DVD recorders-few questions

[SerbianBoss]

If dvd recorder have a hdd, when we capture to hdd, can we transfer material to computer but not to write on disk. For example can we transfer recorded material to computer using firewire or not?


Can dvd recorders to record material in mpeg2 format instead to make vob files?


Because i have canopus 110, can i connect VCR with canopus and canopus with firewire to dvd recorder. Does picture will be better on that way or would be better if just connect VCR with dvd recorder?


Which dvd recorders are good for Europe market.


thanks

[Frobozz]

If dvd recorder have a hdd, when we capture to hdd, can we transfer material to computer but not to write on disk. For example can we transfer recorded material to computer using firewire or not?

Except for some older Pioneer models the Firewire is for DV input only. There were some Pioneer models that allowed DV output from video recorded to the HDD or disc as a real-time transfer. It is best just to copy from HDD to VR-mode discs when wanting to transfer video to a PC. VR-mode discs require special software on the computer to extract the MPEG 2 video.

Can dvd recorders to record material in mpeg2 format instead to make vob files?

Burn a VR-mode disc and extract the video as MPEG 2 to the PC.

Because i have canopus 110, can i connect VCR with canopus and canopus with firewire to dvd recorder. Does picture will be better on that way or would be better if just connect VCR with dvd recorder?

The DVD recorder may be able to recognize the Canopus. But nothing is gained by doing it that way. You are better off using the DVD recorder's analog-to-digital converter in my opinion because the interim DV format is still a lossy compressed format.

Which dvd recorders are good for Europe market.

I don't know

Since you have the Canopus and like working on the PC, why not just get a hardware MPEG encoder for your PC? Why do you want a standalone DVD recorder?

[edDV]

Because i have canopus 110, can i connect VCR with canopus and canopus with firewire to dvd recorder. Does picture will be better on that way or would be better if just connect VCR with dvd recorder?

Normal use for the Canopus ADVC-110 is connected directly to the PC for direct capture to computer hard disk. DV is a superior format for editing and since DV is already 720x480 and 4:2:0 conversion loss when encoding to MPeg2 is minimal.

Why connect the Canopus to the DVD recorder to suffer the losses of real time MPeg2 encoding? It may be detected but many DVD recorders expect device control "cue" dialog like a camcorder or the DV input is not accepted. If it is accepted, then the ADVC input circuitry will be used instead of the DVD recorders internal analog processing and A/D.

[SerbianBoss]

I want dvd recorder mainly for recorder tv programs.

What is benefit of dvd recorders with hdd ? I know that may be better that record on hdd instead on disk, but does we have any more benefit with recorder with hdd ?

Does dvd recorders with hdd and firewire support to transfer material to computer? Because i want to edit,to make dvd menus and it would be good if we can transfer recorded material to computer via firewire.

What is VM disk?

[Frobozz]

There are many advantages to having a DVD recorder with hard drive. You can do editing on the hard drive before burning to disc. For example, if you record a 3-hour soccer game straight to disc you have to use the 3-hour recording mode for it to fit. If you record to hard drive you can use the higher-quality 2-hour recording mode, edit out 1 hour of commercials and time outs, and burn a 2-hour DVD. You can also record many hours of video to the hard drive for time shifting without having to burn any of it to disc.

Firewire on a DVD recorder is an input only. It does not send anything and it can only receive DV video played in real time, such as from a DV camcorder.

Standalone DVD recorders can record to discs in either the VR mode or Video mode. The VR mode offers some benefits but you can't play the discs on other devices or on your computer. A video mode disc needs to be finalized before it can play on other DVD players or on computers. I find it best to use VR mode when I want to transfer the MPEGs from the DVD to my computer for authoring to a new DVD using better menu options than my DVD recorder has available. As I noted, extracting MPEGs from VR-mode discs require certain software. On my Mac I use Toast 7.

[edDV]

So use the standalone DVD recorder for normal TV recording and use the ADVC to computer for special programs where you expect to edit and encode on the computer at higher quality.

[SerbianBoss]

The main advantage of dvd recorders with hdd is that we can record material on hdd with higher bitrate and that we can little editing.

Does all dvd recorders support VR mode?

[Frobozz]

The main advantage of dvd recorders with hdd is that we can record material on hdd with higher bitrate and that we can little editing.

Does all dvd recorders support VR mode?

I'm pretty sure they all do. By the way, VR-mode only works with rewritable discs such as DVD-RW, DVD+RW and DVD-RAM. I suggest downloading a DVD recorder manual and reading about how this works.

[handyguy]

With a HD you get a tvguide, which is a TIVO thing, some without HDs have it....also you can watch a dvd when you are recording another program to hd, so its two in one.

[SerbianBoss]

Does have some tool for dvd recorders for defragmention. Because when lot recording/erasing on hdd it makes hdd slower. Does is the same way with dvd recorders?

[handyguy]

not on mine.

[Frobozz]

Does have some tool for dvd recorders for defragmention. Because when lot recording/erasing on hdd it makes hdd slower. Does is the same way with dvd recorders?

I believe the current Pioneer DVR-640H has a defragmentation option. Again, I suggest downloading and reading the manual for any model you are considering.

[SerbianBoss]

Does anyone knows how dvd recorders with hdd work after few years. I mean if dvd recorders dont have defragmention option how they work after few years. Because many recording/erasing can slow speed of hdd.

[canyon]

I'm not against VR mode, but be careful using it - some recorders, in some VR modes (including my JVC DR-M10) use funny resolutions that aren't PAL DVD-Video compliant.
I found this when i recorded 4 hours of unreplaceable stuff off of a damaged VHS (lots of sticky tape repairs on the VHS!) in VR mode, and had to do a complete transcode on my PC, as it was in 640x 480. If I'd recorded it in Video mode, it would have saved me several hours of cpu time.
I usually record onto a DVD-Video, finanlise the disk, then rip it into my pc with DVD decrypter, then run it through the "Quickstream fix" in Video Redo. This is the only way I've found of getting acceptable files on my PC for working on, using my DVD recorder.

[Frobozz]

Does anyone knows how dvd recorders with hdd work after few years. I mean if dvd recorders dont have defragmention option how they work after few years. Because many recording/erasing can slow speed of hdd.

My Pioneer DVR-510H is at least three years old and doesn't have an option to defragment the hard drive. I've never had a problem. I try to keep from filling it up so there always is a reasonable amount of free space. Also, the drive doesn't have to be fast to write MPEG 2.

If I wanted to I could high-speed copy all the hard drive's content to VR-mode DVD-RW and erase everything on the hard drive. Then high-speed copy anything from the VR-mode discs back to the hard drive. It's not a good idea to store important videos on a hard drive without backing up to another source, anyway.

High-speed copying of videos from disc to the hard drive can only be done with VR-mode discs.

[handyguy]

My panasonic has a format option, defrag not needed.