basic questions about dvd recorders

[slim]

Hi, i'm completely new to burning dvd's. I am thinking about investing in dvd recorder. A few general questions. I primarily interested in just recording video from a digital camcorder to dvd. Can most dvd recorder do this and be able to make menus and simple tasks (also what advantages is there to recorders with a hard drive). Also, can dvd recorders somehow covert avi's from digital camera directly to dvd's. Lastly, can dvd recorders record movies that we rent from video stores.
Thanks.

[yoda313]

Hello,

https://www.videohelp.com/guides

That's a good place to start.

There are two kinds of dvd recorders.

Standalones that hook up to your tv like a vcr or the dvd burners that go into your computer.

The standalone one's offer ease of use for dubbing tapes and offer simple menu creation.

Dvd burners for computers give wide flexibility as they do data of any type. You can burn straight avi or you can convert to dvd format for playing in normal dvd players.

You can also use programs like dvd shrink to rip and compress commercial dvds to fit single layer discs. Or if you buy a dual layer burner you can use dvd decrypter to get a 1:1 backup - though the dl discs are still very expensive.

Kevin

[gshelley61]

It is not legal to record or copy rented DVD's or tapes. In the USA, it is considered OK to make one "fair use" backup of something you own.

DVD recorders are great machines that can do everything you have asked about. Keep in mind that they convert video (whether it is analog or digital) to DVD compliant MPEG2, which is a "final" format. You can perform simple editing (cutting and joining) with MPEG2, and author finished DVD's from MPEG2 without any re-encoding (quality loss).

However, if you want to do any full blown editing with different types of advanced transition, add music or narration, add graphics, etc. then you need to start with AVI video files in that case.

[yoda313]

Hello,

Oh yeah thanks gshelley missed that....



BACKUPS OF OWNED MOVIES ONLY!!!!!!!

Kevin

[ZippyP.]

I primarily interested in just recording video from a digital camcorder to dvd. Can most dvd recorder do this and be able to make menus and simple tasks (also what advantages is there to recorders with a hard drive).

All dvd recorders can convert the output of a camcorder to DVD, the best quality is through a firewire port (Sony calls it an i-link) if the recorder has one. As for menus, recorder menus are pretty basic. Many people import the converted DVD footage to their computer for editting and more attractive menu creation. A hard drive allows editting before burning to DVD.

Also, can dvd recorders somehow covert avi's from digital camera directly to dvd's.

If you're talking about the short clips you make with a digital "still" camera (as opposed to a camcorder) then the answer would be maybe. You could output the video from your computer (if it has video out) and capture that with a recorder.

Lastly, can dvd recorders record movies that we rent from video stores.

Don't even go there. Even if it was theoretically possible it is against forum rules (see Warez), and for good reason as it can cause legal problems for the site admin.

Now if you want to discuss making backups of your own DVD's...

It's far better to copy them using a computer, digital copies are higher quality and can be made in 1/2 the time. DVD recorders will detect copy protection and refuse to record the output from other dvd players. Of course, like anything else, there's ways around it but why bother? Similarily, some vhs tapes are copy protected and cannot be copied with a dvd recorder. In this case you need to put a "video clarifier" or similar device between vcr and recorder.