pAVrecord Video/webcam recorder (mpeg4, Theora, x264)

Audio editors, music players, video players, burning software, etc.
Message
Author
User avatar
papos
Posts: 120
Joined: Thu 21 Dec 2006, 07:47
Location: france
Contact:

#31 Post by papos »

on puppy precise-5.4.1 I can't see the cursor when recording the desktop ( x11grab) with pavrecord or ffmpeg and different cursor
Is there the same on Slacko ?
Don't have this problem with fatdog
regards

User avatar
papos
Posts: 120
Joined: Thu 21 Dec 2006, 07:47
Location: france
Contact:

#32 Post by papos »

pointer is ok with Nearly Office Pup who is an XFCE based puplet
Precise NOP 5.4.1
http://www.murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic.php?t=82177

mini-jaguar
Posts: 597
Joined: Thu 13 Nov 2008, 13:45

#33 Post by mini-jaguar »

Tried the main version on Slacko 5.3.3 and it worked fine.

Then I tried the 4 version on Puppeee and it needed ffplay. Installing any of the ffmpeg .pets didn't help. Is there any .pet I could install to make it work?

Pelo

YES ! to PAVrecord

#34 Post by Pelo »

YES ! to PAVrecord
It will be an alternative to Xvidcap to create HQ Grab screenshots.
Here joined may adjusment with retroprecise 5.4.3
Select area : difficult


Perhaps a little bit expensive in MBs !
Attachments
PAVrecord.jpg
(66.7 KiB) Downloaded 1005 times

mcewanw
Posts: 3169
Joined: Thu 16 Aug 2007, 10:48
Contact:

New versions of Pavrecord posted.

#35 Post by mcewanw »

New versions of Pavrecord posted.

These contain a system critical fix to the code used to provide arecord VU peak level meter. Forum member SFR (Jake) brought the problem to my attention and provided fix. Old version arecord VU code was overwriting /dev/null so this upgrade is important. See first post in thread for dotpets etc and more details.

Note: New versions of Precord fixing the same critical but have also been posted on Precord main thread. Also for xrecord on DebianDog developer's thread. I've also alerted the developer of Bacon recorder, which used the same buggy code for arecord VU meter.
----------------------------------------
# Changes:
# Critical system related fix for VU peak level meter. Thanks Jake (SFR)

These new versions need you to test them. Which one to use is suggested, but in practice may depend on which codecs compiled into system's ffmpeg.

Note that the versions 0.9.4 introduces new tooltip text. I realise this is a nightmare for translators but it needed to be done since old text, inherited in part from precord, didn't make sense in pavrecord.

Version 4.x with vufix is just a critical bugfix release. Too much work at the moment to change the tooltip text on that one. Otherwise much the same functionality as 0.9.4 versions.
github mcewanw

mcewanw
Posts: 3169
Joined: Thu 16 Aug 2007, 10:48
Contact:

new pAVrecord 0.9.5 posted (works with ffmpeg or avconv)

#36 Post by mcewanw »

Download from first post of this thread.

NOTE WELL: Please remember to delete your old $HOME/.pavrecord config directory before installing this.

This new pAVrecord version 0.9.5 works with either avconv or ffmpeg (though current avconv itself seems to have a bug with jpeg production at low frame rates, so ffmpeg is preferred). pAVrecord has been developed/tested_as_working on Slacko-5.7, Puppy Precise 5.7.1, DebianDog, and Puppy Akita. Note that for Akita you need to create an empty file called noxvid in /etc/pavrecord; that causes it to use the alternative mpeg4 encoder - the same trick may be needed in some other Puppy distributions. Whether pAVrecord will work in earlier Puppies, or Quirky, Wary, or Racy, depends on the ffmpeg/avconv functionality they have. Read the program provided Help, including that in the first post of this thread, for more details and installation tips.

Note: This version has many changes and bug-fixes under the hood. In this new pAVrecord (and also in the soon to be released new precord) it is now possible to alter much of its internal processing functionality via external code modules. I'll document that later via an example or two, once I have completed the new precord, and find the time to work on such additions.
github mcewanw

mcewanw
Posts: 3169
Joined: Thu 16 Aug 2007, 10:48
Contact:

New version pAVrecord 0.9.6 now uploaded

#37 Post by mcewanw »

Sorry to those who just downloaded version 0.9.5. I couldn't resist adding something, so have now re-uploaded as version 0.9.6. Has additional program expansion facilities in the form of the capability to add external program modules, which I refer to as the 'hijack' facility.

I'll be adding the equivalent 'hijack' facility to Precord, which I am working on now. I will however shortly post a quick 'hijack' test module for pavrecord, which should explain how to add your own expansion modules without needed to modify the core program itself. Don't worry, I don't intend updating any further pavrecord revisions until the current 0.9.6 upload has undergone some user testing. The most likely later change will be to my gettext strings, for other languages - I usually make a mess of that... :-)

downloads for pAVrecord 0.9.6 as usual in first post of this thread here:

http://www.murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic.php?t=81332

Cheers, William

EDIT: You can find some examples of how to extend or alter pAVrecord functionality via its new 'hijack' modular plugin facility in the second post of this thread, here:

http://www.murga-linux.com/puppy/viewto ... 913#656913

Note that these are just simple exemplars to show the basic idea. I intend using this very crude extension facility to allow me to easily use pAVrecord (etc) as a backend for other GUI apps I plan to write, so any created hijack module(s) will need to be stored away for re-use since it/they is/are likely to be overwritten by different frontend apps. I'll start a new thread for 'hijack' module development later, and include more details in there.
github mcewanw

User avatar
01micko
Posts: 8741
Joined: Sat 11 Oct 2008, 13:39
Location: qld
Contact:

#38 Post by 01micko »

William, is there any point in me keeping the pavrecord-precise-0.9.4 version in the repo database? The package can of course stay in the repository.
Puppy Linux Blog - contact me for access

mcewanw
Posts: 3169
Joined: Thu 16 Aug 2007, 10:48
Contact:

#39 Post by mcewanw »

01micko wrote:William, is there any point in me keeping the pavrecord-precise-0.9.4 version in the repo database? The package can of course stay in the repository.
No point at all anymore. The new version covers all options for Precise (or will be updated if flawed in any way).

William
github mcewanw

mcewanw
Posts: 3169
Joined: Thu 16 Aug 2007, 10:48
Contact:

new version 9.0.0 pAVrecord released

#40 Post by mcewanw »

NOTE WELL: Please remember to delete your old $HOME/.pavrecord config directory before installing this.

Download from first post of this thread, here:

http://www.murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic.php?t=81332

ver 9.0.0 changes:

Substantial modification to config GUI and re-alignment with code in latest release of its companion application Precord.

This new pAVrecord works with either avconv or ffmpeg (though current avconv itself seems to have a bug with jpeg production at low frame rates, so ffmpeg is preferred). pAVrecord has been developed/tested_as_working on Slacko-6 beta, Puppy Precise 5.7.1, DebianDog, and Puppy Akita.
github mcewanw

Pelo

what is the input format for screencast capture ?

#41 Post by Pelo »

what is the input format for screencast capture, please ?

mcewanw
Posts: 3169
Joined: Thu 16 Aug 2007, 10:48
Contact:

Re: what is the input format for screencast capture ?

#42 Post by mcewanw »

Pelo wrote:what is the input format for screencast capture, please ?
Hello Pelo,

What do you mean by the "input format"? To make a screencast you just tick the x11grab checkbox. You can change audio type and video encoders to whatever you prefer, for higher or lower resolution capture, prior to that selection. I don't make any suggestion as to what would be the best settings since that is up to the user preference.

The screencast capability currently provided in pAVrecord is pretty basic. You could also try screencast using FFConvert, which adds some extra facilities, or something like Xvidcap or Drec, both of which I note you've used before. I might add to pAVrecord screencast capability eventually, but too much else to do at the moment alas.

Regards,

William
github mcewanw

mcewanw
Posts: 3169
Joined: Thu 16 Aug 2007, 10:48
Contact:

Getting better screencast quality

#43 Post by mcewanw »

EDIT: Note that I undertook the following using ffmpeg.sfs loaded in DebianDog and the result seemed reasonably good. I seem to have some problem using x264 in Slacko 6 beta for some reason, which I'll have to check again tomorrow. Last time I tried pAVrecord more generally in Precise 5.7.1 it seemed to work better (faster/smoother) than in Slacko 6 beta, but I have to double-check that yet in case it is just on this particular computer I'm using.

Hello again Pelo,

I did a bit experimenting and found that I could get good video quality in an x11grab screencast by choosing the following config options in pAVrecord:

Container for combined audio/video: avi (i.e. just left at default - maybe aac would be better for sound since using x264 video below but haven't tried)
Audio format: mp3, cbr, 32k (i.e. just left at default)
Selected video encoder: x264

But the important thing to get good video quality was to enter the following extra options into "Extra O/P options": -b:v 1000k
EDIT: For some (older?) installed ffmpeg version, you might instead need to use:
"Extra O/P options": -b 1000k"

That gives a 1000 kbps video bitrate rather than whatever the default ffmpeg uses is (none was provided by me in the program itself).

I'll probably add a video bitrate choice option in next version of pAVrecord.

NOTE: Once you have settings that work for you in the pAVrecord big config GUI, it is usually more convenient to shrink pAVrecord to its small GUI (row of record buttons) before starting the actual screengrab.
-----

You can also use FFConvert as a handy method for finding suitable preset values to use in pAVrecord.

What you do is start FFConvert and choose a preset in there that interests you (and press Apply button). Then Select Screen Capture in FFConvert, select a destination directory for the output file, select a Duration of say 10min (long enough to find what command was actually used), and start a screen grab running. While it is running open /tmp/ffconvert and you will find a file in there called x11grab.sh. Open that file in text editor (e.g. geany) and you will see the actual ffmpeg command FFConvert used (including parameters such as -b:v ... You can then copy such values into pAVrecord Extra I/P options or Extra O/P options as appropriate to get same quality as you achieved with FFConvert with the advantage of audio recording also working.

Hope that tip is of some use/help.

Regards, William
github mcewanw

mcewanw
Posts: 3169
Joined: Thu 16 Aug 2007, 10:48
Contact:

new version pAVrecord uploaded

#44 Post by mcewanw »

new version pAVrecord uploaded. Now version 9.0.2

Changes: Mainly just added a convenience feature added for multiuser system ($HOME as default save dir rather than /root). Also, for x11grab screencast made default video bitrate 1000k (i.e. -b:v 1000k). You can of course overwrite that value in the Extra O/P options entry box using that same "-b:v bitratek" output format.

Download from first post of this thread.

A new version of Precord has also been uploaded to match the changes.

William
github mcewanw

mcewanw
Posts: 3169
Joined: Thu 16 Aug 2007, 10:48
Contact:

new version pAVrecord uploaded. Now version 9.0.3

#45 Post by mcewanw »

new version pAVrecord uploaded. Now version 9.0.3

Changes: hijack module capability expanded. Now using .hijack as addon module extension

Download the new pAVrecord from first post of this thread.

A new version of Precord has also been uploaded to match the changes.

William
github mcewanw

User avatar
Saborima
Posts: 10
Joined: Thu 06 Jun 2013, 07:03

in Tahr case

#46 Post by Saborima »

I tried pAVrecord-9.0.3.

Precise-550 ... OK

In case of tahr-5.8.3 (VLC, no ffmpeg), my control is never returned to pAVrecord from VLC.
I had to kill the following processes.

Code: Select all

sh -C rec "$TDIRFILE_DS1" "$DIRFILE1" "$DURATION1"
arecord -D plughw:0,0 -f cd -c 1 -d 0
sh -c avconv -y -f "video4linux2" -s 320x240 -i "/dev/video0" -r 30 -vcodec libxvid -aspect 4:3 -f avi
From this operation, audio file and video file have different time lengths.

mcewanw
Posts: 3169
Joined: Thu 16 Aug 2007, 10:48
Contact:

New version 9.0.4 of pAVrecord uploaded

#47 Post by mcewanw »

New version 9.0.4 of pAVrecord uploaded. Hopefully fixes the vlc/avconv related bug drawn to my attention by user Saborima. It only effected machines using avconv (which would hang on record) rather than ffmpeg as it turns out.
Saborima wrote: In case of tahr-5.8.3 (VLC, no ffmpeg), my control is never returned to pAVrecord from VLC.
Thanks for that very valuable report Saborima. I don't have vlc on my main system and normally use mplayer and ffmpeg etc, so good to have a test case using avconv, avplay and vlc. Unfortunately default puppy tahr comes with pae kernel, which my development computer can't handle. On my netbook, tahr loaded, but alsa system sound doesn't work on that particular netbook under tahrpup (nothing to do with pavrecord per se) and I haven't time to try and find the reason. However, I think the fix I've made to pavrecord in version 9.0.4 should hopefully fix the problem you had. I had made a single line mistake that only effected avconv users (ffmpeg users were fine). I would be grateful if you could test pavrecord 9.0.4 as thoroughly as you can in case there are any other issues for vlc/avconv combination that I am not aware of.

William
github mcewanw

User avatar
Saborima
Posts: 10
Joined: Thu 06 Jun 2013, 07:03

#48 Post by Saborima »

mcewanw wrote:New version 9.0.4 of pAVrecord uploaded.
I tried 9.0.4 soon.

It works fine on tahr-5.8.3 with VLC and avconv !!

But I don't have microphone. only webcam.
and so I tested only Video file, combined MP4 file and the return of my control.
(pAVrecord produced soundless Audio file, too)

Thanks for fixing the bug.

Pelo

ah, thanks to helpers

#49 Post by Pelo »

"container for combined audio/video: avi (i.e. just left at default - maybe aac would be better for sound since using x264 video below but haven't tried)
Audio format: mp3, cbr, 32k (i.e. just left at default)
Selected video encoder: x264

But the important thing to get good video quality was to enter the following extra options into "Extra O/P options": -b:v 1000k
EDIT: For some (older?) installed ffmpeg version, you might instead need to use:
"Extra O/P options": -b 1000k"

That gives a 1000 kbps video bitrate rather than whatever the default ffmpeg uses is (none was provided by me in the program itself).

I'll probably add a video bitrate choice option in next version of pAVrecord." :D
PAVrecord with AmiPUP give awfull images... I try to improve that with your advices.
:D nettement mieux, Merci monsieur.
Last edited by Pelo on Fri 08 Aug 2014, 11:13, edited 1 time in total.

mcewanw
Posts: 3169
Joined: Thu 16 Aug 2007, 10:48
Contact:

Re: ah, thanks to helpers

#50 Post by mcewanw »

Pelo wrote:"container for combined audio/video: avi (i.e. just left at default - maybe aac would be better for sound since using x264 video below but haven't tried)
Audio format: mp3, cbr, 32k (i.e. just left at default)
Selected video encoder: x264

But the important thing to get good video quality was to enter the following extra options into "Extra O/P options": -b:v 1000k
EDIT: For some (older?) installed ffmpeg version, you might instead need to use:
"Extra O/P options": -b 1000k"

That gives a 1000 kbps video bitrate rather than whatever the default ffmpeg uses is (none was provided by me in the program itself).

I'll probably add a video bitrate choice option in next version of pAVrecord." :D
PAVrecord with AmiPUP give awfull images... I try to improve that with your advices.
Hi Pelo,

I'm no expert at how to get good image quality with ffmpeg, If you know of or can find a commandline that provides good quality, please let me know, and I should be able to incorporate that into the program or at least in the docs in terms of best parameters to use. Thanks in advance.

William
github mcewanw

Post Reply