dvController is a MS-DOS / Windows command-line utility that can control the MiniDV camcorder that is connected to your computer via IEEE 1394 cable (ie. Firewire), and capture video to a type-1 AVI format to your computer's hard drive.

This software was primarily produced to automate the acquirement of video from my camcorder. I utilize this application in a batch file, and also perform subsequent, automated video effect processing (ie. burn the date/time into the frames, insert transitions between scenes, etc.).

I disclaim that there is a portion of source code that was copied and subsequently modified for use in this library source code. The Capture.cs source file originated from the CapWMV Public Domain example in the DirectShow.Net CapWMV sample. The original module captured video to a WMV file; I modified the module to capture to type-1 AVI.

Installation Instructions

Unzip the contents and place into the folder of your choice. I chose to not have an installation/setup program for this to keep the deployment simple, and because there was no need to install anything into the Start Menu of Windows.

Execution Instructions

Excecution of this application would typically be done at the MS-DOS / Windows command line. You can view the valid arguments and syntax by executing the applicaiton in the following manner:

dvController.exe /?

 Here is sample output of the help:

Name     DVController.exe Synopsis     DVController.exe [options] [[queryActions] | [controlActions]] Description     Program to control a digital video source, and optionally capture the     video to an AVI Type 1 file. Command Line Argument Categories     options         These can change default settings in the application. For instance,         you can specify the device name that is to be controlled; otherwise,         the first video-type device will be used.     queryActions         These can return information regarding the environment. For instance,         a list of names of the available devices on the system. Another         example could be display the current mode (ie. stop, rewind, play,         etc.) of the video source (future).     controlActions         These arguments will control the video source in the order specified.         For instance, if the arguments were '--rewindAndWait --capture         "c:\video.avi" --rewind', the camera would first rewind to the         beginning, then capture the video to a file, and then rewind the         camera again. Command Line Arguments     Category: Control         -r, --rewindAndWait             Rewind the video source, waiting for the rewind to complete.         -0, --rewind             Rewind the video source; do not wait for the rewind to complete.         -c, --capture             Capture video from the video source, and output it to this                 filename.     Category: Option         -d, --device             Specifies the name of the device to use for the video source; if                 not specified, then the first one found will be used.     Category: Query         -l, --listDevices             List the devices that are available for video sources; use one of                 these names as an argument to specify from which video source                 to perform an action. If this argument is present, all other                 arguments will be ignored.