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Stand-alone DVD recorders are just about affordable now. Can anyone help in answering these questions:

I want one to transfer my adult videos to DVD. PAL will copy OK, but can I copy NTSC tapes to Panasonic E50 / E60, Pioneer 3100, etc? Will I need a true VHS multi-system VCR, or can I use a simple PAL machine with NTSC playback?

Next, can Chapters or breaks be added AFTER a 2 hour video is transfered onto DVD-R? I don't want to watch whilst recording at normal speed and Stop between scenes to force break points. I would prefer to transfer the whole video to DVD, then scan through and mark break points between scenes, etc, then close the session. Can this be done?

I have bought some commercial NTSC DVDs, but want to take a copy on VHS of selected scenes. Do these DVD machines output a signal that can be copyied onto VCRs capable of recording NTSC? (I have VHS machines that copy NTSC videos OK) If the answer is No because of copy protection, then can this be done by using a Standards Converter / TBC between DVD and VHS?

Is it worth paying the extra (about double the price) for a recorder with Hard Drive storage, eg the Pioneer 5100?

Thanks for any comment on these, or other DVD recorders, or anything helpful!

Pete

peter@video-xtra.com wrote:

> Stand-alone DVD recorders are just about affordable now. Can
> anyone help in answering these questions:
>
> I want one to transfer my adult videos to DVD. PAL will copy
> OK, but can I copy NTSC tapes to Panasonic E50 / E60,

Yes, the Panasonic E50 can be changed from accepting PAL signals to accepting NTSC signals and in the latter case will make an NTSC DVD-R. And then you can change it back again. When I was looking into this Panasonic was the only make I found where this was possible.

> Will I need a true VHS multi-system VCR, or can I
> use a simple PAL machine with NTSC playback?

You must have a true NTSC signal. If, as you state below, you can already copy NTSC tapes then I presume you have such a machine, as most VCRs convert NTSC signals to pseudo PAL which cannot be copied.

>
> Next, can Chapters or breaks be added AFTER a 2 hour video is
> transfered onto DVD-R? I don't want to watch whilst recording
> at normal speed and Stop between scenes to force break points.
> I would prefer to transfer the whole video to DVD, then scan
> through and mark break points between scenes, etc, then close
> the session. Can this be done?

The Panasonic E50 inserts chapters every five minutes or so. I've not found a way of changing this.

>
> I have bought some commercial NTSC DVDs, but want to take a
> copy on VHS of selected scenes. Do these DVD machines output a
> signal that can be copyied onto VCRs capable of recording NTSC?

Again, it depends on the machine. If you have changed the E50 over to NTSC mode, then it outputs an NTSC signal. However, if you play a PAL DVD-R while it is in this mode it won't play properly. DVD players may be a different matter. There are certainly players which can be set to output true PAL rather than pseudo PAL, even from NTSC DVDs. I'm not sure about setting them to output NTSC.

> (I have VHS machines that copy NTSC videos OK) If the answer
> is No because of copy protection, then can this be done by
> using a Standards Converter / TBC between DVD and VHS?

Copy protection is a different issue from NTSC/PAL. Most adult DVDs don't have it, but some do.

>
> Is it worth paying the extra (about double the price) for a
> recorder with Hard Drive storage, eg the Pioneer 5100?

Don't know. If the video is stored on a hard disk, this may make it more possible to do things with it, like chapter breaks, deleting bits you don't want and so on, before writing to DVD-R, or possibly make it easier to use the Panasonic Flexible Recording method, fitting the recording to the space available by adjusting the quality - upwards or downwards, but I don't know for certain as I don't have such a machine. To some extent you can do some of this using DVD-RAM disks on Panasonic machines.

>
> Thanks for any comment on these, or other DVD recorders, or
> anything helpful!

The other issue is compatibility of the format if you want to play the results on a different machine, which may be necessary to tape from an NTSC DVD you have created. Some players will play DVD+R but not DVD-R (e.g. LG), some will play both (e.g. Mustek). Some players will play DVD-R disks, but not the DVD-Rs created by the Panasonic E50 (e.g. Cyberhome).

>
> Pete

It is all very complicated isn't it. Best of luck in whichever way you proceed!!

Hello Gentlemen. My question is a bit more simple.Can someone name a good picture quality dvd player that will play both NTSC and european dvds.My Sony NS300 multi-region only results in black & white pictures when playing NTSC dvds(when i play a ntsc video all is fine so i assume the tv is ok?).Thank you for any help

Manhattan Sl1 plays ntsc and pal , dvd+r/-r

Heron wrote:

> (when i play a ntsc video all is fine so i
> assume the tv is ok?).Thank you for any help
>

Not necessarily. Most VCRs convert to pseudo PAL regardless of the TV, whether they need to or not. Saying that though, if you have a newish TV it is unlikely that it couldn't cope with NTSC.

I go about it in a quite different simpler way. Using Pinnacle Studio 8 I capture the signal in my PC, edit it, inserting chapters where I want them, then burn the DVD.

Its very memory intensive but the final DVD isnt just a copy, its edited cutting out bits I dont like and can even be a compilation of shorts from different DVDs.

Can Studio 8 cope with NTSC? Pinnacle Studio PCTV (older cheaper version) can't. It will show it in black and white undistorted or in colour but with dodgy horizontal hold and horizontally stretched with part of the next frame at the bottom. Plus, multi-tasking notwithstanding, you are tying up (or slowing down) your PC, whereas a DVD recorder will be chuntering away elsewhere.

A better DVD will be produced your way, but it all depends on what your purpose and what other things you want to do at the same time.

My Video recorder can play NTSC tapes and the output is captured by Pinnacle in the same way and quality as PAL tapes.

Yes it does tie up the PC though. It takes four hours to burn a 1 hour DVD and you cannot use the PC for anything else at the time. Its no problem though as I simply set the thing going before going to bed.