Capture TV shows / cut commercials / and burn to DVD.....???

[dkcamer]

I’m using a Canopus ADVC-300 with Pinnacle studio 9 as my capture/edit application. Out of all the apps I have tested Studio was the one I liked working with best, but if anyone has a better suggestion PLEASE let me know. Basically my question is about capturing TV shows /cutting out commercials and later burning to DVD. To get the best video quality should I capture in raw DV or MPEG format, and what format is better to edit. Any suggestions on a better app to use that would give the high video quality I’m looking for, but a little faster processing time.
Thanks!

[MJPollard]

I always capture in AVI format (using the HuffYUV codec), use Sony Vegas to edit out the commercials (and use whatever fades or effects I deem necessary), render the modified file to another AVI, then use TMPGEnc Plus to create a ready-to-author MPEG2 file. Others will argue that capturing straight to MPEG2 and then editing is the way to go, but this is the method I prefer (I feel I have more control over the process this way).

If you're looking for an alternative to Pinnacle Studio (which I always found so buggy as to be practically unusable), look into Sony's Vegas Movie Studio+DVD, a "light" version of their Vegas and DVD Architect products. If your needs aren't highly demanding, this $99 product might just fit your needs (with no stability problems).

[jimmalenko]

I'll argue that capturing to AVI is the best way to go. The ADVC-300 outputs DV-AVI, so you could use WinDV, DVIO (both free AFAIK) or scenalyzerlive to "capture". Then use virtualdubmod & AVISynth to edit (both free, guide here) and frameserve straight to your favorite MPEG encoder.

[vhelp]

I would say, that if you planning on doing this long-term or from now one (same
thing, really) then unless you are very fluient in the things of AVI, another
alternative is probably headed in your future. I mean. I would probably go with
a hardware MPEG device. Lately, there has been a number of discussions on DVD
Recorders. Its still a new alternative, but peoples are starting to wonder - me
too. I have a few hardware MPEG devices, but not a DVD Recorder one. I like
the sound of it, and for "regular" use of TV -to- DVD projects, I could like it
(in the future) perhaps. Anyways, the AVI route is a big step. And there are a
lot of bumps along the way. The DVD Recorder really sounds like a great idea.
There is also the hardware MPEG alternative too.

* Hauppauges PVR-250/350/USB2, and
* ADS DVD Xpress

..are a few good examples of such hardware devices.

But, there is a small price to pay. And that is the learning curve to edit
these MPEG's. There aren't many apps to choose from, and there are some minor
hitchs, but w/ practice, could be over come and a good routine to process (from
start to finish) to be obtained.

I saw Wal-Mart w/ DVD Recorder for $149 and it even accepts DV sources too. Heck,
I could hook up my ADVC-100 to this guy (case there is MV sources around) and take
advantage of its uses. They did have the same model (M number higher) that added
a 80gig harddrive to it for $248, but I thought that was too much.
.
Yeah, I'm seriously thinking about getting one. I want to see just how easy and
flexible it could be, and if it would be worth adding into my "alternative" ways
vs. the better ways (for when I'm lazy and stuff)

Anyways, the above is just my OP.

Good luck,
-vhelp 3023

[SatStorm]

You have a canopus...
There are 2 ways: jimmalenko's is the first with the best results. But it needs time.

The other alternative is realtime mpeg 2 using mainconcept 1.4.2. Then, you load those mpegs to TMPGenc author. You can cut the commercials from there. This is a fastest way.

[mats.hogberg]

I use Hauppage PVR250, so only mpeg captures. I cut the commercials and other unwanted stuff out with Womble mpeg VCR - works like a charm. Never had any sync issues or anything.

/Mats

[jrisch]

I'm pretty much a newbie at this but I use a Hauppauge PVR-150 (it seems to replace the 250 and is cheaper), and mainly capture broadcast TV to MPEG. I then use NeroVision Express 3 as a quick and easy way of getting the programme onto DVD with simplistic menus. The benefit over Studio 9, which I also use but much less frequently, is that you are not automatically taken through scene detection, which takes a huge amount of time.

So you start off with one big clip and manually find the ads with the cut tool. You can usually make a good guess at where they are. Like in an hour programmme, go for halfway through and use the time incrementer in seconds to fast forward or back to the right start and end spots. Then split and cut each of the clips again. And more precise adjustment is via the time counter which, in my case, goes down to 4/100ths of a second (PAL at 25 fps).

Then add chapters if you want and let the auto menu maker do it's job. I've often used NVE's snapshot capability while editing to grab a background picture for the menu. Either burn to DVD or if too big I write to disk then use DVDshrink to compress to DVD5. Total editing time is usually around 10 minutes.

I find two supposedly hour-length programmes, each with three lots of ads usually fit on a 4.3 GB DVD without compression Using a newer burner with 8X disks helps keep total production time down.

NVE is not totally reliable, and pretty inflexible, but for fast editing and archiving of TV progs I'd say it's difficult to beat. And if you've Nero it's free!

regards, jrisch.

[chongo]

If all your "editing" entails is cutting out commercials, then I would definately just capture to mpeg. I've been capturing TV straight to MPEG-2 for a year now, and then I pop it into TMPGenc: DVD Author to cut out commercials, make the menu, and burn the disk. It's really quick, the quality is good, and the software was cheap.