What to do with fast internet?

I always told myself that if I ever got a fast uploading connection I would run a streaming Web Radio station.

torrents

since we're talking about torrents here maybe someone could help me? Does anyone here encode? I'm trying to encode a VHS but I'm having problems with the program. Does anyone have any suggestions for a good program to rip VHS either to DVD or directly to a video file (.wmv, .mpg, .avi, doesn't matter)

Quote from TheCoffeePrince : Usually most internet backbones for major universities can go around 150 Mbps so I'm just wondering.

well.. you could backup your entire computer every month, except that most of us have a crappy 250gb (or even 150gb for some) cap - if it wasn't for that, then we could do quite a bit more

it's also not only the speed, but the ping - that is essential for gaming (having a low ping), and the two are usually loosely related (the speed and the ping)

Quote from DaddioDan : since we're talking about torrents here maybe someone could help me? Does anyone here encode? I'm trying to encode a VHS but I'm having problems with the program. Does anyone have any suggestions for a good program to rip VHS either to DVD or directly to a video file (.wmv, .mpg, .avi, doesn't matter)

I'm actually in the process of doing that myself. Learning about all the crap regarding encoding is a pain. The most surprising thing i learned is that re-encoding crappy old VHS footage can lead to larger than expected file sizes due to all the noise present in the video.

I'm currently using a standalone VHS to DVD recorder to burn the DVDs, and then i'm ripping the video off the DVDs onto my PC to assemble later. Ideally I wanted to do some editing in something like Windows Movie Maker, but trying to get them into a usable format has been frustrating until i found a tool called VirtualDub which seems to do what i want and was easy to use.

Take a few min and head over to videohelp.com, they have forums and plenty of links to freeware to do stuff like you need done.

Quote from DaddioDan : since we're talking about torrents here maybe someone could help me? Does anyone here encode? I'm trying to encode a VHS but I'm having problems with the program. Does anyone have any suggestions for a good program to rip VHS either to DVD or directly to a video file (.wmv, .mpg, .avi, doesn't matter)

I encode a decent amount, but usually DVDs. Never done a VHS before. What sort of hardware are you using to get it onto the PC? And what shows up (number and type of file) on the PC once you copy it on?

Quote from godfather927 : I'm actually in the process of doing that myself. Learning about all the crap regarding encoding is a pain. The most surprising thing i learned is that re-encoding crappy old VHS footage can lead to larger than expected file sizes due to all the noise present in the video. I'm currently using a standalone VHS to DVD recorder to burn the DVDs, and then i'm ripping the video off the DVDs onto my PC to assemble later. Ideally I wanted to do some editing in something like Windows Movie Maker, but trying to get them into a usable format has been frustrating until i found a tool called VirtualDub which seems to do what i want and was easy to use. Take a few min and head over to videohelp.com, they have forums and plenty of links to freeware to do stuff like you need done.

Alright thanks, I'll check this out.

Quote from Jabbit : I encode a decent amount, but usually DVDs. Never done a VHS before. What sort of hardware are you using to get it onto the PC? And what shows up (number and type of file) on the PC once you copy it on?

I borrowed my dad's VHS to DVD setup which is made by Honestech (lol name). Capture hardware is called the Vidbox, software is Honestech VHS to DVD. For shorter films it works pretty well and you can do straight to DVD or to a WMV file. The problem though is that the movie I'm trying to rip is a 3hr film and within the last hour to 30 mins the video starts skipping. It's not the cassette's fault though, it's the hardware/software combination because as soon as I stop the recording, it shows just fine on the screen. I'm trying to rip this to collect a 1.5tb upload bounty on a private site, so this is just frustrating me more and more with the continuous shitty rips I keep getting.

Quote from DaddioDan : since we're talking about torrents here maybe someone could help me? Does anyone here encode? I'm trying to encode a VHS but I'm having problems with the program. Does anyone have any suggestions for a good program to rip VHS either to DVD or directly to a video file (.wmv, .mpg, .avi, doesn't matter)

It's been six or so years since I did one, but I think I used VirtualDub.

Quote from DaddioDan : I borrowed my dad's VHS to DVD setup which is made by Honestech (lol name). Capture hardware is called the Vidbox, software is Honestech VHS to DVD. For shorter films it works pretty well and you can do straight to DVD or to a WMV file. The problem though is that the movie I'm trying to rip is a 3hr film and within the last hour to 30 mins the video starts skipping. It's not the cassette's fault though, it's the hardware/software combination because as soon as I stop the recording, it shows just fine on the screen. I'm trying to rip this to collect a 1.5tb upload bounty on a private site, so this is just frustrating me more and more with the continuous shitty rips I keep getting.

lol @ Honestech. They sound trustworthy. So do you get the same skipping issue when you are going straight to DVD, or only when converting to a file (considering it is only the last 30 mins or hour)? You could try doing 1/2 at a time, then combining the 2 files. Even burn 2 DVDs, then rip the DVDs to your computer w/ Handbrake or something similar.

Quote from Jabbit : lol @ Honestech. They sound trustworthy. So do you get the same skipping issue when you are going straight to DVD, or only when converting to a file (considering it is only the last 30 mins or hour)? You could try doing 1/2 at a time, then combining the 2 files. Even burn 2 DVDs, then rip the DVDs to your computer w/ Handbrake or something similar.

It doesn't happen with straight to DVD, only when I try to do it straight to a .wmv file. I had a DVD copy of it, but I was having problems ripping it with AGK. I'm going to give VirtualDub a shot and see what happens. If all else fails I'll try doing two separate files and combining them. I just really want to skip the "to DVD" step and send it straight to a digital file.

Quote from DaddioDan : It doesn't happen with straight to DVD, only when I try to do it straight to a .wmv file. I had a DVD copy of it, but I was having problems ripping it with AGK. I'm going to give VirtualDub a shot and see what happens. If all else fails I'll try doing two separate files and combining them. I just really want to skip the "to DVD" step and send it straight to a digital file.

For DVD to digital files I use Handbreak. Great little bit of software, use it all the time to rip movies from my DVD collection to my HDD so I can stream them on the Xbox and the Mrs. sends them to her phone also.

I know you want to skip the step, but it is pretty quick. Obviously it does ISO conversion also.