1DVGRAB(1) General Commands Manual DVGRAB(1)
2
6 dvgrab — Capture DV or MPEG-2 Transport Stream (HDV) video and audio
7 data from FireWire
8
11 dvgrab [options] [base] [-]
12
15 dvgrab is a program that captures DV or HDV (MPEG2-TS) video and audio
16 data from digital camcorders via FireWire (IEEE 1394). The data is
17 stored in one or several files and can later be processed by video
18 editing software. dvgrab can remote control the camcorder but it does
19 not show the video's content on screen.
20 dvgrab also supports UVC (USB Video Class) compliant DV devices using
22 Linux kernel module uvcvideo, which is a V4L2 driver. In this mode,
23 there is no AV/C VTR control and therefore interactive mode is almost
24 useless. interactive feature is
25 The base argument is used to construct the filename to store video
27 data: base-num.ext. num is a running number starting from 001, and ext
28 is the file name extension specifying the file format used, e.g. avi.
29 A different naming scheme is used whenever the -timestamp, -timecode,
30 or -timesys is given (see below). If base is a full filename including
31 extension, then dvgrab attempts to determine the output file format
32 from the extension, but it still inserts num. The default value for
33 base is "dvgrab-".
34 If you specify a trailing '-' then the format is forced to raw DV or
36 HDV and sent to stdout. dvgrab will also output raw DV or HDV to stdout
37 while capturing to a file if stdout is piped or redirected.
38 You can use dvgrab's powerful file writing capabilities with other pro‐
40 grams that produce raw DV or HDV. Using the -stdin option and if dvgrab
41 detects that it is on the receiving end of a pipe and it is not in
42 interactive mode, then it will try to read raw DV or HDV on stdin.
43
46 Options longer than a single character can be specified with either one
47 or two leading hyphens. Also, you can use a space character or equal
48 sign to separate the option name and its argument value.
49 -a[num], -autosplit[=num]
52 Try to detect whenever a new recording starts, and store it
53 into a separate file. This can be combined with the -frames
54 and -size options, and a split occurs whenever a specified
55 event arises. Autosplit is off by default.
56 num is optional. Without it, dvgrab determines when to split
58 using a flag in the stream or a discontinuity in the time‐
59 code, where timecode discontinuity is anything backwards or
60 greater than one second. If you set the optional argument
61 num you can set the time sensitivity in seconds and ignore
62 the stream's new-recording flag. This basically lets you
63 split on larger time increments such as minutes or hours. For
64 example, -autosplit=3600 splits the recording whenever there
65 is a gap in the recording that is an hour or longer.
66 -buffers num
69 The number of frames to use for buffering device I/O delays.
70 Defaults to 100.
71 -card num Tells dvgrab to receive data from FireWire card num. The
74 default behaviour is to automatically select the first card
75 containing the first discovered camera If used in conjunction
76 with -noavc, then no bus probing is performed If used in con‐
77 junction with -guid hex, then only the specified bus is
78 probed for node with guid hex.
79 -channel num
82 Isochronous channel to receive data from. Defaults to 63,
83 which is pretty much standard among DV camcorders these days.
84 If you specify anything different, no attempt is made at this
85 time to tell the device which channel to use. You must have
86 some manual way to tell the transmitting device which channel
87 to use.
88 -cmincutsize num
91 This option is used to start the collection if a cut occurs
92 num megabytes (actually, mebibytes) prior to the end of the
93 collection. This option reduces small files being created
94 when using the -csize option. When a new collection is
95 started in this manner, the amount of free space in the pre‐
96 vious collection is stored, and while the following clips fit
97 within the previous collection, the new collection starting
98 point is reset.
99 -csize num
102 This option tells dvgrab to split the files when the collec‐
103 tion of files exceeds num . This option is used to create
104 collections of files that fit perfectly into num megabytes
105 (actually, mebibytes) (i.e. for archiving onto DVD). When
106 this occurs, a new collection is started (See also the -cmin‐
107 cutsize option)
108 -debug type
111 Display HDV debug info, type is one or more of:
112 all,pat,pmt,pids,pid=N,pes,packet,video,sonya1
113 -d, -duration time
116 Set the maximum capture duration across all file splits for a
117 single capture session (multiple sessions are possible in
118 interactive mode). The time value is expressed in SMIL2
119 MediaClipping Time format. See http://w3.org/AudioVideo/ for
120 the specification.
121 Briefly, the formats are:
123 XXX[.Y]h, XXX[.Y]min, XXX[.Y][s], XXXms,
125 [[HH:]MM:]SS[.ms], or smpte=[[[HH:]MM:]SS:]FF.
127 -every n This option tells dvgrab to write every n'th frame only
130 (default all frames).
131 -f, -format dv1 | dv2 | avi | raw | dif | qt | mov | jpeg | jpg | mpeg2
134 | hdv
135 Specifies the format of the output file(s). File format can
136 also be determined if you include an extension on the base
137 name. The following extensions are recognizable: avi, dv,
138 dif, mov, jpg, jpeg, and m2t (HDV).
139 dv1 and dv2 both are AVI files with slightly different for‐
142 mats. dv2 stores a separate audio track in addition to the
143 DV video track, which is more compatible with other applica‐
144 tions. dv1 only stores a single, integrated DV track since
145 the DV format natively interleaves audio with video. There‐
146 fore, while dv1 produces smaller output, some applications
147 won't grok it and require dv2 instead. dvgrab is capable of
148 creating extremely large AVI files—well over 2 or 4 GB—how‐
149 ever, compatibility with other tools starts to decrease over
150 the 1 GB size.
151 raw stores the data unmodified and have the .dv extension.
154 These files are read by a number of GNU/Linux tools as well
155 as Apple Quicktime.
156 dif is a variation of raw DV that names files with a .dif
159 extension so they can be more immediately loaded into Main‐
160 Concept MainActor5.
161 qt is Quicktime, but requires that dvgrab be compiled with
164 libquicktime.
165 jpg or jpeg is for a sequence of JPEG image files if dvgrab
168 was compiled with libdv and jpeglib. This option can only be
169 used with a DV input, not HDV (MPEG2-TS).
170 mpeg2 or hdv is for a MPEG-2 transport stream when using, for
173 example, a HDV camcorder or digital TV settop box.
174 Defaults to raw
177 -F, -frames num
180 This option tells dvgrab to store at most num frames per file
181 before splitting to a new file, where num = 0 means ulimited.
182 The corresponding time depends on the video system used. PAL
183 shows 25, NTSC about 30 frames per second.
184 -guid hex If you have more than one DV device, then select one using
187 the node's GUID specified in hex (hexadecimal) format. This
188 is the format as displayed in /proc/bus/ieee1394/devices or
189 the new kernel 2.6 /sys filesystem. When you specify a GUID,
190 dvgrab will establish (or overlay) a peer-to-peer connection
191 with the device instead of listening to the device's broad‐
192 cast. If you supply a hex value of 1, then dvgrab attempts
193 to discover the device as well as setup a peer-to-peer con‐
194 nection. This is especially handy with MPEG2-TS settop boxes,
195 which typically require a connection management procedure to
196 start transmitting.
197 -h, -help Show summary of options.
200 -I, -input file
203 Read from file instead of FireWire. You can use '-' for stdin
204 instead of using -stdin.
205 -i, -interactive
208 Make dvgrab interactive where single keypresses on stdin con‐
209 trol the camera VTR or start and stop capture. Otherwise,
210 dvgrab runs in session mode, where it immediately starts cap‐
211 ture and stops as directed or interrupted (ctrl-c).
212 -jpeg-deinterlace
215 If using -format jpeg, deinterlace the output by doubling the
216 lines of the upper field. This is a cheap form of deinterlace
217 that results in an effective 50% loss in resolution.
218 -jpeg-height num
221 If using -format jpeg, scale the output of the height to num
222 (1 - 2048).
223 -jpeg-overwrite name
226 Write to same image file for each frame, instead of creating
227 a sequence of image files.
228 -jpeg-quality num
231 If using -format jpeg, set the JPEG quality level from 0
232 (worst) to 100 (best).
233 -jpeg-temp name 10
236 Use a temporary file to create the jpeg, rename the file to
237 the target file name when done. Useful when using dvgrab with
238 -jpeg-overwrite for generating a webcam image.
239 -jpeg-width num
242 If using -format jpeg, scale the output of the width to num
243 (1 - 2048).
244 The JPEG scaling width and height must be both either less
247 than or greater than the normal frame size. For example, the
248 scaled size of 700 wide by 525 high yields a nice 4:3 aspect
249 image with square pixels, but it is illegal for NTSC because
250 700 is less than the normal width of 720 while the height is
251 greater than the normal height of 480.
252 Since DV uses non-square pixels, it is nice to be able to
255 scale to an image based upon a 4:3 aspect ratio using square
256 pixels. For NTSC, example sizes are 800x600, 640x480, and
257 320x240. For PAL, example square pixel sizes are 384x270 and
258 768x540.
259 -jvc-p25 Remove repeat_first_field flag and set frames per second to
262 25 to correct a stream recorded in JVC's HDV P25 mode.
263 -lockstep Align capture to a multiple of -frames based on timecode.
266 This is useful for redundancy, when more than one machine is
267 capturing from the same FireWire device, and you want to
268 ensure each file contains the same footage. To ensure the
269 files from each machine have the same name use the -timecode
270 option and the same base name.
271 -lockstep_maxdrops num
274 If num frames are dropped consecutively, then close the file
275 and resume capture on the next lockstop interval. If num is
276 -1, then permit an unlimited number of consecutively dropped
277 frames; this is the default.
278 -lockstep_totaldrops num
281 If num frames are dropped in the current file, then close the
282 file and resume capture on the next lockstep interval. If num
283 is -1, then permit an unlimited number of total dropped
284 frames; this is the default.
285 -noavc Disable use of AV/C VTR control. This is useful if you are
288 capturing live video from a camera because in camera mode, an
289 AV/C play command tells the camera to start recording, per‐
290 haps over material on the current tape. This applies to
291 either interactive more or non-interactive because non-inter‐
292 active stills sends a play and stop to the VTR upon capture
293 start and stop.
294 -nostop Disables sending the AV/C VTR stop command when exiting
297 dvgrab.
298 -opendml If using -format dv2, create an OpenDML-compliant type 2 DV
301 AVI. This is required to support dv2 files >1GB. dv1 always
302 supports files >1GB.
303 -r, -recordonly
306 When the camcorder is in record mode, this option causes
307 dvgrab to only capture when the camcorder is recording and
308 not paused. Normally, when in record mode, dvgrab always cap‐
309 tures to let you use the camcorder purely as a camera where
310 the computer operator is in control. This option makes dvgrab
311 act like the VCR where the camera operator controls when cap‐
312 ture takes place. This is very handy when used with the
313 -autosplit option to automatically create a new file for each
314 shot. This option requires AV/C and will not work with the
315 -noavc option.
316 -rewind Rewind the tape completely to the beginning prior to starting
319 capture. Naturally, this requires AV/C; however, perhaps not
320 so obvious is that this does not apply to interactive mode.
321 -showstatus
324 Normally, the capture status information is displayed after
325 finished writing to each file. This option makes it show the
326 capture status during capture, updated for each frame.
327 -s, -size num
330 This option tells dvgrab to store at most num megabytes
331 (actually, mebibytes) per file, where num = 0 means unlimited
332 file size for large files. The default size limit is 1024 MB.
333 -srt Generate subtitle files containing the recording date and
336 time in SRT format. For each video file that is created two
337 additional files with the extension .srt0 and .srt1 are cre‐
338 ated. They contain the recording date and time as subtitles
339 in the SRT format. The .srt0 file contains the subtitles with
340 timing based on the running time from the start of the cur‐
341 rent file. Use this file if you transcode to a format like
342 AVI. The .srt1 file contains the subtitles with timing based
343 on the time code as delivered by the camera. The mplayer
344 program understands this type of subtitles.
345 -stdin Read the DV stream from a pipe on stdin instead of FireWire.
348 -timecode Put the timecode of the first frame of each file into the
351 file name.
352 -t, -timestamp
355 Put information on date and time of recording into file name.
356 -timesys Put system rather than recording date and time into file
359 name. This is useful when using converter devices that do
360 not change the recording date time in the DV stream.
361 -V, -v4l2 Capture from a USB Video Class (UVC) device that supports DV.
364 This uses the uvcvideo kernel module via V4L2. The default
365 device file is /dev/video. Use the -input option to set a
366 different device file.
367 -v, -version
370 Show version of program.
371 -24p For Quicktime DV, set the frame rate as 24 fps in the Quick‐
374 time file. This only works as expected when the video has
375 been shot in 24p mode.
376 -24pa For Quicktime, DV, in addition to setting the frame rate to
379 24 in the Quicktime file, also reverse the 2:3:3:2 pulldown
380 process by removing the interlaced "C" frame. This only works
381 as expected when the video has been shot in 24p Advanced
382 mode. See http://www.adamwilt.com/24p/
383
386 dvgrab foo-
387 Captures video data from the default FireWire source and
388 stores it to files foo-001.avi, foo-002.avi, etc.
389 dvgrab -frames 25 foo-
392 Assuming a PAL video source, this command records one sec‐
393 ond's worth of video data per file.
394 dvgrab -autosplit -frames 750 -timestamp foo-
397 Records video data from the default FireWire source, cuts it
398 into chunks of 30 seconds (assuming PAL) or when a new
399 recording starts and names the resulting files according to
400 date and time info in the videostream.
401 dvgrab -autosplit -size 1998 -csize 4400 -cmincutsize 10 foo-
404 Records video data from the default FireWire source, cuts it
405 into chunks when a new recording starts or when the current
406 file exceeds 1998 megabytes (actually, mebibytes), or the
407 current collection of files exceeds 4400 megabytes. It also
408 reduces the size of the smallest file made due to a collec‐
409 tion size cut to 10 megabytes.
410 This option is perfect for backing up DV to DVD's as 2 Gb is
413 around the maximum file size that (the current) linux imple‐
414 mentation of the ISO9660 filesystem can handle!
415 Warning: It is possible to make ISO9660 filesystems with
418 files greater than 2 Gb, but the current linux IS09660 driver
419 can't read them! Newer linux kernels may be able to handle
420 ISO9660 filesystems with filesizes greater than 2 Gb.
421 dvgrab -format hdv -autosplit
424 Capture from a HDV camcorder.
425 dvgrab -format mpeg2 -guid 1
428 Record from a digital TV settop box.
429 dvgrab -jpeg-over -jpeg-w=320 -jpeg-h=240 -d smpte=1 webcam.jpeg
432 Capture a single frame, save it as a JPEG named webcam.jpg
433 and exit. This example also demonstrates option handling.
434 You only need to specify enough of a long option name to
435 uniquely identify it. You can use space or equal sign to sep‐
436 arate option name and argument. The file format is inferred
437 from the filename extension. Also, since -jpeg-overwrite is
438 used, the filename will be exactly "webcam.jpeg" and not
439 include any numbers.
440 dvgrab -V Capture over USB from a UVC compliant DV device.
443 dvgrab -v4l -input /dev/video1
446 Capture over USB from a UVC compliant DV device using device
447 file /dev/video1.
448 dvgrab -format=hdv -autosplit=28800 -srt foo-
451 Capture from a HDV camcorder, splitting whenever there is a
452 gap in the recording that lasts longer than 8 hours. This
453 will likely generate a separate file for each day (useful for
454 holiday videos). It will also generate subtitle files. Assum‐
455 ing that the files foo-001.m2t and foo-002.m2t are generated,
456 the corresponding subtitle files will be foo-001.srt0,
457 foo-001.srt1 and foo-002.srt0, foo-002.srt1. You can use the
458 subtitle files to show the recording date and time while
459 viewing the video.
460
463 Dan Dennedy <dan@dennedy.org> and Daniel Kobras kobras@debian.org>
464 See http://www.kinodv.org/ for more information and support.
466 DVGRAB(1)