Help building DVD Duplicator

[Duvall45]

Not sure if I am posting this in the correct forum please move it as necessary.
I am looking into building a standalone DVD duplicator and would like some input to make sure everything goes smooth and I get what I expect. First a little background. I use a Canon hf s200 camera and Videostudio x2 for software. I film for our high school football team and sometimes need several copies. I also use lightscribe labeling and would like to install a 2TB hard drive for video storage. I think there would be times that I would use it as standalone and times that I would want to connect to my computer to store files on the hard drive. Components I am considering: 1x Acard ARS 2053BA controller, 3x LG GH22LS50 SATA DVD with Lightscribe or 3x Samsung Mfg part # 767467 22x SATA DVD with Lightscribe, and a Hitachi Deskstar 7K2000 2TB 7200rpm SATA hard drive (I have a spare tower for this project). Would I be able to burn ISO and Lightscribe labels that are stored on the hard drive through the controller? If not could it be linked to my computer for these functions? The night of the game when I render the disk I would probably need 2 or 3 copies, and sometimes need to make more copies a week or so later.
Thanks for the help.

[DB83]

According to the system specs, these are stand-alone controllers so they do not work through a PC.

I may have read it wrong but the HDD will be fitted into the controller casing and not the PC.

But the controller you selected requires BD writers. Do you really need that ?

Also, as the name suggests, aren't they duplicators which means you need one master disk and make the copies from that ?.

For 2 or 3 copies this seems to me to be a bit of overkill and you are not saving very much time as opposed to making the copies individually.

Not a criticism of your intentions just an opinion.

[Duvall45]

"Not a criticism of your intentions just an opinion."--None taken I want opinions to make sure I get what I want.

"the controller you selected requires BD writers. Do you really need that ?"--I thought that the controller could do both DVD and BD. Wanted DVD for now but be able to upgrade in future if needed.

"as the name suggests, aren't they duplicators which means you need one master disk and make the copies from that" --thought it could also read from HDD

"I may have read it wrong but the HDD will be fitted into the controller casing and not the PC." -- I thought that the controller would burn Lightscribe and DVD's from the HDD. Since I would have to put a HDD in the case, might as well put in a big one and store my video files to. I need to access them from my laptop and my desktop so thinking it would serve duel purpose instead of buying another portable HDD.

If I could access the DVD drives through my desktop, I have a Lightscribe labeling software that can burn 3 or 4 labels at a time. My labels take from 30 to 45 minutes so I will see a time advantage there. Maybe I am looking at this all wrong. Should I skip the controller and build a "slave tower" with 3 or 4 drives and a HDD? Just looking to simplify things and speed things up. Would be nice when the coaches ask for another copy a week later to burn it out without having to power up a computer.

Again thanks for everyone's help. I don't want to waste money and be disappointed.

[DB83]

BD burners can burn standard DVDs. I was merely pointing out that this controller requires them and, obviously, they are more expensive than standard DVD burners. There is an alternative non BD controller.

The way I read the specs it was stated that the unit will read from an internal HDD but that DVD is an optional build into the controller unit.

The spec also states that it does support lightscribe so I suspect that it would read from that internal HDD for that function.

I do not think that building a tower with just three DVD burners and a HDD would help. Standard DVD writing sofware can only write to one burner at a time. There may be software out there that can do this but I would imagine that the software, even if available, is only part of the problem. The SATA controller would also have to support multiple writes.

The duplicator avoids such issues as it has its own dedicated processor. So, as you say, you would save some time when you consider the lightscribe angle if that is important to you. But it is a big investment and you really need to be certain of this before continuing. I would suggest a contact to the manufacturers of the controller would be you best approach before commiting yourself.

[classfour]

The last duplicator that I bought was from copystars.com and was less expensive to build than the one-to-one that I'd done a few years earlier (the card and the case were the major expenses).

[turk690]

FWIW, I wouldn't rely on lightscribe to label my DVDs. I've mentioned why in a previous post, but here they are again: lightscribe is an overrated labeling system whose principal claim to fame is is the sexiness of the thought of using the same laser that burned the data to later on burn the label. It's a thermal system that uses a dye that darkens when hit by the laser (wait: isn't this true of the data side as well?). The label layer is some off-yellow color (never white) so the contrast in the finished label is poor. The heat-sensitive label also darkens or loses more contrast with age, especially on contact with sunlight. A lot of precious time is wasted: maybe 5 minutes is spent filling up a 4.7GB DVD+R with data, then 15-30 minutes is spent on the label. The writer laser LED is likely to always be hot and will soon give up its ghost sooner than if it wasn't constantly on lightscribe duty. Lastly, lightscribe blanks are expensive and not easy to find.
For more professional quality and faster (seconds) throughput you might want to consider ink-jet printable DVD media.

[Duvall45]

"lightscribe blanks are expensive and not easy to find" --The only reason I use lightscribe is that I know what my cost is. I can easily get the disk at a cost of .33 and the inkjet are .25 I have been considering changing but am afraid of my ink cost. I usually print full labels and will print between 500 and 700 disks. I love the looks of the inkjet just scared of the cost of ink.