DVR

DVR Method of Ripping VHS Tapes

This method is very, very simple and benefits from the many simplifying capabilities of the Pioneer DVR-53x units that are available. The capture of the tape output into the DVR is exactly like recording a TV program from other sources, such as the DishTV satellite receiver. Once the program is recorded, then the usual means of editing and naming the program are used, then the disc is burned.

Setup

Connect a VHS player audio and video outputs to the DVR's rear-panel inputs. I have had perfect results using simple RCA-jack cables for LEFT, RIGHT, and VIDEO. On the DVR, this input port is called Line Input #1 (L1).

Recording

Using the DVR remote, select L1 by pressing the INPUT button. L1 will show on the DVR's front panel display as the input 'channel', instead of the usual '3'.
Press RECORD on the DVR's front panel, or on the remote to begin the capture.
When the tape has been played and recorded on the DVR, press the STOP RECORD button on the DVR or its remote.
Remember to return the input to the ordinarily used source, i.e. channel 3, by pressing the INPUT button on the DVR remote.

Burning Disc

Use the normal DVR facilities to edit the recorded VHS tape.
- Trim the front and end of the program, and remove any other undesired segments (previews, etc.)
- Select a screenshot for the DVD menu
- Edit the name of the program
Burn to disc

Videos longer than 2:06:00 (126 minutes)

Occasionally a movie is recorded to the DVR that is longer/larger than a single DVD disc. Ordinarily, the DVR will re-encode the movie on-the-fly while burning the disc, reducing quality, in order to fit the long movie on a single DVD disc. Yet it is possible to maintain video quality while burning off the movie. The trick is to burn to DVD disc in two steps:

As usual, begin the process of burning the movie to disc on the DVR, accepting the error indicating that the movie is too large for the disc.
- Chose 'COPY' from the home menu
- Select movie from the list, accepting the 'too big' error
- Chose 'Next' to go to the burn list
- Position the cursor on the movie name and press 'ENTER' button on remote
- 'Divide' the movie:
  - Pause playback
  - Press 'PLAY MODE' button
  - Enter 02:05:00
  - Press 'ENTER' to divide the movie into two parts
  - 'Delete' the second item from the burn list
- Burn the disc
- Rip the disc
Repeat the preceding steps, except:
- 'Delete' the first item from the burn list
Combine the two ripped 'chunks' using ffmpeg, rather than using cat, in order to encode correct time signatures:
- cat 'chunk1' 'chunk2' | ffmpeg -i - -vcodec copy -acodec copy -f dvd 'outputfile'

At this point the movie has been moved off of the DVR but retains its full quality.