Followers of my long and painful video editing saga will be glad to
hear that the guy who's doing the duplication has cleared up my second
to last problem. Someone pointed out that if he was making 40 copies
from a master I do on VHS tape, which is still how I intend to do it,
it would put a lot of wear on my original tape. I then thought I'd
have to immediately take the completed VHS tape, run it back through
the Canopus ADVC 110 converter, figure out some way to get it into
Toast without going through iMovie since I'm NOT going through all
THAT, make sure it was properly configured in Toast, then run it all
onto DVD.

Well, he says he has the equipment to go DIRECTLY from VHS to DVD.
This will be MUCH simpler than that I planned and incur less
generational loss or at least no more than the method I had in mind,
and a WHOLE LOT LESS wear and tear on me, not to mention all the groups
where I'd have to ask all the questions every time something went
wrong! So now all I have to do is finish my short DVD, get the whole
project on tape, and get the tape, which he promises *not* to run 40
times, to him. PERIOD! HAPPY, HAPPY!!

Cori

This won't mean anything to those viewing with Usenet, but for those
viewing with Google, I hoped that by using the exact same heading as
the original message, this one would come up under the same thread,
which sometimes works. This time it didn't, so for those who have time
for the pain, here is a link to the original discussion:
http://groups.google.com/group/alt.v...8be075e795f1f8

Cori

On 3/28/2006, cmashieldscapting@hotmail.com posted this:
You should really consider replying to a message in the original thread
as a kindness to *all* who read newsgroups, regardless of where. For
most newsreaders, what you did is *guaranteed* not to work.

Gino

--
Gene E. Bloch (Gino)
letters617blochg3251
(replace the numbers by "at" and "dotcom")

Gene E. Bloch wrote:

I'd love to, BUT--that's another difference between Usenet and Google
Groups (if this is an issue in Usenet at all, which, as I understand,
doesn't even have threads.) In Google Groups, one cannot reply to a
thread if the last message is more than a month old. The "Reply"
option disappears. You can still reply to the author of a message in
the thread, but not to the thread itself. Sometimes using the EXACT
same title does add the new reply to the old thread. In this case it
didn't so I supplied a url. I wish they'd fix this issue, but this was
the best I could do considering how things work here.

Cori

It's called a DVD recorder. Very cheap to buy. Do it yourself.

On 3/29/2006, TC posted this:
Big smile here!

Gino

--
Gene E. Bloch (Gino)
letters617blochg3251
(replace the numbers by "at" and "dotcom")

TC wrote:
I may just have to, although I already bought the converter and the DVD
burner which between them were at least as much as a DVD recorder would
be. The converter was necessary for getting material from my
tape-shooting camera into the computer, and the DVD burner for getting
it out. I can continue to use them for things done directly from the
camera to DVD, but for all these videotapes, a DVD burner does seem a
lot more practical than doing all those extra steps just to save a few
$.

Cori

cmashieldscapting@hotmail.com wrote:

Watch for the sales. DVD recorders have been going for $50 or less lately.
Definitely not in the expensive category :-)

Mike

Mike Kujbida wrote:

WOW. WHERE? And what brands? I was thinking $300.00 and watching
till one came down to $200.00.

Cori

WOW! I was thinking $300.00 and waiting till something came down to
$200.00 or a little less. I started to ask where and what brands, but
then saw someone has a thread asking about the best DVD burner so I
will continue to watch that with interest for replies.

Cori

cmashieldscapting@hotmail.com wrote:

My wife got me a Lite-On during the Thanksgiving Day sale for $50. Is it as
good as a higher-end Pioneer or Sony? No a chance but as a replacement for
my aging VCR, absolutely. Check your local big box stores (Costco, Best
Buy, etc.) for weekly sales. I'm sure there are other options so maybe
someone else will chime in here.

Mike

cmashieldscapting@hotmail.com wrote:
Also, Mike answered my previous message before I could delete (thanks)
it so this was sort of a repeat.

Cori

Mike Kujbida wrote:

I don't know where you live, but...I called and checked every store in
my area, and prices are as I was initially told, (when I asked this
question two months ago), between $300.00-$400.00. Online prices are
comparable as far as I've seen, but of course I have not checked EVERY
site out there! If it had been only $50.00 or even a $50.00 DIFFERENCE
from the $130.00 I paid for a VCR/DVD combo, I'd have GLADLY turned in
the combo and JUMPED at it, but as it is it's closer to a
$200.00-$300.00 difference, an expense I can't justify just to copy a
few home movies when I could have my friend do it.

If you know of any place online that sells a machine which will take
VCR tapes and burn them directly to DVDs, and take DVDs and convert
them to VHS format, all on the same machine, for even under $100.00
please give the urls of such sites and I will gladly check them out!

Cori

cmashieldscapting@hotmail.com wrote:

Cori, the Lite-On I referred to was a standalone DVD recorder/player, not a
VHS/DVD combo unit. Sorry for any confusion. BTW, it was purchased in the
Detroit area.

Mike

Mike Kujbida wrote:

Okay, I was going to ask you if it was an early April Fool's Joke. I
have an idea to make it work using a second VCR and connector jacks.
Everything is set up to do it, but I was too afraid to try on April
Fool's Day. Maybe my courage will be better today.

Cori

In article <1143612612.567112.123900@j33g2000cwa.googlegroups .com>,
<cmashieldscapting@hotmail.com> wrote:
You are mis-informed. Threading is a function of your newsreader.
I've been using threaded newsreaders for Usenet [back when it was
still part of Arpa-net] since 1986.

Which is not true for regular news readers using standard usenet.

Bill
--
Bill Vermillion - bv @ wjv . com

Bill Vermillion wrote:

I've been using Google Groups ever since they took over from Deja.
I've never even actually figured out how to access Usenet. I suppose
if I could, and if replying to an old message in Usenet is an option,
it would then bump up the thread in Google Groups and it could be added
to from there.

Cori

ALMOST DONE!!!

Since I've typed out the whole painful process of this entire project
of editing and putting together a movie with titles, I wanted to catch
people up on where I'm at with it.

I successfully got the material for the short DVD (titles and a few
sequences requiring tight editing) from iMovie to Toast, made a Disc
Image, and burned the DVD. The challenge was then to get the material
from the DVD to VHS tape. I found my VCR DVD combo would record VHS
tape OR play a DVD but NOT BOTH AT THE SAME TIME! The answer was
either to return it, get my $130.00 refunded, then spend an additional
$300.00 on a machine that would do the job in one but would also take a
week to arrive, since no store had one in stock, then drive a 60-mile
round trip to get it when it did arrive. Or, I could try to connect
the combo to a VCR I already had using jacks I already had. I decided
to at least try the second.

After about an hour of connecting and disconnecting every conceivable
cable and jack in every conceivable combination I found the ONE that
worked, and GOT THE TITLE ONTO THE TAPE!!! The rest is a simple
dubbing job directly from camcorder to VCR except for a few titles and
other items to be taken from the DVD.

The only thing I really CAN'T do that I wanted to is make a DVD
directly from a VHS tape. To do that, I have to run the VHS tape
through my Canopus ADVC 110 converter and then do something I'm not
quite clear on to bypass iMovie, since the project is four hours and
iMovie quits after less than two, and get it onto a DVD using Toast, OR
take the VHS tape to my friend who has the $430.00 machine and simply
have him make one DVD. Since I figure for $300.00 I can buy a heck of
a lot of blank DVDs, I opted to do the second. Once I have one
finished DVD I can run off unlimited copies on my DVD burner using
basically the same method I did to duplicate the Disc Image.

THE TITLE AND THE FIRST SCENE ARE ON THE TAPE! NOW, IF NOTHING ELSE
GOES WRONG, I should be able to deliver this finished project, on which
I've expended over $1,000.00 plus gallons of blood, toil, sweat, and
tears since December 12 to my friend the evening of Monday April 3!!!

KEEP THE PRAYERS AND GOOD VIBES COMING AND THANKS FOR ALL YOUR HELP!!!

Cori

Almost there when one more complication arose (you didn't think it was
going to let me finish this project without a fight?)

The opening titles went from the DVD to the VHS tape beautifully by
connecting the VCR with the DVD player to a plain old VCR and taping
them on that. All went well until the closing titles, which contained
footage imported to iMovie from the Canopus and then burned to DVD
using Toast. The titles were in black-and-white, so I didn't notice,
but the DVD played in color and the VCR would record the picture ONLY
in black-and-white!

I thought maybe I had one of the jacks in wrong and tried them the only
two other ways that would make sense, and it did the EXACT SAME THING
every time! I wondered if a switch got thrown on the old VCR when I
moved it to assemble this setup, so connected it to the TV and it
recorded off the TV in color BEAUTIFULLY. It just doesn't like the
DVD! It's a very cheap VCR, a $50 Emerson bought from Wal-Mart several
years ago, and no doubt doesn't understand something about the DVD.

It now looks as if, if I want to finish this I'll have to buy a unit
which will record from DVD to VHS tomorrow and better hope it works!

Cori

So Wednesday I made a special trip to town (meaning "the big time" 30
miles away from my isolated little hamlet) to buy this thing--a Zenith
VCR/DVD burner at Radio Shack--
http://www.radioshack.com/product/in...104618&cp=2032...
to solve my problem.

At least, it BETTER solve my problem. The DVD burner is only
single-layer, meaning anything longer than two hours I'll have to do on
the Mac. Also, the only way to put material from more than one source
on one DVD is with a DVD RW, meaning I'd either have to do it that way
and then copy to DVD -R, or just do the whole thing on the Mac in the
first place. It should still be fine for running off DVDs of any VHS
tapes two hours or under, that don't require special titles, or
hopefully even DVDs straight off of material in the camcorder,
bypassing the computer, VHS, and other cumbersome steps.

What I need it to do RIGHT NOW is copy my color DVD, to VHS, in color,
NOT black-and-white. If it does that, I'm keeping it and mailing in
the rebate. If it doesn't, I'm going insane, seriously I am. This one
project has consumed four months, nearly solid, a third of a year of my
life!!!

So I go to Wal-Mart and they take back the Sony, no problem, and hand
me cash with practically no question. I go to Radio Shack and take all
that cash plus some I already had and it adds up to nearly $170.00. I
give this to the clerk and start to write a check for the rest. And
you know what?

The guy WON'T TAKE THE CASH!!!

It seems Radio Shack has a rule that if it's over $100.00, they must
have a credit or debit card because if the customer wants a refund they
can't just whip out the cash like Wal-Mart. So I take out a debit
card, with great trepidation, because of course it's coming straight
out of my checking account. And I knew I had enough to write the small
check, after the cash, but was unsure whether I had enough in my
account for the whole thing, as I just wrote a large check for car
insurance. Of course, I had saved Radio Shack for last, not wanting to
drive around all day in the rain with this high-tech piece of
merchandise, so by the time I got it and rushed to the bank with the
cash, it had been closed for 15 minutes. Luckily, when I got home I
did the math and found I had enough in my account, but not by much.
But honestly! Have you ever heard of any store REFUSING CASH?

Cori