Can I use a standalone recoder with my PC?

[IMpactHorse]

I want to know if the standalone/ desktop recorder (Philips DVDr985 w/ Firewire) can be connected to my PC to read and burn DVD, after editing in PC.
I also want to rip the DVDs and write the files on disk.
Should I get a firewire card or dvd drive to input the DVDs authored in the standalone? And can I author my PC-edited material with the standalone writer? Has anyone done something like this before?

[Don2050]

I suppose buying a capture card is out of the question ???

I ask only cause if you want to save time....capturing to DVD and then ripping the DVD and then encoding to DivX then burning the CD sounds more time consuming than, buying a capture card hooking your VCR up to it and capturing to your hard drive then burning to disc.

[IMpactHorse]

The prime objective is to convert VHS to DVD. Secondly, I'd have to store that in disc for further editing and DVD authoring. So a real newbie question follows: can I connect a standalone DVD recorder (i.e. Philips DVDR985) to my PC (via FireWire) and then edit the video? Is the FireWire an in/ out connection? Can I get a DVD player for my PC, read and rip the DVDs I recorded, edit them and then burn new DVD of those editions on my desktop recorder?

[Betamax]

YES.

You must have a FireWire card in your system, to which you can connect the external DVD-writer.
You also must have a capture-card, while you want to do vhs -> dvd jobs.
VHS is analogue, you must digitalize it first (only way is via a capture card). If you still haven't one, then be sure you buy a good one (which can deliver you DV-material like which are stored onto your DVD).
A good suggestion would be the "Pinacle Pro" or the "Matrox RT-series". You also could get the "Canopus vdac-100" which translates analogue video directly to DV, input goes via FireWire (at most FireWire cards there are at least 2 connectors).
Then you must edit that captured material (files are of type AVI) at your PC and encode it to MPeG-2, suitable for your DVD (best use would be either hardware encoders - like the Matrox RT-series have - or otherwise TMPGenc -which is software).
Then use any dvd-authoring soft to burn the DVD.

At a later stadium, if you want to re-edit the DVD's, you must RIP them (like with DVDx) back to AVI's.

Regards,

[yg1968]

You have to be careful not to confuse an external DVD writer and a standalone DVD recorder. The Philips 985 is a standalone DVD recorder (not an external DVD writer). The only realistic way of achieving what you seek would be to have a DVD burner and a DVD recorder. You also need a program that supports +VR such as Ulead DMF 2.0. For more on this, see www.dvdplusrw.org

Although you could theoretically convert your mpeg file into DV avi and then export the DV file from your computer to your DVD recorder, the encoding and re-encoding from mpeg to DV and from DV to mpeg involved make this unpractical and you would lose quality in doing so.

http://www.dvdrecorder.philips.com/

[IMpactHorse]

Thanks, YG. I got your point. What I was missing was that the recorder's input is DV avi. I thought I could use the PC to open the DVD from the recoder, extract the files to the PC, edit some scenes, save that in my HD, mount (is this the right term?) a new DVD, and finally use the recorder, again, to burn a new DVD, without converting them. Is there an easy way to make copies of the DVDs I record on the desktop recorder, if I get the DVD burner?

[yg1968]

Making exact copies is easy. You can do that with Nero or RecordNow. Actually I just realized that +VR is mostly for modifying titles and menus. Editing the actual movie in mpeg format is more complicated than I thought but these threads should help you with your questions:

http://www.dvdplusrw.org/cgi/forum/ikonboard.cgi?s=dbd8a1a3280912a1b0a015a16313ad30;ac...=ST;f=7;t=5010

http://www.dvdplusrw.org/cgi/forum/ikonboard.cgi?s=dbd8a1a3280912a1b0a015a16313ad30;ac...=7;t=4582;st=0

http://www.dvdplusrw.org/cgi/forum/ikonboard.cgi?act=ST;f=7;t=4350

[yg1968]

These complications are one of the reasons that I decided against a DVD recorder. It's hard to edit or customize the menus on a DVD recorder. I decided instead to get a DV camcorder (Sony TRV-25) with a video in and a passthrough feature and use it as a DV capture card. I then edit the DV (DV is much easier to edit than mpeg). I then convert to mpeg with TMPGEnc and burn to a DVD with my HP200i. Obviously, this is a longer process but it offers more versatility than a DVD recorder. I guess that the tradeoff is between speed (DVD recorder) vs versatility (DVD Writer).

[IMpactHorse]

I understand the speed x versatility conflict... My client wants:
1. To record 700 hours of VHS on DVD
2. Edit some of the recorded DVD to make new material in several media (DVD, CD and VHS!)

For # 1 - no question in my mind - the DVD recorder is the way to go. This client wants to save time and no complications. I'm assuming all the software and hardware set up would drive him crazy. As a matter of fact, I have suggested the DV cam, skipping the capture card. But then again, there's the DVD authoring...

So, I'm stuck in #2... I have to find a way of editing & copying the recorded DVDs to DVD, CDs and VHS.
I guess the answer to my equation is $$$ big bucks $$$:
DVD recorder + DVD burner + DVD player (PC)

[yg1968]

If you have a DVD burner, you don't need a DVD-ROM as the DVD burner can also read DVD. The DVD burner burns the image of your original DVD onto the hard disk and the image then gets copied onto a blank DVD+R/RW. It is similar to a CD burner.

[yg1968]

You could perhaps try this combination:

1- Buy a Canopus ADVC-100 (and a firewire card) for capturing and editing DV
2- Buy an editing program such as Ulead Video Studio to edit DV. (This program comes with the Pyro ADS firewire card).
3a- Export back DV to the ADVC-100 to VHS with DVIO (freeware)
3b- Or export DV directly from your firewire port to your DVD recorder (using DVIO)
4- Buy standalone DVD recorder for burning DVDs

I still prefer the DVD burner option for myself but this would also work. The DVD burner option with the ADVC-100 with Dazzle DVD complete or Ulead DMF 2.0 is a relatively easy combination.

[IMpactHorse]

I need a high-end setup (lost of RAM, P4 processor, fast HD) to burn the DVDs on the PC, right? Isn't it faster to copy from the DVDrom straight to the writer? Thanks a lot for those threads in dvdorg, they were really clarifying...

[yg1968]

Not really, I have an AMD 1 ghz, 384 MEG and it is more than enough.

You almost need a separate 60 gig hard disk for video if you will be doing video editing, etc.

I have an extra DVD-ROM drive but I never use it because I get more coasters when I use it. Anyways, it's not much quicker.

[Don2050]

I am really lost with this question....

I still dont understand why getting a capture card for your PC and hooking up your VCR to it and capturing straight to your hard drive then editing it for DVD/VCD etc... and then burning it is not the way to go.

The standalone DVD recorder seems to only complicate things in this issue since editing wants to be done to the video after capture.

And cost wise it is relatively cheap, TV capture card = $60 and DVD/CD burner = $250. Total price = (Aprox) $300.

[JLS]

In my case, I use a DVDR-985 as the "capture" device since:

A. I already had one before I got a PC DVD burner.

B. The PC is nowhere near the source (TiVo 2).

C. I do not wish to tie up my PC doing capture anyway.

I create a DVD+RW on the 985, take it to the PC, use DVD Decryptor to create a merged VOB, edit the VOB with Womble Mpeg2VCR, save as MPeg, and use Ulead DVD Workshop to Author and Burn.

[techtype]

Independant of all the other issues of why this might be a good thing to do or not, the DVDR985 will not support what you are trying to do because the firewire port is unidirectional. It is input only and cannot provide any data out. Neither can it control the start/stop/record etc. functions on the recorder. It really is a lost opportunity by Philips!