Dvd transfer to Camcorder at DVinfo.net

Tony Marino · December 22nd, 2004, 04:42 PM

I have mini dv tapes from my Gl-2 that I transfer to dvd. I keep a copy of the mini dv tape incase the dvd gets damaged or lost. I have lost some of the mini dv tapes that I already transfered to dvd. If I hook the firewire, can I transfer the dvd back to a blank mini dv tape without losing any quality or lines of resolution?

The dvd recorder I am using is one that is hooked to the TV.

Thank you,
Tony

Rob Lohman · December 23rd, 2004, 04:50 AM

I don't see how you are going to use the firewire in this scenario.

There are two things you can do in my mind:

1. copy the contents from the DVD to your computer and extract the individual audio and video streams and convert these back into DV

2. hook the DVD player up with an s-video connection (also connect audio seperately!) and record it to DV tape with your GL2

How did you loose the tape? (wondering since mine are all nicely
put away and I don't see how I could loose them)

A. J. deLange · December 23rd, 2004, 12:17 PM

Your success will depend on what you actually did. I do the same thing but I transfer DV from the camera to DV ROM i.e. the raw DV gets recorded on the disc and is just like any other .dv file. To get this back to tape I could copy the DV files back to the hard disc, open in FCP or some other NLE and set playback to put the video out through fire wire which would be connected to a fire wire camera. I'm assuming cameras like the XL2 can record fire wire input but I have never actually tried to do this. Just remembered that the XL2 manual is on-line. Yes, you can do this with an XL2 and I'd guess other fire wire cameras would allow it as well.

If you have gone to DVD you will have compressed the original DV by an additional 15:1 so there will be lots more compression artifacts than in your original. You can still mount the DVD on your desktop, kill the DVD player software which will doubtless kick in, open the disk like any other volume and look for the video files. These will be MPEG-2 and what I am not sure of here is whether FCP or other NLE's can open them. If not, you may need to convert back to DV with another application. If they can, then just do the same thing - play back through fire wire and record to tape.

Why not just make a backup copy of the DVD?

Brandon Greenlee · December 23rd, 2004, 12:30 PM

I would probably attempt to hook a MiniDV camera straight in to the back of the dvd player and play the dvd. That way your recording it back to DV at the highest quality possible (now) and it will be easy to get back into an NLE timeline.

It won't be of the original quality, but it will be good enough for most things.

Tony Marino · December 25th, 2004, 12:03 PM

Thank you for the replys but I am not using my computer to try and transfer the dvd back to mini dv. I am trying to find out if I can use my phillips dvdr 7517 connected to the Tv via component cables to transfer a dvd back to mini dv using my GL-2 via firewire and not lose any quality.

Thank you,
Tony

Les Wilson · December 25th, 2004, 05:29 PM

I am unfamiliar with that model but I assume that it does not have a Firewire output as that would have been the easy way for uncopyprotected material. Going out the component ports of the DVD player results in an digital to analog conversion. Converting the component to firewire involves re-encoding the analog signal into DV format another conversion. Your camera will do this from s-video or composite video inputs I believe. Either way, you are looking at two conversions. If the material is copy protected, then you may hit some snags.

Tony Marino · December 26th, 2004, 10:50 PM

The Phillips dvdr 7517 does have a firewire. If the firewire is used will I lose any quality going from the dvd to the camcorder? I will then be able to record a dvd from the mini dv tape.

Thanks

Rob Lohman · December 29th, 2004, 06:42 AM

Tony: I've merged your new thread with your old thread

A. J. deLange · December 29th, 2004, 07:04 AM

Recording from the firewire will give you better quality than methods involving composite or S video but you will not get the quality of the original because of the additional compression (15:1) done when the DVD was made.

David Kennett · December 29th, 2004, 02:33 PM

Tony,

VLC, a freeware program, can convert the VOB files on your DVD to MPG (no re-encoding). These can then be converted to DV by putting them on the timeline of an editor (Ulead MSP works), and define the output as DV. You still take the hit of conversion, but it's all digital. Actually, if you didn't compress the MPG too much, they'll still look pretty good.

Thomas Berg Petersen · January 3rd, 2005, 01:38 PM

Tony,
I had a job recently where I needed to convert a DVD into MiniDV. I successfully used the program DVDxDV. You can go to http://www.dvdxdv.com/ for more information.

December 22nd, 2004, 04:42 PM	#1
Tony Marino Regular Crew Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: St. Louis, MO Posts: 55	Dvd transfer to Camcorder I have mini dv tapes from my Gl-2 that I transfer to dvd. I keep a copy of the mini dv tape incase the dvd gets damaged or lost. I have lost some of the mini dv tapes that I already transfered to dvd. If I hook the firewire, can I transfer the dvd back to a blank mini dv tape without losing any quality or lines of resolution? The dvd recorder I am using is one that is hooked to the TV. Thank you, Tony

December 23rd, 2004, 04:50 AM	#2
Rob Lohman RED Code Chef Join Date: Oct 2001 Location: Holland Posts: 12,514	I don't see how you are going to use the firewire in this scenario. There are two things you can do in my mind: 1. copy the contents from the DVD to your computer and extract the individual audio and video streams and convert these back into DV 2. hook the DVD player up with an s-video connection (also connect audio seperately!) and record it to DV tape with your GL2 How did you loose the tape? (wondering since mine are all nicely put away and I don't see how I could loose them) __________________ Rob Lohman, visuar@iname.com DV Info Wrangler & RED Code Chef Join the DV Challenge \| Lady X Search DVinfo.net for quick answers \| Buy from the best: DVinfo.net sponsors

December 25th, 2004, 12:03 PM	#5
Tony Marino Regular Crew Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: St. Louis, MO Posts: 55	Dvd transfer to camcorder Thank you for the replys but I am not using my computer to try and transfer the dvd back to mini dv. I am trying to find out if I can use my phillips dvdr 7517 connected to the Tv via component cables to transfer a dvd back to mini dv using my GL-2 via firewire and not lose any quality. Thank you, Tony

December 29th, 2004, 06:42 AM	#8
Rob Lohman RED Code Chef Join Date: Oct 2001 Location: Holland Posts: 12,514	Tony: I've merged your new thread with your old thread __________________ Rob Lohman, visuar@iname.com DV Info Wrangler & RED Code Chef Join the DV Challenge \| Lady X Search DVinfo.net for quick answers \| Buy from the best: DVinfo.net sponsors

December 29th, 2004, 02:33 PM	#10
David Kennett Major Player Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: North Ridgeville, Ohio Posts: 407	Tony, VLC, a freeware program, can convert the VOB files on your DVD to MPG (no re-encoding). These can then be converted to DV by putting them on the timeline of an editor (Ulead MSP works), and define the output as DV. You still take the hit of conversion, but it's all digital. Actually, if you didn't compress the MPG too much, they'll still look pretty good. __________________ Dave

December 23rd, 2004, 12:17 PM	#3
A. J. deLange Major Player Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: McLean, VA United States Posts: 749	Your success will depend on what you actually did. I do the same thing but I transfer DV from the camera to DV ROM i.e. the raw DV gets recorded on the disc and is just like any other .dv file. To get this back to tape I could copy the DV files back to the hard disc, open in FCP or some other NLE and set playback to put the video out through fire wire which would be connected to a fire wire camera. I'm assuming cameras like the XL2 can record fire wire input but I have never actually tried to do this. Just remembered that the XL2 manual is on-line. Yes, you can do this with an XL2 and I'd guess other fire wire cameras would allow it as well. If you have gone to DVD you will have compressed the original DV by an additional 15:1 so there will be lots more compression artifacts than in your original. You can still mount the DVD on your desktop, kill the DVD player software which will doubtless kick in, open the disk like any other volume and look for the video files. These will be MPEG-2 and what I am not sure of here is whether FCP or other NLE's can open them. If not, you may need to convert back to DV with another application. If they can, then just do the same thing - play back through fire wire and record to tape. Why not just make a backup copy of the DVD?

December 23rd, 2004, 12:30 PM	#4
Brandon Greenlee Major Player Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: North Alabama Posts: 242	I would probably attempt to hook a MiniDV camera straight in to the back of the dvd player and play the dvd. That way your recording it back to DV at the highest quality possible (now) and it will be easy to get back into an NLE timeline. It won't be of the original quality, but it will be good enough for most things.

December 25th, 2004, 05:29 PM	#6
Les Wilson Inner Circle Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Boca Raton, FL Posts: 3,014	I am unfamiliar with that model but I assume that it does not have a Firewire output as that would have been the easy way for uncopyprotected material. Going out the component ports of the DVD player results in an digital to analog conversion. Converting the component to firewire involves re-encoding the analog signal into DV format another conversion. Your camera will do this from s-video or composite video inputs I believe. Either way, you are looking at two conversions. If the material is copy protected, then you may hit some snags.

December 26th, 2004, 10:50 PM	#7
Tony Marino Regular Crew Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: St. Louis, MO Posts: 55	The Phillips dvdr 7517 does have a firewire. If the firewire is used will I lose any quality going from the dvd to the camcorder? I will then be able to record a dvd from the mini dv tape. Thanks

December 29th, 2004, 07:04 AM	#9
A. J. deLange Major Player Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: McLean, VA United States Posts: 749	Recording from the firewire will give you better quality than methods involving composite or S video but you will not get the quality of the original because of the additional compression (15:1) done when the DVD was made.

January 3rd, 2005, 01:38 PM	#11
Thomas Berg Petersen Regular Crew Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: NYC, NY Posts: 111	Tony, I had a job recently where I needed to convert a DVD into MiniDV. I successfully used the program DVDxDV. You can go to http://www.dvdxdv.com/ for more information. __________________ Thomas