[edit] Introduction

Copyright: When planning a digital capture project, begin by requesting permissions for materials not in the public domain. If there are digital photographs, video, or sounds for which permission to copy cannot be obtained, the Freedman Center will not support the capture of the materials.

Capturing video is the first step in a 3-step process.

If you are capturing a non-commercial DVD, see the “How to extract data from a non-commercial DVD” wiki.

Please note that capturing video is a real time process. All of the desired video must play to be captured. It is a good idea to bring along something to read; it is recommended that you prepare for a lengthy process depending on the duration of video you need to capture.

Do not have any other programs running during the capture process as they may interfere.

[edit] Capturing Video

1. Check out a SecuriKey™ and analog headphones from the Freedman Center desk.
2. Plug the SecuriKey™ into the port at top of the keyboard to unlock the computer.
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3. No password is required; simply press Enter.
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4. Before beginning your project, ask a Freedman Center staff member if there is enough space on the hard drive to capture all of your video.
5. Create a folder in the My Documents folder and label it with your network ID. This is where you will save all of your files.
6. Insert the analog headset into an audio jack port on top of the Dell CPU underneath the video station.
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7. The silver knob next to the jack port controls the volume.
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8. Turn on the JVC VCR in the stack that will be used to capture your video. Load your media source (i.e. DV tape, VHS tape) into that machine.
   • If you plan to capture directly from a video camera, ask a FC staff member for assistance.
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9. At the bottom of the stack select the appropriate video input source on the black video source SIMA box (top).
10. Open the Video Capture folder, located on the desktop.
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11. Select the program “Play DV.”
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12. Click on the small triangle in the bottom left corner to choose your file destination.
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13. Click Browse to find the folder you created earlier. The video you are about to capture will save into this folder.
    • The default filename is video.avi. Try something a little more descriptive, like BestManToast.avi or FirstBaseballGame.avi.
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14. Click the green triangle Play button to activate the back end equipment to begin your capture session.
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15. By rewinding or fast fowarding on the VCR, find the point at which you wish to begin recording in your video.
16. Rewind the video another 10 seconds to provide a buffer.
    • This extra bit can be easily deleted later during the video editing process.
    • If the video you wish to record is at the very beginning of the tape, allow a few extra seconds of blank recording in the next step.
17. Note: Close any other programs you might have open besides PlayDV so that they don’t interfere with your video capturing.
18. Press the Record button. When it starts flashing, it is recording data. Press play on your video tape to begin capturing.
    • At this point, if your video starts at the beginning of the tape, wait 10 seconds after you press the record button before you play your tape.
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19. What you see and hear is what you get! Verify that the video appears how you want it to and that the audio works. Ask a Freedman Center staff member for assistance if something needs to be corrected.
20. Once you have recorded all of the desired video, wait another 10 seconds and then press the red square Stop button to end the capturing process.
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21. If you want to capture another clip, repeat this guide, starting from step #13. Make sure you give the new file a different name or you'll lose the one we just did!
22. At this point all of your video has been captured. The file size is very large, which is good for editing but not for distributing. You will have to transcode (compress) the file in another step.
23. For editing and transcoding, see the Editing and Transcoding Video wiki.

Freedman Center Howto Guides
Category	Guides
Audio	Converting Records | Converting Cassette Tapes Recording Voice | Podcasting
Video	Capturing Video | Transcoding Video | DVD Authoring | DVD Photo Slideshow
Scanning	Basic Flatbed | Large Flatbed | Transparent Media | Slides Negative Film | Sidekick Scanning | TextBridge OCR Microfiche | Microfilm
Video Conferencing	MSN Messenger 7.0