Newbie questions very easy.

[bayaraa_us]

Hi all,

I'm new into this standalone DVD recording technology. I didn't pay any attention before. I couldn't find any well explained guide on the net.

Anyways I have the following few questions. Please help me if you have the answers.

- How long does standalones record into 4.7gb media? For example does it have speed such as 2x, 4x etc?
- What are the benefits of standalones Vs PC dvd writers?
- Do you get manual control over how chapters fit (organized) into the disc.
- Is it like straight VHS recording?

Thank you

[andkiich]

I'll give it a first stab:

1) Some recorders have variable length recording options, I believe up to 6-8 hrs on some.
2) Standalones normally have TBC built in and can get some very good results with bad cable or VHS sources. Also, once the writer is done, you have a complete DVD, no intermediate steps, although this can be a downside as well, as you will have to rip the DVD and re-author is you want chapter points, menu's and such.
3) I'm not 100% sure on the chapter marks, but my guess is that you have no control over creating chapter points
4) It's pretty close to recording like a VCR.

[sandmanfvr]

On chapter points, some recorders have this (maybe more I don't know). There are settings for a chapter break even XX minutes. So you could set it so you can skip 10 minutes or so in a push of a button, but you can't make chapter breaks like on a real dvd.

[qpskfec]

2) set-top - ease of use, convenience, but only good for limited editing
pc - maximum flexibilty, maximum control, but takes time to learn

3) on my Philips +RW, it defaults to putting in chapter points every 5 minutes. You can also delete all chapter points and add new ones in wherever you like.

4) It's a vcr that used dvds instead of tapes, with some basic editing capabilities.

[ZippyP.]

I believe that Panasonic has a unit with a hard drive which enables some editting before burning to DVD. Like this one.

[bayaraa_us]

Thanks guys,

I still have the following questions.

- Is the recording on standalone "real time" ? Or you have to save it on special hard drive memory and then record later?
Can you record Live TV?

I mean PC DVD burners only catching up to speed such as 8x right now which supposed to burn a dvd in about 10 minutes or less.

I just don't get the idea of how these standalone recorders work. Also i saw the DVD mini camcorders which should work like Mini DV cams.

Can anyone clarify on this please?

[bobinga]

Standalones with or w/o HD record in real time.

[donpedro]

Without HD in recorder you can burn only at realtime recording speed. Forget abut 1,2,4 or any x-time.

Standalone are best solution for VHS to DVD transfer. No problems with out-of-sync issues if it has TBC corrector like Panasonic.

You have limited control of chapters on DVD-R. Little bit more with DVD-RAM and best with burners that have HD in it. For example from DV camcorder to Sony recorder transfer makes chapter point at every time when your camcorder stoped... very ugly...

Well.... little bit more complicated VHS recording

Yes you can record live TV.

Recorders with HD are special. First recoring to HD is real time. Burning from HD to DVD can be faster.

[bayaraa_us]

Hmm, interesting

I just don't understand why people with PC dvd writers have to spend 10min-1hour to burn a dvd movie on a blank while standalone recorders record at "real time" on a blank with no waiting?

Can't they incorporate this technology into pc dvd writers. What sets standalone recorders from dvd writers apart? Speedwise.

I can go further such as what kind of mpeg encoders do standalones use? As opposed to dozens of different encoders available for the PC?

My questions might be dumb. But i want to know.

thanks

[vtecwil]

I think you may be confused by the term " real time " . PC dvd writers are way faster than stand alone units . Real time means that it takes 1 minute to record 1 minute of video . Lets say we want to back up a two hour movie , same title but one is on VHS the other on DVD . Using a stand alone DVD recorder this will take you 2 hours . I'll use the worst case senario for the DVD . Dual layer disc with a size of 6 gigabytes . 15 minutes to rip , 30 minutes to transcode , and 15 minutes to burn . This gives us a total of 1 hour . This could easily turn into 30 minutes total if we didnt have to transcode the 6 gig file down to 4.7 .

[Big GSM]

I'm also brand new to the DVD recording world.

I transferred a movie from S-VHS to DVD-R today (Panasonic t3030) before leaving for work today. It seems to have recorded the movie as one chapter. I was under the impression from other posts that it would automatically leave chapter marks every five minutes. (Admittedly, I do not see any indication of this in the manual). Is there a way to add chapters at this point?

[donpedro]

or.... get your 2h. VHS through capture card to PC in AVI format (2 hours). Cut out what you don't need (10 minutes). Encode to MPEG2 (from xx to 10 hours for example). Author 30 minuts. Burn 15 minutes.

Times can differ All depends on what you are doing. On computer you can do things that you can't on standalone.

For me... longest part is edit (cut, trim add titles, menus, transitions) my home video So I have to use PC and I don't realy care how long it will take to burn.

You should consider more reading than asking

[donpedro]

It seems to have recorded the movie as one chapter. I was under the impression from other posts that it would automatically leave chapter marks every five minutes. (Admittedly, I do not see any indication of this in the manual). Is there a way to add chapters at this point?

Are you sure ? Don't confuse chapters and titles or whatever they call it. Chapter is thing that you can advance with "NEXT" (or ">>|") button at the time that you play.

[Big GSM]

"Are you sure ? Don't confuse chapters and titles or whatever they call it. Chapter is thing that you can advance with "NEXT" (or ">>|") button at the time that you play."

...oops. Thanks. You're right, Donpedro. I wish I could choose these myself, though.

[donpedro]

That would one of the reasons to move to PC from Standalone.

[bayaraa_us]

-What's the structure of a recorded dvd look like?
Video_TS and Audio_TS all in place?

-Does the speed of media matter such as x4, x2 when you record with a standalone?

[FOO]

The book for that is $5000.00 and an NDA

[donpedro]

The book for that is $5000.00 and an NDA

What ?

[FOO]

Last time I looked the official DVD specifiication
cost $5000 and you had to sign a Non Disclosure Agreement

[Captain Satellite]

Without HD in recorder you can burn only at realtime recording speed. Forget abut 1,2,4 or any x-time.

Standalone are best solution for VHS to DVD transfer. No problems with out-of-sync issues if it has TBC corrector like Panasonic.

You have limited control of chapters on DVD-R. Little bit more with DVD-RAM and best with burners that have HD in it. For example from DV camcorder to Sony recorder transfer makes chapter point at every time when your camcorder stoped... very ugly...

Well.... little bit more complicated VHS recording

Yes you can record live TV.

Recorders with HD are special. First recoring to HD is real time. Burning from HD to DVD can be faster.

Wrong, it is STILL real time.

[Richard_G]

To give you a classic example of the 'real time' versus computer time argument. I am currently duplicating video shot of a show at a local theatre to provide copies to people that took part. The show was two performances, each just under 1.5 hours long. I have ended up with three files sitting on my hard drive. One is both performances one after another with a run time of just under 3 hours. I output this to a vcr to produce a video tape with the full 3 hours worth of video on it. Obviously, this takes three hours to produce each video. This is 'real time' recording, exactly as you would get with your standalone. The other two files are DVD iso images, one of each performance that I can burn to DVD for those that prefer this format (I've left them at 1.5 hours each to keep the quality up). Burning these with my Pioneer A05 writer at 4x takes about 18 minutes to produce each disk.

As you can see, providing I sit at my pc and keep feeding it blank disks, I can produce 4 sets of DVD disks in the time it takes to produce 1 video tape. On the DVDs I can, and have, inserted a menu with scene selection so you can go straight to a particular point, something you can't do with a standalone (or a video tape!).

[donpedro]

Recorders with HD are special. First recoring to HD is real time. Burning from HD to DVD can be faster.

Wrong, it is STILL real time.

Are you sure ? Did you test it on Panasonic recorder with show recorded to Panasonic's hard drive that is more than 1h long and marked as it should be ? I am not convinced that your "wrong" is right

[Captain Satellite]

Recorders with HD are special. First recoring to HD is real time. Burning from HD to DVD can be faster.

Wrong, it is STILL real time.

Are you sure ? Did you test it on Panasonic recorder with show recorded to Panasonic's hard drive that is more than 1h long and marked as it should be ? I am not convinced that your "wrong" is right

I've burned hundreds of discs on my HS2, I am sure. :P

[donpedro]

What about this ?

High-Speed Recording2
Record from the hard disk to a DVD-RAM disc at up to 12x speed. A one-hour program can be transferred in EP mode from hard disk to DVD-RAM disc in five minutes.

[Captain Satellite]

What about this ?

High-Speed Recording2
Record from the hard disk to a DVD-RAM disc at up to 12x speed. A one-hour program can be transferred in EP mode from hard disk to DVD-RAM disc in five minutes.

That's a RAM disc, not a DVD-R.

[donpedro]

Or this from Panasonic DMR-E80H manual ?

Turning “DVD-R compatible Rec” to “On” from the Setup menu
allows dubbing to a DVD-R using the high speed mode after a
recording has been saved to the HDD. (page 44)

So maybe yours can't but this one can

[Captain Satellite]

Or this from Panasonic DMR-E80H manual ?

Turning “DVD-R compatible Rec” to “On” from the Setup menu
allows dubbing to a DVD-R using the high speed mode after a
recording has been saved to the HDD. (page 44)

So maybe yours can't but this one can

That's why I have a computer. :P

[donpedro]

That's why I have a computer. :P

No, no, no.... Right response is "I see. You are right, I was wrong."