Camcorder to DVR for athletics

5419 Views 14 Replies 8 Participants Last post by kpeters59, Apr 30, 2021

redseas

Discussion Starter · Nov 8, 2011

I hope to use a TiVo for 'playback skills training' with my tennis players during practice. My plan is to stream from the camcorder to the TiVo via HDMI or S-Video. All I want to do is pause, rewind, and slowmo the live buffer -- I don't want the TiVo to actually record anything. My goal is to have the players watch their stroke frame-by-frame using the remote control to jog the video. (A flat-screen TV will be hooked up to the TiVo).

Do you think this setup will work, and if so, which model TiVo would be most suited to this task? Are there any potential problems I haven't thought of?

1 - 15 of 15 Posts

steve614

· #2 · Nov 8, 2011

Series 3 and later Tivos only have an RF input (coax).
So first, you would need a converter that could take the ouput of the camera and convert it to an RF signal.
Next you would have to somehow trick the Tivo during guided setup for it to accept that signal as a channel.
I don't know of anyone who has tried that and made it work.

You might have better luck with a Series 2 single tuner which has composite inputs (yellow/red/white RCA), but you might have the same problem tricking the Tivo in guided setup.

redseas

Discussion Starter · #3 · Nov 8, 2011

So because of the inputs, Series 2 is the only option for connecting S-Video input? Ok, I will make sure the camera is on when doing guided setup and tell the TiVo that it's a cable box.

My other question is --> Do you think the TiVo's frame-by-frame playback (using the remote control to jog each frame) will provide enough frames per second to analyze a tennis stroke?

steve614

· #4 · Nov 8, 2011

redseas said:
So because of the inputs, Series 2 is the only option for connecting S-Video input?

Yes, AFAIK.

redseas said:
My other question is --> Do you think the TiVo's frame-by-frame playback (using the remote control to jog each frame) will provide enough frames per second to analyze a tennis stroke?

I don't know.
Does your camera record 30 FPS?
Can you view frame to frame on the camera to see if 30 FPS would be sufficient?
Is 30 FPS enough detail for you to see all the positions in a stroke you want to see?

redseas

Discussion Starter · #5 · Nov 8, 2011

30 fps is more than enough -- the camera easily does 30 fps and even 60 fps.

When I press pause on the TiVo and then jog forward frame by frame using the remote, is it 30fps?

steve614

· #6 · Nov 8, 2011

Yes.

One other question...
Does your camera output standard definition resolution (720x480)?
Any resolution higher than that won't work on a Series 2 Tivo.

redseas

Discussion Starter · #7 · Nov 8, 2011

I haven't purchased the camcorder yet -- I had one picked out (I was assuming any nice camcorder would work) -- I would NEVER have thought about camera output (720x480). Thank you so much for bringing that up! I guess I'll go with a cheaper model that does 720x480?

replaytv

· #8 · Nov 8, 2011

He is very happy with it. The Tivo was originally set up for cable or dish, but it wasn't reconfigured to work with the camera. The Tivo is tuned to channel 99 (I think )and input is via RCA cables. He is using the Tivo so the players can spike a ball, then come around to the TV and watch what they just did. The Tivo is not recording the spike other than just using the 'time shifting' recording feature that is available for any Tivo even without a subscription.

I did connect a camera to a Tivo using a RF modulator and that worked to put the input to the RF coaxl input. I haven't tried connecting to a Series 3 or Series 4, but I might be encouraged to do that if someone was to beg real nicely. Actually I only have a SEries 2 or 4. I have sold all my Series 3s. If someone was in the Denver area I can demonstrate the use of a series 2 recording/time-shifting from a camera.

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steve614

· #9 · Nov 8, 2011

I would suppose you could get any standard definition camera that allows for a real time monitor on the output.
You have to be careful, though. Some cameras don't have the option for real time monitoring of what's recording through external means. IOW you would have to record the action first, and then play back that recording while hooked up to the Tivo.

unitron

· #10 · Nov 9, 2011

redseas said:
I hope to use a TiVo for 'playback skills training' with my tennis players during practice. My plan is to stream from the camcorder to the TiVo via HDMI or S-Video. All I want to do is pause, rewind, and slowmo the live buffer -- I don't want the TiVo to actually record anything. My goal is to have the players watch their stroke frame-by-frame using the remote control to jog the video. (A flat-screen TV will be hooked up to the TiVo).

Do you think this setup will work, and if so, which model TiVo would be most suited to this task? Are there any potential problems I haven't thought of?

I have done Guided Setup on Series 1 and Series 2 TiVos and lied about having satellite in addition to cable, and told it the satellite box connects to the line inputs (yellow, white, and red jacks).

You have to have an active video source connected to the line input at the time.

I tell it I have DirecTV. That gives me a channel 1.

Tuning to channel 1 puts whatever's feeding into the line inputs on the screen, and you can set up a manual recording of it.

ggieseke

· #11 · Nov 9, 2011

redseas said:
I haven't purchased the camcorder yet -- I had one picked out (I was assuming any nice camcorder would work) -- I would NEVER have thought about camera output (720x480). Thank you so much for bringing that up! I guess I'll go with a cheaper model that does 720x480?

The camera resolution won't matter on a Series 2 - buy anything you want. The s-video signal is analog and the TiVo will encode it to its own resolution no matter what. The live TV buffer uses "Best" so that will be 544x480.

redseas

Discussion Starter · #12 · Nov 9, 2011

Is there any way to know -- before buying -- if a camcorder will allow real time monitoring of what's recording? Is there some keyword in the product description that I should be looking for?

SportsDad

· #13 · Aug 25, 2017

redseas said:
I hope to use a TiVo for 'playback skills training' with my tennis players during practice. My plan is to stream from the camcorder to the TiVo via HDMI or S-Video. All I want to do is pause, rewind, and slowmo the live buffer -- I don't want the TiVo to actually record anything. My goal is to have the players watch their stroke frame-by-frame using the remote control to jog the video. (A flat-screen TV will be hooked up to the TiVo).

Do you think this setup will work, and if so, which model TiVo would be most suited to this task? Are there any potential problems I haven't thought of?

For my daughters gymnastics gym, I've successfully setup an old Tivo (analog), with a video camera source (HDMI) to an HDMI capable TV. As you know, my picture is limited to analog because of the older Tivo that doesn't support HDMI in. So, now it's 2017, is there any replacement for my old analog TiVo system that will accept HDMI as an input? Thanks for your thoughts. I'm after the instant video replay playback, that's what works for our gym.

Matthew51

· #14 · Apr 30, 2021

Any updates on this? We used TiVos for our gym but they are being harder to setup and find so Im trying to figure if any other TiVos work. Currently I use a Tivo Series 2.

kpeters59

· #15 · Apr 30, 2021

Go HD?

ATSC HD Modulator (HDMI to Coax)

-KP

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