DVD Recorder with firewire

[Rafael Amador]

There are plenty of DVD driver that you can connect to your Mac but I don’t think no one can do what you want, capturing from FC.
I would recommend you MPGStreamclip. This free application allows you to select easylly the takes you need from the DVD (just marking IN and OUT points) and export the clips to QT with the codec and set-ups that you choose.
salud,
rafael

[Bouncing Account needs new email address]

Most if not all DVD decks with FW connectors use that FW for camcorder input to the DVD deck only (and to control a connected DV camcorder).

The FW connection will not send out a signal from the DVD for recording onto another unit or to FCP.

For that matter, I don’t think you can even connect the DVD deck’s FW jack directly to the Mac and have it record directly FROM the FCP timeline.

[Walter Biscardi]

[Matte] “For that matter, I don’t think you can even connect the DVD deck’s FW jack directly to the Mac and have it record directly FROM the FCP timeline.”

In the case of our deck, this does work with DV timelines as the FW is just an input on the DVD Recorder. It doesn’t care where the signal is coming from, it’s just an input. I believe it’s the Philips DVDR-75 consumer model we picked up at Circuit City.

Walter Biscardi, Jr.
https://www.biscardicreative.com
HD Editorial & Animation for Food Network’s “Good Eats”
HD Editorial for “Assignment Earth”

“I reject your reality and substitute my own!” – Adam Savage, Mythbusters

[Rafael Amador]

Walter,
But what kind of signal you are getting? The MPG2 stream?
Thanks for your help.
rafael

[Rennie Klymyk]

I think what Walter is saying is he comes OFF the FCP timeline INTO the deck, not vis~versa.
The only mpeg that FCP supports is hdv and imx and recently xdcam.

Mpeg-2 (DVD) is a delivery format that uses lossy compression. You need to convert it back to another codec for editing in FCP and it will loose some quality in the back conversion. Your best to find the original source tapes for editing. Mpeg-2 encoding will hack a 25GB digital video file down to 4.2GB so it fits on a dvd disc or can be digitally broadcast and even though it looks pretty good you have lost a lot of your original data in the process. All this other 20.8Gb (hypothetical) of data that is missing from the original video frames is cleverly written back in to each frame for display by borrowing adjacent data from other I,P or B frames futher up and down the line. The original data for each frame is lost. Do a google search of Mpeg-2 compression to dig deeper into this.

If you have a Pioneer LX1 with 422 control you can come off component from the dvd and log and capture that way, use capture now from an analog input or use slipstream or other software converter to change the files to something FCP will work with. I don’t know of any dvd recorders that output DV from the firewire port as that would have to be transcoded back from the mpeg-2 stream.

[Runner]

Absolute quality & codec concatenation isn’t really the issue here, these are for mood compilations, examples of director/editor approach to problems and so on. The current crop of library material is on DVD, but it will be mixed with previous generations on Beta SP, Umatic or VHS.

The LX1 is way too expensive for my application but does claim batch recording via firewire. There’s an intriguing paragraph on the Pioneer website about their domestic machines (see below) which indicates they can act as a master to control a slave camcorder, but makes no mention of being slaved to an editing system. I’m reluctant to spend unless it’s known to do what I want, and this may be too much of a niche requirement.

[i]”Dubbing from digital sources to the Hard Disk Drive or DVD discs is a simple matter of connecting a camcorder to the DV IN/OUT connector on the front of the DVD recorder. The user-friendly remote

[Bouncing Account needs new email address]

I make DVD dubs all the time.

I just make a dub to DV tape first, then I dub from the DV tape to DVD recorder via FW.\

That way I can continue to edit on the Mac while I make multiple DVDs.

The quality via FW from the DV tape, is identical as it would be coming directly from FCP via FW.

I use a very low-cost stand-alone DVD recorder that I bought a couple of years ago at Costco and I have made hundreds of DVD’s with very few “rejects.”

Actually much better luck regarding “rejects” and compatibility with various players (and much, MUCH FASTER recording) than when I have burned DVD’s on the Mac’s Super Drive.

[Rafael Amador]

The question is that without TC you can not control any king of machine from FC. Biscardi didn’t answer what kind of signal you get in FC from a DVD via Firewire.
salud,
rafael

Salud

[Runner]

Ah, timecode, I hadn’t thought of that! that’s probably the key point.

I was anticipating the firewire to carry DV25.

thanks for your help, folks