Transfer DVR to hard drive or DVD? (Mac or PC)

You can back-up video from RelayTV to a Mac very easily.

Use DV Archive to pull the video to the Mac.
http://www.dvarchive.org/

Use Drop DV to convert the video to a standard video format for editing.
http://www.dropdv.com/

Then use iMovie or Final Cut Express to edit the video.

NOTE: You'll need about 8GB space for an hour of raw video.

you need a device to get the signal to your computer. there are several brands out there. with mine, i can take vcr, audio or a digital signal and transfer it to my hard drive via iMovie then to iDVD to burn. the mac works great. i can also use Toast to burn as well (this is a software program from Roxio).
you should have some kind of out from the DVR so you'll need this AVI device to get it into your computer--it's a piece of hardware, a little black box in my case and it works fine. I can't remember the exact name--i'm not at home. if you look around, you can find these things---i believe el gato makes something too.
hope this helps...
greg

Hi Michael;

As with anything technology based, there are a number of different ways to do the same thing. But there are a number of questions that have to be answered first.

1: What DVR is this question in reference to? As your solutions might vary depending on which DVR you have.
I?m not familiar with all the different models and brands of DVR?s in the market; I?m only familiar with TiVo ( series 1 and series 2 ). With an un-altered ( un-hacked TiVo unit, and without the ?TiVo to Go? option installed ) the only way to move data from the TiVo unit to a PC or VCR was to connect to the A/V output on the TiVo unit and have the VCR(PC) record the play back of the shows you want to save ( analog transfer ). With the new service from TiVo, ?TiVo to Go? (http://www.tivo.com/4.9.19.asp) available to Series 2 machines; you will have an option to do a digital transfer of your archived shows directly to your PC, but you will still need extra software to convert the Tivo files to standard DVD format.

2: I know that this is a MAC related forum; but do you have both systems, PC and MAC? What are the specs for both systems? For the PC side, your system will need to be pretty ?beefy? to handle the data stream and the data encoding to DVD format?

3: Do you care what the video quality is once the finished program is burned to a DVD? Because there is basically two different ways to transfer the video to your computer: either analog or by digital.
Analog ?Transfer? would require you to connect the DVR A/V outputs some how to your computer. Just the transferring of the DVR output will add ?noise? to the data that finally reaches the computers harddrive. This is why the VCR copy of a copy of a copy of a copy has noticeably worse picture and sound quality as the original copy. This signal loss doesn?t happen with a pure digital to digital copy
Digital transfer would require that you somehow connect your DVR using either USB or Ethernet and uploading the DVR data to your computer.

4: Depending on what shows your trying to archive to DVD format and which solutions you decided to use; you might also have to think about Copywrite / Digital Rights Media (DRM) / Macrovision copy protection

Here is a forum site that I have been a member of for over a year and there is a lot of good information to be found here.

http://www.videohelp.com/

Honestly, unless you really want to get involved with this hobby and have to deal with a lot of troubleshooting; tweaking of software settings and lots of trial and error, you might be better off transferring the DVR files to a VHS tape and then buy yourself one of the VCR / DVD burner combo units ( not sure how well they work, never used one ). Or get yourself an interface device for your computer, such as:

Plextor?s ? ConvertX ? device ( http://www.plextor.com/english/products/product_dvc.html )
Or
Sony?s ? DV Direct DVD recorder ?
(http://www.sonystyle.com/is-bin/INTERSHOP.enfinity/eCS/Store/en/-/USD/SY_DisplayProductInformation-Start?ProductSKU=VRDVC10&Dept=cpu_dvdcdburners&CategoryName=cpu_Sony_PCAccessories_CD%2fDVDBurn_DVDirect )
or
ADS Tech
http://www.adstech.com/products/USBAV702/intro/usb702intro.asp?pid=USBAV702
or
http://www.adstech.com/products/USBAV_703/intro/usb703intro.asp?pid=USBAV703

JC

I have a Digital Video Recorder. I have desk top. I do this all the time. I have a Digital Camera that I edit what I want from the DVR. I connect the AV output jacks (RCA)on the DVR to my camera. I then download to the pc. It uses a lot of memory. I often transfer movies and prints to an external HD or a CD

There is a way, but to do it correctly you need either/orthe following items:

1: a good CD R / RW for CD's; or
2: a good DVD R/RW for DVD's.

NOTE: the latest DVD R/RW units will also allow CD R/RW facilities as well.

I also recommend the use of a good CD/DVD programme such as Nero - I use Nero 6 and keep it up to date (personally I feel that's where a lot of the problems that others find with the programme stem from). Basically then, whatever software system your supplier recommends (usually by including their driver/programme disk with the appliance), stick with it and keep it updated.

As I said, I use a DVD system, and regularly back up sections of my hard drives just in case.
With regard to the two types of format you are wanting, I am not sure if Nero would accommodate them; however I'm sure you can download "shareware" or "try-before-you-buy" types of software for these types of programmes. Remember though, keep to the orginal writing/rewriting progamme making new backup disks for that programme.

Please note though, the above only applies to copies from the original disk to the hard drive. Nero also has a facility to copy disk-to-disk. I do not know if it would copy these formats - though you'll quickly find out. If it won't. make a new folder on your'e hard drive of the same name as the disk, transfer the contents of the disk to the hard drive, then use an autorun programme (mine is called Autorun v2.9.2 - you can get the original via CNET, but it's only a "try-before-you-buy" type of software. I have the full version, either will allow you to creat autorun programmes and files on other systems. Needless to say, I find it extreely useful.

Regads

yea ditto...that would be a useful thing to know.

I'm interested in transferring video files from my DVR (a Motorola DCT 6412 III) to an external hard drive. The DVR has two USB 2.0 ports and one Ethernet port, but when I connect either one to my Mac (planning to connect my Mac to an external hard drive, to copy the files) the DVR doesn't show up in the Finder. Is there something special that I need to do to find the DVR's hard drive? I'm running OS X 10.5.4 on a MacBook. I don't know much about networking, so I might need this in pretty basic terms. Thanks!

(The reason I'd like to do this is that I may be switching from the cable company to AT&T's U-verse, which would give me a new DVR ? but I've got TV shows on the old one that I'd like to keep.)

Please start new discussions with all the details if this old post doesn't answer your new questions.