TV Card -> DVD

[kcfrogg]

Hi. I didn't have much luck with a previous question, so, I'll rephrase it.

I'd like to be able to capture (via my Asus TV card) directly to MPG2 format. I'd then like to be able to feed that directly to an authoring tool for burning to DVD.

I don't want to have to re-encode the video (audio either, but it would be an option, since it's much faster) before feeding it to the authoring tool. I don't want the authoring tool to re-encode it either.

So, basically, I'm looking for a way to capture an hour long tv show, and put it to DVD R/W to watch once. I don't want the process of doing this to take longer than watching the program.....

Can anyone point me to a guide, or tell me how (tools and/or process) they use? I've tried PowerVCR II and DVD-LAB (also TMPGenc DVD Author), but I couldn't get the sound in-sync after authoring.

[lordsmurf]

Look at the new MainConcept 1.4 for capture, TMPGEnc DVD Author to author, and Nero to burn. I'd say show length plus + 20 minutes if you use 4x media on a 4x drive. This assumes you can get MC to work perfectly for you. I'm still testing, but other have great results, and the encode quality does look nice.

[kcfrogg]

Can MainConcept be set up to have regularly scheduled recordings? That is, I always want to record Thurday nights at 9...

[jdizzy40]

If you don't mind spending a little money to do it right with no hassles, then go to SnapStream.com. Buy their package deal that comes with the WIN PVR 250. This card has an MPEG-2 encoder chip on board. CPU utilization is under 10%. The software is the best. A sweet interface and a ton of options. They have a free trial version. Each day I record a host of shows, then convert to DVD using TMPGEnc, IFOEdit and DVD Shrink. The process takes less than 40 minutes and I have yet to have an audio/video snyc issue. No re-encoding involved.

[fourthquark]

Look up PowerVCR at www.gocyberlink.com or WinDVR at www.intervideo.com . If your computer is fast enough, they will do what you want. They are very easy to use and have timer recording functions. Quality will likely not be as good as a hardware mpeg2 encoder but hey, its only TV.

I like PowerVCR better, but Ulead MovieFactory 2 keeps wanting to re-encode the supposedly-DVD-compliant mpeg2 that it produces. Haven't fiddled with it too much so there may be a way to prevent the re-encode. I know the audio produced by PowerVCR is 44.1KHz which is not DVD compliant, but Ulead MF2 also reencodes the video, which should already be DVD compliant according to the PowerVCR output profile.

I've just started playing with WinDVD and I haven't yet had a chance to check if its output will go through Ulead MF2 without re-encoding. But I do know that WinDVR can capture audio at 48KHz, which should make the audio DVD-compliant.

My experience so far is that WinDVR seems to require more computer horsepower to so a similar capture compared to PowerVCR. Othe things being equal, I get many more dropped frames capturing with WinDVR. Also, the video quality (mostly related to colour balance and tuning accuracy) seems to be better with PowerVCR, but this may be a matter of playing around with the winDVR settings a bit more.

[courtrrb]

I've been doing just that. I have taking 75 if my VHS tapes and transfered them to DVD. Get Windvr3 this program encodes directly to DVD format. Then you use U-Lead Movie factory to take the file and burn it directly to DVD. The other nice thing is you don't need a larger hd. Iv'e been using a 20 G hd

[lordsmurf]

PowerVCRII does not make DVD compliant files and WinDVR is deinterlaced.