Q on DVD Recorders & VHS Macrovision

[Defcon]

I am considering the purchase of a standalone DVD recorder to back up my VHS collection to DVD. My question(s) are:

A. If you feed the VCR to DVD recorder - would the macrovision from the VHS distort the DVD back-up ?

B. Is this idea stupid ? Could I get the same quality with a capture card and burn to DVD from my PC ? Would theVHS thru a capture also ignore the macrovision ?

Just curious as to the advantages..... Costs too

[rcb]

If you haven't, visit Lordsmurf.com and see what you can find there on macrovision removal.

As to dvd recorder vs. pc, the macrovision prob will be there for both unless one or other has a specific disabling feature.

one device that can bypass macrovision is the canopus advc-100...

[Defcon]

Thanks for the link rcb.....

It appears no matter how I go about it though, it will be costly

[FulciLives]

You can buy a TBC which will remove MACROVISION from the VHS signal. These are not cheap though. Basically you only have two to choose from.

One is $180 and the other is around $300

If interested I'll post links.

There are some MACROVISION busting "black boxes" but most degrade the image quality or simply don't work with all source material.

That is basically all you can do with the stand alone DVD recorders.

However ...

Many computer capture cards ignore MACROVISION. One of the best that can defeat MACROVISION is the Canopus ADVC-100

You can get better quality using the computer but it takes a lot of time and practise to get it right. Using something like the Canopus ADVC-100 will give you more-or-less perfect captures. That's half the battle. After that you can fool around with TMPGEnc or CCE for converting your capture to MPEG-2 DVD format.

Please note that even with the Canopus ADVC-100 it might be a good idea to invest in a TBC especially if you have SLP/EP speed recordings. The Canopus ADVC-300 adds a lot of nice things like a built-in TBC but it has a high price (around $550) but then again the ADVC-100 with an external TBC will be about the same price anyways.

- John "FulciLives" Coleman

[Bob W]

Seems to me if one is going to spend $550 or more on capture cards, TBC's, and software they would be far better off just spending less and buy a DVD recorder. Besides I get far better VHS to DVDR conversions on either my Panasonic E50 or Magnavox DVD recorders than I ever did when I was doing captures to my computer jmo.

[FulciLives]

Seems to me if one is going to spend $550 or more on capture cards, TBC's, and software they would be far better off just spending less and buy a DVD recorder. Besides I get far better VHS to DVDR conversions on either my Panasonic E50 or Magnavox DVD recorders than I ever did when I was doing captures to my computer jmo.

Despite NOT having a TBC I bet most of my VHS to DVD projects look better than what your stand alone DVD recorder can do.

Give me a Canopus ADVC-300 and I can totally blow away anything that a stand alone DVD recorder can do.

Now if only I could save up $550 hehehe

- John "FulciLives" Coleman

[lordsmurf]

@ Fulci

That's a bold statement Fulci !!!

... the real truth is 50% operator and 25% source

... the other 25% is split among equipment and hardware/software

Give me a shit card and shit source.
Then put me up against a newbie (with no guide) and perfect source on an Avid.
Give each of us a good VCR and unlimited software access.
My money's on me (of course, that may be bold on my part too )

So while a Canopus ADVC, DVD recorder and ATI cards are all good, it's still a matter of how it is used and what it is fed. They each have strong and weak points.

@ Defcon

The bottom line: it takes both time to learn AND you're likely to spend money along the way. Want to effectively and 100% defeat Macrovision (an artificial error)? Then buy a full TBC for whatever it costs.

I consider a TBC for Macrovision like buying a 4x4 truck for mudding. You're buying devices for recreation value, neither of which are openly condoned. Hacks and cheapo devices are like mudding in a Volvo ... may work, but could fail and just bring misery in the process.

Best of luck to you

[Defcon]

Thanks for the info Fulci & LordSmurf (gulp)

I have like 50 VHS I would like to convert to DVD, but I can now see this will be a journey (cost wise)

It's too bad that a stand alone DVD Recorder couldn't just copy a VHS like a video capture....

Bob W

I take it you have copied VHS w/ macrovision to DVD with a standalone. No problems ??? What DVD recorder do you use ? How do you setup the DVD - VHS connection (any particular way)

I would see the advantage of using a standalone DVD recorder cause you can still copy movies from tv too....

[Bob W]

First off a lot of VHS tapes will not have any copy protection so no problem making a backup. I backed up well over 100 tapes and only a few were copy protected causing my Panasonic E50 recorder to halt before it even got started.

To get around the macrovision I first bought this device http://www.facetvideo.com/ which I have since sold. Later I bought this device http://www.avtoolbox.com/avt-8710.htm .

BTW I still have yet another device similar to this http://www.squeakersneakers.com/vs.htm and if anyone here is interested I will let it go real cheap since I don't need it. I used it way back to do VHS to VHS backups.

[thegig]

Just saw a little bad news when it comes to the ADVC-300. IT DOES NOT REMOVE Macrovision. OK, now tell me why I would spend $550, for something their OLDER product can accomplish? I was all "gung-ho" to get the 300 until I read it http://www.creativecow.net/index.php?forumid=29 . (you'll have to look around Jan 27, 2004 at 16:07 gmt, it doesn't link to the page like this forum ) Now I think I'll just get the older model and buy a TBC. Unless some-one talks me out of it. Kinda sad when you come out with a new product and it can't even do the things the older one could. Usually you BUILD upon a product, not take things away. I guess I shouldn't rant too much, they never advertised that the 100 disabled macrovision.

[rcb]

thegig -

If you're talking the advc-100, go for it. But, hold up on the TBC until you've used the 100... you may not need it.

[FulciLives]

I just found that thread on creative cow or whatever it's called.

That's a bit of a kick in the ass!

I was diggin' the idea of the 3D Y/C comb filter and other nice features of the ADVC-300 but now I'm with you.

Just get the ADVC-100 and maybe the DataVideo TBC-1000

- John "FulciLives" Coleman

[thegig]

Yea, it's either that or get a Macrovision disabler(sp?), along with the 300. $89 is the cheapest with the most positive comments (THE CLARIFIER, Facet). Still comes to almost $600. Hmm, $280 (ADVC-100), TBC-1000($280). Two big items vs one really big item and semi big item. Oh, the pain