NOOBIE who needs some advice on LaserDisc capturing

[ArtOfLosingMFZB]

Hi, i am a semi-noobie who is gettin ready to do some serious video capturing/editing and coverting to DVD. I have taken video production class and know a little bit about this whole thing.
Now I am planning on ripping LaserDisc movies to my computer, editing them, giving them chapters, scene slection, etc. But I need to know if I can capture these with a DV cam using the analouge input on the cam. I know this should work with VHS/8mm etc. but will it work right with Laserdisc? Laserdisc is still analouge so I see no reason why it shouldn't. But in capturing programs I have used, i noticed you can control fast forward/rewind etc through the computer without touching the camera. But that doesn't apply to the analouge capturing does it? Annnd I have been led to believe that I would need my DV cam to have analouge passthrough to capture freely so i don't have to record it to tape first. I know its not a requirement but it would save me lots of time. How do I find out if the DV cam has analouge passthrough before I buy it?
Please help me with these, it would help me a lot. Thanks in advance, this seems like a pretty good informative forum.

[sapiendut]

If there is a VIDEO IN on your DV cam, then in most cases you will have DV pass-through. Most manufacturer's website will tell you whether a unit has that capability or otherwise.

In the very worst case scenario, (as you've mentioned) you can record your LD to your miniDV (each side of an LD never passed 1 hour anyway), then capture the DV via iLink to your PC by playing back the tape.

Yes, LD is analogue and there is no copy protection on any LD... at least not on the 300+ titles I used to own.

[lordsmurf]

You cannot "rip" them.
You can "capture" them, however.

I don't understand some of that other stuff you ask.
FF/REW?? DV stuff.

Passthrough? Read reviews. Post models in a question in the DV forum. I know the Canon ZR cameras do passthrough.

You can capture with any number of cards. I hate DV->analog conversion, lots of quality flaws with NTSC 4:1:1 DV for analog conversion. Better off with other methods.

[ArtOfLosingMFZB]

alright, the DV cam i'm getting has an S-VIDEO IN and a regular VIDEO IN so I should be ok.

Well I read somewhere on this site that someone was having problems with capture cards and liked doing it through the DV cam better. But i really can't afford capture cards along with my DV cam so I just am gonna capture with the cam.

[gshelley61]

Three words... standalone DVD recorder. For high quality composite analog video sources like laserdisc, the DVD recorder is hard to beat. Most record the audio in DVD compliant two channel AC3 (Dolby Digital), too.

Record your laserdiscs to -RW's in DVD-Video format. Frame accurately edit the LD sides together with Womble MPEG-VCR or MPEG Video Wizard. Then choose chapter points and build a menu with an authoring program like TMPGEnc DVD Author. Burn the project to -R or +R DVD. Simple, fast, and excellent results.

[sapiendut]

Especially when Panasonic is about to release a DVD standalone for only US$249 MSRP in April 2005. It will street at US$229 max.

So far, comparing between Sony, LiteOn, BenQ, Sanyo, and Pioneer; Panasonic still wins in picture quality. No longer by a lot, but still a winner for the time being.

Maybe in two years that may not be the case.

[Forum Troll]

I have my Pioneer Laserdisc player connected to my Pioneer 220S for conversion. I converted my "Howard the Duck" laserdisc the other day. Super results. I use TMPGENC DVD Author for the rest.

[budz]

I have my Pioneer Laserdisc player connected to my Pioneer 220S for conversion. I converted my "Howard the Duck" laserdisc the other day. Super results. I use TMPGENC DVD Author for the rest.

dammit you have "HOWARD THE DUCK".....I want that movie!

[edDV]

alright, the DV cam i'm getting has an S-VIDEO IN and a regular VIDEO IN so I should be ok.

....

Re: "analouge passthrough"

Never assume it's there. If it's not in the spec/feature list, it is not there.
The lowest end camcorders skip this feature.

[edDV]

...
You can capture with any number of cards. I hate DV->analog conversion, lots of quality flaws with NTSC 4:1:1 DV for analog conversion. Better off with other methods.

That is interesting. I bet the issue is more related to the NTSC decoder quality than the 4:1:1 sampling.

Laserdisc is a high quality NTSC or PAL composite signal. A good quality NTSC decoder should be used ideally. On a 1 to 10 rating scale (10 best) most capture cards are a 1 to 3 at best at NTSC decoding. A DV camcorder might be a 4 or 5. Standalone DVD recorder decode quality probably varies by cost. HDTV sets have nice 3D decoders but lack component out.
Post House quality decoders cost thousands.

As for me, I'll keep my laserdisc player and watch through that nice HDTV 3D NTSC comb filter to the big screen. I'm sure it looks better than a DVD conversion would. My laserdisc player even has AC-3 surround sound.

[dtmthpng]

ArtOf ,

. " ... alright, the DV cam i'm getting has an S-VIDEO IN and a regular VIDEO IN so I should be ok... "
*** As edDV suggestion, should double check the DV cam's spec./features.

" .. Well I read somewhere on this site that someone was having problems with capture cards and liked doing it through the DV cam better. But i really can't afford capture cards along with my DV cam so I just am gonna capture with the cam... "
*** With the DV cam that has the " pass-through " capability, most likely the DV cam would be connected to the computer's firewire post. Through this path, you should not concern with the audio video out-of-sync, as the capturing card does. If you have owned the DV cam, that's all you need for analog video-to-DV capturing. Good luck.

[gshelley61]

...
You can capture with any number of cards. I hate DV->analog conversion, lots of quality flaws with NTSC 4:1:1 DV for analog conversion. Better off with other methods.

That is interesting. I bet the issue is more related to the NTSC decoder quality than the 4:1:1 sampling.

Laserdisc is a high quality NTSC or PAL composite signal. A good quality NTSC decoder should be used ideally. On a 1 to 10 rating scale (10 best) most capture cards are a 1 to 3 at best at NTSC decoding. A DV camcorder might be a 4 or 5. Standalone DVD recorder decode quality probably varies by cost. HDTV sets have nice 3D decoders but lack component out.
Post House quality decoders cost thousands.

As for me, I'll keep my laserdisc player and watch through that nice HDTV 3D NTSC comb filter to the big screen. I'm sure it looks better than a DVD conversion would. My laserdisc player even has AC-3 surround sound.

The modern digital Y/C comb filter in my JVC DVD recorder is an excellent 3D motion adaptive type and easily outperforms the one in my 10 year old LD player. Most of the name brand units (Sony, Panasonic, JVC, etc.) have very good Y/C filtering, as well as top quality video signal amplification and processing. I believe this is one of the reasons the MPEG2 image quality can be pretty impressive with some of these machines... the encoding chip is fed a relatively high quality video signal. The computer capture cards I've tried don't even come close in this regard. FWIW

[edDV]

I'll be buying one of those DVDR recorders in the second generation, one that works with dual layer DVDs or I'll just wait for Blu-Ray to come to a reasonable price.

[sapiendut]

I'll be buying one of those DVDR recorders in the second generation, one that works with dual layer DVDs or I'll just wait for Blu-Ray to come to a reasonable price.

Second generation? It's already on the 4th generation already.

Waiting for BluRay? That's still going to be 2 years away from being somewhat affordable.