I am trying to convert my collection of over 1000 VHS tapes to DVD, playable on DVD players.
I have already converted 200. These are under about 1 hour and 52 minutes. Over that, I have a problem.
I am using an Adaptec VideOOH PCI capture card with Sonic MyDVD version 4.04 software. I have a Pioneer DVR-105 DVD recorder. My software transcodes the audio from the MPEG-2 in PCM format. This means that for a 120 minute movie, the audio track is about 1200 MBytes. This limits the Video to 3,500 Mbytes or about 1 hour and 52 minutes.
I tried using Sonic DVDit PE Version 2.4 on a friend's machine to a Dolby AC3 format. But the audio and video were about 10 seconds out of sync when finished!!
Is there some simple inexpensive software that will do this? Or new hardware? I am not doing any editing or creative work, just copying.
Probably best to get a DVD stand alone recorder and connect it to your video player. It's not cheap but then you can then get up to six hours of recording on one disc. You may have to get a box to remove the macro from the videos but that is not expensive. With a DVD-R PC recorder you are limited to less than 2 hours and I don't know of anyway round that without screwing something up as they are just not designed to record longer.
how are you capturing the movie? a cheaper way than buying a set top player would be to get yourself a nice TV Card. Heck I have a crappy old WinTV card that I use to capture videos. Use the TV Card in conjunction with a program like WinDVR by the makers of WinDVD, Intervideo. You'll record your old VHS tapes straight to an MPEG-2 with adjustable bitrate video and audio. With this if you want to you can cram 6-8 hours on a DVD, but I recommend about 4. For authoring I use either Ulead's DVD Workshop which is quite fast and doesn't re-render video.
Another route you could use is Sonic Foundry's Vegas DVD Architect. It allows you to change the bit rate of the video and choose AC-3, PCM, or MPG audio. Either way, you're cool.
Yeah , I'll vouch for DVD Architect...a good proggie !
I encode .avi to .VOB .BUP .IFO using it & haven't had any problems (apart from XviD being a right sh*tbag).
I have Vegas 4 + DVD Architect & they are much better than TMPEGEnc cos I do NOT lose audio!
I don't want to watch the movies on a computer. And also, I want to share with friends and family who have set top players. I can put my MPEG-2 files on DVD and watch them now on a computer.
What would be the point in that. Although suggesting that you want to copy stuff & then lend/hire/sell copies to friends or family is in fact Piracy (be careful what you say as Piracy is most definitely worthy of a ban in the this and other forums)
.VOB .BUP .IFO are the files that a DVD are actually made up of.
Mpeg 2 might be okay for you to play in your stand alone dvd player but not all play mpeg 2.
I agree with MikeBUK in that you'd be better off with a stand alone DVD Recorder.
i assume you can put your home videos on your computer and get them into an mpeg2 form?
correct?
i also assume you have a dvd burner in your computer?
correct?
ok, assuming those two facts you can easily create dvds that all your friends can watch on their set top players. if you just put the MPEG2 file straight onto a DVD, chances are very few other players will be compatible with the video. Your computer will be able to play it through Windows Media PLayer or some equivalent.
What you need to do is to author a DVD. When you do this you use a program such as the aforementioned Sonic Foundry DVD Architecht. This program will allow you to create menus and scene selections and chapters. When you have done this you will render your dvd.
In the rendering process your MPEG2 file is converted into a VOB file(s) with supporting ifo files and many other little files. All of these files are then put into a directory called VIDEO_TS. This is how it becomes compatible with most settop players.
By using sonic foundry's dvd architect or any other program that authors DVDs you are not making a DVD that will only play in your computer, you are making a DVD that will play in any set top player. (For best compatibility use DVD-R discs, the DVD+R or worse the +/- RW discs have less compatibility)
a set top player might be your best bet because you don't sound like that much of a videophile or a computer expert.
