maybe i did not ask the right question in my first post...

[friesr]

I am in a time crunch and don’t have enough time to properly research the best system to buy and can’t afford to get the wrong hardware/software.

Here is what I need:

My wife and I home school our children and are enrolling them in a satellite course that comes over ku band satellite. The satellite receiver has rf and video/audio connectors. I need to have the ability to schedule the pc to record from the satellite at specified times and the have the ability to shuffle the video feeds into the appropriate order for our school schedule with menu items to jump to needed video segment. I need the ability to do this quickly and not spend hours decoding/encoding to get it into the correct format to burn to a dvd. Video quality is not of high importance as hours per of video per cd.

Your help is greatly appreciated!
Rod

[gmatov]

Would you have to write to CD-DVD, or could you feed the captured lessons out to the TV, or even do the classwork on yhe PC?

I ask because you can capture the signal in MPEG4 format, with many hours of recording on a reasonably sized Hard Drive.

That would also save you many hours of encoding the captured video to DVD format.

Another, possibly better, because there would be no learning curve, would be a "standalone" DVD recorder, which would work exactly, or nearly so, like a VCR.

I have never played with one, but they may have tuner and all, same as a VCR.

For scheduled recording, unless they are all on the same channel, or you can program your satellite decoder to switch channels by time, you may be out of luck.

However, home schooled should mean the kids, if old enough, could do the switching.

Someone in another thread said that he would not buy the combination VHS-DVD Recorder, as it raises the price, more to break, VHS is becoming obsolete, and they are relatively large.

Hope someone else chimes in on the recorder aspect who knows more about them.

[friesr]

Would you have to write to CD-DVD, or could you feed the captured lessons out to the TV, or even do the classwork on yhe PC?

I have 4 students, 2 pc's and a TV... so yes and no

I ask because you can capture the signal in MPEG4 format, with many hours of recording on a reasonably sized Hard Drive.

That would also save you many hours of encoding the captured video to DVD format.

I have seen the PVR-250 at http://www.hauppauge.com/ that seems to do what i want but i really know nothing about it or the amout of time it takes to recored to dvd once you have stopped recording.

Another, possibly better, because there would be no learning curve, would be a "standalone" DVD recorder, which would work exactly, or nearly so, like a VCR.

Seen those but I would not have the ability to add the start points or menu and price is an issue there.


For scheduled recording, unless they are all on the same channel, or you can program your satellite decoder to switch channels by time, you may be out of luck.

Channel switching is not a problem... the reciever takes care of that it self.

[gmatov]

I was going to go more into the standalone, but think it really is not what you want.

Have you a DVD burner, now?

I think that most capture cards will do 1/2 DVD, 352X480, which is a DVD compliant resolution. This will take about 2 gigabytes per hour. I think ( I'm not an expert in this ) authoring this DVD would be the quickest way. ( Capturing in .avi might take overnight, or longer, depending on your computer. This would not be good for classwork.

And, I think most come with software to allow you to use them as PVRs, timed recordings, etc.

Have you been to the Capture Cards on the left under Other? Find the WinTVPro card and check the comments, ease of use, cap quality, etc. I know quality is not your highest priority, but the better you start with, the better your converted output will be.

You might have a chore ahead of you, one which someone more up on it would be better suited to help with.

[FulciLives]

I think the best solution here is to buy the PANASONIC DMR-E80 stand alone DVD recorder.

This model has a built-in 80GB HDD and you can record from any of the video inputs direct to the HDD. As you can imagine it can hold a lot of video. Once the recording is done you can edit it if need be. You can't do extensive editing easily but you can trim the start and end points and if there is anything in between that needs cut (such as commercials) then that is easy enough. You can then burn to DVD-R or DVD-RAM and use another DVD player to play it back while keeping the recorder free for recording.

Very fast and easier than capturing to a computer. It sounds like you need fast and easy (especially fast) so I really think this is the way to go.

Also, if you already have a computer with a DVD burner, you can copy the programs to DVD-RAM and copy that to your computer ... edit it (with more precision than the stand alone can do IF that is needed) and then create a custom DVD-R/DVD+R with your computer burner using fancy menu designs etc. If done correctly you will not have A/V sync issues and you will not have to re-encode the DVD-RAM file on the computer. The process (with the "right" software) is very easy to do and anything that saves software MPEG-2 encoding is GOOD thing

If you like that option but DON'T have a DVD Burner yet then consider getting the PANASONIC DVD BURNER II model which supports the DVD-RAM format. If you already have a DVD BURNER that doesn't support DVD-RAM then you can buy an inexpensive DVD-ROM/DVD-RAM reader for around $40 to $50 because you just need to read the DVD-RAM into the computer you really don't need the ability (on the computer) to write or burn to it.

The other option that would probably work fine is the WinTV PVR-250 but when using it to capture you are at the mercy of your computer. If your computer has a hicup you might loose a recording. Basically for unattended timer recordings you are better off using a stand alone or use the WinTV PVR-250 but as a back-up I would also record to VHS just in case the computer goes zap and you loose your capture. You don't want to loose a lesson because the computer crashed durring an unattended scheduled capture session.

Either way if you will be editing MPEG-2 on a computer then you NEED Womble Multimedia's MPEG2VCR program. It's a bit pricy at $125 (I think that is the price it might be $115) but it is the only program that can accurately and saftly edit MPEG-2 without the need to re-encode and it keeps A/V sync whereas othre MPEG-2 editors could throw it off.

Anyways ... good luck!

- John "FulciLives" Coleman

P.S.
Unless you need to do extensive editing or feel you need FANCY menu designs then all you REALLY need is the stand alone DVD recorder. Just please consider a model with a built-in HDD such as the aforementioned PANASONIC DMR-E80 as it will make your life SO much easier than the models that do NOT have the HDD.

Last time I looked you could get the DMR-E80 on-line for around $650 I think ... try a website such as PRICEGRABBER.COM or MYSIMON.COM

Last but not least remember this ...

You need:

1.) Something Fast
2.) Something Easy
3.) Something Reliable
4.) DVD format for quality and instant access to any spot on the program

In my line of thinking that can really only be one thing. A stand alone DVD recorder.

[gmatov]

Fulci,

Every point I wanted to make but, lack of experiene kept me from it
In one point, are you saying that a DVD-ROM, such as the LiteOn, will read a DVD-RAM? I wasn't sure/did not know.

The " hiccup " also occurred to me, but no one likes to hear that his machine is not perfect.

[FulciLives]

Fulci,

Every point I wanted to make but, lack of experiene kept me from it
In one point, are you saying that a DVD-ROM, such as the LiteOn, will read a DVD-RAM? I wasn't sure/did not know.

The " hiccup " also occurred to me, but no one likes to hear that his machine is not perfect.

TOSHIBA makes a $40 to $50 USD DVD-ROM reader that will also read DVD-RAM discs. I think the LiteOn unit you are talking about it more like $70 USD but not only does it read DVD-ROM and DVD-RAM but it is also a CD-R/RW writer as well.

The TOSHIBA unit is the SD-M1712 which, according to the TOSHIBA website has an MSRP of $49.00 USD

I'm not as familiar with the LiteOn drive but if it is the one I am thinking of then I've heard good things about it.

- John "FulciLives" Coleman

[friesr]

Called the manuf of the PVR-250 and said that if i added menus to the file it would add upto and hour because the software would have to rebuild the file.

Do you know if you add menus with the DMR-E80 if it has to rebuild the file?

Going to try to find the a users guid for the DMR-E80 online and see what it looks like...

Found manual but says nothing about rebuilding or re encoding file...

[Tearren]

friesr,

I agree w/ FulciLives, and think a stand alone is your best option, if you can afford it.

I have a DMR-HS2 (the predecessor of the DMR-E80) and it doesn't re-encode after adding menus. I would think they would be the same.

BUT - If you burn from the HDD (Hard drive) of the standalone to DVD-R, you will have to wait the whole time duration of the program for it to record to the DVD-R. This is just the nature of the HS2.

Good Luck,
Tearren

[friesr]

If the panasonic need to recored in 1:1 time from the HDD to the DVD-R after adding the menus that would take a lot of time.

If with Womble Multimedia's mpec2vcr soft you can edit without re encoding, then you would beable to edit and recorded quickly without the time required to re encode. So would this be quicker or am i missing a step?

[FulciLives]

First of all if you use the HS2 or DMR-E80 to record to the HDD first then record to DVD-RAM it will be FASTER than real time because it is a DATA copy without any re-encoding going on. This is only possible when going from the HDD to DVD-RAM ... going from the HDD to DVD-R will be real time as it re-encodes. The only other thing you need to watch for is your recording speed. They must match. If you record to the HDD in SP mode then you must record to DVD-RAM at the SP speed. If you record to SP mode on the HDD then try to copy to DVD-RAM in the XP mode it will re-encode (that is an example).

MPEG2VCR will allow you to import the VRO file (that is the format used by DVD-RAM) and edit it with frame accurate without re-encoding.

When done you will have a MPEG file with AC-3 audio and there are several authoring programs you can use that will NOT re-encode this file.

The WinTV PVR-250 will work the same way if you use MPEG2VCR. Again you will NOT have to re-encode it.

- John "FulciLives" Coleman

[FulciLives]

Most (if not all) of the new PANASONIC DVD players are capable of playing back DVD-RAM. This includes the entry level S-35 model which most retail stores inthe USA sell for around $89 to $99

This way if you need to play back DVD-RAM on a stand alone DVD player you don't have to break the bank and reserve the stand alone DVD recorder for recording.

- John "FulciLives" Coleman

P.S.
If you copy the DVD-RAM to the computer and edit (or not) then author it you can then burn it to a normal DVD-R or DVD+R or even DVD-RW or DVD+RW if you stand alone supports the RW formats.