Tarnower

I have finally come to the realization that I must start recording my old VHS tapes (100+ that feature home movies, Superbowls, seminal television moments, music videos, and even porn) onto DVD before the tapes go bad (some are from early 80s!).

I visited Best Buy and Circuit City, and the only DVD recorders they carry are VHS to DVD (which is fine), but none have the ability to record from one DVD to another.

I will have massive amounts of editing to do when transfering my old VHS tapes to DVD. I don't want everything to be transfered. Given the fact that I would like to have numerous copies of each DVD (for other family members and friends), I don't want to have to edit the same VHS tapes onto DVD each and every time. I want to take that original DVD copy and make additional copies.

I am surprised that there are no DVD to DVD recorders out there. A friend told me to get a DVD Burner for my PC. My question is: If I burn a DVD on my PC, can I then play that DVD in any DVD player, or will it only play on the original source (PC)?

I'm hoping someone knows of a machine out there that can play/record VHS/DVD and DVD/DVD. Does anything like that exist?

Forgive my obvious lack of technical know-how on this matter.

Chew

The DVD burned on your computer will play just as well as the one burned on the recorder. It also depends on the age of the DVD player: the newer, the better.

A DVD to DVD recorder doesn't sound too likely: bootlegging would be easy.

Check out http://www.videohelp.com to find better answers to your questions and to search the recorders (peer) reviewed there.

Shannon Nutt

Using Video input/output cables, you should have no problem copying a DVD from a standard DVD player onto a DVD in your DVD recorder. The only way you'd run into a problem is if you were trying to copy copywrited material (where Macrovision would come into play)...and you're not trying to do that, are you?!

Mr. Salty

I don't know if video capture cards on a PC recognize Macrovision or not, but I agree that transferring the tapes to your PC for editing and then burning to DVD is a way better and more efficient process. Even basic video editing software will give you far more control than going disc-to-disc.

Even if you have to buy a burner, video capture card and editing software, it'll be way cheaper than buying a stand-alone DVD recorder. NEC has a highly-recommended DVD burner that you can get at newegg.com for about $70.

X

Either a computer or a standalone DVD recorder will make multiple copies of a compilation or playlist. There's no need to copy from DVD to DVD, you just make multiple copies of the original stored on the device's drive.

If you don't want to have to keep the compilation on the device's drive you can copy the DVD back to the device and make copies at a later time. A computer is potentially better for that unless you plan ahead and burn a disc in a mode that will let it be copied without re-encoding on a standalone recorder.

I have done extensive transfer and editing on my computer and found it to be tedious and slow. The quality wasn't as good as I wanted either.

I recently switched to a standalone recorder (Pioneer DVR-420H) and find it much, much faster and easier. And the video quality is superior to what I got with the computer.

Alan Smithee

You still get generational loss if you copy a DVD by playing it on one machine and recording it on the other, since the picture is already compressed once and it's being compressed again when recorded. If you use a computer the quality stays the same as the original no matter what you do to it.

X

Yes, it's definitely best to always burn from the original VHS->DVD conversion. The methods I outlined above do that and do not go through any type of recompression.

Tarnower

Guys, I really appreciate all the responses. However, I gotta admit, I am kinda confused.

Would you mind listing step-by-step, the procedure for burning a DVD on a PC. Let's say I just recorded some old VHS tapes onto a recordable DVD disc. Now, I will take that master DVD disc and pop it into a computer that has a burner and follow the instructions with the burner software to make a copy? Is that basically the best way? Also, removed discussion of copying commercial DVDs which is not allowed here and would get this thread closed.

Chew

For the first part of your question, check out that link for articles with step-by-step instructions that include pictures. You just need to find the one for your specific piece of software.

As for discussing copying w/Macrovision, that'd be a big DVDTalk rule violation.

Kimiakane

No one here would ever do that, Shannon!