Capture video and burn to DVD on-the-fly?

[samsunnyuk]

Is there any way to capture video from camcorder/vhs/tv etc and have it burn to a DVD at the same time (on the fly)?

Any help appreciated Thanks

[FulciLives]

It can be done but more often than not it will cause problems and it is definately not the best way of creating a DVD ... at least when using a computer.

If you really want to do this then your best bet would be to buy a stand alone or set top DVD recorder. Here in the USA the entry level Toshiba model is most excellent and is fairly cheap for what it is ... I would imagine the same model (more or less) would be available in your country.

If you want to do it on a computer then it really is best to do a capture to a file ... then afterwards use software to create the DVD ... rather than trying to do it on-the-fly.

- John "FulciLives" Coleman

[Bjs]

No , there are too many variable's involved and if one piece of equipment within the chain make's a goof up , then the whole thing gose out the window and you have too start from scratch again .

Cheaper method is to buy a topset dvd burner , though the quality so far from most report's is the quality in picture is just not up to a good enough standard .

Alternatively , consider usb2 capture device's such as the avertv usb2 , very high quality capture on pc , no macro issue , need's cpu above 2 gigahertz to get maximum from device .

Not plug and play safe (use powered usb hub)
Device draw's 1 amp of current ... may damage usb chipset (warning , overload , has been reset) .
Should this happen , replace motherboard , as usb2 chipset will no longer perform at optimal level's .

Price : $130.00au (add belkin hub + $35.00au)

Safe :

Avermedia dvd ezymaker gold - pci , safe , close to usb2 brother as possible in capture quality .

Price : $65.00au .. damn hard to get in au ... rare as hen's teeth .

[gll99]

NeoDVD does it with simple timed chapters and basic menus. I had tried some other programs but they wrote to hdd temp files. I use this program to put tv shows or movies temporarily on +RW to watch at my convenience. The disc is ready to use in my standalone about 30 seconds after capture has ended. I think they have a fully functional 15 day trial.

Mediostream has another tool I tried called neotv. It has a fit to disc feature which is nice because you can choose the length of the video and it will make it fit on the disc without wasting space/bitrate but there are no real menu options with this program. NeoDVD has more options but does not have fit to disc only best, better, good. Whch consists of specific time periods and to me waste valuable space on the disc. Say I have a movie of 80 minutes. I have to choose the "better" setting because "best" might only fit one hour of video. The resulting files might only use 3 gig. I could have used the extra space to up the bitrate but NEODVD does not allow that. Neotv does it automatically but like I said does not have the same menu and chapter options. I sent my comments to Mediostream after buying v6 but I did not buy v7 after the trial because of the missing fit to disc feature in NEODVD. I think they made an error in not adding it when they made v7 of the programs.

Ulead and Intervideo. I believe. also have programs that write to DVD disc but I don't know if they capture to hdd and then transfer to dvd disc in a second step.

Settings note:
Some things are obvious like clicking the camera icon to set the capture mode but to set the chapters and time before capture starts you have to click the edit video icon/panel which opens another window. The "direct to discs" feature also has to be set in the "options" in the top right menu.

[Richard_G]

Ulead DVD MovieFactory can capture and record on the fly and gives you a preview while it's doing it so you can watch that. The preview window is limited to DVD compliant resolution (720 x 576 for PAL) so you won't get it full screen but you could get close if you set your monitor resolution to 800 x 600. You'll also need a fairly powerful machine.

There's a free 30 day download available from www.ulead.co.uk

[zoobie]

Interesting.
Any comments on the quality of these aps?

I have Moviefactory but I have no idea where it came from. It looked like a toy so I didn't mess with it. Anyway, I've almost filled my HD's with raw footage yet need to run off 50 vhs tapes this month. I will try both the moviefactory and neotv soon. Tax time and all that...

[whitejremiah]

honestly, your much better off just capturing it then converting from the captured files.......just too much risk.....

[samsunnyuk]

OK guys thanks for the advise. I'll look into the software mentioned.. Although, I'm having audio sync problems with my capture device (ATI ViVo thing..) so I'll have to sort that out first.

Can anyone recommend a good video capture device (internal or external) that I could pick up cheap on eBay? Thanks

[SingSing]

Is there any way to capture video from camcorder/vhs/tv etc and have it burn to a DVD at the same time (on the fly)?

Yes, that is called a DVD recorder. It comes with remote control, will cost about less than the card/software/effort with a PC. You can also watch the video at the same time as it been captured/burned. Doh.

[jman98]

Samsunnyuk - the Hauppauge PVR-250 and PVR-350 are both excellent PCI based video capture cards. I don't know how cheap they would be on Ebay, but you get what you pay for. If you buy a capture card for 30 pounds, don't expect professional results.

[SingSing]

You can think of DVD recorder as a very very low cost PC with capture card and DVD burner, with all the hardware and software debugged, without a keyboard.

You can think of PC capture card vs DVD recorder, as dial-up vs highspeed internet. Once you get there, you are not going back.

[jimmalenko]

NeoDVD can (and will) do this fine.

But a DVD recorder is probably gonna be easier.

[samsunnyuk]

Is there any way to capture video from camcorder/vhs/tv etc and have it burn to a DVD at the same time (on the fly)?

Yes, that is called a DVD recorder. It comes with remote control, will cost about less than the card/software/effort with a PC. You can also watch the video at the same time as it been captured/burned. Doh.

yeah i meant on pc. doh yourself. Anyway i see your point, thanks. And thanks everyone else for the advice. I just found an old Hauppauge card lying around in a drawer (250 chipset or something) and I'm trying to get that setup now!

[samsunnyuk]

Ahh I just captured using the hauppauge card and still same sync problem Any ideas?

[SingSing]

Most common reason is your PC's audio card/chip. You can use TMPGenc to synch the audio.

[samsunnyuk]

it goes out of sync gradually though...

[SingSing]

The clock(heart beat) on the audio card is off. Only a good audio card can solve your problem, or a USB audio/video capture module, or that other method.

[samsunnyuk]

Thanks I think i'll look into a usb video/audio adapter..

[zoobie]

Those aps don't see my transfer box anyway.
Looks like it has to be an internal card.
One ap is a 73mb dl...

[FulciLives]

If you want a cheap capture card that does hardware MPEG-1/MPEG-2 capture with locked audio (for perfect A/V sync) then I would look at the ADS Instant TV Deluxe PCI (model PTV-305). There are a couple of websites selling this for about $50.00 U.S. Dollars.

From those that have used it the results seem to be very good.

Here is a thread with pics ---> CLICK HERE

I don't know how well this capture card works with the applications mentioned in this thread though when it comes to direct-to-disc capability but I really wouldn't trust that method myself.

- John "FulciLives" Coleman