Editing TV shows

[Mirkee]

I am a schoolteacher. I show TV documentaries which I copy from Satellite TV to my students. I then burn them on to CD from my Tivo DVR, using a Panasonic DMR E85H. I would like to load this DVD onto my computer and then edit out the comercials, and sometimes innapropriate content (people drinking and skimpy clothes, which my school does not like high schoolers to see). I am allowed to show these movies in a non-profit educational environment withing certain limits, mostly having to do with uninterrupted time length, and not violate any copywrite laws.

What is the easiest way to do this. Any recommended software? I do not mind a work around which leaves the Panasonic DVD burner out. The Panasonic also has a hard drive in it, but I have never used it.

Thanks in advance.

PS. The recordings I burn to DVD look pretty good but a little degraded. I wonder why that is if I am copying a digital signal?

[jagabo]

What is the easiest way to do this. Any recommended software? I do not mind a work around which leaves the Panasonic DVD burner out. The Panasonic also has a hard drive in it, but I have never used it.

Use Mpg2Cut2 to cut out commercials. It will be fast and won't degrade the quality. Cuts aren't frame accurate though, only on keyframes which are about 1/2 seconds apart. If you want frame accurate cuts with only cut GOPs reencoded (~half a second) use a smart editor like Womble's MPEG VCR or VideoRedo.

The recordings I burn to DVD look pretty good but a little degraded. I wonder why that is if I am copying a digital signal?

You're not copying digital to digital. You get digital from the satellite, it's converted to analog, then the DVD recorder converts back to digital. That causes a loss of quality. Record with the DVD player's highest quality mode -- usually one hour per DVD for best quality.

[Mirkee]

Yeah, my DVD-R's read 2 hours. I thought that was the highest quality. I'll check it out and up the quality if possible. I guess there should be no degradation when I edit out the commercials and enaything else out. I can copy the first recorded DVD to disc and then edit, right? Then save back to a new DVD? I only have one DVD drive on my PC.

Thanks for the hints, especially about upping the quality of the DVD recording. I'll get the software and try out.

Thank you,

Mirko

[jagabo]

Yeah, my DVD-R's read 2 hours. I thought that was the highest quality. I'll check it out and up the quality if possible.

The settings are usually labeled XP, SP, LP, etc. Also look for a "flexmode" setting where you optimize disc usage by running time. That's useful if you want to record say a 90 minutes show on a disc. You don't have to set the recorder to 2 hour mode (~4000 kbps) to fit the show on a DVD, you can optimize for 90 minutes (~6000 kbps) for better quality.

I guess there should be no degradation when I edit out the commercials and enaything else out.

Yes. But, as noted, with Mpg2Cut2 you can only cut on key frames. That means you will end up cutting a bit off the show or leaving a bit of the commercial, as much as 1/2 second. The smart editors will give you frame accurate cuts and will only reencode the cut GOP.

I can copy the first recorded DVD to disc and then edit, right?

Yes. Or you can edit directly from the DVD and save to the hard drive. But seeking is slow on a DVD so editing is less painful if you rip the DVD to your hard drive first.

[freebird73717]

If your tivo is hooked to your network either with wireless or ethernet you could use kmttg to download the video straight from the tivo in digital format. Then you could edit that file and edit, author, and burn a disc using any of the softwares jagabo mentioned and a dvdburner in a pc. Takes a few more steps but there is no degradation in quality.

[Mirkee]

I like that idea best of all! My DirecTv recorder (Tivo type) has two USB ports, one in front and one in back. I hope one of those will let me transfer content from the DVR to my PC, using one of the software mentioned. Am I on the right track?

[freebird73717]

What's the model of your directv tivo? Some won't allow for transfers.

[Mirkee]

It's R15-100. DirecTv Plus.

I'm looking into just copying programs to the HD on the Panasonic, editing on that machine and then copying to DVD-R to show at school. I've been reading a thread on another forum about the Panasonic and it seems like it has pretty good editing capabilities and good enough for my purposes. I think it would still be easier if I could move the file to my PC to edit and then burn to DVD. I guess I need to read the manual that came with the Panasonic.

[freebird73717]

That particular dvr will not allow downloads/transfers. Sorry. You're just left with using your panasonic burner.