Make my PC into a VCR

[DeathscytheHELL]

With an increase in Anime on Cable tv, I am running out of VHS space I record about 2 hours a day, and I record them for my friends to watch, So recording and watching them, and recording over them isn't an option.

What's the best way to use my PC to record TV and Make VCD or DVDs?

I currently have a Xtasy Everything Video card installed, and running as a TV card.
It works perfect for TV. And seems to records good, but I cannot get sound due to an error when played back though Media Player (MGI Videowave Error: Missing Partnumber)
So I haven't tried making something my DVD player can read out of recorded material yet.

As I am stuck with Time Warner Digital cable, I doubt that Tivo would offer that much of an edge over just using my computer as a VCR.
I wouldn't trust myself with modifing one to transfer recorded shows either.

So what do I need to make this work? I have about a $400 limit +$20/day it takes me to decide what to do for Capture card and Firewire(if needed).

Current system:
P4 1500 with 640 pc800 ram
Xtasy Everything (64Mb geforce2 400mx)
SB AudigyPlatinum Sound
WD 120Gig HD with 8mb cashe
Qps CD-rw with Nero burning software

 

[DurocShark]

Are you getting audio when just watching tv? If not, you may either need updated audio drivers or a cable of some kind to connect the audio from the Xtasy to the Audigy.

My AIW 8500DV didn't come with an internal audio patch cable, had to buy one. It did come with a line-in connection for the sound card, but I could never seem to make that work (Fortissimo 7.1), but the aux in connection works great.

If all else fails, keep your eyes open for a TV Wonder or some other tuner card for cheap. I bought one here in the FS/T forums for $25.

Good luck!

 

[Jeff7]

I've got a Hauppauge WinTV-PVR 350. It runs about $200; it's got hardware MPEG2 encoding, and decoding (though the decoder is only active when the video-out is being used, otherwise it uses software). I use Ulead Videostudio to edit commercials out, rerender the MPEG2 files to a lower bitrate (I record at 12Mb/sec) and then write them to DVD. So far, I'm only doing this for Mystery Science Theater 3000 - it's one of the few channels that comes in very clearly. I would've liked to do this for Deep Space 9 and Voyager, but the quality of that channel isn't too good - I'm sort of out in the boonies, so a) the cable's not the greatest out here (though we do somehow have 2-way cable Internet access) and b) it's a small neighborhood. Translation - low profit area for the cable company, so they prefer only to service problems like NO TV at all, and not "little" problems like visual noise.

 

[AtomicDude512]

I woudl get a faster CPU for encoding video, say around 2.66GHz. And get a DVD Burner.

 

[SickBeast]

divx, my friend, divx.

get a tv-tuner, then download a program called "iuvcr". install divx, and configure it properly (search the rage3d.com boards for optimum settings). you should be able to fit an hour of excellent quality video onto a cd.

 

[QueBert]

Originally posted by: SickBeast
divx, my friend, divx.

get a tv-tuner, then download a program called "iuvcr". install divx, and configure it properly (search the rage3d.com boards for optimum settings). you should be able to fit an hour of excellent quality video onto a cd.

I second that. and to whoever told him to get a 2.6ghz cpu? NAAH! on my 1600+ I use to encode divx real time, and loose maybe 10 frames out of a minute, not perfect but I had it set to 29 (or whatever the TV setting is) so I was happy with it. And he could fit 90 minutes on a single disc, without much artifacts. I haven't messed with DiVX beyond trying to squeeze about 1:30 on a single cd. 60 minutes would probably yield incredible results, and would make more sense if he's doing 2 hours a day I guess

 

[PerfMan]

Forget the All In Wonder... I often Wondered why my didn't work quite right.. Also tying the capture to your gaming video card is STUPID!. Instead... do what I did... buy yourself a good gaming card.... Radeon 9500Pro (or better)... then take a look at LeadTek TV2000 Deluxe. I was apprehensive when I ordered this card due to it's low cost... but was I wrong... this card ROCKS!. It ran me $52... yes $52.. that's it... Here is what you get... A PCI based capture card.. with TV Tuner, FM Tuner, IR Remote. The software is much better than ATI's. First the capture DOES NOT CRASH and Time Shift video works.. (I have tried to crash it and have not been able to.. ATI's crashed all the time - MMC 7.6). They also tied the software into www.titaltv.com for your program guide. Seems better than GuidePlus from ATI... works.. can schedule shows to record.. etc. Also the cards has a sleep timer.. kinda cool for those of us that fall asleep behind our PC..

I have done a few test capures.. it can capture via Coax, SVideo, Composite. I was able to capture 720 x 480 30fps on an XP1700 and it only used 70% of the CPU. As far as playback... don't use the app from LeadTek... it works... but if you have an ATI gaming card it has a hardware mpeg decoder on it and reduced your cpu utilization during playback... so use ATI fileplayer to play back shows.

Like I said... 9500Pro and TV2000 sees to be a perfect combo.. for a low price ($240 for both).

 

[DeathscytheHELL]

Tried out Perf's Idea (haven't decided on a new Vid card yet)

Great Capture quality for the price and I have tried out most everything with Ulead and the capture settings on a small set of small filed captures.
But I am having problems getting Ulead to edit A big file without crashing.

I get a few changes in, and suddenly my system resources skyrocket to 100% usage, and then recovers after about 5 seconds, and if I try to do anything with the program, the Cpu usage goes up again.

Any suggestions?

I am recording in VCD NTSC (basically Mpeg-2) format

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anyone know? how well does the Sony 500Ax work for burning Vcd/Dvr? is it as finicky as I have read?
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