Taping Directly to a DVD

[Mark Suszko]

You can find live DVD recorders as cheap as 100 bucks. The cheap ones want a composite video input, as you pay more, you get more and better quality options. You must allow time to finalize the disk after you stop recording, and before you put the disk in a high speed dubbing tower, or dubs won’t play for most folks.

To add titles and logo bugs, now you’re going to need a video switcher, and a source for the graphics. This raises the stakes quite a bit.

[Brian Maynard]

Mark,
thank you very much for your time and help.

Do I just get a regular DVD recorder?

Do I just have to keep the camera going? Can I turn it off for intermission and if I do, how does that effect the DVD recorder?

Thanks again for your help.

Brian

[Mark Suszko]

They come with and without tuners, some come with a built-in hard drive, which can record in parallel to the dvd-r, then you can make additional dubs from the hard drive to fresh discs, one at a time. Or, you can do primitive editing with it, deleting some parts to shorten the overall length.

You *can* pause one, but like old VCR’s they may not stay paused for too long, and may lapse into a stopped mode after a few minutes. You’ll just have to RTFM to find out, depending on specific model.

Yes, you have to keep the camera outputting. WIth the old DV camcorders, you could trick them into staying on by leaving their loading door open. I can’t advise in detail because I don’t know what gear you are using and what connectors, etc.

I really like the Panasonic models myself, but Sony and others offer nice ones too. Time for some homework, I think.

[Brian Maynard]

Mark.

Thank you very much for your help.

I have been searching all over. This was kind of a last resort.

Thank you again!

Brian