CaptureVideo Xtra
current version 0.1a
Copyright Geoff Smith 1999-2002
page last updated:June 2002

ALPHA VERSION XTRA
T his is very early code - use entirely at your own risk

OS9	OSX
To purchase please contact sales@physicalbits.com

Description

This is a sprite Xtra for use in Macromedia's Director (TM) multimedia program. Currently only for windows.

Installation

Windows: Copy the VideoCapture.x32 file to the "Program Files\Macromedia\Director X\Xtras" folder. Then start Director.
To create new member use the "insert/physicalbits Xtras/VideoCapture" menu item. If correctly installed the xtra will appear in the insert menu, under the physicalbits heading; as below.

Location of VideoCapture Xtra in insert menu

Basic operation

A. Insert VideoCapture from menu
B. Drag onto stage. If sprite boundary is green then all is ok, is red problem with video capture
C. Use "captureVideoOpen( member X,0)"
D. Use "set the captureEnabled of member X to 1"
E. Run the movie - image should appear on stage
F. When finished it is important, specially i=on Win98, to use "captureVideoClose(member X)"

Member Properties

All properties are accessed via the member. eg set the captureFPS of member 1 to 15

Group	Name	data	Set	Get	Description
Capture
	captureFilename	string	o	o	Set the path and name of the file to capture into
	captureToFile	true or false	o	o	Enable/disable the capture to a file
	captureToSprite	true or false	o	o	Enable/disable the updating of the capture to a sprite
	captureRect	rect	o	o	Set/get the capture rect of the capture device.
Control
	captureVideoIndex	integer		o	The driver index to the device
	captureEnabled	true or false	o	o	Start/stop thecapture process
	captureToStage	true or false	o		Set the image preview on/off
	directToStage	true or false			True to send captured image directl to stage, faster update, but no compositing with other sprites
	captureFPS	float	o		Change the number of frames per second the capture device will try to capture
	captureSingleFrameMode	true or false			NYI
Info
	captureVersion			o	NYI
	audiodevices	list		o	Returns a list of all the installed audio devices
	videodevices	list		o	Returns a list of all the installed video devices
	videocompressors	list		o	Returns a list of all the installed video compressors
	captureRect	rect		o	Returns the current capture rectangle
Private
	DebugMessages	integer	o

 

Member Messages

All properties are accessed via the member. eg CaptureOpen( member 1)

Group	Function	Description
Control
	captureVideoOpen( member ref) captureVideoOpen( member ref, videoIndex) captureVideoOpen( member ref, videoIndex, audioIndex)	Open the specfied device, intialize the connection.
	captureVideoClose( member ref )	Close the connection to an open device
	Poll	Certain functions require time to process data, call this regularly
Capture
	TimedCaptureToFile	Capture to a disk file for the specified duration.
	SingleFrameCapture( member ref)	NYI
	TrimCaptureImage( member ref, rect)	NYI
Dialogs
	showdisplaydialog
	showsourcedialog
	showformatdialog
	showcompressiondialog

 

Version release history

VideoCapture Member Properties

captureFilename

Format	captureFilename pathAndFilename
Parameter	pathAndFilename is a string that indicates where to save any captured images of movies
Default value	"VideoCap.avi"
Access	Set	o		Get	o
Example	set the captureFilename of member 1 to "c:\myDocs\history\movie.avi"
Description	To set the name of the file to stream the captured video/audio data. Change this before using captureToFile. To start the movie saving use the captureToFile property

captureToFile

Format	captureToFile trueOrFalse
Parameter	trueOrFalse is a true or false value.
Default value	false
Access	Set	o		Get	o
Example	set the captureToStage of member 1 to true
Description	Enables or disables the capture to a file. Has no effect until captureEnable has been set true. Each time it changes from false to true the file is written from the begging, overwriting the previous contents.

captureToSprite

Format	captureToSprite trueOrFalse
Parameter	trueOrFalse is a true or false value.
Default value	true
Access	Set	o		Get	o
Example	set the captureToSprite of member 1 to true
Description	Enables or disables the capture to a sprite. Has no effect until captureEnable has been set true.

captureVideoIndex

Format	captureVideoIndex index
Parameter	index is the index of the video camera to use for input.
Default value	0
Access	Set			Get	o
Example	put the captureVideoIndex of member 1
Description	Supplies the index of the currently open video driver device

captureFPS

Format	captureFPS float
Parameter	float is a number that the capture system attempts to aquire new frames. It is in frames per second.
Default value	15.0
Access	Set	o		Get
Example	set the captureFPS of member 1 to 13
Description	Sets the current frames per second for the video capture. This might not be achieveable, eg setting 500.5 frames a sec! You can set sub-second capture rates, eg .2 is 1 frame every 5 seconds.

captureEnabled

Format	captureEnabled bool
Parameter	bool true or false value
Default value	false
Access	Set	o		Get	o
Example	set the captureEnabled of member 1 to true
Description	Starts the capture engine working. Until this is set true no display of capture is possible.

captureVersion

Format	captureVersion
Parameter	none
Default value	n/a
Access	Set			Get	o
Example	put the captureVersion of member 1
Description	Gets the current version of the Xtra

VideoCapture Functions detail

captureVideoOpen

This starts the video capture, if captureToStage and/or are set the image will be send to those devices

Format	OpenCapture( member ref) OpenCapture( member ref, videoIndex ) OpenCapture( member ref, videoIndex, audioIndex)
Parameters	member ref - a member identifier eg member 1 videoIndex - an id or index to a video device, 0=default/scan audioIndex- an id or index to an audio device, 0=default/scan
Return value	"ok" or error message
Description	Opens the video and audio devices, but does not start capture. Use captureEnabled to start
Example	OpenCapture( member 1 of cast 3 )
Notes

captureVideoClose

This starts the video capture, if captureToStage and/or are set the image will be send to those devices

Format	CloseCapture( member ref)
Parameters	member ref - a member identifier eg member 1
Return value	"ok" or error message
Description	Close the video and audio devices. Use captureEnabled to stop
Example	CloseCapture( member 1 of cast 3 )
Notes	If captureEnabled=true and captureToFile=true then the file is closed.

Dialogs

This starts the video capture, if captureToStage and/or are set the image will be send to those devices

Format	showdisplaydialog( member ref) showsourcedialog( member ref) showformatdialog( member ref) showcompressiondialog( member ref)
Parameters	member ref - a member identifier eg member 1
Return value	"ok" or error message
Description	Display one of the system dialogs to allow the user to change the settings
Example	showsourcedialog( member 1 of cast 3 )
Notes

 

TimedCaptureToFile

This starts the video capture, if captureToStage and/or are set the image will be send to those devices

Format	TimedCaptureToFile( member ref, duration)
Parameters	member ref - a member identifier eg member 1 duration - integer, duration to capture to file in milliseconds
Return value	"ok" or error message
Description	Capture to a disk file for the specified duration.
Example	TimedCaptureToFile( member 1 of cast 3,10000 )
Notes

 

Combing the capture properties

OpenCapture	captureToStage	captureToFile
no	False	False	No images or audio being captured or stored.
yes	False	False	Capture system active and buffering image to memory. The memory buffer is one frame long. This must be true before the other properties have any meaning.
yes	True	False	Capture system active and associated sprite, if any, will be updated.
yes	False	True	Capture system active and the associated file is updated. Any sprites will not be updated.
yes	True	True	Capture system active and the associated file and any sprites are updated.

 

 

Version History

Contact details

Email: support@physicalbits.com

Conditions of use