For those that are computer savvy and know how to capture video from their TV to their PC or onto DVDs, what method do you use or would recommend? I am looking into buying some hardware to record TV and shows off of my Tivo onto my PC or onto a DVD, but I haven't figured out what type of hardware I want to buy. I have looked at external dvd burners and external capture cards, but I am not exactly sure what I should go for. I would most often use the hardware to record shows to my pc or a dvd that were previously recorded onto my DVR unit.
get a card for your computer for about 80 bucks, and it lets you plug in the out signal from your tv into your computer... and then its just hitting the red button and watching your hard drive get filled up
I have digital cable, will the card work with that? I am getting confused when reading directions because they keep on mentioning digital or analog signals. Should I be fine recorded as long as the card has an S-video plug-in on it?
as long as the card has a cable connector, you can hook your cable line directly to it. digital cable means nothing to it since you cant receive the higher(over 99) channels at all without a cable convertor box anyway...but for recording anything in the lower range, it works fine with regular TW/Cox/Comcast/whatever cable signal. also make sure it has a connector dongle that will handle s-video and rca jacks for recording off dvd or dvr I personally use a older ATI AIW Radeon card...you can probably get one of those cheap by now since they are a couple of generations back...adn they still work fine for most situations.
R2K - so the signal only goes to the computer? IE when you record the Rockets games you watch them on the computer? Or can you run the cable through the computer and then to the TV?
You dont want to go thru the computer first to feed the tv, use a splitter. I use a Y-splitter on the room's cable line and run one line from the splitter to the tv in the computer room, adn the other line to the computer. Im normally watching the game on the tv but I could watch on the computer if I wanted to...but since Im normally in ClutchChat during games, I need to be able to see the computer screen It really isnt complicated at all...it just seems daunting at first.
Rockets2K is the definitive man on this stuff. I did look into this earlier this year, and if you have your digital box connected to your tuner card or video capture card, you can record television that way. Anything you feed into your computer can be recorded. If you see it on your computer screen, there's a way.
Think about it this way: in an ideal set up, your VCR receives the antenna connection, then it goes to your TV. Your VCR can record while you watch something else, because of the tuners in both your TV and your VCR allow you to have different channels, and you can also turn off your "VCR/TV" function on your VCR to view something else on your channel 3 on your TV. If that was true for Antenna-to-computer-to-TV, then the card must have something similar to the back of the VCR, where there is an "in" and an "out" coaxial cable. R2k mentions the splitter, because it's the easiest way and you don't need a video card with "in" and "out", just 2 cables, one into the TV, another into the computer. My machine is way slow (800mhz, 256mb RAM) to record feeds from an RCA (yellow) video cable to my Intel cam with an input, so I stopped recording video from my vcr. The DIGITAL signal is converted at the cable box, then into your TV via a digital cable like COAXIAL or RGB (the Red-Green-Blue). Analog signals come via the Yellow or black cable, or the coaxial cable. You can do much more with the digital signal, because it can be sent sharper and with more information than analog. Your computer more than likely will record any signal type (digital or analog), to AVI first, then you will need to put that into DVDs with the same or a combination of more software. It's tedious work, but it will be fun. Also, more RAM helps. Hopefully I didn't confuse you more.
Ok, I think I will most likely go the route of getting a capture card then. I have a laptop, so I believe I'll need an external capture card. Anyone have any good recommendations? I am probably looking for something around $150 or less.
There is this thing called the Dazzle, about 50 bucks at Worst Buy, that allows you to connect ANYTHING to it like RCA, COAXIAL, RGB, etc., and it connects to your PC via USB or firewire. Get the firewire one... I am betting your PC already has a firewire... this is cheap. They have these at Worst Buy: http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage...sp=BRAND_NM&cp=4&sc=ALL&uq=Dazzle&id=cat12085 (the 85 ~ $50, the 90 ~ $100, the 150 ~ $135)
I noticed a lot of the cards are made for USB 2.0, it looks like my laptop only has USB 1.1 ports. Is this a problem or can I just search for cards that use firewire? I see that I have a 1394 slot on the side of my pc.
That doesn't seem right. FireWire came out AFTER USB 2.0 . Your USB port is more than likely USB 2.0 because you have FireWire. Post your laptop's model number... oh, yeah, and also your Windows registration key and your dog's date of birth.
I do not capture video to my PC currently, but like Franchise3. I am considering starting. I have heard that another thing to look for in the capture card/device is to have "on board MPEG 2 encoding", NOT software encoding. Anyone know anything about this, and can they recommend internal and external devices that have it?
Well, I checked my Device Manager and neither port says it is "Enhanced" or "2.0". I do however, see a small port on the side of my laptop that says "1394" above it. My laptop is an Inspiron 8200.
I had the original Dazzle Video Creator or whatever it's called. Worst pile of junk ever made. I couldn't even get good support for it. I eventually chunked it and got a Canopus ADV-100. More expensive, but at least it's reliable. I used it to convert VCR stuff for my mom into digital vids on the computer.
The DVC-80? the worst piece of crap ever made, I tried that before I got a real capture device. Franchise, if ya got 1394, by all means use that..it is imo your best option.
Firewire, 1394, is seemingly made for this type of recording. If you have a digital camcorder, you could use that to record old VHS tapes or memorable events.... Most new HDTVs have a firewire link. For standard TV sets, your best bet could be component or AV-out cables, which requires the use of a card. Try not to skimp out on the cards...
OK, let's say he will use his FIREWIRE connection. [together]"He will use his FIREWIRE connection." How do I use my digital camcorder (whatever model) to record old VHS tapes?
