Is simultaneous recording to disk and encoding possible?
 

I hope this is the right place to ask this question...

I have a Sony DV camera connected to PC (thru a firewire port) running Windows Media Encoder to live broadcast on the internet.

My goal is to simultaneously capture the raw DV avi file and broadcast live.
WME doesn't seem to offer this option and using a capture utility and WME at the same time doesn't work.

The events are longer than a DV tape allows.

I would also prefer not to install or use an analog capture card.

Are there any devices or software utilities which would allow simultaneous dual use of the DV stream?

The Osprey 500 DV with SimulStream may work, but it runs about $1400 and I would prefer something more afforable if it exists.

Thank you for your help.

I have had success recording to a DVD recorder, and the FS-4 simultaneously using a FW HUB. So this should work for you as well using other recording devices. It sounds like you could also simply use a second computer with capture software, which would be connected to your camera in this way.

Just be very careful when using a powered HUB together with any video FW device that has a 6 pin connector (like the FS-4). There is a danger that the powered pin on the HUB could damage the device if the HUB is supplying power.

Welcome to the forum, Derek.

I'm in QA at Serious Magic, the makers of DV Rack. We never tried what you're talking about, and I have no experience doing the kind of live broadcast to the net. In other words, I don't have a definitive answer. I can, however, offer you a free, full-function trial here: http://www.seriousmagic.com/dvrackdemo.cfm. I'd suggest having Task Manager up while you're running both apps app to monitor your CPU usage--if it gets pegged at 100%, then you're out of luck at least with your current hardware.

Please report back if you try this--I'll be interested to know whether DV Rack works in this kind of setup.

You might also want to check out VLC player and the server programs. http://www.videolan.org

Windows doesn't allow the sharing of a DV stream between applications. You need to find an application that can record DV and encode at the same time.

Serious Magic does make a program, called Visual Communicator Studio, which can live stream/encode to Windows Media or Real formats, and it can publish a full 720x480 DV-AVI file. VC Studio also has multiple camera switching, graphics, titles, b-roll in of video files, etc.

You can download a demo version here:

http://www.seriousmagic.com/vctrial.cfm

Thanks everyone...I am currently traveling and will not be able to try the SeriousMagic products until next week.

I have attempted this by capturing the DV stream with Adobe Premier Elements while running WME-9 and as Karl points out Windows will not allow the DV stream to be shared between applications. One program always kicks out the other.

I hope that Visual Communicator Studio does the trick.

Thanks.