I had this idea for a while. I was going to make a vhs mixtape for my friend with various music videos. I rounded up all my music dvd's and cd's that came with bonus dvd's and I got a pretty decent lengthy list.

I only discovered today that I can't record from dvd to vhs. The way everything's hooked up negates this. And it's way too much work to change this.

So I could use some suggestions. I think this computer has a dvd burner. So I suppose I could try downloading music vids and burning a dvd, but I'm a complete novice in that field.

Well, my bit of knowledge, since I know a thing or two about video is this: if you dl music vids and put them to DVD to be played on a tv, they will have to be 720x480 (NTSC), in order for them not to be distorted. If they are smaller than that they will look like a pixelated mess.

Bump as I've been mulling this idea over again. I didn't really take FR's advice into consideration last time, I just gave up.


What sounds easier?

-downloading music videos and attempting to burn a dvd or cd (that can only be played on the computer) which I've never done before

-attempting to reconfigure the dvd player so that it will allow me to tape whatever is playing on the tv screen to vhs


Both sound rather difficult but the end result would be a kickass birthday present that I would get some good TLC for.

option 2 is pretty much impossible--dvd players scramble their output to prevent recording. but you should be able to (somehow, not sure how) rip the videos on your computer.

Go with a data disc. I doubt you can dl full rez music videos that wouldn't look like crap. You can find 320x240 ones all day long, but its going to look terrible when blown up to full tv proportions.

So you've tried hooking the DVD to the tv, and then the vcr to the tv and record from say channel 3? It was scrambled? Weird. I would think going digi to analog would solve that problem.

i've never tried that, FR, but my money's on "taint gonna work."

Probably not. Whenever I want to do things as described above I use a breakout box. If you see yourself doing bunches of vid work, then they are well worth the $ you'll plunk down.

Wow, a nine month project.

By the time you get this thing burned, dvd players won't exist. People will just watch videos with their minds.

Is there a way to que up you tube videos so you could que them up and just record from your computer screen?

Or make 1 long youtube clip and email her a link.

(Unless you want to have cover art, and be able to watch it on a tv....)

The way the VCR in the family room is set up, it tapes whatever's on the tv screen right now. Including the volume dial increasing or decreasing and the guide showing up when I click on it.

So I thought I'd be able to pop a dvd into the dvd player and just hit record on the vcr, but all I wound up with was a black, silent screen on the videotape after.



I ideally wanted something you could watch on the tv. On the computer, I'm only considering because the first seems difficult. There is a channel here where you can watch Canadian indie music videos for free. BSS, Stars, Feist, Joel Plaskett, Magneta Lane and others. So I can easily tape those onto video. And, if I scan my collection and ask around, I could maybe scrounge up old band videos and hook up the two vcr's to tape from those to the other.

I'm sure downloading music vids online and putting them onto a data disc that you could watch on the computer after is the easiest option, but it also seems like it would look pretty lousy.

harley lol

This doesn't make sense. Somewhere you have to switch between the TV (cable? dish? same diff) signal and the DVD signal. If both run thru the VCR, chances are that the TV signal runs thru the RF input (the antenna-type with the threads for screwing something on it) and the DVD runs into the line input. This means you'd have to change the channel on the VCR to the Line Input to record the DVD.

In any event, you should be able to record the DVD straight to the VCR, tho some DVDs (more current full-length types like concerts) may have copy protection embedded which might mess this up.

Now, dispite what others have said, blowing up a web-sized video to 720x480 won't look as bad on a videotape as it will on your puter monitor although it really depends on how small (pixel-wise) the clip is to start with, but a 320x240 clip will generally look about the same as a vhs dubbed to another. The trouble here tho is a lot of times the audio is over-compressed. If you can live with that it's no big deal, otherwise you might want to consider retracking the audio of said clips. In fact, just making the audio sound better will trick the eyes a bit in favor of better-looking video quality. If you have a Mac, this is easily accomplished with iMovie. I can't speak for Win-based apps.

Final thoughts: I've been making mix-video tapes for 18 years and they became much much easier once I started making them on the puter. It takes longer this way but 1) every segue is as perfect as you want it to be and B) you can stop and start as you please. There are apps out there that will let you rip specific parts off DVDs (say, 1 song), and you can import the rips into an editing app and build your set. Then play the set out to tape, or if you can't do that with your puter burn a DVD (and don't forget chapter markers at the head of each clip!).

Good luck!