Too many standards to get the job done
Tonight I found myself in one of those labyrinths that block our paths when we want to do something simple in a short time. It follows, logically, that my task is not complete, and I’ve learned that if someone can find a hard way to do things, they will.
A co-worker’s daughter is involved in one of those reality TV programs, where the goal is to find a new career as a fashion model. I am clueless about the industry, but the idea of saving the telecast to something “cleaner” than VHS transferred to a hard drive and then back out to DVD seemed simple enough. After all, I have the bare bones of a DVR here at home.
The record process started on time, and the hard drive was large enough to capture the data stream. So far, so good. Not easy, though. The software saves in a format called DVR-MS, that is probably wonderful for those with the secret decoder ring. Mine is on order, via a slow Chinese cargo ship. I don’t have (still don’t have after two hours of Googling and trying various demo programs) a software tool that will convert this 2 GB mass of data into anything my various DVD burning tools recognize.
I can create a data DVD that will play back on the laptop. I can watch the program, and capture it to a VHS to transfer back to the hard drive and then out to DVD. I can go eat a chocolate brownie and contemplate my navel. I can’t do what seemed like a simple task only hours ago.
Thankfully the weekend is upon us, so I can waste all that quality time finding the route through the labyrinth. I will emerge slightly dust-covered and better informed (I hope). But why can’t simple jobs be simple?
