DV Camcorder to AVI with River Past PlayDV, DV Camcorder2AVI recording

What is AVI?

Defined by Microsoft, AVI stands for Audio Video Interleave. It is a special case of the RIFF (Resource Interchange File Format). AVI is the most common format for audio/video data on the PC.

AVI is Microsoft's response to Apple's QuickTime technology. Early AVI files were limited on choice of video and audio codecs, quality, and resolution. However, with the introduction of DirectShow, AVI became a very flexible and powerful architecture. Some newer codecs including DivX and XviD enable AVI files to have similar or even better quality than DVD.

Launch PlayDV

Make sure your Camcorder is securely connected to your 1394 card with a Firewire cable. Launch River Past PlayDV.

The display area should be black only, since your camcorder is not playing. The "Camcorder" constrol should show "Microsoft DV Camera and VCR".

Troubleshoot

If you don't see anything in "Camcorder" control, the software did not detect the camcorder. Unplug the camcorder from your PC and plug in again.

Your computer should give you a little "new hardware found" notification, and then PlayDV will display the camera in the "Camcorder" control.

Select Output Format

Expand "Record to" panel at the bottom of the PlayDV window.

There are two types of AVI files, which are compatible with DV video. Either one will work here, and both will play in most video playback software. However, some editing software may require Type-1 AVI-DV.

Set Output File

Click on the Browse button to bring up the File Save dialog. enter the file name.

Start Recording

Click the "Record" button on top of the window to start recording. PlayDV will automatically start the tape for you.