digitalFAQ.com Forum

digitalFAQ.com Forum (https://www.digitalfaq.com/forum/)
-   Encode, Convert for discs (https://www.digitalfaq.com/forum/video-conversion/)
-   -   Capture Amazon Video and burn on DVD? (https://www.digitalfaq.com/forum/video-conversion/3257-capture-amazon-video.html)

w3tno 07-05-2011 02:02 PM

Capture Amazon Video and burn on DVD?
 
Recently I have become an Amazon prime member, and I have found that Amazon has Prime Instant Videos at no cost! I have yet to view one of these videos, but as I understand it they can be streamed to my computer for viewing. Well, I really would like to watch these videos on my TV, but I have not yet upgraded to an internet aware TV. In the meantime it would be nice if I could capture the video stream to my computer's hard drive, burn the video to a DVD, and then play the DVD back on my TV by using my DVD player.

While doing a Google search, I have run across Aimersoft Video Converter Ultimate that for $60 claims it can download and record video from Video on Demand of Amazon. Can anyone comment on this product, or suggest another product that could do the equivalent?

lordsmurf 07-06-2011 02:58 AM

I'm moving this out of the Premium Member forum, and into the public forums, because I want to make a point.

Let's look first at who/what Aimersoft is:
Aimersoft
High Tech Industry Park
SHENZHEN,Guangdong,CN 518000

Be warned that most Chinese software is simply "ripping off" (stealing code from) open-source software. Once installed, it's often easy to see open-source library DLL files. Sometimes it's complying with GPL, sometimes not. Most of those Chinaware companies do little more than repackage code under a pretty new GUI. In many cases, the original open-source coding is found in command line utilities developed on Linux, therefore it's not something easy to use by the layman, even if tracked down. To make matter worse, the Chinaware makers often package conflicting open-source code that makes the software buggy. Furthermore, many of these Chinese makers don't really understand the world of video, and tend to pick some of the most lousy settings for encode quality, giving you low quality (often blocky) video.

Most Chinaware makes big boastful claims, yet little of it ever proves to be true. The most laughable one is the idea that anything they release is "professional quality", given how most of it is simply repackaged low-end open-source code developed by home coding enthusiasts.

When it comes to this Chinaware, understand that what you buy is often all you'll ever get. Amazon is bound by studio contracts to make all attempts to make video content "secure" and to close up all loopholes. Hulu recently experimented with a change of their "handshake" method that rendered Hulu downloading impossible with the popular program "StreamTransport". Adobe sued Applian (maker of Replay Media Catcher), who then disabled the ability to download from certain sites to settle without fault. So software stops working. And when it comes to Chinaware, there are usually no updates. To me, $60 is a lot of money to spend on something that could quit working tomorrow.

Beyond that, most Chinaware, given that it's just a rip of freeware, is overpriced for the consumer. Chinaware is heavily supported by affiliate programs, thus explaining all those bogus "top 10" sites online. The #1 slot is always reserved for the highest paying commission. Aimersoft offers 50% commission, meaning that $59.95 software is really just $30. While Aimersoft could collect $60 from those that visit the site directly, it's more likely to have been discovered through an affiliate site. For the sake of comparison, a $500+ professional video program like Sony Vegas or Adobe Premiere doesn't even get a $30 commission. Most of those sales are capped at about 4% on average (pro software ranges from 2% on low end, up to 15% from a few select software makers).

Because of security advancements made in the RTMP security protocols in 2009-2011, and suits like the one against Applian, many streams are now near-impossible to physically "download" -- meaning you'll never get the original, unaltered quality stream. Companies hawking their "stream recording" software are now largely utilizing screen capturing techniques, which yield lower quality video, and vary in quality (in references to software bugs, rate of dropped frames, audio sync, ease of use, etc). You may as well output the computer screen to a DVD recorder.

I don't entirely know how Aimersoft works, in terms of downloading vs screen recording the video. Nor do I know what (if any) freeware it may be based on, or using in its base code. Nor can I test it, not having an Amazon Prime account. If nothing else, it does have a free trial.

Download the trial: http://hotdownloads.com/trialware/do...filiate=571259
If you buy it, use this link, as it helps this site: http://www.regnow.com/softsell/nph-s...filiate=571259

As an added mention, I have nothing against China or the Chinese. My aggravation is completely against the shady software makers that (for whatever reason) all seem to come out of China. Many of these companies (or their affiliates) spam forums -- and that includes this site. The offenders includes Aimersoft, Cucusoft, Wondershare, Pavtube, OJOsoft, Xilisoft, etc. I've seen members of several forums reply to said spams, by giving this sort of reply:
Code:

Aimersoft sucks
Aimersoft ripoff
Aimersoft doesn't work
Aimersoft expensive
Aimersoft won't burn
Aimersoft no support
Aimersoft ruined my computer

Which is rather amusing. :)

w3tno 07-06-2011 07:47 AM

Many thanks for your detailed reply.

lordsmurf 07-09-2011 04:03 PM

If you try out some software, do let me know how it turns out. :)

It will be good to know both what DOES NOT work, as well as what MIGHT work. Thanks.

w3tno 07-09-2011 05:37 PM

I have found out that Aimersoft's DRM Media Converter can be used to remove the DRM. Then I use TMPGEnc Authoring Works 4 to perform cut editing (if needed) and burn a DVD.

The main downside is that the Aimersoft product performs the conversion at about the same rate it takes to view the movie. I would like to find another product that performs a faster conversion. I get the impression that DRM Media Converter performs the conversion by displaying the movie, recording the display and writing the recording to the hard drive. I guess they have no way of speeding up the display process. The product's FAQ has something about Win XP being much faster because DRM Media Converter is able to use a different process for removing the DRM.

I don't think this procedure works for those Amazon movies which can only be displayed. The file has to be rented or purchased, and then the encrypted movie can be downloaded to your hard drive.

w3tno 07-17-2011 04:14 PM

I am now able to download and save an Amazon Instant Video (AIV). Currently, Amazon's AIV collection contains about 2000 movies and about 500 TV shows, and all of these can be viewed at no cost. GetFLV allows the user to download web videos, shows and movies. GetFLV is on the expensive side ($60), but it seems to do the job. The download time is shorter than the viewing time, and it took me about 35 min to download and save a 1 hour 42 minute Instant Video called Cashback.

The downloaded file is saved by GetFLV as a FLV file of about 1 GB in length. Then I used TMPGEnc Video Mastering Works V to transcode the FLV file to a 3.9 GB DVD-Video standard MPEG file. Finally, I used TMPGEnc Authoring works 4 to add chapter marks at every 5 minutes and to burn a DVD+R (8X) without a menu. The DVD is played on my Magnavox DVD Player/Recorder connected to my ancient 32" Sony glass tube TV.

lordsmurf 07-17-2011 06:07 PM

I wonder how long that will last.
I know GetFLV is the currently rumored tool for Hulu, but I'll still wary about screen capture vs stream saving.

dyfan 07-23-2011 12:16 PM

...don't.
 
I have that Aimersoft DMR Media Converter. Been begging for a refund from the company for several months. Their customer service department states that they've been "performing tests" on a badly flawed file from an Amazon movie file (which I bought/own) that I 'converted' with their software and uploaded to their (Aimersoft) server for their inspection. Let's see: Cuts off the first 3 minutes of the file and is about 1 minute and 30 seconds out of synch by movie's end. Yeah, I can always use a mpeg file conversion like that...
Caveat Emptor and in a word-

DON'T.

*Bix* 07-29-2011 08:14 PM

If the issue is just watching it on TV, a Roku HD ($60 + $10 shipping) can stream Amazon content as well as a ton of other stuff.

w3tno 07-29-2011 10:04 PM

I just finished capturing and viewing a video with Aimersoft's DRM Media Converter, and as you stated I had a huge sync problem with audio and video. Funny, but I didn't seem to have this problem with my earlier downloads.

dyfan 07-29-2011 11:11 PM

Blatant thievery.
 
I feel your pain, really. Consider yourself among those who were downright robbed for a product that clearly does NOT perform as advertised...:mad:

Mermista 11-11-2013 12:35 AM

I would love to know if anyone has found a good way to capture and convert these to DVD yet, I am wanting to purchase Sid and Marty Krofts DC Follies. I actually have episode one but am curious before I drop any money on any programs, if anyone has figured out exactly how to do it yet??

Wendy

DeeSeven 11-12-2013 02:59 PM

you need a simple screen capturing program, although quality will suffer drastically

Mermista 11-12-2013 04:36 PM

Which program, and is the amazon videos easy to grab to convert to DVD?? And how bad will the quality be?? I am not good with computers at all.

Wendy

DeeSeven 11-12-2013 04:39 PM

you can use a free one called fraps or something a little more "high tech" like camtasia

you'll have to watch the show while the screen captures what is being played...not really fun and the quality will be horrible I promise

Mermista 11-12-2013 07:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DeeSeven (Post 28852)
you can use a free one called fraps or something a little more "high tech" like camtasia

you'll have to watch the show while the screen captures what is being played...not really fun and the quality will be horrible I promise

so theres no way to get matching quality or even improve on the captures at all??

DeeSeven 11-12-2013 07:47 PM

sadly no, if you have a way to watch hulu on your tv you can easily grab 99.999999999999% of what is on hulu and watch it on your tv without burning it to dvd.

Streaming already compresses the video..when you burn it to dvd..you are compressing it yet again..that is like taking a tomato and turning it into tomato sauce...then trying to turn it into tomato sauce again ;)

Mermista 11-12-2013 08:00 PM

Crap, thanks, one old show I have wanted for so long, ugh and will likely never see a DVD release. sad. But thanks anyways.

msgohan 11-12-2013 08:02 PM

It is possible to get matching quality (visually speaking), but given that you already said you aren't good with computers I'm not sure it's worth trying. You need to know exactly what you're doing each step along the way to not introduce additional losses.

(The method I have used involves a hardware player and HDMI capture card in order to avoid frame dropping/tearing issues typical of screen capture software.)

DeeSeven 11-12-2013 08:22 PM

again streaming sites already encode the episode..when you take that episode and re-encode it again..its still garbage visually or not..no matter how much hdmi/firewire/rca/svid cables you use


All times are GMT -5. The time now is 07:17 PM

Site design, images and content © 2002-2024 The Digital FAQ, www.digitalFAQ.com
Forum Software by vBulletin · Copyright © 2024 Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.