I couldn't figure out which forum to put this topic in, so I hope here is okay.

Not too long ago, I bought a DVD/VCR combo (no DVD recording functionality, and you can't get plain VCRs any more). The idea was to record some KD runs (maybe other games down the line) and put them online later. I thought, "How hard can it be to transfer to DVD or computer file later?" Ha ha. Ha ha ha! Well, it's been a nightmare. No business I've yet found will transfer a VHS tape directly to a computer file. Worse, the cheapest place I've found wants $20 to do one transfer to DVD. Even then they send it off somewhere, or something. I don't know how long that takes or what happens if they lose it in transit. :eek I know someone that works at the store that can give me a discount, making it $17. Still, that's ridiculous. Is this a racket or what?

My computer has a chip with some long name, but I think it's AMD and it runs at about 698 Mhz. I can't find a video capture device with a minimum requirement of less than 800 Mhz. Besides, the whole point is for people to be able to see the video. I don't want some $3 piece of garbage that outputs in 8-bit.

Making the videos has been interesting. I like watching them myself, and they let me see things I didn't even know I was doing while I was playing. This helps me do even better next time. Still, the point of the whole exercise was to make videos everyone could see.

I can't seem to figure out a way to do this besides waiting some indefinite period of time to afford a DVD recorder, and I'm about at the end of my rope. :mad

I thought I'd open this topic up to the whole site instead of burying it in my endless KD topic. I would appreciate any thoughts you may have.

didn't you say you could send your videos to slo_bro?

I wrote him a while ago, and he hasn't written back. I don't know if he can help or not, but it says on his site that he'll accept VHS tapes. I realize people have other things to do. I don't really expect people to drop everything and address some forum post or e-mail of mine, although I'm sure it sometimes seems like I do.

Anyway, I don't know if that's going to work out. :shrug

when he disappears, it's usually for a few months or until a katamari game comes out unfortunately.

heres what i use http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...Tpk=encore%2btv and this was in my windows 98 stock compaq (around 10 years old) used it mainly to record runs but you will need a recorder box to play it back on your tv..if not your just gonna get button lag,but i dont really know if button lag affects KM so much gameplay wise..but get one heres a video of mine on moderately high settings http://youtube.com/watch?v=pq0vD4mQ7EA lol note how much i suck with the button lag

Thanks to all for the replies. More are welcome, of course. :)

I have a question for anyone:

If you have a DVD recorder, can you put homemade DVDs in the disc tray of your computer and rip them to YouTube without any other hardware? My disc tray claims to accept DVD-ROM.

I'm going to SDA, YouTube, etc. to see if there's any more advice on how to do this. The people making all those videos can't all have DVD recorders and high-end computers, can they?

*scolds self for not doing this before*

xTheFinalBossx,

I have a few questions for you:

After some digging, I can't seem to find the system requirements for that product (not even on the manufacturer's site). It sounds like your computer is even a bit older than mine (2003), so I guess it would work. Right?

The video quality seems serviceable. It looks about as good as the KD videos I've seen. You can see the score and everything. It might even work better for KD since it isn't nearly as dark. The question is: Could I continue recording videos with my VCR and only convert them with the device later? That would seem to solve the lag problem, but then maybe I'm unclear on how the thing works.

It seems like a decent solution, and one I'll certainly consider. I would have preferred external to internal, but I'm becoming less picky as this drags on.

yeah i never thought of that but yeah thats what it was origonally used for, restoring vhs' yeah it would work.Its very easy it has a cable plug similar to the one you have in the wall.but make sure your vcr has a hole in the back called IR or anything that a headphone jack would plug into or else you wont get sound

Okay, so it looks like this may work out after all. I don't even want to say how just yet. It's not that I don't want to jinx it, it's that I don't want to go on about it until it either happens or doesn't. Thanks to all of you for your replies, and I'll know what's up sometime this week (hopefully tomorrow).

*crosses fingers*

I got a DVD recorder! :woot

I found myself unable to properly put into words exactly what has happened, so I summoned the help of Professor Smar T. Pantz at the Institute of Emoticonology. What follows is a summary of his remarks:

:mad - VCR = VCR money
VCR money = :)
:) + breaking piggy bank + some Chuck E. Cheese tokens from the '80s = DVD recorder
DVD recorder = :woot

very nice. looking forward to seeing them soon. i have a dvd recorder and haven't gotten it hooked up since i moved it. one day...

I hooked up my DVD recorder the other day, and now I have a video I'd like to share.

First, I have a tip for anyone else with a DVD recorder: The default setting for mine is progressive scan. My ancient TV (2001) doesn't support that. I almost threw the recorder out the window. Luckily, I found a tiny note in the manual. Before I found out what to do, there was some weird distortion that caused (or seemed to cause) a lag. That's a no-no for video games. Anyway, turn progressive scan off if your TV doesn't support it. The manual says you might want to turn it off anyway if you experience picture noise.

I still have this weird pink line that shows up at the bottom of the screen, but only during menus (and other black screens). Changing from "letter box" to "pan scan" doesn't help, and neither does anything else. I guess I can live with it since it doesn't affect gameplay.

About my video, I guess I'll try YouTube. I just heard the other day that YouTube would soon get ads before and after videos, though. I guess I could try putting my video there for now, and worry about putting it somewhere else later. Any thoughts?

Edit: It might be just over the time limit for YouTube, but whatever. Any thoughts about where else I could put it?

they are going to have ads for every video now? ugh

That's what I heard, and that was my same reaction. I think I heard it on G4's "The Feed." Doesn't Google own YouTube? Does this mean Google Video is doomed also? :(

Anyway, what should I do?

i have only uploaded one video and that was to youtube. i have no idea about other sites.

this is from the bottom of wewantkatamarivideos.com (slo_bro's site)

Okay, thanks. I'm dedicating the rest of tonight to getting my first video online. (Let's hope it doesn't actually take that long.) I'll announce it here once it's up, and I'll put something in the KD forums about it as well. :)

One word: encoding. :frusty

Any help would be appreciated. :china

A little more info: I know there are plenty of programs you can download, but I don't need a lot of features. I do need something that will run on a slow (~700Mhz) computer and not take all night to encode a 10-minute video.

I also need someone to scold me mercilessly for recording my MAS 7 video (KD) in HQ mode, the highest setting. I don't know much about these things, but I'm betting that made the file sizes much larger than they had to be.

yeah, i don't really know much about it myself because i haven't done it, but you probably need a dvd ripping sofware that will convert the video to avi, .mov, .mpg, or .wmv, but remember it has be be less than 100mb when finished. you can probably find a free software that will do what you need (or at least a trial) online, try download.com.

I took the DVD recorder back to the store two days ago. I only had 10 days to take it back for a full refund. I had to choose between: a) a very slim chance that I would ever be able to get videos encoded and up on the web (the only reason I had bought the device in the first place), or b) getting back the $150 (+ tax) that I had paid for it. I chose "b."

Before I took it back, I had downloaded, installed, and uninstalled several crapware encoders from Download.com. Some or all of them may have actually worked, but I couldn't figure it out. I used System Restore at least twice to clear all of it off my computer. A day or two before taking the recorder back, I discovered I had Windows Movie Maker on my computer. This computer was given to me as a gift, so I still don't know about everything that's on it. Anyway, for better or worse I was already through with the idea of getting videos online by then. Even if WMM could have helped me encode video, the slow speed of my computer (~700 Mhz) would have meant tying it up for hours, perhaps all night and/or all day each time I encode anything. This computer is in my bedroom, it's noisy, and I can't sleep with it on.

The whole thing became a mess, and I'm truly fed up with it all. While I suspect not too many people will be crushed by this news, I do feel embarrassed about having talked my videos up so much and then not having been able to get them online for others to see.

A few tips for anyone planning to make videos:

1) Consider keeping quiet about the existence of any videos unless/until you actually get them online.

2) Make sure you know what you're doing, have a reasonably fast computer (1.5 Ghz+), and have a lot of patience before even buying a piece of recording equipment.

I will not spend one more ounce of gasoline driving to stores, one more penny buying equipment/taking it back, or one more second trying to get videos online/worrying about it.

*done*

that sucks, sorry to hear, though you'll find a way at some point.

aw, too bad. it would have been pretty neat to see.