VHS-To-DVD

[h2o]

I am thinking of transfering all my home videos to DVD. I have ATI All in Wonder Radeon 9700 so I can capture the video in mpeg2 format. I need to get a DVD writer that will allow me to create dvd movies which I can view on my Pioneer HTZ-55DV home theater system. I relalize that there are 3 different DVD formats. WHich one is used for home DVD players? WHat DVD writer do you suggest?

I need to fit 3 horus on 1 DVD, but have good quality. If more is possible, thats fine with me.

[LanEvo7]

Since you are transfering your VHS-To-DVD, you should use DVD-R or DVD+R. DVD-RAM is expensive and really isn't suitible for what you are doing. You best option for a DVD Burner right now is the Pioneer A06, Sony Dru510a, or the Optorite DD0203. All of them can burn both +R and -R. The Optorite has another feature than can fit 1400mb of data onto a regular CDR. The A06 seems to be the most compatible drive with generic media.

For VHS capturing, capture with a MPEG2 or a loseless codec at high resolution and convert it using half d1 resolution(352x480 for NTSC). Use VBR 2 pass and bitrate of about 2500. You should get pretty good captures like this.

[h2o]

Thanks you for the info! Very much appriciated.

So my 2 year Pineer should be able to play +r and -r type dvds right??

When I capture, I capture to MPEG2 (640*480). What programs do you suggest for conversion of that file before burning it. Since 640*480 is DVD quality, and my old PAL vhs tapes are nowhere near that, since most of them are 10 years old.

[rsuave5]

check your pioneer player in the compatability section to the left.

you can convert files to dvd with tmpgenc (dload to the left in tools.)


you may experiment with resolution sizes with small clips of your cap. then burn to dvd-rw check it out, tweak your settings, burn again, watch... etc. find out what works best for you, save those settings and get to work.

you may want to capture and burn the dvd in half resolution if you want to squeeze all that on one disk, search the site as there are many discussions on this subject. mess with bit rate and resolution to get the quality you want as well as the file size you require.


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[LanEvo7]

I don't know if your DVD player can play them. Most can play dvdrs but there is a small amount out there that can't. You probably find out by checking the DVD players list on this site.

Since you are PAL you should capture at a resolution higher than 640x480 since PAL half-D1 resolution is 352x576. Encode using TMPGEnc with 2 pass vbr at average bitrate of 2500. It should allow you to fit 4+ hours on a DVD.

[h2o]

You sure thats a right resolution? I eman the screen height would be 1.5 bigger than the width.

Even though the tapes are PAL, the output is NTSC, im putting it through my multisystem VCR that has a built in convertor.

[LanEvo7]

Yep, half d1 for PAL is 352x576. You can confirm this by clicking the DVDR guide on the left.

I didn't know your output was going to be NTSC, in that case, 640x480 capturing will be fine. When you convert though, use half d1 resolution for NTSC(352x480).

[h2o]

what would happen if I burn 640*480 directly?