Accessible DVD files on DVD Recorder w/ HD???

[davidmai]

I'm in the market for new DVD recorder with internal HDD. My first question is does these recorders save the dvd files in the standard format with the video_ts directory and vob files.

The ultimate question is.... which models have pc interface so you can access the vob files?

I hoping not to have the computer be the recorder.

Right now I record tv shows on standard dvd -r, then drag and drop the video_ts folder to my hard drive.

Thanks for all your help.

DM

[Baldrick]

I haven't seen any recorder that you can directly connect to the pc to access the hdd.

[Frobozz]

DVD recorders do not create VIDEO_TS folders on their hard drives. There is no way to directly access the files on the hard drive, either. They are basically computers in themselves that encode, edit and organize the video and then write it to disc. So you don't need to use a PC at all except when you don't like the limitations of the DVD recorder's menu options.

[FulciLives]

The standard way to get recordings from a DVD recorder to a PC is to copy to a DVD-RW or DVD+RW or even DVD-RAM and then copy that to the computer. Then you can use the same DVD-RW, DVD+RW or DVD-RAM over and over again to do the same thing over and over again.

Why copy to the PC?

You usually have more control of editing and most importantly can create your own custom menu and chapters with a DVD authoring program of your choice. TMPGEnc DVD Author is a popular choice.

Anyways after creating your custom DVD you then burn a DVD-R or DVD+R etc. using the PC DVD burner.

That's how I do it even though my DVD recorder has a built-in HDD.

- John "FulciLives" Coleman