LinuxQuestions.org - Digital Video How-To

Ever since I got my Digital Camcorder I have been looking for ways to capture it with Linux. This was the only thing that kept leading me back to Winbloze. I have not returned to Winbloze (at home) since I figured out how. To save someone a lot of time and searching, here is how I did it...
(If you don't have the same hardware/software as me, I wish you the best of luck.)

Step 1: You will need the following:

-An updated kernel compiled to have ieee1394 support (I think 2.4.8 and up have it, I am not sure though). I know the 2.4.18 kernel has this option. Mandrake 8.2 came with support for FireWire by default... No need for kernel recompiling :)

-A FireWire card. Find one that is supported under Linux. I simply went with the cheapest and got lucky.

-A Digital Camcorder. Mine is a Sony DSC-TRV830

-Capturing Software. I have tried alot of different stuff, but have only successfully captured with DvGrab.

-A Video Player. Not required for capture, but definitely desired. I have found mplayer to work the best for me. You will need to have the newest/updated win32 codecs installed.

Since no kernel recompiling was needed for me, I won't be adding how I did that in this how-to. There are very good examples on the Linux FireWire Homepage.

With the card in (and auto recognized/configured by Mandy) and the cable attached, plug into your camcorder and turn it on Playback mode.

At this point you should have gotten the kernel configured for FireWire, and read up on the Linux FireWire Homepage. While there don't forget to d/l and compile libraw1394 along with your kernel patch.
Open a vterm/xterm/kterm switch to Console, whatever, get to a command line. Type:
modprobe ohci1394
modprobe lib1394
Now you should be able to access your camcorder at this point. It won't make any special noise or anything, but you will soon find out if it worked. Hope you have DVGRAB compiled and ready to go for this next step.

Capturing

I am not going to go over to DVGRAB's homepage and copy straight out of his how-to, or man page, you can read it yourself. I will tell you what options I use to capture with, but there are alot more.

You should still be in your Console or whatever your command line flavorite is. Now type:
dvgrab --autosplit --frames 5400 --format dv2 test.avi

Depending on what type of video I am capturing I usually use the --frames option. If it's a home video, or something like that rather than a TV show, I will leave the --frames option off.

Since DvGrab does not control your camcorder yet, you will need to physically press the play button yourself. It's ok to press it a little late and to stop it a little early, just to make sure you capture all the footage. So at the end of your test footage, press the stop button. Now press CTRL+C to quit DvGrab.

Now, whatever directory you are in has the captured 'test.avi' file. Here is where mplayer and the correct codec comes into play.

Open up X (if you aren't already there) and a terminal. Using mplayer type:
mplayer -vo xv test.avi
You can choose other options, and I usually add the fullscreen option to it, but that is all that is needed to see if your test worked.

If this helped and if it worked, your welcome. If not, good luck. If you have been successful too, please tell us how.

<Disclaimer>(The anti-suck version)
I don't endorse any of the softwares mentioned dudes. I just love what I use. So if it sucks, don't tell me.
</Disclaimer>

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