by TaranT » Sun Jul 27, 2003 12:51 pm
I assume this is about set-top recorders, not the PC writers.
I've used one of the Panasonic recorders (E60) to convert fansub tapes to DVDs. It's as easy as using a VCR - in this case, VCR to recorder - with a couple of extra steps to create a disc title and then finalize the disc. As long as the source is not Macrovision-encoded, there should be no problem recording home or studio-made material.
For distributing AMVs, I suppose the PC's TV-out could be plugged into the recorder directly. Also, some recorders have DV (Firewire, IEEE-1394) jacks so you can record directly from a camcorder.
Chapter stops are a problem to deal with due to the way these work. With the Panasonic units, you have to stop and start recording in order to force a chapter stop. (You can stop and start up to 99 times before finalizing the disc.) Otherwise, it will insert a chapter stop every 5 minutes during the recording. Since it is writing on-the-fly, there's no way to change the stops after they're written (DVD-R). For longer recordings this isn't much of an issue. For several short programs, like music videos, it may take some extra work.
One thing I have noticed - and a friend of mine who has another Panasonic recorder confirms - is that the picture quality on the recorded DVD is much better than the VHS source material. It won't work miracles with really trashed source, but those fansubs I recorded never looked this good before. I even tried recording some EP-formatted tapes and the difference is very noticeable.