Karaoke Forums

I know there are several of you that have done this...can you tell me the following:

1. What format you converted them to; and
2. What software you're playing your converted tracks through.

I've always loved the LD videos (cheesy, yes, I know), and I could just buy them for home, but I'd love to use them in my system. I run Hoster and want to keep this easy.

Ideas?

Thanks.

_________________
Birdofsong

converted them to MP+G and only mtu hoster or Karma will play the files without a BUNCH of hoops.

Be aware they must be converted in realtime individually and named...also artist does not transfer over to file so they will need to be input individually also. Very time consuming but IMHO well worth it. I now have 4 complete sets and may be buying 2 more to "sit on"

Athena

_________________
"Integrity is choosing your thoughts, words and actions based on your principles and values rather than for your personal gain."
Unknown
"if a man has integrity, nothing else matters, If a man has no integrity, nothing else matters."
Lee McGuffey

So you converted them in Realtime, and then how did you make them MP3+G?

_________________
Birdofsong

the conversion software that came with the cables I used did it automatically...it just took me forever. I am going to be converting the multiplex files shortly and will be pulling out the cables and software shortly....I will be happy to provide you all the details when I retrieve the hardware. (it has been well over a year since they were packed away and my memory has moved on to other projects )

Athena

_________________
"Integrity is choosing your thoughts, words and actions based on your principles and values rather than for your personal gain."
Unknown
"if a man has integrity, nothing else matters, If a man has no integrity, nothing else matters."
Lee McGuffey

I appreciate it. Thanks.

_________________
Birdofsong

Not mp3g - mpg (or any video file your software will play)
It is all done in real time only via a capture card with the player connected to it. I used a program called Snappysoft by Monsoon Software. It seems to be the only one that worked for me, I tried numerous programs that just didn't work for Hoster - although I believe it was a Codec issue the entire time as I found it did work on my newer computers. I personally ripped at a higher quality so each 3 minute song was approx 300MB. But the video quality is just as good as the video direct from disc. I have 1 500GB hard drive dedicated to the videos only, although doing all my laserdiscs (approx 100 total) I'm not even over 250GB.
They will play on any software that can playback a video file - besides Hoster, Karma and OtsDJ (newer versions) (Compuhost can play a limited amount of the video files in their preloaded buttons) and software that can play a video file like Windows Media Player, Winamp, etc. will even work if you wanted to keep them open on the sidelines for videos only.

Figure for the Pioneer discs, about 1 hour per side. I found it was easier to just record them as individual tracks rather than a whole side and divide the tracks later. I just did it in my spare time while I was doing other things around the house, just had the volume up enough so I could hear when the song would end so I could stop the recording, do a quick name & start the next.

_________________
LIKE Lonman on Facebook - Lonman Productions Karaoke & my main site via my profile!

Thanks for the info, Lon. I transferred my Pioneer lasers to dvd format (for convenience) and that took a long time to finish. Like you, I watched it in real time, stop/start on each & every song, & if you miss/overlap then redo it again. Plus the video is somewhat way degraded compared to the orig. I know that now – the vid transfer cable was composite rca to rca. Anyway, I think I will give that program a try.

_________________
To be fortunate enough to derive an income from a source as fulfilling as karaoke music has got to be as close to heaven as we can get here on earth!

the cord I used was a Pinnacle video capture cord and came with the software. It was easy to hook up and use and I had no degradation of video or sound. I believe I purchased it at Best Buy for under 75.00. I did use a quality LD player that was like new and placed the files on a separate external HD.

Compuhost did not work well for the files as you had to tag and untag each file and there was a very limited number of tags available, After trying a number of hosting programs we found MTU Hoster worked best for us.

this was close to the device we used Avid Technology Dazzle DVD Recorder HD V14.0. I do see improved models have been made since then and cost up to 149.00 now...ours was around 39.00 if I remember correctly
Hope this helps
Athena

_________________
"Integrity is choosing your thoughts, words and actions based on your principles and values rather than for your personal gain."
Unknown
"if a man has integrity, nothing else matters, If a man has no integrity, nothing else matters."
Lee McGuffey

Another good advice. Thanks. I did my transfers years ago. At the time the high end cable was S-vid, but my LD player had only the composite rca's This is the kind of cable I want. No degradation

_________________
To be fortunate enough to derive an income from a source as fulfilling as karaoke music has got to be as close to heaven as we can get here on earth!

Pinnacle is better known as "Dazzle DVD Recorder".

_________________
I'm not a cheerleader, but I paid for my pom poms with my own money!

I think this is what they are talking about

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications ... CatId=1428

Good price too!!!

_________________
I like everyone when I first meet them. If you don't like me that's not my problem it's YOURS!
A stranger is a friend you haven't met yet

Athena - Can you explain the Tag/Untag piece to me? I don't "tag" anything. I just name the files to the standard "DiscID-XX - Artist - Title.zip" format and leave alone.

What is to be gained from "tagging" files and what are the tagged with?

-Chris

_________________
-Chris

When you have tagged the file, you've used ID3 tag info to embed the Artist, Title, and Disk ID in the actual music file. That way you are not dependent on the file name to derive that info, and indeed you can recreate the file name as you wish just from the content in the file.

Relying on the file name for the metadata, the metadata is lost when you back up or copy the file to a medium that doesn't have the same file name.

_________________
[color=#ffff55]Mickey J.[/color]
Alas for those who never sing, but die with all their music in them.
-- Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.

And if I may continue this:

First, if you go into a folder that has music files, you can select options to change your view of the files. Assuming you are in "List View" and not "View As Icons" - you should notice that your files have details listed to the right of the file list. The details might include artist, title, track number, size, etc. (There's actually a whole bunch of different details you can choose from).

Programs that play media files, like Virtual DJ or even Windows Media Player, will allow you to search for content based on your tags. If you are 100% computer based, I highly recommend that you take the time to learn about methods or programs that can automatically tag your files for you. If you are converting Laser Disks, take the time to go into each file (like when you get the next one started) and I would definitely add artist and title - at a minimum. I would also recommend adding genre and a "guestimate" as far as year goes.

I also HIGHLY recommend that you find somewhere to put the manufacturer's code. "Album" is a great place to put it. The reason: If you perform a search for "Friends In Low Places", every file that contains "Friends In Low Places" will show up. You won't know which version you are about to play unless you have noted it in your tags somewhere.

I also recommend that you list karaoke files in "Last Name, First Name" format. The reason or this is so that you can basically eliminate DJ/filler music popping up when you are looking for karaoke files.

CAVS has a program that will tag your files for you called MCG Manager. The only thing is you need what they call a "Juke.txt" file that contains information about the files you want to convert. I have an Excel file that will quickly create this text file from your song book file. Let me know if you need it.

_________________
I'm not a cheerleader, but I paid for my pom poms with my own money!

BTW - I completely understand what tagging actually is. I invested a lot of time with ID3 tags many moons ago when I used to buy music. But I have been streaming for years and so I don't have any use for the tags. I have very little locally stored music any longer and what I do have is auto-tagged by the software I use.

mcky - For karaoke, I just use the filename for identification. I keep all of my karaoke in .ZIP format and make sure I use a standard format across all files. The file names never change. Tagging karaoke seems like a LOT of extra work with no practical benefit. Tagging karaoke would have to a) generate money, or, b) streamline operations enough that I will save money. Otherwise it is just a time suck.

-Chris

_________________
-Chris

I don't see how running a simple program on a tree of files is a lot of work. If I am given a disk worth of files ripped from a CDG, I name the files properly then do:

> file2tag *.mp3
> makezip

There are many utilities that do this type of thing.

But if you are confident you won't have file naming problems, you probably don't need to do it. It's a "nice to have" which I like to have. I can also put genre, duet info, profanity flag, etc. in there.

_________________
[color=#ffff55]Mickey J.[/color]
Alas for those who never sing, but die with all their music in them.
-- Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.

the reason that tagging is needed is so that your hosting program will allow you to search and find the LD files...if it is not done all the programs have a hard time finding the LD files as the naming conventions are not standard...also the artist will not show up in any search at all (on LD files)unless you tag them. Yes it is a LOT of work but IMHO very worthwhile. I did every track individually but I know now there are applications to help with this.

Athena

_________________
"Integrity is choosing your thoughts, words and actions based on your principles and values rather than for your personal gain."
Unknown
"if a man has integrity, nothing else matters, If a man has no integrity, nothing else matters."
Lee McGuffey

mcky - I do see the benefit of setting a profanity flag. That I may consider, for the future, but for now, profanity is allowed at every venue I work at.

Athena - I use the exact naming convention for LD files (.MPG) as I do for the .ZIP files. The only difference is the extension. One of the reasons I like Karma is that it finds either file type just fine by artist or song name regardless of .ZIP or .MPG format.

In fact, I used MP3+GToolz to rename all my LD files by bulk changing the extension on my LD files from .MPG to .ZIP, run MP3+GToolz to rename them, then bulk changed the extension from .ZIP back to .MPG. I then made subtle tweaks to individual file names as desired to fit my naming scheme.

-Chris

_________________
-Chris

Thanks Chris..since I will be re-ripping all the LD's with vocals I can see that being a much more efficient method and save TONS of time

Athena

_________________
"Integrity is choosing your thoughts, words and actions based on your principles and values rather than for your personal gain."
Unknown
"if a man has integrity, nothing else matters, If a man has no integrity, nothing else matters."
Lee McGuffey

Well...I got my Laser Discs -- a full set of Pioneers for $400. I got a player for $50. It's OLD. Really OLD. As in it runs off coax for the video out. : )

I have a converter box (I had it from when I converted my old VCR tapes), but am having trouble getting my laptop to recognize it. I'll figure it out. Unless I can find someone who's willing to convert them for a fee. : )

How about you TroyVnd27? You're in Michigan, right?

Birdofsong

_________________
Birdofsong