DVD Copy Question

[Guest]

Archived from groups: rec.video.desktop (More info?)

After several weeks of experimenting, I think I've gotten to where I
want to be. My goal was to be able to make DVD copies of VHS tapes
going back as far as 1983 when my youngest daughter was born. I want
to give the DVDs to all my daughters (don't have any sons) so they can
show them to their kids. I understand that the DVD medium will last
longer than VHS tape too.

I started out with a +R burner which came with the InterVideo
application. I can now say that the editing capability of this package
is quite good. But mated with my DAC-100 video capture device, it
couldn't capture video for beans. I kept getting picture roll on the
older tapes. A couple of weeks ago I replaced the +R (KHypermedia
burner) with a Sony +/- dual layer burner which came with the Nero 6.0
application. As it turns out, it captures video quite well with the
DAC-100 but I still haven't figured out how to get it to edit video as
well as the InterVideo package. Fortunately, Nero produces captured
video in MPEG format (InterVideo produces a proprietary intermediate
format) and InterVideo allows you to import MPEG for editing. Between
the 2 packages, I can now produce the quality DVDs I've been looking
for. I use Nero to captue in MPEG format and InterVideo from editing
thru DVD burning. I can add intro text, transitions, menus - everything
I need.

But I still have one question. After I produce a DVD using InterVideo,
I have trouble making copies of my creation using Nero's DVD copy util.
I get an alert telling me the destination DVD can't accommodate the
size of the video on the source DVD. I then used Roxio Easy DVD which
also gave me the same alert but also asked if I wanted to compress the
video to which I said yes. The DVD copy proceeded without any problem
and I can view both DVDs on my Panasonic DVD player without any
perceivable difference. Does anyone know why I have to specify
compression? I would think the source DVD would be copied bit-for-bit.
But apparently that's not true.

Despite this remaining mystery, with a weekend to go before Christmas,
I'm confident I'll be able to give my daughters the video Christmas
cards I was hoping to make. Life is good.

If anyone has any questions on how I'm producing DVDs feel free to ask.
I'll try to answer as well as I can.

Terry

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: rec.video.desktop (More info?)

Thanks, Gary. I'm sure there are several apps. that will do what I'm
trying to do. I just happen to have free copies of InterVideo and Nero
and as long as they do what I want them to do, I'll use them. As far
as whether I put the authored results in my HD or on a DVD, I will try
what you say about burning to the HD first and then making copies from
there. Thanks.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: rec.video.desktop (More info?)

InterVideo allows you to got straight to the DVD too. I have done
that. But in the cases of the DVDs I'm making for our daughters, I
wanted to be able to edit out the times when I forgot the camcorder was
on, etc. and to be able to set up menus so they can more easily select
the parts they want to see. And I don't think going straight from
analog to DVD allows you to do any of that.

Thanks for the input.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: rec.video.desktop (More info?)

Terry,

It doesn't sound like you're doing things right. The normal way to
capture video is with a video editing program, such as Adobe Premiere.
There is also a Premiere Elements (cheap) program available now. It
captures in AVI format, which is uncompressed and editable. The editing
programs also have many video effects and titling.

You then export to a DVD authoring program, such as DVDit version 5.
Authoring programs create the movies and menus that the person uses to
play the DVD and navigate through it.

You then burn the result to a DVD volume on your hard drive, not
directly to a DVD disc. The volume contains a VIDEO TS folder, which is
used to make the disc. You just click that folder into your burning
program, and the burner makes the discs - as many as you want.

Those are the basics. Might be a few books available on all this. Just
look around at the book store.

Gary Eickmeier

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: rec.video.desktop (More info?)

MYDVD is also an option. Made by Sonic, it enables you to make the DVD
volume (or disc) directly from the analog source, but it has to be done
all in one sweep. Whatever you copy to the computer at one time, that is
what will be on the DVD.

Gary Eickmeier

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: rec.video.desktop (More info?)

I saw the combination VHS/DVD write decks and considered one for a
second. But I really want to be able to edit the video adding effects,
intros, transitions and deleting the useless video. And I'm sure Adobe
Premier is a fine product. But Nero was free and it works. And it's
product is importable to other apps. I don't need anything else.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: rec.video.desktop (More info?)

ritpg@hotmail.com wrote:
> InterVideo allows you to got straight to the DVD too. I have done
> that. But in the cases of the DVDs I'm making for our daughters, I
> wanted to be able to edit out the times when I forgot the camcorder was
> on, etc. and to be able to set up menus so they can more easily select
> the parts they want to see. And I don't think going straight from
> analog to DVD allows you to do any of that.
>
> Thanks for the input.

Sure. For editing, my first suggestion would prevail. But a third way I
forgot is going directly into a DVD recorder. We got a Lite-on 5101 at
SAM's for $139 that is just terrific! It's only good for making a series
of direct (unedited) recordings from either analog or firewire, but for
a long tape or those occasions when you don't need to edit, it is pretty
attractive.

Gary Eickmeier
>

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: rec.video.desktop (More info?)

On 15 Dec 2004 22:02:57 -0800, ritpg@hotmail.com wrote:

>InterVideo allows you to got straight to the DVD too. I have done
>that. But in the cases of the DVDs I'm making for our daughters, I
>wanted to be able to edit out the times when I forgot the camcorder was
>on, etc. and to be able to set up menus so they can more easily select
>the parts they want to see. And I don't think going straight from
>analog to DVD allows you to do any of that.

Offhand, it sounds to me like you're capturing to MPEG, then
doing your edits and titles and then outputting as a new MPEG, which
is necessitating the recompression. What you should do is capture
your VHS footage to the hard drive as an AVI, edit and title, and only
THEN compress to MPEG. You'll get much better and more controllable
results that way.

-----------------------------------------------------
Neil Nadelman arvy@navzr-genafyngbe.pbz (ROT13)
-----------------------------------------------------
I have no fears in life,
for I have already survived Theta-G!

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: rec.video.desktop (More info?)

Neil, I think you are right about what I am doing, except, I'm not told
I need to recompress until I try to make a copy of what has already
been recompressed. I don't have any problem burning the first DVD.
It's when I try to make a copy that InterVideo refuses to copy because
the destination medium lacks the space. When I make the copy using
Roxio, I'm asked if I want to compress what seems to already be
compressed on the source DVD. I hope this make sense to you. It's not
a big deal because I can get this to work. And I don't seem to lose
anything in the process. I'm just puzzled by what I'm seeing.

 

[Eric]

Archived from groups: rec.video.desktop (More info?)

ritpg@hotmail.com wrote:
> Neil, I think you are right about what I am doing, except, I'm not
told
> I need to recompress until I try to make a copy of what has already
> been recompressed. I don't have any problem burning the first DVD.
> It's when I try to make a copy that InterVideo refuses to copy
because
> the destination medium lacks the space. When I make the copy using
> Roxio, I'm asked if I want to compress what seems to already be
> compressed on the source DVD. I hope this make sense to you. It's
not
> a big deal because I can get this to work. And I don't seem to lose
> anything in the process. I'm just puzzled by what I'm seeing.

I've just finished a simliar project (though covering only 7 years).

It certainly sounds like at least one of your programs is not doing
something right. Maybe try CDBurnerXPpro (free, and yes it does DVDs
also) available at: <http://www.cdburnerxp.se/> They also have a help
page about creating a DVD that includes some other free tools
<http://www.cdburnerxp.se/help/english/data-svcd.php>

You might want to take a look at VideoReDo for the quick edits of your
Mpeg2 files. It is amazingly fast at doing the cuts.
<http://www.drdsystems.com/VideoReDo/index.html>

I was able to avoid all the rest of the steps to further prepare the
file and took it straight to DVDLab to create the DVD.

I agree that you should burn an image to your HD first and use that to
make each copy. That's what I did.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: rec.video.desktop (More info?)

Thanks for the response, Eric. I've downloaded both CDBurnerXPpro and
VideoReDo but I don't see that either enables me to do edits like
insertion of text boxes for chapter intros or transitions. Am I
missing something or are you not into setting up DVDs this way?

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: rec.video.desktop (More info?)

And oh by the way, CDBurnerXPpro has limits on it unless you download a
key from a URL that doesn't respond. So unless you're doing only small
jobs, it's useless.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: rec.video.desktop (More info?)

Ooops. It's VideoReDo that requires the key - not CDBurnerXPpro.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: rec.video.desktop (More info?)

> I understand that the DVD medium will last
>longer than VHS tape too.

Incorrect. Tape media is among the longest lasting stable consumer
media available. Already, many of the earliest DVD recordable discs
have developed disk rot as well as delamination and reflective layer
corrosion (I've even got a few here doing just that), and any media
that's glued together will eventually fail due to flexing (which is why
the DVD makers switched to low pressure release hub cases for DVDs --
that push the center release type of thing).

The dye layer itself hasn't been proven to last long under regular
lighting or storage conditions either, so whether you will have a
readable disc in 20 years is questionable (almost all VHS tapes stored
in a good environment can still be played today after that long of storage).

Here, best bet is to burn to two different DVD media, with one being
the Made In Japan Maxell DVD-R disc (which generally has the highest
quality and highest compatibility across numerous players and burners),
another to any other disc. Hopefully, the quality Maxell will let you
see the video again years from now, but don't bet on it. (Here, I'd bet
on CDs lasting longer than DVDs burned at the same time today.)

> But mated with my DAC-100 video capture device, it
>couldn't capture video for beans. I kept getting picture roll on the
>older tapes.

You'll need to have a TBC stabilized VHS deck (see high-end JVC
decks that do this) and/or a stabilized capture box (see Canopus
ADVC-500 series).

Also, if the tape is just too streteched or old, you may simply
never get a stable playback.

>But I still have one question. After I produce a DVD using InterVideo,
>I have trouble making copies of my creation using Nero's DVD copy util.

DVD Decrypter for free will allow you to pull a 100% exact image
off the original disc and allow you to burn that to any other same-sized
DVD disc.

http://www.dvddecrypter.com/

This baby WILL eat through anything and everything you toss at it
all pull the entire disc off to your HD for dupes.

If needed, you can shrink images greater than your destination
media with any of the following (see www.cdfreaks.com -> forums -> DVD
software for more help & info on these):

DVD Shrink (free - http://www.dvdshrink.org/)
CloneDVD (pay)
Intervideo DVD Copy (pay)
DVD2One (pay)
etc. (dozens of other programs out there for this)

See www.cdfreaks.com forums for more info on which works the best.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: rec.video.desktop (More info?)

"David Chien" wrote ...
> > I understand that the DVD medium will last
> >longer than VHS tape too.
>
> Incorrect. Tape media is among the longest lasting stable consumer
> media available. Already, many of the earliest DVD recordable discs have
> developed disk rot as well as delamination and reflective layer corrosion
> (I've even got a few here doing just that), and any media that's glued
> together will eventually fail due to flexing (which is why the DVD makers
> switched to low pressure release hub cases for DVDs --
> that push the center release type of thing).
>
> The dye layer itself hasn't been proven to last long under regular
> lighting or storage conditions either, so whether you will have a readable
> disc in 20 years is questionable (almost all VHS tapes stored in a good
> environment can still be played today after that long of storage).

Strongly agree with first-hand evidence.

I have right here at home writable optical disks that can no
longer be read after 4 years. I also have tape more than 40
years old that can be played back better than it could when
it was new (because of better equipment).

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: rec.video.desktop (More info?)

"David Chien" <chiendh@uci.edu> wrote
> > I understand that the DVD medium will last
> >longer than VHS tape too.
>
> Incorrect. Tape media is among the longest lasting stable consumer
> media available.

There's no way to get video off VHS without quality loss.
So you better hope the original media lasts fine.

DVD being digital, means footage can be transferred and copied losslessly
across media, so for archival, the media can be refreshed every x years.

DVD disks suffer from being a caddyless format, I`ve seen many disks
destroyed due to scratches and mishandling.

CDs can cope fine with a few scratches, DVD may "look" the same,
but are nowhere near as resilient to surface wear.

--
Mike