[MacDV] Re: New to list - suggestions invited, please!

[MrWitch]

 >From: Gerhard Kuhn <gerhardk at mac.com>
 >Message-Id: <36D8E86C-C0B2-11D7-BF46-000393984D16 at mac.com>
 >
 >Will you be editing? If not consider using a set-top DVD recorder, it
 >would certainly be faster. On a G4 this could be enough work to keep
 >you busy for a couple of years, one tape per day 200 work days a year.
 >The only problem would be you would not be able to use one to make VCDs.
 >
 >Gerhard Kuhn
 >suspice at hay.net
 >
 >P.S. This is an article that gives you a bit of insight as to what a
 >set-top recorder can do.
 >
 >
 >http://www.techtv.com/freshgear/print/0,23102,3405534,00.html


Yeah, that would be nice, but unfortunately the purpose of this entire 
project is to edit out the commercials! That, plus the fact that the DVD 
recordable media is still cost-prohibitive for such a large-scale 
project. If you figure 1 DVD = 2 hours, then at MOST I could get is 3 
~45 minute sections per disc, so 500 VHS tapes @ 6 sections per tape is 
~3,000 sections, so I'd need 1,000 DVD-R's or a similar item at about 
$30 each....  WOW! $30,000 !!!!  Now, I could probably get a bulk rate 
somewhere, but...  not enough where I could afford it. CD-R at pennies a 
disc is the best option for me. Trust me, I figured all this out two 
years ago when I thought about first doing this.

This is also why I don't mind using a computer for this. I have the 
time, but not the money. Besides, under OS X I can edit 20-30 video 
discs at a time, then batch process them over a few days or a week if 
necessary. Then spend a day or two burning them, then start over. This 
way, it gives me something to do, I can spread the costs out over 
months, and I can still be done quicker than doing them one at a time. 
Since I have many other computers, I can dedicate one to the encoding or 
whatever needs doing and use others for day-to-day tasks.

To the gentleman who suggested a DV camera: Yeah, that would be nice, 
too. However, I feel that is a much more expensive solution than even a 
FireWire capture device. Since I am capturing from VHS at EP speed 
(mostly), the source quality is not 100% anyway, so a camera that does 
all of the bells and whistles is kinda overkill. Thanks anyway.

Sorry if I seem to be shooting down everyone's ideas. Not my intention 
at all, just trying to let everyone know what I have to work with and 
the limitations.


Michael