DVD Recorder

[gramof8]

I am very new to video work. I read a post on this forum about using a DVD recorder to put VHS to a DVD. I see there is a system called Dazzle DVD Recorder. Would any one inhere recommend this as a good beginning for transfering to DVD? Thanks for any information and suggestions about this topic. I want something simple to use.

Thanks gramof8

[redwudz]

Using a DVD recorder would be the easiest. If you use any sort of capture device, like the Dazzle device you mention, you may have to re-encode to get the correct MPEG-2 video and audio formats for a DVD, and you will certainly have to author those files to create the DVD structure. Capturing may give you a advantage if you need to do extensive editing.

The downside of a video recorder is though the format is correct, you may have to put the disc into a computer to edit it, then re-author it to a new edited DVD disc. But you can use rewritable DVD discs with the recorder and a editor that will let you edit the DVD VOBs directly and that would save some time. Then you just burn the edited file to disc and reuse the RW disc for the next conversion.

And it should be mentioned that since VHS is a analog format, there may be errors if the VHS deck doesn't play back the tape the same as the deck that originally recorded it. A TBC (Time Base Corrector) can be used to fix most of these errors. That's used between the VHS deck and the recording device with either method.

And welcome to our forums.

[gramof8]

OMYGosh!! I am a grandma and most of what you replied is so over my head. I thought I would just plug the Dazzle in and it would do all the work needed. Boy was I wrong LOL

redwudz, I appreciate your kind response. I do not have a clue what re-encode means and also authoring files. Do you have any suggestions on where I should start to learn these things. The easier the better for me . I would appreciate any suggestions and direction you would be willing to give me. Much appreciated. gramof8

[jman98]

A couple of short notes for gramof8 -

1) If your VHS tapes are commercial tapes and not tapes you made yourself with a VCR, the odds are pretty high that Macrovision on the tapes will prevent you from copying them. To elminate Macrovision you'll need a TBC, which means more stuff to buy.
2) DVD recorders are very difficult to buy in stores in the USA. Very few are left in the stores. Amazon.com has a good selection if you decide to buy one. If you just want to quickly record to DVD and get on with your life, using a DVD recorder is your best option. Recording to a PC and then making a DVD from that is a lot more time consuming.

[redwudz]

Encoding means changing the format of the video and audio and sometimes compressing it at the same time. DVDs use MPEG-2 video and PCM, AC3 audio. If you decide to capture your video, it may already be in the correct format. If not, you would have to change it to DVD compliant format by re-encoding.

Authoring is creating the DVD format. For more info see 'WHAT IS' DVD to the upper left on this page. Authoring programs like GUI for dvdauthor are fairly easy to use. Most times though, you can use a simpler program like ConvertXToDVD that will do the re-encoding and authoring. Freeware for this is FAVC, DVD Flick and others.

I'm not really familiar with the Dazzle box, but it may include software for processing the files to DVD. But a DVD recorder would still be faster and easier.

If you look to the lower left on this page, we have a F.A.Q that may be helpful for learning about DVD creation: https://www.videohelp.com/faq

[gramof8]

Thank you for your explainations redwudz. jman98 no I would not be working with commercial tapes they would be family events grandchildrens birthdays and things like that. I think I am giving up before i even start!! Thanks All gramof8

[handyguy]

I think you could just use a dual deck dvd recorder machine like this one at Amazon.com
Magnavox ZV457MG9 Dual Deck DVD/VCR Combo with Built-in Tuner, Black

Visit amazon.com & search for that. $190

[jman98]

I didn't suggest a DVD/VCR combo unit because we've had reports that they sometimes refuse to copy anything from any VHS tape, even non-commercial ones. It could be that gramof8 would get one and have no problems, but if she gets one of those fussy ones that won't record from VHS tape then she's wasted her money. The chance of it working correctly is higher with separate machines than using one combo unit.

[orsetto]

gramof8, if you are not particularly interested in "tech" toys and really just need to make DVDs of a few tapes, NONE of the available "home brew" tape-to-DVD conversion options are going to work for you. The simplest possible method is using a VCR connected to a DVD recorder, or a combo DVD/VHS recorder. But "simple" is a relative term: recorders are "simple" compared to a Dazzle box on a PC, but compared to something like your old VHS deck a DVD recorder is like something dropped from Mars. There is a reason DVD recorders were a spectacular failure in the US/Canada: they're more complicated to use than a VCR and most consumers just don't have the patience (it seems to be a regional thing: Europeans and Asians love complex gear, the more complex the better, but North Americans turn away).

As others noted, the combo DVD/VHS units seem like a good idea until you actually try to use one, then you wonder why you bothered. They never work as expected, and they have a bad tendency to interpret your family camcorder tapes as "copy protected Hollywood content". Connecting your old VCR to a separate DVD recorder usually works much better, but you still face the peculiarities of DVD recording (you can't fix a mistake if you don't push the buttons fast enough, editing out the bad parts is difficult-to-impossible, and then there's the notorious "finalizing" step necessary to make your DVD playable on normal DVD players). The "finalizing" requirement alone causes more consumers to return DVD recorders to the store than any other reason. These machines are logical and predictable to work with once you wrap your head around them, but they take some studying and the effort isn't worth it just to make a handful of family DVDs.

By far the simplest, least stressful solution would be to give the tapes to a service or Wal*Mart and have them make the DVDs for you. They won't be customized with your specific wishes in mind, but having a DVD that just plays with no effort on your part can be worth the compromises. Quality should be the same as you could achieve at home. If you truly need to have the DVDs be "customized" with things like dedicated markers for favorite scenes, guilt-trip or bribe one of your grandchildren to do it for you on their computer while you supervise. Don't attempt to do it yourself unless you really intend to make an ongoing hobby of it, otherwise the learning curve isn't worth your time.

[Seeker47]

By far the simplest, least stressful solution would be to give the tapes to a service or Wal*Mart and have them make the DVDs for you. They won't be customized with your specific wishes in mind, but having a DVD that just plays with no effort on your part can be worth the compromises. Quality should be the same as you could achieve at home. If you truly need to have the DVDs be "customized" with things like dedicated markers for favorite scenes, guilt-trip or bribe one of your grandchildren to do it for you on their computer while you supervise. Don't attempt to do it yourself unless you really intend to make an ongoing hobby of it, otherwise the learning curve isn't worth your time.

The WM (or Costco, or CVS, or Rite-Aid, etc.) option may not pan out too well either. In another thread (where I mentioned my first experience using a Zorilla filter), I related how the commercial service these chains use balked at copying some 20-year-old instructional tapes -- from a long defunct company -- which got flagged as being copy-guarded. So, I ended up doing this job myself, with my own equipment. If one runs into a situation like this, there may be no practical substitute for a relative equipped to do this, who can be prevailed upon to render a favor.

Incidentally, I'm sure your advice in that prior thread about tracking issues with different VHS decks will prove quite helpful, the next time I have to do such transfers. One near-term stumbling block is that I was going to have at least a couple of those decks serviced, but the shop I'd used a few times for this over the last 20 years suddenly is no more. This will surely be an increasing problem, since such gear is now receding into history, along with those who were competent and reliable for repairing it. The last thing I want to do is to have some decent to pretty good equipment "disappear" along with the repair shop, as has happened to many others.

[lordsmurf]

Companies like Walmart (Walgreens, Ritz, Wolf, etc) send your tapes out to bulk operations -- sometimes in India or elsewhere overseas -- where they don't give any decent attention to your tape. If the tape is lost, eaten, not tracked properly, etc -- oh well. You truly get "Walmart quality" on something like that. Cheap workflows that are built with minimal budgets. It's all about profit, and not about providing solid quality service.

Find a video service that specializes in not only converting your tapes to DVD, but look for the ones that can actually improve the content to look better than it did on the tape. Find somebody that cares about your stuff, and wants to help you. If they give you some BS about how "tapes are dying, send them here right away" -- avoid. Or worse, that "the DVD can never look better than the tape" -- clearly no idea what they're doing.

Intelligent services also won't give issues with commercial-appearing content, unless it says "Snow White" on it, and you're clearly not the re-incarnated Walt Disney. I've even seen some dipstick services refuse wedding videos -- your own wedding! -- because the Joe Bob Wedding Video Company put their sticker on your tape. "Sorry, you'll have to ask Joe Bob for permission!" --- Absolutely f'ing ridiculous what some of these companies say. In many cases, I use the word "company" loosely.