Hi. I have a Sony external DVD burner for my camcorder but I thought it would be great to covert my Star Wars and Empire Strikes Back old VHS tapes to DVD particularly because Star Wars in it's original form is not available on DVD (I do own the new version collection sets on VHS and DVD). I just like to see Han Solo blow away Gredo without Gredo taking a sloppy first shot and Jabba in the added scene looks stupid in "A New Hope". Well, luckily Star Wars converted over fine but the Empire Strikes Back gave me a "Recording Prohibited" as I ruined 2-3 blank DVDs. Well, I haven't seen anyone post a work around for this but I have found several people who've experienced this issue. If you know of a fix that would be wonderful. Please let me know. I though we bought these external DVD burners to 1. easily get our miniDV tapes onto DVD and 2. convert our old VHS tapes to DVD. What is the story with that? Some archaic copywrite protection that we can't work around which they had the forsight to create in such a way as to be picked up on technology 25 years into the future. B.S. and that's putting it more mildly then was my original intent. Thank you for your time.
You are most likely running into a Copy Protection called Macro Vision [MV] In the dubbing of VHS tape to DVD you will most likely have this problem. There is not a fix for your unit in itself. It would seem, by your post that you are using a PC If so you can go through that process. If a standalone recorder What Unit is it There are forums and guides on this site that explain the PC process, the equipment and software to use
I just posted something about this in another thread: You need a Time-Base Corrector or, at least, a clarifier/stabilizer. TBCs correct timing problems with tapes; clarifiers are designed more to make minor fixes to timing problems, but both remove copy-protection as a byproduct of their operation. A good TBC is $200-$300 but does good work, but there was a thread around here in the last month or so in which several people claimed to get good results from $30 stabilizers. I don't remember the model numbers give, so do a search. You really need one of these anyway to correct a lot of the jitter coming off of VHS. An alternative is to use a software-based capture card i.e. no hardware MPEG-2 encoder. I have one of these and, frankly, the results are marginal at best, but it's the cheapest route to go.
Hi. Thank you for taking time to reply. That is very helpful. Quickly to follow up, is the "no hardware MPEG-2 encoder" cheaper than the $30 stabalizer? It's an encoder and not a decoder, right? This is a physical card that I'd need?
Actually they're about the same; I have one of those non-encoding cards, a K-world 688 I think, and I paid about $27 for it. I think the stabilizer/clarifier is much better anyway, but you'd have to search past threads to find the good models.
If you are using a stand alone recorder a $30 stabilizer may be OK, however I do not put much faith in them A top TBC as Dunker mentioned is expensive but would most likely do the job Do not expect any TBC to correct the newer forms of CP encountered with DVD or satellite/broadcast reception – They Will Not If you plan on using a PC.. There are forms and guides on this site that can direct you If so I doubt you will need a TBC By your past posts and if using a PC I do not think you would be satisfied with the results Unless you get the proper hardware and software Dunker quote "An alternative is to use a software-based capture card i.e. no hardware MPEG-2 encoder. I have one of these and, frankly, the results are marginal at best, but it's the cheapest route to go." Thats honest and to the point For VHS to DVD, If you have access to a stand-alone unit I would Use it and try the stabilizer
I have a ads tech dvd express for copying vhs tapes. your vcr audio outs and video out go to the dvd express then dvd express is hooked to pc usb plug. no problems copying copy protected vhs tapes. They don't know they are being copied they think you are just playing them.
I bought a stand alone dvd+r vcr combo and was curious if just hooking up a cheap vcr to the inputs would solve the issue or would the dvd recorder still pick up on it?
No, it would not work. Using a TBC/stabilizer or a non-hardware capture ard is your only alternative.
