn't take much for me to run to an electronic/computer store*

Same here.

And it also applies for Home Depot/Lowe's....

bmwracer wrote:

That's a good idea. One thing I did discover, albeit late: when buying DVD-RAM discs get the higher speed ones, not the 2-3X ones that I bought: it takes 25+ minutes to copy the entire 4.7GB to my HD...

Isn't that the write speed your talking about. It takes me about 15 minutes to dump that much to my hard drive. Okay maybe about 4.3gb. Maybe it depends on the speed of your computer. Or the speed that your dvd bunrer can read dvd-ram disc at.

olnil wrote:

Isn't that the write speed your talking about. It takes me about 15 minutes to dump that much to my hard drive. Okay maybe about 4.3gb. Maybe it depends on the speed of your computer. Or the speed that your dvd bunrer can read dvd-ram disc at.

According to the DVD-RAM package, the maximum read/write transfer rate is 33Mbps, which is about 3X.

The maximum transfer rate of my Pioneer 107D for a DVD-RAM is 2X, so having faster media wouldn't help at all in my case.

Oh well.


EDIT: Upon further investigation, even the newest (?) Pioneer burner, the DVR-109 only suppports 2X reading and writing of DVD-RAM.

bmwracer wrote:

EDIT: Upon further investigation, even the newest (?) Pioneer burner, the DVR-109 only suppports 2X reading and writing of DVD-RAM.

Ah, then the free disc is enough.... Oh the Pioneer can only read DVD-RAM, not write.

dochira wrote:

Ah, then the free disc is enough.... Oh the Pioneer can only read DVD-RAM, not write.

Yup.

Now that we've gotten past that, any recommendations on MPEG2 editing software? Most of the freebies I've tried aren't cutting it (so to speak), and I'm considering VideoRedo ($50), since amrayu seems to like it.

Found another editor that looks promising: Womble MPEG Video Wizard... Gotta try it out this weekend.

I need an applause machine in my home.

Why?

Because today, without a nephew or a niece in attendance, without a brother-in-law, or a service guy for miles...

With just an owner's manual, 2 Rottweilers, an orange cat, and a screwdriver to help me... I not only installed a couple of new memory dimms in my computer... I installed a brand new 16X DVD+/-RW Drive in my computer.

And it works! (Be impressed guys. The hardest part, for me, was trying to figure out how to get the outer case off my computer so that I could shove the new stuff in.)

Well, it plays commercial DVDs, so I figure it works.

Man, all this because I decided to go with a DVD recorder instead of a VCR.

Now I'm in the same boat as BMW. I have to find an editing package.

Oh who am I kidding. Amrayu uses Videoredo so odds are that's my first stop.

Man, this is getting expensive.
_________________

Geezer wrote:

I need an applause machine in my home. With just an owner's manual, 2 Rottweilers, an orange cat, and a screwdriver to help me... I not only installed a couple of new memory dimms in my computer... I installed a brand new 16X DVD+/-RW Drive in my computer. And it works! (Be impressed guys. The hardest part, for me, was trying to figure out how to get the outer case off my computer so that I could shove the new stuff in.) Well, it plays commercial DVDs, so I figure it works. Man, all this because I decided to go with a DVD recorder instead of a VCR.

Congratulations, Geezer.
Soon you'll be editing your own videos and creating custom menus.

But first things first. You should crack a beer to celebrate.

dochira

Great minds. Actually my second bottle of McEwans Scotch Ale is looking dangerously close to empty.

The annoying thing for me is that I've been making DVD+Rs on my HP desk top for over a year. But I want the flexibility you get with the newer systems.

With the Arc Soft program I've been using, the program does most of the work for me... but it's slow, and it has some real limitations in terms of how much I can put on a disc.

But in terms of transferring my video tape to disc... it worked like a champ.

Man I'm gonna hate having to relearn how to do all the stuff I already knew how to do on the other system.
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Geezer wrote:

I need an applause machine in my home. Why? Because today, without a nephew or a niece in attendance, without a brother-in-law, or a service guy for miles... With just an owner's manual, 2 Rottweilers, an orange cat, and a screwdriver to help me... I not only installed a couple of new memory dimms in my computer... I installed a brand new 16X DVD+/-RW Drive in my computer. And it works! (Be impressed guys. The hardest part, for me, was trying to figure out how to get the outer case off my computer so that I could shove the new stuff in.) Well, it plays commercial DVDs, so I figure it works. Man, all this because I decided to go with a DVD recorder instead of a VCR. Now I'm in the same boat as BMW. I have to find an editing package. Oh who am I kidding. Amrayu uses Videoredo so odds are that's my first stop. Man, this is getting expensive.

Props, Geez.

Next thing you know, you'll be giving me PC advice...

BMW

Quote:

Next thing you know, you'll be giving me PC advice...

Anything to make you laugh.
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Manga is to Literature
what Graffiti is to Art

Here's something that crossed my mind:

When copying from VHS to DVD, more than likely you'll use the XP mode to get the absolute best quality recording, but that also entails a large 4.7GB file per one hour of recording. If you want to pack more shows on one disc, what to do, sacrifice quality for quantity?

Case in point: I copied True Lies from LD to DVD, but it's spread over three DVD-RAM discs, the combined file size is over 9GB. Would compressing it to fit a 4.7GB DVD be worse than recording the original at the 2/4 hour speed on the DVD recorder?

BMW

One of the things I've had to come to terms with, when transferring VHS to DVD is the quality of the VHS source material.

I've started to think that putting some of my old tapes on disc at best speed is a lot like putting moldy old left-overs on company best china.

There's no point. The damage has already been done, and I'm not gonna get a crisp picture regardless of DVD setting.

But if I've got something good... something like a LD of a good movie, then yeah, I'd spread it out over a few discs, while waiting for the Dual Layer discs to become more user friendly.

The big question for me, as I archive my stuff, is: at what rate does a burned DVD degrade? And is the corruption at worst speed as pronounced as it is with tape?
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bmwracer wrote:

Case in point: I copied True Lies from LD to DVD, but it's spread over three DVD-RAM discs, the combined file size is over 9GB. Would compressing it to fit a 4.7GB DVD be worse than recording the original at the 2/4 hour speed on the DVD recorder?

1 episode per dvd-ram disc, converted on a PC to be smaller, will definitely look better than using the SP/LP mode on the Panny.
(since you can use filters,etc...)

But if the quality is cruddy to begin with, just stick to SP/LP mode on the Panny.
_________________

SARS High Quality Asian Drama FanSUBs:
http://www.sars-fansubs.com/
..dorama & fansubbing obsession blog.. http://blog.goo.ne.jp/amrayu78/

Geezer wrote:

The big question for me, as I archive my stuff, is: at what rate does a burned DVD degrade? And is the corruption at worst speed as pronounced as it is with tape?

If you take care of your DVDs, they will last awhile. Be sure to use good quality discs for those favorite shows.
Tape degrades each time you play it in a VCR.

Geezer wrote:

But if I've got something good... something like a LD of a good movie, then yeah, I'd spread it out over a few discs, while waiting for the Dual Layer discs to become more user friendly.

Don't have the patience for that. I guess it's time to experiment and see if a 2:1 compression will hose the image...

Quote:

The big question for me, as I archive my stuff, is: at what rate does a burned DVD degrade? And is the corruption at worst speed as pronounced as it is with tape?

Like amrayu said, a good quality disc should last a long time if you take care of it... Once digitized, every copy is as good as the original: there's built-in safeguards (CRC error checking) to ensure data quality/stability.

bmwracer wrote:

Don't have the patience for that. I guess it's time to experiment and see if a 2:1 compression will hose the image...

I think the best way to shrink videos down to 4.7GB is to use DVD Shrink. Simply author the DVD as you would normally do so to create the TS_VIDEO folder. Then run DVD Shrink on that folder. If you don't like how it is compressed, then you may be out of luck until DL discs become cheaper.

But the problem with DL is when the layer switching occurs. Unless you are careful on where you place it, you might notice the hiccup. But that's a story for another time.