Newbie start-up business questions

[kdelight]

Total Newbie, please have patience with my questions.
I am trying to put myself into the “small time” VHS to DVD transfer business. What I want to be able to do is transfer – efficiently – VHS tapes to DVD.
I am considering a “quickie” service whereby for say $20 I will transfer VHS to DVD with no editing. For this I was going to buy the New Panasonic DMR-HS2 Progressive DVD Recorder w/ 40gig Hard Drive.
I will also offer a service with title editing and chapters with a price starting at $29.95. For this I was going to use two input devices, one ADS’s USB Instant DVD and the second the aforementioned Panasonic device.
I wil then use editing software on my PC.
I know this is the el cheepo way to go, but it’s a start.
Questions:
1. Can I get away with this if I remain relatively small time?
2. I don’t know if I fully understand the Panasonic device: I am told “PLUS, if you have a PC with a DVD-RAM compatible drive and the requisite software, you can refine and edit the source on your PC even further, then go back to your DMR-HS2, and burn your DVD-R”. Does this mean that I can edit on the PC after using the Panasonic deivce? (I would consider this because it is easier then using the USB Instant DVD and also because it has a hard drive).
3. What does it mean to have a DVD-RAM compatible drive?
4. What are examples of the “requisite software”?
5. Once I have the source on the PC can I efficiently combine video from 2 or more vhs tapes?
6. What reasonably priced editing software would you suggest I use
7. What DVD media should I buy? Where should I source it from?
8. Do you have any suggestions to make this process faster?
9. At Comdex I saw a product that would burn a digital photo onto a cd, I would need this for low volume (1 or 2) not mass production. Any suggestions.

Thanks in advance for all of this.

You can respond off list at kdelight@yahoo.com or on list.

[Jester700]

If the Panasonic has a firewire in/out, you can probably use it as the realtime encoder and won't need the ADS. Of course, if you have the ADS, it's already realtime encoding, so your only extra time is in burning the DVD, so you wouldn't need the Panasonic! Basically, I'm saying you don't need both. However, 2 points:

1) If you don't NEED portability with a laptop, skip the ADS and get a PCI capture card like a Hauppauge WinTV PVR250 or similar - something with an iTVC15 chipset in it. It'll have better quality at low bitrates, better audio/video sync, allows higher bitrates (above 6Mb/s) and costs the same.

2) Realize that this is likely to be a short lived venture. In a couple years those DVD recorders will be under $300 and many people will own them or have friends who do and will transfer for free. You will always have a clientele if you only ask minimum wage for this, but who wants that?

[Revilo]

While I don't know that much about capturing, I do know a bit about burning DVD to DVD-R. As far as media, you will want something that is fairly compatible with many players. This is usually good name brand stuff like Verbatim or Memorex. You will probably also want nice glossy labels to make it all look professional. Keep in mind that if you are new to burning DVD's and video encoding, you will have a learning curve to make your projects look their best and make them compatible on many players. You might want to start with some of your own or some friends and do them as trials. You should be able to find the help you need here on this forum, as I have seen others that do what you are trying to do. Sorry I can't help more with the specifics, I just wanted you to realize that it will probably take you some time to figure everything out.

Revilo

[fmctm1sw]

Yeah, and as soon as all your buddies find out you can convert all their porn to CD, they'll be beating your door down.... But on a serious note, why make just DVDs? Make picture CD's, music CD's, etc..... All that stuff is easy and able to be done with FREE stuff......

[BJ_M]

offer a service with title editing and chapters with a price starting at $29.95

thats pretty cheap unless its not great quality .. or i suppose super basic ..

the media you should be using will cost about 3 - 5 each anyway to start off ..

if someone wants a lot of copies you will need to get a DLT tape machine and an authoring program that can write to DLT (to be able to send it to a pressing company)

you should really have an industrial s-vhs player with machine control for in/out points and s-video connections ... a time base corrector is normal also ..

editing -. premiere or Vegas video or avid dv ...
plus photoshop (or paintshop pro) , vegas video and paintshop pro is a cheaper solution which can produce totally professional results - fast.

authoring - basic , impression pro / adv., reeldvd / pro , scenarist ..

lots a people say dvd workshop is good - all in one i guess ..

dolby digital encoder ...

and - a pro broadcast monitor with setup , overscan and blue gun

top quality cables ...