Site News...

Welcome to digitalFAQ.com: 
What began as a single video guide in 2002 has exploded into a full-fledged digital media information site. We at digitalFAQ.com strive to provide services and information for those that want to be part of the digital media revolution. Our specialty is digital video and the DVD format (including DVD-R, DVD+R). We offer VHS to DVD conversion services, video restoration services, and free guides for the do-it-yourselfers out there. Guides cover the full spectrum for creating DVDs; this includes capturing, editing, converting, encoding, restoring, authoring, burning, copying, presentation (menus/cases), and buyer's guides. The web design and photography sections are for future expansion.

Where's the updates?! It's 2008!
The goals of the site changed in December 2006, and in January 2007, a new upgrade was started. Due to various real-life commitments of the developers, and the video services and support forum being given top priority, the site has been slow in coming. The next generation site will be much different than what you see now. More guides, more reviews, more site features, and an all-new design based on current CMS technology instead of old-fashioned HTML pages. The deadline has moved so many times that we're not even giving new ones out anymore. Someday just know that it'll look different, and that'll mean the update finally happened.

Is this site outdated?
Not really, no. The blank media market barely changes. Discs that used to be good are still good (MCC). Same for mediocre (RITEK) or terrible (CMC) media. The site updates are being held until the new site format is completed. It includes newer versions of existing software, and some updates to various technology (HD technology, DL media, etc). A lot of the software guides shown here are still useful for even newer versions. This site has always been aimed towards free thinkers, people who can use the information in a general sense, it's not necessarily written to be how-to manuals for those who don't want to learn the how and why. Even if a few steps are different in a guide, you should still be available to use the information to learn what you want to do.

How to find guides:
The navigation on the left has links to sections (example: "Capturing") as well as quick links to some of the most popular guides in that section directly below it (example: "Understanding Your Source"). Any menu item not linked is currently unavailable or under construction. Learn more about our digital FAQs and guides.

This is a no-jargon site:
Although this site will likely introduce you to new terms and new ideas, we reject the common practice of using excessive technical jargon. Digital media is hard enough without use of a foreign language! All services and related correspondence will use common language so that the client will understand what is happening at all times. All guides on this site should be read from top-to-bottom, especially the intros and overviews, as they explain common video terms.

Video restoration services:
If you have a video that is proving difficult to capture, and buying professional grade equipment (proc amp, TBC, S-VHS VCR, etc) is not a viable option, this site offers restoration and conversion services. Prices start at $25 per DVD, and can go up based off a sliding scale that depends solely on the length and severity of the video to be converted or restored. Click here for info.

Site shortcuts:
The Blank DVD Media FAQ guide has become a popular page and is visited often. For this purpose, we have added www.NoMoreCoasters.com (NMC) as a direct link to that page. Tell your friends, tell a stranger. Anybody looking for good media should check out the list. You can also use www.dvdguides.org to access this site.


Donations Appreciated...

As long as donations continue to trickle in, the guides shall remain free. I want them to be free as much as you want them to be free. However, this site is paid for out of my own pocket. If any of this information has helped you, even a lowly Paypal payment of $2 would be appreciated. More would be nice too. Click here to make a donation. More money was spend on server upgrades in 2006, as well as several nice guide/review updates, so please make a donation to keep this place alive and growing.


Video Equipment Shopping Tips... 

Comparison shopping.  
Looking for more deals? Visit www.pricegrabber.com, www.pricewatch.com, www.newegg.com, www.techbargains.com, www.ecost.com,  and www.bensbargains.net. 

Reliable video merchants:
There are many chains nationwide, including www.bhphotovideo.com, www.ritzcamera.com, www.officedepot.com, www.officemax.com, www.bestbuy.com, www.circuitcity.com, www.ultimateelectronics.com, www.crutchfield.com, www.amazon.com just to name a few. Pretty much every major store now has a website.

And if you're careful...
Be sure to browse person-to-person markets like www.eBay.com and www.half.com for great deals. Always check out the feedback and use a credit card (usually through Paypal) to make large purchases. These are excellent places to buy used video equipment on the cheap. Used VCRs worth $1000's have sold for $50 before, in excellent working condition no less, and probably will again. Smart shopping and patience is all you need to snag a great deal.


Warning on Video-related News Stories...

As a former journalist, it really sort of disgusts me to even have to create a section like this. Most journalists are trained writers, skilled in the art of digging up facts and reporting them in the most objective manner. In past years, however, with the popularity of scare-tactic propaganda outlets like Fox News, and liars like Jayson Blair, not to mention all the wanna-be-journalist bloggers, sometimes it's hard to know what is truth and what is not. The following "big" stories are, quite frankly, crap, with factual errors and scathing bias toward the topic. The authors should lose their writing privileges forever. Do not be scared by these, do not put any faith in their facts or credibility.

- "Throttling Angers Netflix Heavy Renters", from the Associated Press. This ran in any number of newspapers online and in print, as well as television/radio stations and their online sites. However, the article was filled with inaccuracies (for example, Netflix uses metered/permit/bulk mail, not 39 cent First Class Mail) and the main interview was with a guy that had a grudge against Netflix for almost 15 months (which is another oddity in itself, who stays with a service they hate for 15 months?). It was by no means reflective of typical Netflix customers.
- "Do Burned CDs Have a Short Life Span?", from IDG News Service. This article was picked up by a number of tech organizations like PC World, and it made the rounds to online and in-print news outlets. This was a fluff piece, with zero research to back it up. The person interviewed is an IBM employee, and the main "observation" of the article was the blank optical media is unreliable, while magnetic tapes are a better choice. IBM sells magnetic tapes, but not optical media. Coincidence? Yeah, right. 


Site video topics include... 

Although this site is intended for providing services for, discussing, and explaining several areas of digital media (photo, online, video), much of the site is dedicated to digital video topics. As such, you can expect information on the following video-related topics:

- GENERAL: Video capturing (capture video), editing, DVD burners, DVD recorders.
- TERM DEFINED: DVD, VCD, CVD, SVCD, XSVCD, DVD+R, DVD-R, MPEG, MPEG-2, MPEG-1, DVD-RW, DVD+RW, and more.
- CAPTURING: ATI cards, ATI All In Wonder cards (ATI AIW), interlace concepts and interlacing guides, resolution, Hauppauge PVR cards, Avermedia EZ DVD maker cards, and more. 
- CONVERSION and ENCODING: VHS to DVD, VHS conversion to other format (convert VHS), DVD conversion from other formats, DV, MainConcept encoder, CCE encoder, Procoder encoder, TMPGEnc encoder, and more.
- RESTORATION: Goldwave, SoundForge, TMPGenc, VirtualDub, detailers and enhancers, proc amps, S-VHS VCRs, resolution boosters, Macrovision and other false anti-copy issues.
- EDITING: Adobe Premiere, Final Cut Pro, Avid DV, and others.
- AUTHORING and RE-AUTHORING (COPYING), and BURNING: Blank DVD media (Taiyo Yuden, MCC and others), DVD backup, Sonic Solutions software, DVDit!, DVD2one and DVD Shrink, DVD Decrypter, Nero Burning ROM, RecordNow Max, Ulead DVD Workshop, DVD Studio Pro and others.
- FROM MULTIPLE CONTRIBUTORS: including video forum user Lordsmurf (Lord Smurf) and the former lordsmurf.com video information. Also some references to materials at videohelp.com and cdfreaks.com forums.