No more VCRs! - What do we do?

[TheMrB]

I have a primary school that still use vhs videos. I have even downloaded some of the videos but for some crazy reason they insist on using vhs. I was also shocked at how poor the quality is especially as the quality degrades over time and these things have been played to hell and back.

 

A cruddy old server with a TV tuner card with a sky box plugged in plus a VHS recorder We record the educational shows etc from the beeb and can also transfer the old catalogue of VHS tapes onto DVD etc.

 

It works, but it isn't the best system in the world. I actually think we are still using old science recordings of a show that used a pinball table style animation between each section of program (anyone remember this??)

 

We spent an entire summer copying all of Science's VHS tapes to DVD for them

I've never laughed harder than when I was asked "How come the quality hasn't improved with the DVD"

Not the first, or last time I've had to explain GIGO in this school

[unixman_again]

+1 for clickview/clickcap we had it at my last school and it was brill. Easy to use for recording stuff of the TV. For old VHS tapes, we used a VCR connected to a PC with TV card to upload them to clickview. Old VHS tapes are a bit of a problem. Where I work now, most classrooms have VCRs, but as these die we don't replace them. We don't install VCRs in the new buildings either. While we do offer the facilities to convert VHS to DVD, we point out to staff that the material on the VHS is either out of date or more likely, has been played so many times that it is unwatchable and so converting it to DVD is largely a waste of time.

[TheMrB]

On very dodgy ground.

 

I thought that would be the case.

It seems such a step backwards to go back to SD recordings on a standard SD Sky+ box too.

[diddylord]

We use Planet estream for this, absolutely brilliant piece of kit, works as a free view recorder and video encoder as well as loads more.

Planet eStream - Video Capture & Archiving, Digital Signage, Live TV

 

Not that cheep but worth every penny.

[Joanne]

@Joanne - I've just emailed the link to the BBC Education website to all teaching staff and have already had 3 replies saying thanks......so a big thanks from me.

 

No worries. Here's another useful link too: Channel 4 Learning - DVDs, CD-Roms and free online education resources and activities for schools just incase!

[sonofsanta]

So, if you know,

Where would I stand bypassing any HDCP coming from my sky box if i was to record tv shows that I had DVR'd?

 

ERA only covers free-to-air broadcasts, which doesn't include Sky. Even if you've used your Sky+ to record a BBC show, though, circumventing copy protection is illegal, which is why using dubious methods to grab content from iPlayer isn't OK. It's a daft situation where if you know ahead of time, you are OK to schedule a recording from an aerial; if you decide you want the content after seeing it air, you can't obtain it from iPlayer/a copy-protected recording, even though the end product is the same.

 

Copyright law is stupid and archaic.

[TheMrB]

We use Planet estream for this, absolutely brilliant piece of kit, works as a free view recorder and video encoder as well as loads more.

Planet eStream - Video Capture & Archiving, Digital Signage, Live TV

 

Not that cheep but worth every penny.

Wow!

That looks awesome!

[TheMrB]

ERA only covers free-to-air broadcasts, which doesn't include Sky. Even if you've used your Sky+ to record a BBC show, though, circumventing copy protection is illegal, which is why using dubious methods to grab content from iPlayer isn't OK. It's a daft situation where if you know ahead of time, you are OK to schedule a recording from an aerial; if you decide you want the content after seeing it air, you can't obtain it from iPlayer/a copy-protected recording, even though the end product is the same.

 

Copyright law is stupid and archaic.

 

Interesting that it only covers FTA stuff. Cheers for that.

Shan't be nicking any of those dodgy alien shows off of History then!

 

I did think it was the case, and (as far as work stuff goes) if I have to use some technical jiggery-pokery to make it work, I generally file it as illegal and I won't be doing it.

 

You are right though. In a time when DVR and online Catch-up are as common as watching live, the copyright laws are pretty antiquated!

[Andrew_C]

If you have an ERA+ licence, you can share with other ERA+ licence holders. If you missed something, the chances are that someone, somewhere, got it. ClickView Exchange is a Cloud sharing system based on this premise.

 

 

Oh, and yes, the law is an ass.