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I have disks 1-50 of the original Pioneer laser disks. They are too bulky to cart around. Does anyone know if there is a way to convert these to CDR's
Thanks...

Drop them to DVD.

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Great Idea!
Do you play them on your TV and record with a DVD recorder?
And as long as you keep your lasers on the premises this is legal?
Just wondering.

Songbud

Not exactly sure HOW it's done.  Matt would be the one to ask on that as he is doing the same thing.
As far as being legal, well no technically ANY format conversion of any kind is illegal.  Will you be popped for it if you have the original discs on premises - highly doubtful as long as the clubs you are playing are paying their ASCAP, BMI etc... fees.

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As already stated, format shifting is illegal in the US.  The problem is that it's generally a civil issue and had to prove damages if you only have a single copy.

There are a couple ways to do this but they all deal with capturing the video on another device one way or another.

Personally, I'd use VCD's so I can play them on my existing 3 tray player.  DVD's are another option as are using DIVX and a DIVX compatible player.

You can record using your standard DVD recorder or you can capture the video on your computer with any of your typical video capture devices.  Personally, I'd capture the video on the computer to provide more options on the recording.  You will have to have a LOT of drive space if you plan on capturing on a computer though.  Once it's captured and compressed back to MPEG, DIVX or some other format it's easy to remove the original files to save space.  Remember, each DVD w/ 2 hour of video is nearly 4GB, and each VCD of an hour of video is 650-700MB.  If your player supports SVCD then I would use SVCD as the recording format as it's nearly DVD quality and holds an hour of video on each 700MB CD-R.

Look for TV Capture devices... such as the Pinnacle product. Takes the input from your player, and records it on a blue screen like a VCR record option. You record it to either .avi or .mpeg.

Using the DIVX software it comes with, the average song size for each song (14 songs on each side) is about 30-40MEGs...

I PERSONALLY wouldn't do the VCD thingy, but only cause I am running a pc-based show. HOWEVER, if you're running a CDG-based show, and want to do what is now being called "format shifting" from lasers to vcd, then that's the way I'd go.

I really wouldn't go DVD.

And no matter what you do, always make a back up copy (or keep a usb-backup hard drive in case sitting on your shelf in case your vcd goes kaput.).

Burns are NOTORIOUSLY delicate! Last thing you really want is a pissed off customer when your vcd is discovered with a huge scratch or crack!