Software for Automated Capture, Save, Batch File?

[Ianmstl]

I'm looking for a way to automate my capture of miniDV tapes.
Essentially, we have a bunch of tapes we probably will not edit. We just
need to capture a few a day. This is all about throwing tapes into the
miniDV player and trying to get them first captured, then encoded, then
transferred.

what I would like is software that I can punch in a filename (maybe via a
command line interface) and simply tell it "GO!" The software would then:

1) capture/transfer
2) smart enough to tell when the tape is over and stop capturing
3) save the file with the appropriate filename
4) launch a batch file or otherwise have some "trigger" to which I can
hook. Then I can do other stuff (encoding, SSHing the file to a remote
location, etc.)

No, it's not porn.

#4 on the list seems like the tough one! A command line interface would
be nice, but isn't a dealbreaker as long as #4 can somehow figure out the
name of the new file (there might be a few in the same directory).

I've been playing with WinDV, DVIO, and have more on my list, but I was
hoping that someone had already seen and tackled this particular issue.
The people who are executing the grunt work aren't particularly technical
and don't care to be. I'm trying to shorten up the cycle where they
capture, then come back to see that they are done capturing, then encode,
then remember a couple hours later that they encoded, then transfer the
file.

Deck: Your basic JVC miniDV deck with Firewire output
Hardware: Your generic IEEE 1394 Firewire card
Operating System: Windows XP

I'd appreciate any help or suggestions. Thank you for your time.

[Ianmstl]

C'mon, you mean to tell me nobody knows how to do this?

[jimmalenko]

What about a scheduled task that runs every couple of minutes, perhaps runs a Dir command either via a batch file or a VB or VC interface, checks the modified date and then acts accordingly ?

Or alternatively, after it does action (encode or whatever), then move the source file to a "Completed" Folder or something, so that you're only detecting for the presence of any files in your capture directory every couple of mins, and don't have to worry about date modified ?

[Ianmstl]

jimmalenko,

That won't work.

1) So far, these capture utilities keep on capturing at the end of a tape. I would end up with a file size of infinity.

2) These files are constantly written to, but they don't seem to update the last time until the file is done, so ... see #1.

If I look for ANY files in my capture directory, I'll end up trying to move a still-being-captured file.

Interesting problem, isn't it? You'd think there would be a command line utility that would do this. I've installed about six or seven utilities out of the Tools section to no avail.

[jimmalenko]

jimmalenko,

That won't work.

1) So far, these capture utilities keep on capturing at the end of a tape. I would end up with a file size of infinity.

2) These files are constantly written to, but they don't seem to update the last time until the file is done, so ... see #1.

If I look for ANY files in my capture directory, I'll end up trying to move a still-being-captured file.

I bet I could get it work .... all depends on how positively you want to look at the problem and how good your programming skills are

[Soopafresh]

I can't test any of this since I don't have the equipment, but perhaps this app will work - command line driven - http://www.kgbird.com/DVHSTool/dvhstool-1.10.zip

This assumes Dvhs which dumps from tape to hard drive a series of MPEG2 transport stream files via firewire in XP.

You can then use Mencoder via batch file to transcode to just about any format you want.

You can name the file using a whole variety of available system variables. The Dvhstool app above includes a switch to get info on the tape "dhvstool -i (Tape Info)".

Snag a copy of LMOD from http://home.mnet-online.de/horst.muc/ which will allow you to pipe the output of other command line programs into another batch file or file name. Let's say a command line program outputs data like the line below. Count the spaces in between words. The data we want to use is the 4th and 6th words.

File Made on 032406 at 2355

command_line_app.exe | lmod set file name is [$4]-[$6].AVI >encoderscript.bat

That will automatically name your output file 032406-2355.avi

[edDV]

I'm looking for a way to automate my capture of miniDV tapes.
Essentially, we have a bunch of tapes we probably will not edit. We just
need to capture a few a day. This is all about throwing tapes into the
miniDV player and trying to get them first captured, then encoded, then
transferred.

what I would like is software that I can punch in a filename (maybe via a
command line interface) and simply tell it "GO!" The software would then:

1) capture/transfer
2) smart enough to tell when the tape is over and stop capturing
3) save the file with the appropriate filename
4) launch a batch file or otherwise have some "trigger" to which I can
hook. Then I can do other stuff (encoding, SSHing the file to a remote
location, etc.).....

Normal batch capture assumes someone is looking at the tape and generating a log sheet of clip in/out timecode points. Full Premiere/Vegas et al all have that capability. Many specialized logging programs exist and can be found with Google search skills.

You seem to be saying you want to save full tapes without reviewing them? If the tapes were properly recorded, WinDV can count the frames that add up to 62 minutes just like you or I could. Just input the frame count to capture in WinDV.

Or, are these tapes with gaps, dropouts and large spaces unrecorded?

Any VisualBasic coder worth his/her credential should be able to write such a program. They may need to consult MSDN resources.

[edDV]

jimmalenko,

That won't work.

1) So far, these capture utilities keep on capturing at the end of a tape. I would end up with a file size of infinity.

2) These files are constantly written to, but they don't seem to update the last time until the file is done, so ... see #1.

If I look for ANY files in my capture directory, I'll end up trying to move a still-being-captured file.

Interesting problem, isn't it? You'd think there would be a command line utility that would do this. I've installed about six or seven utilities out of the Tools section to no avail.

Are you claiming to be a programmer yourself? Or are you writing a spec?


! Soopafresh: good stuff there.

[Ianmstl]

jimmalenko - Well, as to my programming skills, I'm alright, but I have only done Perl, ASP, Javascript, Python for a while. I haven't touched C/C++ for a long time and don't have a dev environment for it.

Soopafresh - I'm going to try all of that Monday! Thank you so much for giving me another avenue to explore.

edDV - Yes, that's precisely the problem. Most editors are for editing tapes with human input. These guys are all about chucking the tapes through a system (each tape running somewhere between 47 and 85 minutes before their camerapeople stop taping). I know, it all sounds like a cruel joke, but they're trying to cut someone out of the processing loop who isn't terribly reliable about looking to see when a tape is done, due to other duties. Yeah, technology to solve "personnel issues" is not always the way to go, but that's what I'm being asked to do.

The tapes are straight shots - no gaps, dropouts, or unrecorded spaces. They don't even reuse the tapes.

Because I need to trigger an encoding event afterwards, and because the tapes are variable-length, WinDV, which looked promising, doesn't do what they're looking for. It's something of an unusual request!

And, of course, I volunteered to try to brush up on my C++ skills and try to do it myself, but they don't want to invest the manpower.

Thanks, guys. I will keep this thread alive with anything I come up with. And if I end up programmign my own utility, I guess it'll end up in the Tools section of the site.

[edDV]

On first read I saw two clues. "no gaps" and "variable-length"

WinDV requires a framecount. You just need to scan to the end and calculate the frames.

I'm not recalling a capture program that senses end of tape but they must exist. Best way to test the capture programs is to pull the IEEE-1394 cable and see if the program stops by itself.