capture streaming movies from netflix?

[theewizard]

should work, as long as your streaming from a media player to the TV, so long as you can use the pc for recording, it mentions Pc requirements and included software, does not mention any built in HHD, so pc must be available for recording

[olyteddy]

If you're going to use your PC to record it anyway, save the cost of the card... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=STCKwxzL3VM

[zodiac-]

should work, as long as your streaming from a media player to the TV, so long as you can use the pc for recording, it mentions Pc requirements and included software, does not mention any built in HHD, so pc must be available for recording

HDCP (High Definition Content Protection) would be a reason it wouldn't work, although I see that has been compromised http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2369280,00.asp I really don't understand all the implications, I'm not sure Netflix uses that particular encryption, thought I read they have their own proprietary encryption. Anyway, my situation is: my connection doesn't really support streaming, slow, constantly sputtering on and off (how I hate frontier) I like to get away for the weekend (no internet connection) and is it so much to ask to be able to record a few movies on my hd to view offline?

[zodiac-]

If you're going to use your PC to record it anyway, save the cost of the card... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=STCKwxzL3VM

I visited that youtube site, but it is not at all clear what exactly is being presented, is this a software application? please elaborate.

[jman98]

Read my post #53 in this thread.

Basically Netflix uses Silverlight for copy protection and the ONLY thing that works is a commercial streaming media recording program that records the stream in real time as it plays on your PC. Replay Video Catcher should work, but someone who cares will have to test it. "Commercial" means "You have to buy it - not free".

[theewizard]

i have used RVC to capture Amazon streams and Hulu streams, i do not have a netflix account

[zodiac-]

i have used RVC to capture Amazon streams and Hulu streams, i do not have a netflix account

And how is the quality of the end result? Does RVC work different than Camtasia? That is it somehow captures the video as it is being played on the screen? With Camtasia (the only thing I have any experience with) it saves the video in some format (forget which), then you must re-encode it, and there was always a noticeable loss of quality.

Excuse my ignorance of streaming technology, but help me understand the process, Isn't Silverlight essentially a sort of media player application? What exactly is preventing you from intercepting the signal on it's path from your PC, WDTV Live, etc. to the Television monitor? As far as I can tell that is exactly what that Hauppauge device does.

[jagabo]

Isn't Silverlight essentially a sort of media player application?

Silverlight is a virtual machine for playing video. The VM aspect adds another layer of obfuscation to make it more difficult to crack the the encryption. I assume MS uses WMV underneath it all.

What exactly is preventing you from intercepting the signal on it's path from your PC, WDTV Live, etc. to the Television monitor?

Most devices that play Netflix require HDCP encrypted HDMI -- that stops most recording devices. I think Windows PCs are allowed to output HDMI or DVI without HDCP or HD analog video (component or VGA), presumably because Microsoft doesn't want the headaches. But what most people really want is to capture (download) the original compressed stream so the video doesn't have to go through another round of compression with the resulting loss of quality. As far as I know there is no application that does this yet.

[zodiac-]

But what most people really want is to capture (download) the original compressed stream so the video doesn't have to go through another round of compression with the resulting loss of quality.

That makes sense, still I'm curious what the quality would end up like, I have to think it would be better than the screen-capture type utilities.

[jagabo]

But what most people really want is to capture (download) the original compressed stream so the video doesn't have to go through another round of compression with the resulting loss of quality.

That makes sense, still I'm curious what the quality would end up like, I have to think it would be better than the screen-capture type utilities.

If you're capturing analog video it will be lower quality than a screen capture because of the D/A and A/D conversion. If you're capturing HDMI or DVI the quality should be the same (aside from small difference due to any YUV/RGB conversions).

[theewizard]

the quality is very good
but let me stipulate the files are large, but set up correctly, you get 'visually' exactly what is being displayed
i record at 5000kbits setting, 25 fps, mpeg2,
the 42 minutes ( 1 hr show no commercials ) will 1.3 > 1.5GB file size

usually is a 16:9 stream at 720*408 pixels

i do not zoom or otherwise enlarge the display, this will cause a loss of detail and quality

i will play them with VLC, or convert them to DVD,

i do NOT record as AVI,
i am recording the 'uncompressed' display with as much detail and clarity as possible

a movie will have a wider picture /number of pixels and i record movies at 6000kb rate

i have even done a test of recording amazon 720p 'HD popout' but at 12000KB,
quality was great, NO blocking, great detail, file size was humongus

this was with a Lenovo core i3, 4 gb ram, but you need a really good internet connection

in other words,
record at a high rate with little to no compression, record in mpeg2 format, use the stream resolution, do NOT zoom,
record for MAX data and detail, convert format later

you can re-watch it later how ever you want zoomed or converted

[zodiac-]

But what most people really want is to capture (download) the original compressed stream so the video doesn't have to go through another round of compression with the resulting loss of quality.

That makes sense, still I'm curious what the quality would end up like, I have to think it would be better than the screen-capture type utilities.

If you're capturing analog video it will be lower quality than a screen capture because of the D/A and A/D conversion. If you're capturing HDMI or DVI the quality should be the same (aside from small difference due to any YUV/RGB conversions).

I was making that assumption based on the use of the HDMI connection, my only experience with screen capturing was with Camtasia and was unimpressed, so I am basing my opinion on that, as the next poster has stated better screen capture results are possible, all this is really academic in my case, I am hobbled by a lousy internet connection...

the quality is very good
but let me stipulate the files are large, but set up correctly, you get 'visually' exactly what is being displayed
i record at 5000kbits setting, 25 fps, mpeg2,
the 42 minutes ( 1 hr show no commercials ) will 1.3 > 1.5GB file size

usually is a 16:9 stream at 720*408 pixels

i do not zoom or otherwise enlarge the display, this will cause a loss of detail and quality

i will play them with VLC, or convert them to DVD,

i do NOT record as AVI,
i am recording the 'uncompressed' display with as much detail and clarity as possible

a movie will have a wider picture /number of pixels and i record movies at 6000kb rate

i have even done a test of recording amazon 720p 'HD popout' but at 12000KB,
quality was great, NO blocking, great detail, file size was humongus

this was with a Lenovo core i3, 4 gb ram, but you need a really good internet connection

in other words,
record at a high rate with little to no compression, record in mpeg2 format, use the stream resolution, do NOT zoom,
record for MAX data and detail, convert format later

you can re-watch it later how ever you want zoomed or converted

That is interesting, RVC must do a better job than Camtasia. 1.5 gb for 42mins isn't too bad, what was the actual size of that humongus file recorded from amazon? was the full resolution 1280x720? I am not familiar with the recording options for RVC ,but did you ever try recording at a lower bitrate? 12,000 sounds like overkill, and finally re-encoding to a x264 file, what filesize could you end up with? I typically encode 720p televison shows at 2200Kbps and the quality is excellent. Thanks

[theewizard]

that one particular test video of a episode of "falling skies" WAS ALMOST 6GB i think i still have a 1:22 piece of it IIRC its 114mb, for some reason the resolution was 11xx*6xx if i still have that segment i will post the specs and upload the segment i'm in the process of transferring everything to a new laptop a core i5 with 6gb ram and a 750gb HD i usually convert too DVD, 3 episodes a 5000 CBR, no variable, vbr introduces blocking in dark area's and looses detail in other area's, especially areas of motion i get 123 minutes aka 2 hrs on One DVD i save the mpg2 files to my backup 2 TB external HD, i don't convert to avi

[olyteddy]

Not free (but only $20 US) Mirillis Action is the software I used for the screen capturing i did at this link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=STCKwxzL3VM . The lower left corner is NetFlix and the upper left is a BD rip. It was recorded and uploaded at 1080 resolution but you are watching it on YouTube so take that into consideration. If you have an Intel processor with Quick Sync Action will record in AVC in realtime. If not it records in its own codec and re-encodes later. Watch the vid in 1080 full screen and you'll see that Action does a decent job. I believe it records at least as good as NetFlix streams. The upper right FWIW is another SilverLight stream, that one from Xfinity ShowTime on demand.

[jagabo]

I was making that assumption based on the use of the HDMI connection

Let's assume your viewing RGB on the monitor and the HDMI output is RGB. Then the two are exactly the same data. Any difference between screen capture and HDMI capture comes down to what compression is used.

HDMI capture has one big disadvantage: the whole screen is captured. So if the display is running at 1920x1080 you have to display the source video full screen and capture at 1920x1080. Screen capture of a small video, like 720*408 in thewizard's example, can happen at the source's resolution, thus avoiding scaling artifacts and high bitrates required for high definition video.

[jman98]

Isn't Silverlight essentially a sort of media player application?

Silverlight is a virtual machine for playing video. The VM aspect adds another layer of obfuscation to make it more difficult to crack the the encryption. I assume MS uses WMV underneath it all.

This is correct. It is all WMV based. Additionally the video and audio are encrypted separately from each other, adding another layer of difficulty. This why programs like Replay Video Capture are necessary to capture the streams in real time.

[Brad]

No; Netflix switched to MPEG-4 AVC + AAC or AC3 for their encodes some time ago.

[theewizard]

replay capture 720*400, 31 sec 19.7 mb, 6000kb data rate setting

http://files.videohelp.com/u/131727/capture%20demo%20-4%20Alvin.mpg

replay video capture, HiDef stream capture demo 1312*768, setting 8000kb

http://files.videohelp.com/u/131727/Capture%20demo-2.mpg

i'm very happy with this program, this file 51 seconds & 51.8mb, complete video= 43 minute 2.2gb

http://files.videohelp.com/u/131727/capture%20demo.mpg 111mb 1:47

just a happy customer

[jagabo]

Those videos are pretty jerky. Many missing and duplicate frames.

[Baldrick]

If you want good quality buy your movies. You will nevet get perfect result with screen capturing.

And I added a new rule. No more ripping/recording/capturing discussions from online renting streaming sites like netflix, hulu plus, itunes, vudu, redbox.

https://forum.videohelp.com/threads/72386-Forum-rules-Acceptable-Use-Policy-(AUP)