Need Opinion - VHS to DVD Burning

Dach wrote on 12/22/2005, 1:23 PM
I recently completed converting a home VHS library for a client to DVD. This was very time consuming, my client is pleased but with today's technologies I am looking at new ideas.

Currently I use a Canopus ADVC-100 to transfer the source material into my editing system... enhance clips... render to MPEG2 and publish a DVD. Obviously this option allows for creative options to be added.

Now the console DVD burners have been out for awhile and they have gotten better. If I wanted to provide a service of a straight transfer to DVD are they ideal? Is DVD-R the better format?

How are you guys doing this for the most part? Any recommended models?

Thanks,
Chad

Comments

RalphM wrote on 12/22/2005, 1:45 PM
I provide this VHS straight-to-DVD service for customers who desire it. The cost is low, and I make sure the customer understands that they will be getting a DVD that plays like a VHS tape.

I offer edited transfers at a higher price, but after editing, I still feed from the timeline to the set top burner unless the customer wants specific chapter points and menus.

I use an older Pioneer Elite 7000 which is only DVD-R/RW capable, so I can't comment on thether + or - is better suited.

One issue that must be dealt with is that VHS tape cassettes almost always have an extra 3 - 5 minutes of tape on board, and if the customer uses the entire tape, the last few minutes will be cut off by most set-top burners when set to a two hour burn rate.

My experience has been that most people transferring VHS tapes to DVD really don't care much about editing - they just want to preserve the originals.
logiquem wrote on 12/23/2005, 7:18 AM
Forget editing for this kind of thing... I use a PHilips DVDR 75 for doing this since 3 years and must say that it always worked perfectly. I now use a Liteon wich can burn on anything (even cdr...), has a better encoding quality than the old Philips, and cost about nothing.
Dach wrote on 12/23/2005, 7:20 AM
I appreciate the response with the new year approaching I will have a new budget for some new pieces of equipment. I suppose my goal will be to invest in such a burner to expand my services.

I am assuming that DVD-R is the safest bet to go, but I now that some new players are multi-format.

ScottW wrote on 12/23/2005, 8:29 AM
Unless the unit burns DVD+R with a booktype of DVD-ROM (and I've not seen any that do this, though they could exist), you'll be better off sticking with -R.
plasmavideo wrote on 12/23/2005, 8:45 AM
Let me chime in with another opinion.

Spend a few extra bucks and get one of the DVD burners that has a hard drive in it. I have a Panasonic and find it invaluable for this kind of thing.

The reason is, you can dub from VHS to the hard disk, add chapter points, do some very basic cuts editing if needed and then use the fit to disk option to transfer to the DVD if the material goes over 2 hours.

The Panasonic has a hi speed dub option, so if you are not using the fit to disk function, you can transfer the edited and chapterized material to the DVD pretty quickly. Also, this way you can quickly make multiple copies without having to tie up a computer to do it.

Last time I checked, the prices on basic units like the Panasonic with a 100gb HD are in the sub $350 range at some places.

Another thing I like about my Panasonic is that it does a nice job of denoising the line inputs, so the DVD sometimes comes out looking better than the tape!

Hope this helps.

Tom
Frenchy wrote on 12/23/2005, 9:07 AM
Ralph, logiquem & Tom -

I know this question will subject me to who knows what, but here goes...

(flame suit on)

How do your set-top units deal with macrovision (or whatever copy protection is/was put on older VHS pre-recorded tapes) ? I would like to convert my pre-recorded VHS to DVD in as quick and painless a way as possible.

Will the set-top units you mentioned allow this?

(flame suit off)

THanks

Phil
plasmavideo wrote on 12/23/2005, 10:26 AM

It recognizes Macrovision and will not let you record anything. I did actually try that with an old Raiders of the Lost Ark tape and the Panasonic flashed an error message of some kind on screen that said it was impossible to record the source material. That was the only one I've tried, though. I don't have very many commercial tapes except for some my young daughter has.

OT: One interesting thing I forgot to mention. We also use that recorder at home for "taping" and timeshifting TV shows for later playback, and it's REALLY good at cleaning up noisy RF cable feeds as well as stuff coming into the line inputs.

More OT: We've bought a number of them at the TV station and use them for recording newscasts for later review. The low speed modes are not great quality, but we can fit several weeks worth (or longer) of newscasts onto the hard disk at low speed and can dub off to DVD things that we need to preserve for further review for some odd reason. The news anchors and reporters like them as they can immediately review their presentation after a show is over in preperation for the next one. We produce 5 and a half hours of local news a day.