Help - Recording to PC?

Trav said:
Okay, you've got me curious now! ;-)

So you remove the cover on the PVR, remove the drive, attach to an IDE port on the PC? I built the computer I am using now, so I am familiar with hardware, etc. But I guess I just assumed it would be more difficult. I'm just not sure if I'd want to do this on a weekly basis (which is at least how often I would need to do it with the workflow I have). I'll probably try the capture from PVR method first and see if the quality is good enough for what I want.
How about using one of the usb drive inclosures you can pick up for 25-75 bucks and connects via firewire or usb. Could you also use one of the fast swapable drive enlosure for the pc case. This would at least speed the process up on one end. Does anyone have an idea if something like this could work?:confused:
 
Trav said:
Thanks for your response. Can you elaborate a bit on why the video quality is a lot better using this method? For example, I currently capture from my analog basic cable system to the Radeon with the MMC software (captures to MPG2 format). The video quality that is captured is nearly as good as watching it live from the cable feed (with the exception of some minor artifacting from the MPG compression). I have also captured some footage from our old VHS-C camcorder with the Radeon inputs with video quality that matches the tape (which isn't that great to begin with, of course).

How does the DVD Recorder that you mentioned record the satellite TV program? It's still has to be hooked up via the analog outputs/inputs (S-Video, etc), right? Theoretically, I can't imagine why the DVD Recorder would be recording at a better quality than the Radeon since both receive identical feeds. Does the DVD Recorder record to MPG2 format as well? Sorry if I am not understanding correctly... just wondering if I would find the image quality acceptable or not?
I am inputing downrezzed 480i from my dish 6000u to the s-vhs input on the panasonic, then I put the recorded ram disc into my pc, run tmpg dvd author, edit(I can edit with the panasonic)and then burn the converted "survivor" to dvd. With my radeon I just cannot get as good pq (recording at the dvd quality setting)
 
Trav and Joth386, check out the Yahoo discussion group called "dishrip". Here is the url: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/dishrip/. All the infor about this is there. Trav, you were basically right Just hook the PVR's drive to an IDE cable in your PC. There is a program that will read the drives content (Linux based) and allow you to transfer it to your Window based computer, changing the header infor along the way so that it is then seen as an audio and video streams, for the most part ready to author.
 
Trav said:
Thanks for the responses. Just a few clarifications, please:

So even I decide NOT to get the DVR option, I can still program the receiver to turn on with a certain channel at a certain time? Can I also program it to switch to another channel at a later time (for example, the same night)?

Yes, you can set to start a channel then later change to different channel. Most non-PVR receiver that I've used in the past have this feature. It is called "Timer Events". It is put in there so that you can record using your VCR. If you want to make sure Dish Network web site has a section for "Manuals" you can look. It usually explains in MENU section.

Trav said:
The ATI software with my video card has a Personal Video Recorder option that will allow me to set a recording from the analog inputs (S-Video and RCA audio) instead of the tuner, so that shouldn't be a program. I don't need to use the Gemstar guide for that.... I'll just manually set the start/end time and tell it to record from the inputs instead of the tuner (so I don't have to select a channel).

I have not use it for a while so forgot about that feature. I guess it will work.

Trav said:
Sounds like this might work out and I'll probably go with the DVR for the convenience of using it when I don't really need to keep an archive on my PC or when I don't wish to edit the video.

Here might be an example of my workflow (please make any corrections if I have been mistaken). I normally record Survivor every Thursday right now with my ATI card and basic cable. I then edit the MPG video that was created during capture and take out the commercials. I am keeping each episode on my hard drive so I can make personal DVD's of all the episodes. Then I can watch them any time I want on my home DVD player.

So here's what I think I'd need to do. I will have the receiver/DVR hooked up to my PC via S-Video and RCA.

OPTION 1 (with DVR) -

1) Record Survivor onto the DVR that comes with the Dish Network. Obviously, I simply set it to record and let it do its thing.

2) When I come home, I play the recorded episode from the DVR and record it onto my PC with the ATI capture software (capturing from the inputs, not the tuner).

OPTION 1 - (without DVR)

1) Leave the receiver powered on and on the right channel.
OR
1) Program the receiver to turn on at the right time and channel (do all dish receivers have this ability? And do they allow you to program multiple instances or just one? For example, let's say I wanted to record Survivor and Jay Leno on the same night... can I program the receiver to turn on channel 3 from 7-8pm and channel 5 from 10:30-11:30pm or does it only let you turn on and set channel once)? (Important distinction)

2) Set the ATI software to record from the inputs and the right time.

3) Edit out the commercials and archive the MPG file for later DVD burning

OPTION 2 - (with DVR)

1) Set the DVR to record the show(s).

2) When I come home, I simply play back the show from the DVR and set my PC to record from the S-Video and RCA inputs to create an MPG file.

3) Same as above.

---

Now I'm wondering if option 2 would actually produce inferior video quality since it is being recorded once to the DVR, and then recorded again onto my PC. I assume the DVR uses MPG compression when recording, and my capture card would again be compressing it... so would this significantly degrade the video quality? Or is the DVR video quality excellent enough that I wouldn't notice?

Ideally, I'd like the ability to record multiple programs in one night without my intervention. Sounds like the DVR option would definitely work, but the non-DVR option would only work if I can program the receiver to change channels at different times in a night... and that I don't know anything about???

Thanks again!



Thanks,
Travis

I guess my answer above should have taken care of the issue with changing channels. In terms of quality, yes it can lose quality because of double recording. However, PVR does excellent job of recording especially satellite signal are already coming in as MPEG streams, and my guess is that PVR won't need to change anything from its original format. I wouldn't be surprised it does not loose quality if you set highest quality recording (with less recording time) and play it back later would be as good as original. I would use S-Video for better quality. If you don't mind spending $5 PVR will be way convenient.
 
MikeF said:
I would definately suggest the PVR route. It will change the way you watch TV. I have done what you want and there are two ways to go about it.
1. Record with the PVR and then capture off the S-vid just like you said. Works OK with minor artifacts at times. That could be remedied maybe with a high-end capture device vs. the "cheap" capture chips on a vid card. There will be some video degredation, it cannot be avoided as you are re-processing the stream in this method. It will be the same as what you are getting with your captures, now. The played back signal is the same as if it were live.
2.If you don't mind a little "hacking" which will most certainly void your warranty, you can just move the PVR's harddrive to your computer, extract the files to another drive with a little program that changes some header indo in the video and audio streams, then author to DVD with your favorite authoring program, and taadaa, you have tyour MPEG2 with NO LOSS of PQ. This is not for the faint at heart but does work like a charm. My 510 has a standard Maxtor 80gig drive running Linux OS.


MikeF--
You posted this a long time back but if you (or anybody else) can mention the software/program that would convert the contents of the PVR HD to DVD burnable format, that would be great. Btw, you mentioned that the 510 HD has linux formatting. Does this mean one needs to have a computer running linux to read the PVR's HD (that is hooked up to an external USB enclosure)?
 
SimpleSimon,
Thanks for the tip. Am just getting started with satellite programming stuff and there's a whole bunch to learn.
 
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