Looking for some ideas to capture television programs.

[bbrelsford]

Hi all -

Torn between some different ways to get tv shows recorded into my g4.
Anyone have any pros/cons to some of the products used for this.
Formac Studio TVR, Eye TV, DVD standalone recorder are some of the options I've researched.
I'm torn between spending $ 299 on the formac, when a stand alone recorder is just a little bit more.
The stand alone recorders appeal to me because you don't have to edit
with mac, and some support DVD-RW, so you could just erase and start over.
If anyone uses a standalone recorder, can the discs made be used by any mac programs like iMovie, DVDStudio Pro 2, Final Cut?
What speed do they burn at?

Thanks for your input.
Brian

[jazzman]

Check this previous thread
https://www.videohelp.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=196291
I have a Formac Studio but the process is such an incredible waste of cpu/human time. Since we don't live forever I went with a DVD recorder with the DVD-RAM format which easily transfers to the Mac when needed. If you limit your DVD-RAM to one title/program per side when transfering it will demux via MPEG2WORKs into paired m2v and ac3 files that do not need to be parsed any further and will import into DVDSP.

[Frobozz]

I'm confused about what you want to accomplish. You like the standalone recorder because you don't want to do editing, but also want to know how the discs work with high-end editing and authoring apps. If all you want to do is create a library of TV programs on DVD then the standalone recorder is a great choice (particularly one with a hard drive). Be aware that good quality DVD has less than two hours of video on a DVD-R. If you record 4 or 6 hours on a disc the quality is diminished.

One thing you need to decide is whether you want to tie up your computer while you're recording television and if being able to program automatic recording is important to you. Also, it's very important to decide whether you want the file to be DV, mpeg 1 or mpeg 2. If you want DV or mpeg 1 don't bother with the standalone recorder.

Because I have a nice S-VHS video recorder the best fit for me was the ADS USB Instant DVD for Mac. With this I can record live or off a decent looking recording.

I'm waiting for Comcast's DVR to see how that works. The options keep expanding.

[tke918]

bbrelsford,

I assume you just want to record TV programs and make your own library.

I don't recommend eyeTV because of the picture quality and price. The best quality setting is mpeg1 2.3Mbps 352x240 CBR and the picture quality isn't that good. $199 is too expensive for the quality of video. (I have one so I know it isn't great.) It's easy and simple but that's about it.

What do you think about Panasonic DMR-E80HS? It is a standalone DVD recorder with 80GB HD. It can record and sotre TV programs on its HD. It has 4 picture quality modes XP(D1, 10Mbps), SP(D1, 5Mbps), LP(Half D1, 2.5Mbps), EP(352x240, 1.7Mbps). It has built-in mpeg2 editor and so you can cut commecials out by itself. And if you want, you can burn them onto DVD-R, or DVD-RAM. No Mac or PC needed. I think this is the simplest way. The cheapist price I could find is $496 at www.6ave.com.

https://www.videohelp.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=192261

[qshartle]

it sucks sony is not producing the PSX in the US until next xmas. If you dont mind having a japanese PS2/PS1 and a dvd-rw/tivo type thing, then this is perfect.

http://www.lik-sang.com/news.php?artc=3244


its spendy, but worth it. It wont play US PS2 or PS1 games, but will play US DVD's.


Q[/url]

[willrob]

Checl out

http://miglia.com/products/video/alchemytv/index.html

It's about $130. Haven't used it, but the VCR option seems like the best method of recording without having to be home to do it.

william

[jazzman]

I think the Panasonic DMR-E80HS would be a great choice. I have the 100 but all it gives me is more HD space, a dv input which I haven't used yet, and a card slot which I haven't used yet. The 80 allows you great flexiblity on the HD for composing the DVD for burning or your DVD-RAM for transferring to the computer. This saves a great number of steps that you would have to do tediously on a NLE program. It is amazing how precise (to the frame) your edits can be just with the remote control.

[bbrelsford]

Thanks to all for input.
I too, think I'm leaning towards jazzman's thought. A standalone recorder would serve my purpose well.
I like some editing on mac, but I agree with jazzman that an awful lot of time is needed to do this.
With standalone, it sounds like I have options of basic editing and still have ability to get video into mac if I want to edit it further.
For a formac that's 300.00. For another 100 or so I can get a standalone recorder and not have to hassel with it much.

Jazzman, if you have some time I'd like to know what is involved in getting video from dvd-ram into mac to do editing. If I'm understanding your post correctly I take the dvd-ram disc out of player and import into mac? Will my superdrive read that kind of disc?
Or could I possible burn a dvd-r from stand alone and use that disc to get into my g4?
Your thoughts appreciated.
If it would be easier to pm that would be great also.
Brian

[jazzman]

Well there are two ways I guess. I heard from one guy that was doing it with DVD-R's but I haven't tried it myself. When you use DVD-RAM the file nomenclature is "VRO", and a progam called MPEG2WORKS will convert those video files into m2v and ac3 files in a few minutes. You need a firewire DVD-RAM drive, the Panasonic LDF311 and newer are OSX read/write capable and are always popping up on Ebay. If you buy the raw drive you'll need a bridge and enclosure for it. Also a utility from SoftArch is currently required to mount a udf (DVD-RAM format) called "READ DVD". Without a HD version of a DVD recorder you could still do most of the basic editing with your remote control, composing on the DVD-RAM, then transfer to mac, import the m2v and ac3 into DVDSP and burn. That works great. It is when you want to do cross fades and the like that you'll have to import into FCP and re-render when finished. The Panasonic Recorder will do cuts and joins and render playlists from multiple recording sessions into one .VRO file. I will try a raw out-of-cartridge DVD-RAM in my superdrive and get back to you (I have my doubts, but it sure would be cool).

[yonidass]

As some of you have probably heard, Elgato has just released a Firewire/MPEG-2 TV/analog capture box; a timely addition to the discussion here.

http://www.elgato.com/products/eyetv200.html