Requesting help for a newbie

[drfunmetal]

I just moved into a 4 story townhouse. I have 5 Sony HDTV Flat screen LCD tv's which I bought at the Sony Outlet (3 - 40" and 2 - 46"). They have vga inputs as well as component and hdmi. I have been buying up hardware, but I don't know where to begin. I bought a module from a closing COMP USA which has component and 2 sound inputs and outputs for 6 sets of component cables 6 pair of sound chanels. I have also found several Niles Intellicontrol units with a Niles programmer and Remotes on Ebay and I have a SATA 750 GB Hard drive.

I am not sure if any of the modules I have purchased would work into a system. Any feedback would be greatly appreciated as I don't know where to begin. What is the best way to rip DVD's to a server. I feel as though I have been looking for something like x lobby to tie this all together. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated as well.

Thanks!

[Cabnetguy]

You have come to the right place!

Xlobby is a great front end. There is an unbelievable amount of info here, if you use the search function, and there is a lot of very talented people here that can help you if you have trouble working it out for yourself.

As for ripping DVD's to a hard drive There are several programs that will do it for you, some of them are free. I use Any DVD(commercial software) in combination with DVD Decrypter (free, and there is an Xlobby plugin available) or DVDShrink 3.54 (also free). I then use Auto GK to compress them using the xvid codec.

The best thing to do is look around the site and read ALOT

[drfunmetal]

Brian,

Thanks so much for your reply. What software do you use to index/access your dvd's stored on Hard Drives. I have a Scientific Atlanta HD DVR through cable vision and I added an external e SATA hard drive to it ( 500MB) to expand it's memory. Do you know how I can convert these files and compress them using the xvid codec. I don't know what format they are stored in.

Thanks,

Bob

[Marbles_00]

Do you know how I can convert these files and compress them using the xvid codec. I don't know what format they are stored in

What the file extension of the video file recorded from the DVR? Most likely mpeg2 files, but if you can tell us the file extension, then we will for sure be able to help you. Once we know the source file format, it is only a matter of finding the software that can convert that file format to xvid (or whatever compressed format you want).

Hope that helps.

[drfunmetal]

Hi,

Sorry, i've been out of the loop for a bit. My Cable (Scientific Atlanta 8300 HD) DVR has an eSata hard drive which I added via the port on the back. When I powered the box up it advised that it was reformatting the hard drive. Apparently it writes the next program to the emptiest drive ( usually the external drive).
From what I have read at http://www.pimpmydvr.com:


Can I record shows onto my DVR Upgrade Unit using my DVR and then connect the unit to my computer to view them?
No, the DVR applies encryption to the shows recorded on the DVR Upgrade Unit so that only the DVR that recorded them can view them.

I believe the the software is called passport or sara and the files are encrypted so they will only play back on the 8300 HD which recorded them. Do you or anyone know: 1) is there a way to take the component video output from the Scientific Atlanta 8300 and capture it on a video card? 2) Is there any truth to the FCC requirement that all cable providers must provide output data via the firewire port? and if so, Can HDTV be captured on a video card? I realize that I could burn DVD's from the DVR and them rip the dvd's but I want something easier and cleaner.

Thanks for any help you can give me.

Bob

[tswhite70]

You're best bet for getting info on your SA 8300 and FCC Cable regulations is over at AVSForum (http://www.avsforum.com). They should have specific threads on each of your questions with 100's if not 1000's of posts. As far as I know the only real usable way to capture the HD stream of your 8300 to your computer is using an enabled firewire port through SageTV (read more here: http://forums.sagetv.com/forums/showthread.php?t=9288). I do believe that your cable provider is required to provide active firewire, but you'll probably have to fight your cable company CSR to get one.

good luck,
tsw