These steps are for capturing video from any media source in the "stack" to an AVI file on your computer.

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[edit] PC Instructions

1. In order to listen to the playback of your video while it is being captured into the AVI file format, insert the analog headset into one of audio jack ports on top of the Dell CPU underneath the video station.
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   • The silver knob next to the jack port controls the volume.
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2. Open "Sounds and Audio Devices" in Control Panel (Start -> Control Panel -> Sounds and Audio Devices).
3. On the Audio tab, select the SoundMAX Digital Audio option as the default sound playback device and the default sound recording device.
4. On the Voice tab, select the SoundMAX Digital Audio option as the default voice playback device and the default voice recording device.
5. Turn on the machine in the stack that will be used to capture your video. Load your media source (i.e. DV tape, VHS tape) into that machine.
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   • If you plan to draw data from a videocamera directly into the computer, ask Freedman Center staff for assistance.
6. At the bottom of the player stack select the appropriate video input source on the black video source SIMA box (top).
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7. Open PlayDV, located in the Video Capture Folder on the desktop.
8. Clicking the arrow in the menu bar at the bottom of the PlayDV window will allow you to choose where and under which name to save your video. **Do this BEFORE capturing your video.
9. Ensure that the correct machine (VCR or DV/SVHS) is selected in the Select drop-down menu at the top of the PlayDV window.
10. Click the red Record button in the PlayDV window to start recording.
    • There will be a 3 second delay before the red dot begins to flash.
    • The flashing dot indicates that the computer is recording.
11. Press Play on the machine in the stack to start playing your video.
    • If the video starts playing in the PlayDV window, then the video is being captured correctly; if not, ask Freedman Center staff for assistance.
12. When the desired video has been captured, press the red Stop button to stop recording.
    • Pressing the stop button will automatically close and save the AVI file.
13. Close PlayDV.
14. NOTE - This file needs to be transcoded (compressed) into a smaller, more usable video file. An AVI video file records data at a rate of approximately 200 megabytes (MB) per minute, so a 30 minute video file will be approximately 6 gigabytes (GB) in size. This is great for editing, but much too large for any form of distribution.

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