[mythtv-users] VCR video to MythTV (USB, 1394 or S-Video capture solutions)

Kevin Kuphal kuphal at dls.net
Tue May 24 17:42:02 UTC 2005


Mark Knecht wrote:

>Hi,
>   I've been at my parents house for a few days getting a MythTV
>installation setup. It's all wokring and my folks are pretty happy.
>However no good ded goes unpunished. My dad is now asking for a way to
>capture his videos and be able to watch them in MythTV. As I've only
>got one more day here before I travel home I'm looking for some ideas.
>
>1) The mythbackend machine has a PVR-150 so it has a (yet untested)
>S-video input. Does this input work on the PVR-150/250/250?
>
>2) The machine also has 1394 and USB inputs. I understand people are
>capturing HD over 1394 for that should work if there's a good capture
>device that can go outside the PC.
>
>3) My folks have 3 VCR's but none have S-video outputs.
>
>  Would I be better off to suggest he buys a new VCR with an S-Video
>output and then record that via the input on the PVR? Or is there some
>USB or 1394 solution that is known to work well under Linux and
>MythTV.
>
>   Hi goal is to get the video onto the same /TVstorage partition
>we're using for Myth recordings and also eventually be able to author
>a DVD for the family with some of this stuff. He interviewed a number
>of my relatives 20-30 years ago and wants to save these conversations
>as part of a family tree project.
>  
>
I have found it is far easier to use a Windows based solution and then 
move the files to the Mythbox using WinSCP than it is to get any kind of 
Linux based capture to work.  I use the AV passthrough feature of my 
camcorder to capture firewire output from it (with VCR passing through) 
and then use VirtualDub to convert to Divx AVI files.  The source image 
is as good as it can get (DV) and the resulting files are played back 
perfectly with Myth.

Kevin


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