Nesting Birds - Dubbing Mpeg 4 ?

[longjohn-nle]

Hello everyone, this is my first posting on Hexus.

I bought an inexpensive camera kit specifically to record inside a bird nesting box - at the beginning of the year. I wired it directly into my LG dvd Recorder - model RH 277H - and then into the tv/monitor.
Having successfully captured ( & played back ) all the required footage from the hard disc ( hdd ) , I then attempted to dub to a DVD disc. No go ! I then found that the footage had been captured with the mpeg4 switch on !

The LG phone support tell me that I can only dub to DVD if the setting is mpeg 2. They are therefore saying that my precious footage is stuck on the hdd never to be transfered or edited.

Is there anyway that I can get this video off the recorder hard drive ?
ps, I don't have much confidence in the LG helpline !

[peterb]

Welcome to Hexus!

You need a converter - Googling

Mpeg4 to mpeg 2 conversion

gave a number of links, including this one

http://www.brothersoft.com/downloads...-to-mpeg2.html

This producy gets some mentions...

http://www.yasasoft.com/yasavideoconverter/

but there are several others.

Obviously you need to copy the original footage and work on the copy, just in case anything goes wrong, when you will still have the original.

[longjohn-nle]

Many thanks Peterb,

Problem is , if I download a converter on my pc, how does this help inside the seperate recorder ? ie , I can't get the footage into the pc !
Am I missing something here ?
regards

[peterb]

Sorry - missed the fact that the file is on the LG recorder...

Can you access the LG hard drive directly? (through a PC interface)

If not, one option might be to remove the hard drive and mount it in a PC and read the file off directly - one caveat - most of these embedded systems use a Linux variant, so the file system will not be windows compatable. This need not be a problem if you use a linux live CD to access the hard drive and then write it to a memory stick or USB drive that has a FAT format. This can then be read by Windows when you boot the computer normally.

[longjohn-nle]

Peter, am pleased to report success.
I simply took the LG recorder to my Casablanca Avio and hooked them together using s-video to s-video plus audio. By switching to record mode on the Avio I was able to 'see' the MPEG4 footage and record directly at will.
It sits beside the MPEG2 footage that I subsequently took and with similar quality.
Many thanks for your contribution Peter
John

[peterb]

Glad you got it sorted! (Not sure I contributed much though! )

[Funkstar]

How feasable would it be to connect the camera directly to your Casablanca Avio?

If it was me, I would rather capture with the PC in the first place, it would give you far more options as far as recording quality, editing, etc. It would also avoid un-necesary analogue/digital conversions.

Just my thoughts

Oh, and welcome to Hexus

[longjohn-nle]

Take your point Funkstar.
Reasons for using Recorder/TV monitor is that birdbox is on a Scots Pine - 15 meters from kitchen window. Recorder/TV is also in kitchen & in view of box - hence ultimate spying !
Thanks again for your thoughts.
ps, perhaps I should get a cordless/wireless system for the birdbox !
John