-
Recording streaming video
I sometimes need to record and edit streaming video, primarily Congressional hearings. I’ve been using SDP Downloader to capture WM streams, but encounter a problem when I try to bring the resulting file into Premiere Pro 2. Sometimes the file hangs up as Premiere is trying to conform it, and that usually locks up Premiere completely. There is apparently a glitch somewhere in the windows media file that causes everything to hang. The file will also hang in some other programs, like Movie Maker.
Anyone aware of a way that I can clean out the problems so I can import and edit the video?
-
6 Replies
-
To start, I think it’s worth mentionning that the majority of these streams are very much copyrighted (Yes, even Cspan, it’s not Gov owned). Just don’t redistribute it.
Aside from that, you may have better luck with a screen recorder such as Camtasia. Windows Media Encoder also has a capture feature (and it’s free). I believe it also allows for uncompressed capture.
Vince
-
Windows Media Encoder 9 (from MS) ships with a utility “Windows Media File Editor”. Using this to re-index the file often fixes Premiere’s import issues with some .wmv and .wma files.
-
Thanks, Mike & Vincent.
I had tried reindexing the file with WM editor, but it didn’t fix the problem.
As to doing a screen capture — DOH! — as Homer would say. I didn’t even think about the most obvious and simple way to do it. Do you lose any quality doing it that way? I guess if you sample it at 100% original size, a pixel is a pixel is a pixel…Good point about copyright. I was aware that CSPAN is copyrighted, but in this case I’m capturing streams originated by the committee itself, not CSPAN. Not sure if something originated by the taxpayers is protected by the Digital Millenium Act, but since my use is news and commentary, presumably — hopefully — it would be fair use.
-
The only thing that could cause issues is how much horsepower you have. If you capture uncompressed, it has to process quite a bit. I would recommed a Core 2 Duo for full screen.
Other than than, quality should be the same.
Vince
-
Interesting thought about the copyright. I guess it would have to do with who owns the cameras.
Vince
-
If the federal government produces it, it is in the public domain by law, I believe. Congress, however, is a law unto itself, and doesn’t always play by the rules it imposes on the rest of us…
Reply to this Discussion! Login or Sign Up