ADS INSTANT DVD, REARANGING CAPTURE

[DUDIRENO]

Before I spend hours trying to figure out. Does anyone know if I capture multiple hours at one time (in other words start the capture and leave it running come back with 6 hours of capture on it) can I cut that 6 hours up into 30 min segments and then rearange those segments. Example put the second 30 min segment first and first segment last and so forth and so forth? Also, if I do start the capture using a VCR and the tape comes to the end will there be trouble if I don't stop the capture on the computer?

[mhar4]

For rearanging the order of segments, maybe you could cut them up using the PixeDV software and make each segment a chapter for DVD authoring. That way you could set the order.

It should keep capturing after the end of a tape, so you might have to delete the extra video.

[Frobozz]

Yes you can record six hours straight You then would use PixeDV's MPEG cutter to save the 30-minute segments as cut MPEG files. These cut MPEG files now are individual movies that you can place in CaptyDVD in any order you choose. Because they are individual movies the Title menu will allow the selection of any of them. CaptyDVD has a continuous play option that I haven't tried. The rather confusing documentation implies that it allows continuous playback of one movie to another without going back to the Title menu.

If you want the cut MPEGs to be rejoined in a different order as one movie you can try the Join feature of MPEG2 Works. I haven't tried it, but it might do the job.

I'd be concerned about keeping PixeDV recording after there is no video signal from the tape. This might lead to errors with the resulting file or (based on another recent series of posts) the application to crash. Again, I haven't actually tried to do this.

[AntnyMD]

I've left my ADS box capturing for hours overnight without a problem. If, when your tape stops, the video signal switches to a broadcast channel, then it would just record that instead of the blank VCR screen (on mine, its light blue).

When I leave it capturing for hours after a DVD finishes, it just records the DVD player's screen saver until I come back and press stop.

[born bad]

I've been capturing this season's "Survivor" for burning to DVD. For the first three episodes, I figured I was saving myself trimming & exporting time by stopping the capture during the commercials, leaving small, manageable files. This turned out to be a pain in the ass, as both Sizzle .5 and Capty insist each file be its own Title. Sizzle would automatically shoot back to the menu after each ten-minute scene, which would get annoying.

PixeDV's MPEG Cutter only allows cutting on i-frames, which usually occur once or twice a second, so when you're capturing television, you've sometimes gotta choose between clipping the last split-second of the scene or keeping the first split-second of the commercial. The MPEG Cutter feature does a good job cutting and rejoining, though. The results with other apps can be real crapshoot: sometimes the movies work, sometimes they don't, sometimes they're accepted by some apps and not others. An app called MissingMPEGEdit looked promising (allows editing, joining and audio sync), but it reencodes the file rather than truly cutting and rewriting.

I tried many apps and methods to join the scenes into single-episode files, but I kept getting sync problems or "unrecognizable file" errors when I tried to feed them into Capty or Sizzle. I was hopeful about one brainstorm: Make a DVD image of each multi-scene episode, then demux & remux the resulting VOBs into full-episode MPEGs! It worked in theory, but the audio sync was way off by the end.

Too bad I never got to the final "Compile" stage in Capty, because that's when they finally let you know about the Continuous Play option (that'll teach me to RTFM before using new software). By the way, the PDF manual on the ADS Tech website is more straightforward than Capty's Help menu HTML manual.

In the end I gave up and burned the first three episodes as a bare-bones, no menu autoplay disc. Beginning with episode four I cut the commercials, but left the episodes intact as single files and added chapter markers in Capty.

I've had PixeDV crash before, usually while capturing glitchy, poor quality VHS dubs I want to archive before the tapes degrade any further. It seems to happen after moments of major video distortion.

For a while I had second thoughts about going with MPEG capture rather than DV, but the convenience of capturing DVD-ready files without reencoding outweighs the editing limitations for me.

Anyone heard news on US availability of Capty 2.0? I'd like the full-motion menu feature, and I'm hoping there's improved navigation capability, too.

[AntnyMD]

If you ever get a chance to use DVD Studio Pro 2 (perhaps a friend has a copy for you to test), your clips of Survivor can all be added to the same Title Set and DVDSP2 will join them into one continuous track.

A cheaper alternative (this works in theory, I havent tried it) is to take your VIDEO_TS folders with the clips as individual Title Sets and use the Seamless Join feature in DVD2OneX.

[DUDIRENO]

Yea but will the MPEG2 files I create import into DVDSP? If not I would have to change the file and how long would that take? Also, once it is in DVDSP how will that burn onto a DVD? I am assuming it would be like iDVD and only let me get 1.5 -2 hours on one dvd.

[Frobozz]

Anyone heard news on US availability of Capty 2.0? I'd like the full-motion menu feature, and I'm hoping there's improved navigation capability, too.

LaCie's Web site claims that CaptyDVD 2 is shipping, yet if you try to order CaptyDVD from their site (for $145) it lists version 1.1.7. Their news release says a "lite" version 2.0 without AC-3 encoding is available with purchase of one of their DVD burners or can be purchased separately. The full version, they say, will be included with the $249 FastCoder that is supposed to start shipping the end of this month.

[AntnyMD]

Yea but will the MPEG2 files I create import into DVDSP? If not I would have to change the file and how long would that take? Also, once it is in DVDSP how will that burn onto a DVD? I am assuming it would be like iDVD and only let me get 1.5 -2 hours on one dvd.

DVDSP2 only accepts properly formatted MPEG2 streams (and QuickTime compatible files). If you are capturing in DVD-compliant resolutions, they will import into DVDSP2 without a problem. DVDSP2 authors your DVD ... if you have an internal SuperDrive, you can also burn from within DVDSP2. If you have an external burner, DVDSP2 will make a .img disk image that you can burn from Finder.

Unlike iDVD, DVDSP2 is a professional authoring program. You can fit one hour of video at full DVD quality, 2 hours at great quality, 4 hours at medium quality and 6 hours at low quality (VCD-like quality). These assume a constant quality video bitrate, amongst other factors.

[DUDIRENO]

Thanks for all the help!

DVDSP sounds pretty cool. However, would it have to rencode? And if so wouldn't that defeat the whole purpose of getting a mpeg capture box to begin with. That is exactly why I didn't get something to capture to dv because of how long it would take. Also, does DVDSP allow me to make menus and chapters?

[AntnyMD]

If your MPEG streams are compliant, you won't have to reencode. If your streams arent compliant, DVDSP2 will reject them outright. The ADS box captures compliant streams.

You must make menus outside of the app. I use PowerPoint to do very simple menus, as I am one of those people who enjoy the viewing the actual movie on the DVD, and NOT the menu. I save my PowerPoint slides as individual JPEG pictures and import them into DVDSP2 for menus. You make your hotspots and chapters in DVDSP2.

DVDSP2 has a bit of a learning curve. You've been warned!