Usnig a DVD Recorder instead of a camcorder or converter?
 

Hi guys, I love this forum. You guys are so helpful, and its a wonderful place to stop and share information before making purchases etc. and an excellent source of education from like minded people.

1. I am wondering if anyone has used a DVD recorder for throughput only, i.e. the same as you would use a video camera for to monitor out.

2. (trickier) Does anyone know which models, i.e. LG / Sony / Pioneer, have the DV IEEE1394 setup for BOTH In and Out.

3. Would this essentially replace a DV camera or breakout box, including for 16:9 use?

Thanks guys. I am going shoppnig this week, so need to bite the bullet on a decision. The Pyro or AVDC has to be imported as I am in Australia, so another option would be better. My video camera is all hooked up to my other computer, so I need a second solution.

Cheers
Alex

I use a Sony DVD recorder for this exact purpose (but it's also handy when you need to burn DVD's :-) Mine is several years old, but when I shopped back then the only models with firewire OUT were very expensive pro decks. I don't think this has changed, but be sure to let us know if you find something.

But also realize that DVD's and the internal hard drives on these players will record in MPEG format, so even if there was firewire out you'd be dealing with artifacts and format conversion. I don't see how this is going to replace your camera for capturing, since you need to play a tape to do that. IIRC, somebody makes a deck with a DV transport and DVD drive... maybe JVC? It would me much more expensive than a consumer DVD recorder though.

16:9 should have more to do with your monitor and editing software; it's still just 720x480 (or 720x576 PAL). Although there is one thing which surprised me on my Sony DVD recorder. If you set the correct menu option, you can burn an anamorphic 16:9 DVD. And if you set the correct screen type the DVD player with automatically letterbox 16:9 footage on 4:3 monitors. However it does NOT do this in realtime as you monitor, only after you have burned to DVD and play it back. So in other words, I can't use my DVD recorder to letterbox 16:9 on a 4:3 monitor as I edit. This isn't an issue for me since I have a 16:9 monitor anyway, but it might be for someone else.

A nice thing about my DVD recorder (and most should have this feature) is component video output which I use to drive a widescreen LCD monitor at higher quality than the s-video which most cameras offer.

Fantastic answer Boyd, and essentially answered just about everything I need to know.

My cameraman brings his camera to me for the capture, so no probs there until I can afford a deck, it's just the out I'm interested in.

Monitors themselves are very expensive, but I still find I get better colours on a TV screen than seeing final preview on a computer LCD. Would you say that it is necessary for me to even get a TV, or do you think that editing on a computer screen on a fast enough computer screen is good enough?

I think I will go the route of the DVD recorder, since input is barely necessary unless I have an analog signal to contend with....

On the website www.dvdrhelp.com I got the following forum response....

Pioneer made the only ones that work both ways. The hard drive models are the DVR-510H-S and DVR-520H-S. The disc-only models are the DVR-310-S and DVR-320-S. One thing to note is that the video must be recorded to the hard drive or disc before it can be exported via the DV link. It doesn't do live pass-through of the incoming video signal the way a Canopus box does.


So interesting, and may influence my choice, although I now realize that with a DVD recorder I can burn an analog signal to a disc and then open that disc in Vegas anyway...

Ah, the joys....

I use a Pioneer DVR-310 recorder as a pass through when I have to make VHS tapes of 16:9 videos. Computer firewire-> DVD deck-> s-video -> VHS decks.
The reason is that the DVD deck will output with the letterbox screen since most VHS decks do not handle the 16:9 screen.
The DVR-310 has S-video and composite outputs which should fit your purpose just fine.