WANT TO SAVE TIME MAKING MPEGS?

[dbaker6165]

BUY A STANDALONE DIGITAL VIDEO RECORDER! I own a Terapin CD Video Recorder which is basically a "VHS" Tape recoder but instead of using tapes - it uses cds! YOu can hook it up to any source because it doesnt have any sort of macromedia protection on it to prevent you from copying your bought (meaning stuff you own cuz i in know way support stealing!! ) copyrighted material. It even can make normal audio cd's. This machine basically makes VCD's for your DVD player or you can play it in your computer! I bought it from good ole' Sam's Club (tell me you have heard of this of this place) for $200 bucks!! So do yourself a favor... stop the 12 hours of encoding mpegs and buy this machine!!! Although I love www.vcdhelp.com for its info - stop trying to learn how to make mpegs the old fashion way on a computer and buy this machine!!!

[mazinz]

that may be true, However anything usually encoded with a pc using tmpg or others still gives a better picture then what the terrapin can produce

[dbaker6165]

OK! you wait 12 hours to encode a movie that is 1hr 30min long and I will continue to record a 1hr 30min movie in 1hr30 min. All I gotta say is the quality looks great and if you had this recorder (which i am assuming you dont) you would agree with me

[SatStorm]

Here is a short list of why I prefer encoding:

1. I don't like mpeg 1
2. The quality of a VBR mpeg 2 is way better in smaller file size
3. I let all night my PC to grabb DVB transmissions. 8 hours are about 10GB. Then I can easily select what to keep. I do this everyday. With a VCD recorder, I have to act like VCR. No way man!
4. I don't focus on dvd backup or vhs convert. I focus to DVB proccessing
5. I can fit on a CD/DVD what I choose. With a VCD recorder it is always 74min or 80min per cd
6. I can author my creations any way I wish: Menus, colors, file order

[mazinz]

ok for one i no longer produce vcd movies, i have moved onto making dvds.
2. When i was making vcds im admitting i HATED the encoding time, but
if i wanted quality for my movies then thats what i had to do. Believe me, i have looked into the terrapin and a few others. I have some films people have made on vcd using the terrapin so i saw the quality first hand:
better looking then using the dazzle at vcd template (which is horrendous), BUT still far below what could be achieved by encoding, except for the time. The quality could be considered fair-ok using the terrapin. No offense but i have seen the results from both methods, so i am more the able to call a shot on it.
Now im glad im doing dvds as i can run in what i want at a much higher rate and then burn it right out and to be honest with you every now and then (dpending on video quality) you could get some minor noise that i could wipe out with encoding. Encoding just gives a better over all pic although yes the time does suck.

[-Elder-]

Just buy a DVD Recorder for $1000, TV-out from your computer, into the Recorder, burn the DVD. :D

We have a Panasonic DVD Recorder at work, and it works great.. heh.

I've seen people paying $2000 for new computer so they can reencode a DivX to SVCD or DVD or whatever.. blah. :)

[mazinz]

i was looking into the panasoinc dvd homedeck recorder, but their are quite a few other things i wanted to do and could only do so with a PC dvd burner.
some of my gripes about the panasonic were lack of menu creation (although a newer deck in japan that has a built in 40gig harddrive might have something)-at least for dvd video mode
2. no variable bitrate for dvd video mode(only ram)
3. lack of truly setting a time to get the best pic possible, so if you have a film thats only 80mins you have to settle for the lower 2hour bitrate setting (5-6) whereas on a pc burner you could easily change this
4. No dvd-rw support
5. No composite in
6. copy protection out the whazoo put on your disc
7. Super high copy protection when inputting certain vhs tapes(ones that
use the other macrovision-ccs)
yes it does have it's benefits, but when it came down to it (for me anyway) i could splunk down 1000 (when their are a ton of better machines out in Japan) or for a little more get a new pc With the dvd burner and kill two birds with one stone.--thats the route i took

[videoguy79]

I have heard mixed reviews for the Terapin VDR, as I even once considered grabbing one (they were 199 USD at Sam's Club at one point). My question is this: with the growing popularity of DVD-R/RW, wouldn't it be smarter to wait for DVD-RW standalone prices to come down rather than to buy something that will be (for all intensive purposes) obsolete in a year or two? The figures for 2003, 2004 for DVD recorder shipments are predicting an exponential increase in shipments of new units (computer-based and standalone), which obviously will not happen unless the price goes down to reasonable levels. To me this says that DVD recordable won't be much more expensive than CD recordable technology within the next year or two. Even as we speak, the cheapest DVD-RW drive for a computer is down to 299 bucks, much less than they were even 6 months ago, and comparable to what a new CD-RW drive went for a couple years back (the manufacturer's introduction price anyway). I would recommend waiting the year or two for a reasonably-priced DVD standalone recorder and continue to use computer-based cd-r video until then, rather than spending the money now for something that will likely be outmoded soon. Any thoughts?

[SatStorm]

This summer DVD recorder models gonna be 4X and also cheaper than now. The next Xmass DVD recorders gonna be 8X at the same price!
DVD - R discs already cost about 6 Euros, and the prices drops any day...
I believe we don't have to wait longer summer or xmass... 8X is a good speed, even 4X is a good speed...
Don't wait more: Blue line discs gonna be next, in less than 2 years. So, in 2 years DVD burners gonna be like CD burners last year...

[dbaker6165]

Trust me... when STANDALONE DVD RECORDERS are available... I WILL PICK THAT BAD BOY UP! until then i have the terripin vcd recorder.... its only $200... little kids buy games systems at that price every year... why not do it for a decent video recorder.... When I bought this recorder I wanted to make movies in the least amount of time as usual... I admit I record movies everyday, into Mpeg, at least 2 per day... I dont even watch em until later! Its just convenients I was lookin for in making mpegs. Quality is good. I did not mean to insult anybody, just give them some ideas... thanx to all for yo time!

[dbaker6165]

One more thing.... Why wait for stuff? Technology is always going... Its like buying a computer.. I Know if I buy a computer now there will be a better one next month... so do i wait till next month to buy one knowing there will be one better the month after that... do you get my point.... when is it ok to buy one? maybe i should wait ten years from now to buy a video recorder... im sure by then the quality will look better then my terripin vcd recorder...

[mwhecloc]

Well I recived a new VCD recorder, and can record live broadcast, and from the DVD player perfect, but a VCR Tape still locks up when recorded to the Terapin. The recoreded cable and DVD is passed through the VCR. Any ideas why. please contact me if you have any seg. Thanks mwhecloc@yahoo.com

[dbaker6165]

I know exactly what you mean... sometimes i have the same problem with Old or "beat up" vhs tapes. It could also be the vcr you are using but i am assuming you have a good one. Only thing i can say is try to find a newer tape to record from or try transferin the vhs to a New blank vhs tape and try recording from the new tape. I also recommend not running your dvd player thru your vcr if you want a Better recording - cable is ok b/c thats is the only way you can get it I hoped I helped out... try using a new tape and see if the terrapin locks up....

[Jester76]

Trust me... when STANDALONE DVD RECORDERS are available... I WILL PICK THAT BAD BOY UP! until then i have the terripin vcd recorder

They have standalone dvd recorders availabe at circuit city now. Of course they are $1000.

[dbaker6165]

Im sorry let me rephrase that:



Trust me... when (cheap, like 200 dollars) STANDALONE DVD RECORDERS are available... I WILL PICK THAT BAD BOY UP! until then i have the terripin vcd recorder (because its crazy to spend over 1000 bucks for a dvd recorder [unless i were rich in which money is no object])