DVD Modes

[MikeMattke]

I am probably going to appear somewhat stupid [but I have big shoulders and can take it] but I have a DVD recording question. On a DVD recorder, it will state that the highest quality will fit and hour, standard 2 hours, etc., etc. Is there a great loss in quality if you record in the 4-hour mode as opposed to the 2-hour mode? I want to record some meetings that might exceed 2 hours and then feed the video into my S4000Pro.

What would be my best option for recording something that is 2+ hours that will be fed into my editor? I have been using miniDV tape but a couple of times I have had to change tapes and I don't want the video to appear edited for content.

THANKS!

[HansJoachimKoenig]

Hi Mike,
simple question, simple answer:
Burn 5 minute samples of same content in "Normal" and in "Reduced" DVD mode.
Playback in DVD player and you see what you get in each mode.
Use DVD-RWs so you won't have throwaways.

[jimmeeker]

Hello Mike,

Why not take an old AVIO along and record your camcorder directly into it. Then just firewire it into your S-4000 when you get home. Then it's all pristeen digital quality and not compressed to death by the 4 hour DVD burn.

We do direct into AVIOs all the time and transfer later for editing and burning. If you start with the compressed 4 hour mode and then create another DVD from that....you are looking at miserable quality.

[BobFoster]

It will take a lot less than 2 hours to disconnect your S-4000 take it with you, record to it directly, re-connect and start editing. I do this about 25 times a year. No transfer at all.

[flvideo]

That bring another question to mind. Why doesn't Macro Systems make a portable device that we could take and record directectly to and just in stall it in the cassie and edit. Now I'd buy 2 of those. Bob...

[BobFoster]

That probably could be done with something like a "Firestore" type HD that could be used with most cameras. It most likely would have to be used with a generation III editor. I have a Firestore HD mounted on a JVC 5000 camera that gets used as a backup to the camera tape for real portable use. Several other mfgs are already doing it. Put it on your "Want" list and see what happens. I already do that with a Prestige and a couple of HDs. When I get back to the studio, I swap the HDs between the Renomee Plus and Prestige and edit on one while the other is burning master DVDs. Works great for me because my "portable" set up is mainly stationary with dual monitors, switcher, 2 cameras, WFM, Prestige, backup D-VHS deck and dual audio mixers (1 for the house and 1 for my recording. Meanwhile the S4000 Pro sits on the shelf being envious of the Prestige and Reno+. The (S4k Pro) is being used more and more for other types of programs other than long format. Waaay too slow for rendering long DVDs in the ADD FILM window.

[flvideo]

Yeah I can see that would be nice. I can't afford the second machine. That would be Ideal to have a Prestige and shoot directly into it and go back to the studio and pop the HD into the Rennie and edit. I could deal with that. I have an old Avio dvd but it doesn't have a removable HD. Besides it has a problem that I can't remember what it was. I looked at that Firestore. It really looked good. To dump into the Cassie its no worse than dumping from tape is it? Bob...

[BobFoster]

No Problems. It eliminates any dropouts that could happen with tape. Used Prestige machines with a minimum of software are pretty affordable. Need to have both editors on the same version of OS for best compatibility. If you set up all your hardrives with the OS from your fastest most loaded machine, you can record on the other machine and then edit with all your software on your fastest unit. As far as "adding Film" and burning time, there isn't much difference in the editors. You would notice a big difference in image processing time with the faster machine. Also, I found that the HDs in the Firestore units are easily upgraded to larger hard drives. Mine started with an 80gb and is now upgraded to a 320gb.

Here's an example on ebay. Prestige Plus with 3 HDs. I don't know ANYTHING about this unit.
http://tinyurl.com/y8n4nmx