DVDBurners finally affordable! (1 Viewer)

[Jim Robbins]

Over the weekend CompUSA offered the QPS DVD-R/RAM for just $349 so I checked on the web and discovered it was a Panasonic drive and purchased it. My Dazzle II came with DVDit! LE and the QPS came with NEODVD. Neither of these let you create chapter stops or let you do everything you see on most DVDs. Both software packages let you create a menu and thumbnails of each video segment. I was searching for better software and it looks like DVDit!PE can do it all, has anyone used this software?

 

[NickSP]

Jim, a couple of questions for you.

If you copy a 5.1 encoded DD/DTS Dvd, is the resulting copy also in the same audio format, i.e DD/DTS 5.1? Doeas the audio suffer at all?

What about macrovision? How do you deal with that?

Also, what is the price on blank DVD media?

Thanks.

 

[MarcS]

I'm looking to buy my first home PC (what?, just now?--but I've always just used the one at work with the T1 connection) and am interested in getting a DVD-RW drive also... But it seems that burning DVD's, at least for the home user, is not quite a mature technology?

Most DVD's use CSS encryption, right (is that the same as Macrovision)? Of course, there is a way to de-crypt, but it's in the courts right now...

Is there a way to do a 1-to-1 copy of a DVD? Will a home player read it?

In doing a Google search on the topic, I got several hits on software that claims you can put video on a CD-R/RW that can be read by a home dvd player...?

DVD blank disks are about $10 each...

 

[Dan Hitchman]

Nick,

You cannot copy a pre-recorded DVD. Not unless you "go around the rules."

Let's not discuss this on the forum.

I would, however, love to hear about reasonably priced DVD authoring software that will allow an MPEG-2 video stream to be SMPTE time code synched with a *.DTS or *.ac3 audio file and also let you set up menu screens and branches.

There are "fairly cheap" (in the scheme of things) editing, mixing, and encoding software for at least DTS 5.1 Digital Surround (Coherent Acoustics codec at 44.1 or 48 kHz and half or full bitrate settings) and MPEG-2 video editing suites from Adobe, etc., but I haven't seen any authoring software that will put video and audio tracks together to record onto a DVD burner without spending hundreds of thousands of dollars.

If the price was right home movies and student budget movies could be produced like the big boys at a fraction of the cost.

Dan

 

[Jim Robbins]

In response to Nick..

The current equipment I have doesn't do 5.1 but does two channel excellent. The Dazzle II is not bothered by Macrovision and the price I pay for DVD-R's is $5.

You understand for me I am not interested in copying DVD's since they are cheap enough anyway. I do find it fun to make "Best of" clips from movies I own. The quality at the highest bitrate is quite good.

 

[Jeff D]

There are many possible ways to make discs that will play on your dvd player. I won't even discuss copying dvd's but I'll say this... the capacity of a DVD-R is roughly 4.5GB and most DVD's are larger than that. You can do the math.

In the avsforum in the replay/Showstopper area you can search for information on making mini-dvd's, s-vcd's and vcd's using CD-R. You can also make DVD's if your player will play DVD-Rs. The results are pretty impressive.

I've taken a video tape of skydiving and captured it on my replay (you can capture however you want) and then used the resulting stream to create a DVD-R. It will play on most of the DVD players which can read CD-R/RW.

I'm not sure about DVD-RAM. I'm interested in that, I think DVD-RAM discs will only work on DVD-RAM drives.

 

[Paul E V]

I'm waiting for the stand-alones to come down

Then I'll kick out one of my VCRs like my CD recorder did to the tape deck ----- I also picked up MD but it didn't kick out the other cassette because I looped it with the CD-R (I only use the MD as a middleman from tape/LP to CD-R and any CD to CD-R recording is direct to the CD-R)