You know that's just too much, bad enough I'm saving up for the $400 DVD recorder now I hear from various traders that using a PC is best when making DVD copies? I see that DVD trading is not for me. I was under the impression that if I already had a DVD Player, I could dub that way like I do with VHS. Why is dubbing that way a problem?

if u hook up a dvd recorder to your dvd player u will be able to make a copy in real time

IE it takes u 2 hours to record a 2 hour dvd

BUT 2 problems arise, 1. u lose whatever menus are set up on the disc
and 2. u will have a loss in quality, higher pixellation and color loss

if u have a PC u can burn the dvd AN EXACT COPY same quality, same menus, etc in about 8-15 minutes depending on your drive speed

that is the best way to go

A dvd recorder is great if you plan to capture (record) shows for yourself. I think it's a "must have" for anyone wanting to get into this hobby. Preferably get one with a hard drive built in (unless you have Tivo of course). This way the you can save several episodes of a show to the hard drive and then transfer them to dvd when you have some time.


To copy dvd's all you need is a burner .... what is it, a $40-$50 investment?? This is a problem? C'mon now.

VHS = LP's = EXTINCT !!

BUt the quality issue is a big deal

i trade with vhs traders who mihgt have transfered a show from a dvd-r to a vhs tape
so it is allready 2nd generation at best when i get it from them on vhs
and then i transferr it to dvdr right away
so the quality is 3 generations lower than what it could have been
dvd burners are cheap to get and save the sender TONS OF TIME in making copies and the person on the other end gets a much better set

WORTH THE $ to invest in it

if u have a PC u can burn the dvd AN EXACT COPY same quality, same menus, etc in about 8-15 minutes depending on your drive speed


What program do you use to do that? I only use InterVideo to burn dvds on the pc, but I'd like something that gives me more flexibility with menus and other stuff.

2 dvd drives
and i can do what is called a QUICK COPY
makes an exact copy without loading on to the hard drive
just like the dvd duplicator does

8 mins for 16 X discs

if u hook up a dvd recorder to your dvd player u will be able to make a copy in real time

IE it takes u 2 hours to record a 2 hour dvd

BUT 2 problems arise, 1. u lose whatever menus are set up on the disc
and 2. u will have a loss in quality, higher pixellation and color loss

if u have a PC u can burn the dvd AN EXACT COPY same quality, same menus, etc in about 8-15 minutes depending on your drive speed

that is the best way to go


Well thanks for letting me know. That means i'm not going to be a DVD trader because now we are talking about $800 and i don't have when trying to pay rent and bills. Not even worth it

What program do you use to do that? I only use InterVideo to burn dvds on the pc, but I'd like something that gives me more flexibility with menus and other stuff.

Not quite sure what you're asking here...if you're asking about burning an exact copy, I use Copytodvd via Windows Explorer.

If you want flexibility with menus & such (IE omitting some episodes), lots of people like DVDshrink (freeware).

If you want to totally reauthor (change menus, create new menus), I use Nero.

A dvd recorder is great if you plan to capture (record) shows for yourself. I think it's a "must have" for anyone wanting to get into this hobby. Preferably get one with a hard drive built in (unless you have Tivo of course). This way the you can save several episodes of a show to the hard drive and then transfer them to dvd when you have some time.


To copy dvd's all you need is a burner .... what is it, a $40-$50 investment?? This is a problem? C'mon now.

VHS = LP's = EXTINCT !!


So I can get a burner instead of a PC?

You have a PC obviously, just add a dvd burner.

You have a PC obviously, just add a dvd burner.


I don;t have a PC which is why I created this thread

I don;t have a PC which is why I created this thread


Didn't realize that. I thought since you were viewing the message board you were working from a PC at home
(I know, I know - a computer at work :D )


So, your other option is (if you don't plan on buying a computer) a dvd duplcator. A 1:1 duplicator in the range of $200

I'd love to hear recommendations on a standalone DVD burner.

I have a DigiCopier and I've had to send it in for repair three times in less than a year. Considering the mail system and the company's slowness, my machine's been in for repair more than it's been in my home.

DigiCopier = piece of junk

As for Solomon's plan to spend $400 for a recorder: you might want to get other suggestions because that price seems mighty steep these days.

Didn't realize that. I thought since you were viewing the message board you were working from a PC at home
(I know, I know - a computer at work :D )


So, your other option is (if you don't plan on buying a computer) a dvd duplcator. A 1:1 duplicator in the range of $200


So a Sony DVD Recorder and a Duplicator is what i would need? Does Duplicator come in the brand of Sony?

I'd love to hear recommendations on a standalone DVD burner.

I have a DigiCopier and I've had to send it in for repair three times in less than a year. Considering the mail system and the company's slowness, my machine's been in for repair more than it's been in my home.

DigiCopier = piece of junk

As for Solomon's plan to spend $400 for a recorder: you might want to get other suggestions because that price seems mighty steep these days.


But it's for a SONY DVD Recorder which is one of the best brand u can buy. That's why it's $400. Sony has never let me down

NEC makes the best dvd duplicators
i have found
i have 1 and also a SONY duplicator
the SONY has lots more problems than the NEC
higher failure rate and stuff
id go with NEC
cost is higher but it is worth it

NEC makes the best dvd duplicators
i have found
i have 1 and also a SONY duplicator
the SONY has lots more problems than the NEC
higher failure rate and stuff
id go with NEC
cost is higher but it is worth it


surprised to hear that, I thought Sony was the best

I'd love to hear recommendations on a standalone DVD burner.

I have a DigiCopier and I've had to send it in for repair three times in less than a year. Considering the mail system and the company's slowness, my machine's been in for repair more than it's been in my home.

DigiCopier = piece of junk

As for Solomon's plan to spend $400 for a recorder: you might want to get other suggestions because that price seems mighty steep these days.



You can replace the drives yourself. Just put in a real good burner like Pioneer and you shouldn't have problems unless there's a problem with the Controller card.

NEC makes the best dvd duplicators
i have found
i have 1 and also a SONY duplicator
the SONY has lots more problems than the NEC
higher failure rate and stuff
id go with NEC
cost is higher but it is worth it


Yes, sony drives have their problems. On my duplicator the read drive is a sony it has issues reading printable discs (white tops).
Put the same disc in any other drive and it's read with no problem.

Stick with Pioneer for your burner drive. Most reliable

surprised to hear that, I thought Sony was the best

years ago, sony was the best

but not any more

i rate sony drives as poor

i have a top of the line sony vaio desktop computer, they didnt even put sony drives in this machine, they are pioneer 107

i use all nec 3500 series drives now after experiments with others

note, i also rate the pioneer drive in my vaia as junk as well, i dont even use thta one anymore, i have a usb conencted--faster than fire wire on xp-- nec 3520 on the computer, and the pioneer drive just sits there

If you want to totally reauthor (change menus, create new menus), I use Nero.


This is what I'm most interested in. Could you steer me towards what Nero is/where do I get it?

if u hook up a dvd recorder to your dvd player u will be able to make a copy in real time

IE it takes u 2 hours to record a 2 hour dvd

BUT 2 problems arise, 1. u lose whatever menus are set up on the disc
and 2. u will have a loss in quality, higher pixellation and color loss

if u have a PC u can burn the dvd AN EXACT COPY same quality, same menus, etc in about 8-15 minutes depending on your drive speed

that is the best way to go
My daughter has a DVD Burner on her computer and it's great! Why would you want to buy a DVD recorder? Lamont is right. Same quality, same all around.

We have Nero and it's great. When I went to have the CD player on my computer changed, the man gave me NERO FREE!!!!

WHITE SHADOW ON DVD NOVEMBER 8, 2005!!!!!!!





I' can't wait for this either !!:wave:

I' can't wait for this either !!:wave:
Yeah, just around the corner!!!!! Whoo hoo hoo hoo hoo!!!

My daughter has a DVD Burner on her computer and it's great! Why would you want to buy a DVD recorder? Lamont is right. Same quality, same all around.

We have Nero and it's great. When I went to have the CD player on my computer changed, the man gave me NERO FREE!!!!



Irene people buy DVD Recorders to record things off TV onto DVD-lol

I' can't wait for this either !!:wave:

And yet you guys never post on the White Shadow board. What's up with that?

Back to Retro, you guys are more proficient with dvd burning, but what's easiest for me is to record from tv with my Panasonic (DM80? I think, I forget the model number). If I don't want to keep stuff loaded on the hard drive, I'll save stuff to dvd-ram discs if it's something I'll want to go back to later on and dub copies. I'm sure there are better ways but for a beginner that's an easy solution. I've only used my PC burner for stuff I downloaded from the net, haven't tried tv recording yet.

And yet you guys never post on the White Shadow board. What's up with that?




FAME - season 1 is another one I can't wait to get (Nov 1st)


You save stuff on RAM discs because you're not sure if you want to save it or not but with -/+ R media costing pennies per disc, why not just save it on those?? I haven't bought a RAM disc - only have the original one that my recorder came with it.
I use it only when I record something and plan to edit it on the computer right that moment. For these situations they're perfect. That's one drawback with the Panasonic - it doesn't accept RW discs :confused:

Joker

FAME - season 1 is another one I can't wait to get (Nov 1st)


You save stuff on RAM discs because you're not sure if you want to save it or not but with -/+ R media costing pennies per disc, why not just save it on those?? I haven't bought a RAM disc - only have the original one that my recorder came with it.
I use it only when I record something and plan to edit it on the computer right that moment. For these situations they're perfect. That's one drawback with the Panasonic - it doesn't accept RW discs :confused:

Joker


I'm used to burning from the hard drive. There are probably better ways to do these things that I haven't looked into yet, I'm still fairly new. But I just figure it's easier to have shows on ram discs as sort of a master copy, and if I need to burn a copy for someone, I'll load the show back onto the hard drive, then burn the dvdr disc from there. It's a minor inconvenience, but so far it's okay for me.

One thing I wonder about is if I can burn shows onto the disc using the Panasonic set top but also use a computer program to make different menus before finalizing it.

What i do is just record and store the episodes on -R (commercials and everything). I make sure to seperate and label each episode, this way they are still tradable discs.

When I am ready to create a serious set, I take each episode dump it on the PC (do my editing of commercials with mpegvcr) and save each ep as an mpeg file. I create menu layouts with Photoshop and then use a dvd authoring program to put the new disc together.

Joker

What i do is just record and store the episodes on -R (commercials and everything). I make sure to seperate and label each episode, this way they are still tradable discs.

When I am ready to create a serious set, I take each episode dump it on the PC (do my editing of commercials with mpegvcr) and save each ep as an mpeg file. I create menu layouts with Photoshop and then use a dvd authoring program to put the new disc together.

Joker

Thanks for the info. That's something I hadn't even considered. I'll have to look into those computer programs. One question, how do you transfer the episodes from the -R disc to the PC?

Okay. Here in my opinion is the breakdown needed to make
copies of DVD's.

Dell has a nice starter system for about 500 dollars.
has a 2.0 ghz processor, 256 of ram. 80 gb hard drive
monitor etc. Good starter system, I'd up the ram
and that would be the best start. This would be for all around
tooling on the internet and also burning DVD's. comes with
one dvd burner.

now, a replacment burner from walmart that is a liteon
dvd burner is going to run you about 80 bucks. So when that
little OEM (that's Original equptment manufacturer) on the system runs out of juice in about 6 months depending on usage then you'd be looking for that 80 dollar payout.

your DVD recorder is going to be good for capturing stuff off
of tv. It won't copy DVD's unless it's built to do that. And if the DVD has any type of safeguard *cough retail* then you're up a creek without a paddle. Those systems can't be changed unless you actually hardwire the dvd recorder. not a good idea unless you are technically knowledgeable.

now the interesting thing is that you can take your PC and install a higher end Capture Card (about 120 bucks) and do the exact same thing that DVD recorder can do. Plus you have the flexibility of being able to make your own dvd's
when you find a good package to work with.

I've been monkeying around with packages and right now for
quick and dirty DVD's I swear by Intervideo Windvd creator
and a package called SpruceUP. Intervideo if it's captured
in AVI format and SpruceUp if it's already in DVD compliant Mpeg1 or 2 format

Now. both programs (Spruceup isn't available anymore unless you get it on the 2ndary market. but Windvd Creator
is still available is going to run you about 70 bucks). So that
adds a little bit more to your cost. But an investment right now is going to pay dividends down the road because you won't have to be limited to the functions of a dvd recorder.

Of course, You're milage may vary.

Hopefully this explains things. Even if you go on the cheap you can get a decent system for 300 dollars and you're miles ahead in the game as far as DVD tv show trading.

Thanks for the info. That's something I hadn't even considered. I'll have to look into those computer programs. One question, how do you transfer the episodes from the -R disc to the PC?


I use a program called DVD Decrypter in IFO mode.
If you like more details on how to do this, PM me and I'll point you in the right direction.

I use a program called DVD Decrypter in IFO mode.
If you like more details on how to do this, PM me and I'll point you in the right direction.

Or go here:

http://www.videoredo.com/FAQs/ExtractStreamsFromDVD.htm

(I was just referring to this page this past weekend.)

before you buy a cmputer with a dvd burner --internal

please note, many of the computer manufactures limit the speed at which the internal drives function, they limit that speed to 2.2 x read and write

even though they sell 8x and 16 x burners and advertise them as such

you would be far better off to buy a bare bones, but very fast computer

then add an extrenal usb hard drive and extrenal usb burner and read drive

usb is much faster then fire wire on the windows xp op system

then you can get the full speed out of your drives

also you would save a lot of coin, since the packaged computers charge far more for far less quality in these extras

i have 200 gig extrenals hard drives that i paid $ 100 for

and an nec 3520 external is avaible at $ 75 or less shipped

and both of these items are plug and ready to go items, no software to install

extrenals also will not void your warranty, if you flash the internals, your warranty is gone right thenfor the computer

and the way computers are made, they will need warranty work, period

lamont, you said you have 2 dvd drives and you do quick copy and it only takes like 8 minutes for a 16x disc. does it work for retail discs, and does it do menus and everything?

lamont, you said you have 2 dvd drives and you do quick copy and it only takes like 8 minutes for a 16x disc. does it work for retail discs, and does it do menus and everything?

Commercial discs are often larger capacity and are copy protected, so you normally can't do a straight copy. In order to make backups of my commercial DVDs, I use 1ClickDVDCopy with the DVD43 plugin. You can use DVDShrink, but IMO, 1ClickDVDCopy is much more user friendly (to me, anyway.)

lamont, you said you have 2 dvd drives and you do quick copy and it only takes like 8 minutes for a 16x disc. does it work for retail discs, and does it do menus and everything?

a duplicator is an exact clone device

nothing thats copy gaurded will work on a duper

but after you crack it on a computer

the copy made there will duplicate just fine


and when your looking at speed --time

remember that you need to use top quality media to get fast burn speeds

some media is just not going to want to run over 2x, or 4x

when i run 8x taiyo yuden, they burn at 12x or better without fail, since thye are the best

some folks claim that discs run at $x are somehow better than those run at high speeds

you will need to figure that out for your self

we all have our own opinions on that


i believe top media, and a good burner, will make the most difference on your projects

i spend a lot of extra cash on top quality discs, as compared to sonics, matrix, or no namers

i feel its well worth it

also something for you to determine for yourself

cool, sounds good. i didn't think it would work, but i'm not the quickest when it comes to computers. i usually try to stick with taiyo, sony, or tdk, only when i get away from those brands have i had real problems. thanks for the repsonses.

Or go here:

http://www.videoredo.com/FAQs/ExtractStreamsFromDVD.htm

(I was just referring to this page this past weekend.)

Thanks y2k3Joker and RedWhine56. I haven't downloaded the software yet, but taking a glance at the sites/programs you mentioned, they look exactly like what I was looking for. I'll be busy over the weekend.