Fun in DVD RecorderLand!

Features, Shorts, Live-Action and Direct-To-Video
GeorgeC

Post by GeorgeC » June 13th, 2007, 10:25 am

Good news on laserdisc to DVD transcribing!

There are NO scan-lines on the top OR bottom of the image in NTSC format...!

Finally, some good news about the video.

Quality is as good as the laserdisc source although if you have optical cable out from LD, you can try those with a DVD recorder to see if you get any improvement. I'm sticking to S-Video and stereo cables for my set-up. I really don't think the other cables will show much improvement and don't have any 5.1 audio laserdiscs either.

As for the dreaded window-boxing on the sides on PC/Mac monitors, it's still there, but frankly it's less annoying to my eyes than seeing scanlines from VHS or TV taping. (Yes, scanlines DO show up when you record from TV. This time, though, they show up on TOP of the image but are not as bad as VHS scan-lines!)

I also discovered that I was doing way too much work to create a custom background for my DVD menus... The simpler method I discovered by trial-and-error works much better than the "advice" I found online!

Basically, all you have to do is capture images from your MPEG video captures (take your pick of program, but I recommend the freeware MPEG Streamclip for either Mac OS X or Windows XP) and composite them onto a background of your choice or from the DVD burning/authoring software you have. You don't have to fool with menu buttons in Toast on the Mac.

Do be aware of title cutoff on DVD menus due to overscan and adjust according if you want to use personalized fonts on your custom background. Just drop in your new background layer and voila, instant customized DVD menu! At least it's better than totally being stuck with the generic backgrounds the DVD burner software has.

There are a couple of American feature animation LDs I have that HAVEN'T been re-released in widescreen on DVD (if released on DVD AT ALL) that I'm raring to get on DVD within the next week.

(No, don't ask me -- I'm not selling or "passing around" these DVDs. It's illegal and you get in big trouble if you do that... Even "sharing" rings are illegal and can get you busted.)

Right now, I'm concentrating on some out-of-print (in the U.S.) anime titles...

GeorgeC

Laser Rot Victim -- Pigs Be Dead! RIP

Post by GeorgeC » August 22nd, 2007, 10:02 am

Yeah.

First documented, absolutely incontrovertible proof that my LD collection's days are numbered.

I grab the hallowed LD disc of Disney Mini-Classics that has all the Disney Three Little Pigs shorts on it to archive to DVD and what do I get?

G&*(&(^^(! freakin' blue-and-red video snow with crackling audio!

I only watched that LD once in the 10 or so years I owned it!

Good thing Disney has released all the shorts (including the controversial Pigs footage) on DVD.

I'm saving the protective slip the LD came in since I like it better than those cheaper protective plastic slips most LD's had. As for the outer jacket with artwork, I'm gonna scan it and save it in a Folder labelled "Rotted LDs" along with the inevitable other LD's I come across in my collection as my LD-to-DVD archiving continues. After that artwork gets scanned (300 dpi -- above that is overkill as far as I'm concerned), the sleeve goes into the papershredder and becomes colored cardboard chunks.

Yes it stinks, but I'm an honest guy and did what I thought had to be done with the defective non-sellable rotting Pigs LD...

... I cracked it in half and then again quarter-wise. LDs really aren't that tough to break. If anything, they're a lot less durable (breaking-wise) than 5-inch CD/DVD optical discs.

No tears shed. Laser rot is a fact of life. Life goes on. Most films eventually do get re-released on other video formats...

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Post by Ben » August 22nd, 2007, 12:24 pm

My Nightmare Before Christmas is slowly going, but I refuse to buy the DVD while it remains non-anamorphic. The Nightmare Before Blu-Ray, it is for me at the moment.


Dan...don't we have a George/LD conversion thread? ;)

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Post by Daniel » August 23rd, 2007, 4:10 am

Yup, here's the only one I could find: Fun in DVD RecorderLand!

George, please start using the search option, to prevent numerous threads of the same nature. Thanks!

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Post by cpdavison » October 1st, 2007, 9:49 am

Whew! I had some "Fun in DVD RecorderLand" this past weekend.

I was able to get ahold of some Black and White cartoons that were broadcast on Cartoon Network- Japan. I cherry-picked 14 Aesop's Fables and threw them on a DVD-R, as documented HERE.

Gosh - I just GOTTA get a computer that will allow me to create and edit video files! This editing-on-the-fly-using-the-pause-button is for the birds!

Craig D.

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