Need technical DVD/PVR help!

[bugman]

All right, I know that many of you are much more computer savy than me. So I am looking for some help.

I have a couple of programs on my PVR(Dish Network) recorder that I want to save. I can get the video to my hard drive using the ATI TV Wonder USB 2.0, which I am not that happy with. The video comes out a little less than digital quality. Is there a better method of transfering the video?

Second, once I have the file, I am having a hell of a time trying to get everything I want on the DVD. I have two short clips I am trying to burn to a DVD. One is the NAUCC coverage that was on the GSN program Games Across America, the is the other is the ESPN coverage of Unicon in Japan.

If anyone can get me going in the right direction, either using what I have or telling me what would be the optimal set up I would really appreciate it. I have made on DVD so far, and only one of the programs actually recorded to the disc. It wasn't due to file size, just using the wrong program. It also saved it kind of weird, in other words, I can't just pop it in the DVD player and have it play, it has file I have to choose and play.

If I can get this working, I will be glad to hook up the person/people that can help.

[john_childs]

Most of the hard drive based PVRs, like Tivo, don't allow you to get the digitally recorded file directly off the PVR and transfer it to a computer. That's annoying because the video has already been captured, converted and compressed, but you can't get at it. You end up doing an analog capture of the TV out from the PVR. That's a bit of work.

There are a couple of ways to go about capturing the video off the PVR.

One way is to feed the TV out from the PVR to a digital camcorder (like a DV camcorder) and record the show to digital tape. Then you transfer that DV video to your computer using Firewire or whatever your camera uses. From there it is the normal process of transferring the DV video to your computer, editing, and making the final video. This is probably the easiest way if you have a digital camcorder and should maintain good quality.

The other way is to do an analog capture using a video card that takes a TV in signal. This is the way I capture video from the VCR.

Another way is to use the hardware devices like the ATI TV Wonder to capture the video. I've never used it so I don't know what you can do to improve the capture quality.

For the DVD authoring you need a DVD authoring program. The DVD authoring program formats and configures the DVD so that it will play on a TV. I use Nero Express which came bundled with my DVD burner driver.

It sounds like you're compressing the video to a file that you can play on the computer, but have not yet run that file through a DVD authoring program to make it playable on a TV DVD player.

[bugman]

Thanks John. I may try doing it with my video camera and see if that coames out any better. I do have My DVD by Sonic, and can send the video directly into the program, or use windows movie maker to manipulate the video first.

For some reason I could not get the file from the TV Wonder to work in My DVD so the program I used was one of the light programs that came with my burner possibly. I have like 5 programs that burn to VCD, but I was trying to go DVD to make it more usable.

[bugman]

John, Thanks for the tips. I had everything I needed to make the DVD over a year agoa. That stupid TV Wonder was a complete waste. I never really thought of using my DV Camera, but it came out fine. I feel bad that it has taken me this long to ask the forum about this. I searched the internet over and nobody made that suggestion.

I have a copy of NAUCC/GSN style and UNICON coverage from ESPN with your name on it. Send me a PM with your address I can get it out in the morning with Aspen "Butt Butter" Mikes copy.

[john_childs]

Thanks!
I've never used a device like the TV Wonder. My guess is that it's doing a lot of compression and/or cutting the resolution of the video in order to transfer it over USB. That's probably why the quality from it was not as good. Capturing video at full resolution uses a lot of bandwidth.

I heard about the DV camcorder trick from one of the video sites. But the process is so easy compared to trying to capture the video directly to the computer that it kind of gets lost in the shuffle.

[markf]

build a media center box, load up a linux distro that's basically Tivo and go nuts.