Pioneer DVR 510H Chapter Marks?

[dstuck]

Hi folks --

Forgive me if this has been discussed before... but how can I get the chapter marks I've made on my program material to actually make it to the disc when I burn it? There's got to be a trick to this...

Thanks in advance,
Dave

Pioneer DVR 510H

[doxtorRay]

Do a high-speed dub using HOME MENU>COPY. You can even change around the chapters by selecting CHAP EDIT before moving on to Next and choosing HIGH-SPEED.

Anything else will substitute chapters at regular intervals on the final disc.

[dstuck]

Thanks for the response doxtorRay --

So (as I understand it) since you can only use the high speed burning mode with program lengths 1 hour and less, you can't designate chapter marks with anything longer than that?

Take care,

Dave

[Frobozz]

dstuck,
You can use high-speed with programs up to 6 hours in length if that is the setting you used to record the program to your HDD. What you want to do is to record the program to the HDD at a setting that will fit the content to a DVD. So if you want a 2-hour program on the DVD, record it to the HDD at the 2-hour setting. Then insert your chapter marks and use high-speed copying.

[dstuck]

Frobozz --

Thanks for the illuminating tip! Seems like a fair amount of calculation has to go on... for instance, if I'm recording 3 segments of different lengths from VHS, I have to "pre-calculate" before I record to HDD (rather than just initially record everything at FINE resolution and figure the "fit" later) very interesting...

BTW the suggestion I got back after querying Pioneer about it was "insert the chapter marks after you record to the DVD".

I assume he meant recording to an RW disc, right? And even if that were true, that would mean I would have to insert chapter marks each time I dubbed off the same DVD content? No thanks. I guess I could use the Back-up feature (haven't tried yet) or just rip it on my computer DVD drive...

Anyway, thanks much!

Dave

[doxtorRay]

To be able to do a high-speed copy from Hard Drive to DVD, you might want to make sure that "Frame Accurate" is set to OFF (its in the Home Menu> Initial Setup> Recording menu). It is OFF by default, so unless you changed it, you are probably OK.

The terminology in all of this can get very confusing. A high-speed copy from hard drive to DVD simply means a direct copy of the files from hard drive to DVD. Thus, if a program on the hard drive will fit onto a DVD, you can do a high-speed copy. That is about one hour of FINE recording, two hours of SP, four hours of LP and six hours of EP. Since the file is being copied, the time it takes to make the copy is determined by the size of the file (in bytes), not the length of playing time of the program.

The other way to copy to the DVD is in "real time," meaning that you basically play the file on the hard drive and re-record it onto the DVD. Making such a copy will take the same amount of time as the length of the program (plus a minute or two of extra disc-writing time). There may be times when you want to do this, such as when you are trying to cram several hours of programs onto a DVD, but you recorded them on the hard drive in FINE.

Generally, though, doing a high-speed copy is both faster and will result in higher-quality DVDs. For that reason, it is best to record on the hard drive at the "mode" that will fit the program onto a DVD when the time comes.

[Frobozz]

BTW the suggestion I got back after querying Pioneer about it was "insert the chapter marks after you record to the DVD".

I assume he meant recording to an RW disc, right? And even if that were true, that would mean I would have to insert chapter marks each time I dubbed off the same DVD content? No thanks. I guess I could use the Back-up feature (haven't tried yet) or just rip it on my computer DVD drive...

Anyway, thanks much!

Dave

You're correct about Pioneer's advice. You only can insert chapter marks on a VR-mode DVD-RW or on the HDD.

I never record at the Fine mode. For one thing, that has space-gobbling PCM audio when I'd rather have the compressed AC-3. I think you'll find the picture quality to be very good at SP which is what you're probably ending up with on your DVD anyway. The process you're using encodes the video twice: once in Fine and again to whatever fits the DVD. If you record in SP (or one of the manual settings in that range) there is only one encoding and you get the benefit of locating your chapter markers and using High-Speed copying.