DVD recorders w/ HD able to burn DVDs in super real-time?

[vobnovice]

Hi,

I am interested in getting a DVD recorder with hard drive because of the possibility of doing some editing before burning a DVD disk. For example, I'd like to split a VHS rip into some meaningful titles and select appropriate thumbnails for the menus instead of always having to use the first frame.

However, I'd also like to find a recorder which can burn the DVD from the hard drive faster than real-time. The ones I've looked at so far can only do it in real-time. Does anyone know of units which can do what I want?

Thanks,

vobnovice

[handyguy]

Those with HD's all do that. Esp the pannys, you can see it in the specs for the machine how fast they do HD to dvd.....

But you don't need a HD to edit on a recorder, my panny does dvdram & I can edit on it, most of those things you mentioned but only have one menu choice & no thumbnails. E30.

We have Lots of topics on later editing those disks on your PC too.

[Frobozz]

Handyguy is right. High-speed copying from the hard drive to DVD is a normal feature. I do it all the time with my Pioneer DVR-510H-S.

The Pioneer also will split one recording into multiple titles and let you choose the title image for each one. I'm not aware if that is a common feature with other brands because my experience is limited to the Pioneer.

[tdweis]

Frobozz, I think you just answered a question I posted a couple of days ago in this forum. Are you saying that your Pioneer can record a long program on the HD, then you can take portions of the same program and burn them together on a DVD?

My issue was with a new Toshiba/TiVo box my fiancee bought. She's trying to put a 6-hour broadcast of continuous fashion show on the hard drive, then just take certain selected portions (separate 8-10 minute shows) of the 6-hour HD recording & burn them onto a separate DVD.

I had posted the question & didn't get any responses. Pls. let me know if you would. Thanks!

[Frobozz]

Yes, the Pioneer DVR-510, 520 & 420 allow you to divide a single Title (or recording) into multiple Titles which each appear on the Title menu with their own graphic and Title name. (The models without a hard drive may allow this too, but I don't know that). You can delete Titles if you want or just burn some of them to the DVD. When you play the finalized DVD it will automatically start playing the first Title. You must select the Title button on the remote to see the Title menu. Titles play continuously one to the next. The Titles can also be programmed to play like you would program a CD player to play specific tracks in a specific order.

There also is a Combine option to merge different Titles into one, but I don't have the manual nearby and I'm uncertain what limitations there are to that (I've never used that option).

[tdweis]

Frobozz, thanks very much; very helpful.

[brand1]

Frobozz, I think you just answered a question I posted a couple of days ago in this forum. Are you saying that your Pioneer can record a long program on the HD, then you can take portions of the same program and burn them together on a DVD?

My issue was with a new Toshiba/TiVo box my fiancee bought. She's trying to put a 6-hour broadcast of continuous fashion show on the hard drive, then just take certain selected portions (separate 8-10 minute shows) of the 6-hour HD recording & burn them onto a separate DVD.

I had posted the question & didn't get any responses. Pls. let me know if you would. Thanks!

Thats the problem with the recorder with Tivo, they don't allow editing. Pretty much all other recorders with hard drives do allow editing. You should probably take your unit back if possible and get one without the tivo. Panasonic and Pioneer are probably the two most recomended brands.

Also their is one must for high speed dubbing from the HD to DVD and that is it must be recorded at the same speed. If recorded in HQ/Fine to HD it must be transferred at the same speed to DVD for high speed dubbing. SP to SP, LP to LP, MN 26 to MN 26, etc

[vobnovice]

Anyone -- how fast is the HD -> DVD dubbing for your unit? Can it do
"8x" or only "4x"?

[handyguy]

According to specs, 24x to 36x.

Never could figure that out, since there are no 24x dvd writers.

[Frobozz]

The Pioneer DVR-520 & 420 copy at a maximum 8X speed on supported DVD-R media. The DVR-510 does 4X maximum speed. Copying to DVD-RW is half that speed.

[obs]

I am interested in getting a DVD recorder with hard drive because of the possibility of doing some editing before burning a DVD disk. For example, I'd like to split a VHS rip into some meaningful titles and select appropriate thumbnails for the menus instead of always having to use the first frame.

Why not use a computer and TMPGEnc DVDAuthor?

[vobnovice]

Why not use a computer and TMPGEnc DVDAuthor?

Hi obs!

My experience with using a computer is that they cannot do the MPEG encoding in real time, and that they also require an extra encoding phase in addition to the capture phase. So the time requirements for the various solutions are:

PC based: capture + encoding + authoring + burning
DVD Recorder w/o HD: capture + authoring (very limited)
DVD Recorder w/ HD: capture + authoring + burning

I have been using a DVD Recorder w/o HD, and it is certainly the fastest solution for converting my VHS and Hi-8 tapes to DVD, but I find the authoriing capabilities to be too limited, so I'm willing to add the extra time for a burning phase. Also, there's the cost involved, and also ease of use since I ultimately want my parents to be able to use it themselves.

Maybe things have changed and I'm wrong about the PC-based approach now. If there's a comparable solution for my clunky Althon 1900 XP, please let me know!

[obs]

Sorry, I was too vague. What I meant was to combine a DVD Recorder (no HDD) with a computer+software.

I burn TV shows to a DVD RW, copy files to computer, and use TMPGEnc DVDAuthor to edit out commercials, make chapter breaks, add menu, etc. DVDAuthor doesn't re-encode the video - it just recompiles it so you don't lose quality (or time ). Afterwards, I just reburn it to a DVD R.

My recorder is a +R/RW unit so it records in DVD+VR video format which is not compatible with all players. Re-doing it via computer results in a proper DVD-Video disc. I'm not sure what video format DVD-R Recorders use.

Drawbacks of not having an HDD unit is that you are limited to 4.7GB which is not good for recording live football/hockey games (gets blocky in 4 hour mode), although it is okay if you record it in 2 hour mode spanning a couple of discs and then using DVD Shrink to fit it all on one disc. Benefits of doing it via computer is better/more editing options.

Yeah, I know about the parents factor. I'm in a similar situation. My father needs a one-touch solution for transferring VHS to DVD .

PS I'm sure there must be Video Capture cards with hardware encoders that can do it real-time.