Beginer Advice Needed

[ashvar]

Hi,

I am a novice in this field with zero experience. What I need to do is convert my home VHS movies from tapes to DVD/VCDs.

I was looking at the Dazzle DVC 2, but I read many -ve things about that here. Can anyone suggest a good capture card or device to me.

TIA

[housepig]

how much do you want to spend on one?

look in the Capture Card section at left - look for cards in your price range, and then look at their ratings and user comments.

[andkiich]

Capture Cards I would recommend an ATI AIW Radeon.

If you have a lot of VHS and don't want to do anything fancy like menus, then a stand alone DVD recorder might be what you need.

If the tapes are old or have seen a lot of use a TBC could be beneficial to go along with the capture card.

[macleod]

it'll cost $250-$350 (ebay), but I cant recommend a standalone dvd recorder enough for what you need/want to do. I have been doing the cap thing for awhile and unless you LIKE to tinker (which there is nothing wrong with that), you will be much happier, faster, with a standalone. A recommendation would be the panasonic E30 (or any of them).

People can get some good results using various methods and capping, however, they will have to admit it took them A LONG time to do that. With the panny, play/record. you're done.

[housepig]

People can get some good results using various methods and capping, however, they will have to admit it took them A LONG time to do that. With the panny, play/record. you're done.

very true - but it depends on what you want for your final output.

I personally like being able to put in custom chapter points, menus, extras, stuff like that.

plus, the flexability of being able to put 2 hours and 10 minutes on a disc without dropping the quality setting to a 3 or 4 hour setting...

[macleod]

Actually, what I have been doing is using the panny as the capture source, then taking the dvdr and ripping it down to the hard drive and using TMPGENC dvd author to do all of that stuff. Been getting some fantastic results.

The panny gives you (at best) a pisspoor menu (atari 2600 vs PSII comparison) and auto chapter marking every 5 minutes.

If you do decide to go the panny route, you'll do yourself a favor and buy a dvd burner (preferably dual format for maximum compatibility) and player and do the FINAL deal on a computer using an app like tmpgenc dvd author.

[ashvar]

Thanks for your response guys,

But, what is a panny?

Would the DVD recorder let me burn VCDs also?

Thanks

[Roll Tide]

@housepig,
Panasonics have a flexible record mode (FR). If you need 2 h 10m on a disc, record it in flexible record mode set for 2h 10m or whatever the length is.

@ashvar,
Panny is a short name for the Panasonic DVD Recorders. I have the DMR-E80H with an 80GB hard drive. I agree this is the best method for converting massive amounts of old tapes. The menus are plain, but if you're going to spend time reauthoring on PC anyway (as some have suggested to you), it will significantly add to your processing time. I like to stick with the Panny's simple menus unless the tape is something very special.

Just my $.02. Hope this helps you.