The Terapin VCD Recorder......Perfect DVD to VCD Copies!

[mike416]

I know Terrapin produce an excellent result,but do you know that it use a capture card exactly the same as PV 231 with winbond chipset
I have 2 of these cards because of the excellent result
The reason I bought the PCI card version (instead of the Terapin) is the freedom to edit the file afterward. Add tiltle/effect etc

Read on guys :
http://steve.kittelsen.com/pv231/

[Lamplight@csonline.net]

Just a post to say THANKS for all the great info on this machine. I went to SAM's today and got a demo machine for $149.99, and I am anxious to start. I had a DVD PC burner, but got frustrated with all the conversion processes. I know this is NOT DVD quality, but it will certainly serve my archive purposes. All of the great information you all have provided has been wonderful!! I will start posting my results and hopefully be able to offer something back to the forum soon!! I have hundreds and hundreds of video concerts going thirty years back, so I will most certainly be busy! (any traders out there email me off forum at lamplight@csonline.net )
Thanks again!!

[Nanoduck]

Just a quick question, I can't find the answer on their website. So here is the question, if I record TV shows or playback a VHS tape that is recorded off from TV, will the closed caption be carried over to the CD like according to the VCD 2.0 specs? You should know by now that I am deaf.

I'm new to this too, but I tried to find a way to copy the closed captions from VHS to VCD or SVCD, but no luck. When the analog signals from the VCR is converted to digital in the computer, it seems that the captions are lost. As far as I know ,there are no capturing software that will directly capture and convert the caption signals, and save to CD or DVD or whatever. There is a way to capture and put captions in, but it's a complicated process.

The best way I can think of is to get a telecaption decoder box (yeah, they had those before they started putting caption decoders in all televisions) and hook it between the VCR and the capture card. The captions will be captured along with the video. The only drawback is that the captions will be on screen permanently, but if that is what you want, go for it. Just be sure that the telecaption decoder box has audio/video jacks so that you don't lose picture quality from the VCR.

[biggantdogg]

I'd have to say its a pretty cool looking device, but it has too many limitations compared to the "freeness" of creating your own VCD or XVCD on a computer.

Such as 74min cd's only BIG factor!
No control over picture quality

I'm much more satisfied using a computer....
Can you put 3 VCD movies on a DVD-R with it? I think not...... 8)

[AntnyMD]

You can use 80 minute CD-R/W with the Terapin, but the manufacturers recommend 74 minute cd-r/w for optimal performance ... As a Terapin owner I've seen no difference.

Sure, you can put a skiddilion movies onto DVD-R at VCD resolution and bitrate, but DVD-R media is still way too expensive to do that, in my opinion. Lets say a CD-R costs thirty cents each, and a movie fits on 2 cd's. Three movies would cost you $1.80 in media. To put those same three movies onto 1 DVD-R would cost you $4.99 for a DVD disc that works in the maximum amount of standalone machines. Would you rather pay $2 for three movies, or $5 for those same three movies? Do the math.

[SergeantD]

There are a lot of people like you Antny who say things like you do just to keep reassuring themselves that their way of doing things is better. And this way you can finally get to sleep at night for being a Terapin owner. I'm sorry but you are just fooling yourself. You say $5 for a DVD-R that will work in most standalones? Well, I don't know where you get your info from but you are wrong. I just got a hold of .79 cents ACCU DVD-Rs and they work perfect in 5 out of 5 tests so far (Toshiba, Apex, Daewoo, PS2 & Koss). Now that the facts are straight, you were saying.....

[AntnyMD]

I just got a hold of .79 cents ACCU DVD-Rs and they work perfect

Accu who?


If you're buying DVD-R at 79 cents a pop, you wouldnt be interested in cramming VCD quality encodes onto DVD-R -- You'd be interested in only full bitrate DVD quality copying since your Acme discs are clearly cheap.

[SergeantD]

OK, whatever that means

[tumbar]

Gentleman,

I certainly don't want to jump into the middle of a "good" argument....er exchange of ideas....

But I've got a 100 ct. spindle of those accu's and I'll tell you they are good media, no kidding. Better than some of the others I've tried.

I looked at the Tarpin myself, but went with the DVD2SVCD program instead..thought about it though..and I don't pay 30 cents for cd's either, usually more like 5-10 cents, just keep 100 or so ahead...somebody is always giving them away with rebates.....

Okay..now back ro the argument...er exchange...

[eatin sammiches for lunch]

So what do you have to do to record a dvd on a computer?


You have to capture the video which requires a video capture card and a fast computer if you dont want any drop outs (cha ching). Then you have to have conversion software and a huge hard drive for the converted film (cha ching). Of course you need a dvd-recorder (cha ching). Lets see you need dvd-r media (cha ching) and finally plenty of time for conversion (cha ching, why? because time is money). So how much does it cost to record a movie on a computer?

Dont worry about it - BUY a Terrapin (if you r "po") or a [stanalone] DVD recorder (If you are a "rich dude")

u must be a newbie

[thxkid]

heck I owned 2 of those terapins and on a 27in. or smaller tv they are very lavable but get it on a 36in or bigger screen, oh man they are really blurry, alot of pixelation on fast moving objects, if you can live with that great, I took mine back wanted until I could put a couple hundred $$ in a bought the panasonic DMR-E20, WOW big difference inpciture quality and this one works like a REAL style VCR, it has a timer, clock and tuner unloke the terapins and the terapin is 80min. per CD I can get 6 hours on one DVD-R(just for time shifting only).
Now a terapin works great for people who don't have time or is to confusing to captured, rip and encode using a computer.
So it really matters what your taste is, will VCD's or SVCD's ever look as good as a DVD-R, no, close yes if you go out side the VCD and SVCD standards. Plus with the prices of DVD-R's under $2 and there are many to choose now from that price range and with DVD recorders getting close to $500 and mostly likely dropping below that once your companies like daewoo, apex, orion get into the DVD recorder business I see DVD recorders and writers becoming common place alongside CD writers and VCR's.

[biggantdogg]

8)
I agree with sergant and eatin sammiches......
That poor newbie is brainwashed by his Terapin toy...
It's ok to be proud of your equipment, but boasting that it's better than a computers' capabilities is just plain crazy....
And where did he get his media prices from?
DVD-r's are like 79-80 cents per hundred..??
And CD'r's are practically pennies on the dollar, even for 99min....??

[biggantdogg]

Check it out Terapin newbie...
100 @ cost of .80
www.allmediaoutlet.com/P-DVDR-4.7-GENPR100free.html
I guess that would equal 3 HIGH quality XVCD's on a DVD-R for .80cents.
How did you get $1.80????

Sure, you can put a skiddilion movies onto DVD-R at VCD resolution and bitrate, but DVD-R media is still way too expensive to do that, in my opinion. Lets say a CD-R costs thirty cents each, and a movie fits on 2 cd's. Three movies would cost you $1.80 in media. To put those same three movies onto 1 DVD-R would cost you $4.99 for a DVD disc that works in the maximum amount of standalone machines. Would you rather pay $2 for three movies, or $5 for those same three movies? Do the math.

You should do the math

[subclubkid]

What if you wanted to record a certain show that came on every night, would you have a to make a seperate vcd for every night, or could you burn them onto a cdr-w and just transfer the show to your computer?

also could comeone point me in the right direction on getting my hands on one.

I went to Samsclub's website and couldndt find anything


Thanks