HowTo Compile and Use xvidcap

Compile gvidcap !

Get the last stable source code archive on xvidcap Sourceforge project page or download it from the CVS:

cvs -z3 -d:pserver:anonymous@cvs.sourceforge.net:/cvsroot/xvidcap co -P xvidcap

Install required dependencies:

urpmi gcc automake libgtk+2-devel ffmpeg-devel liblame0-devel

Dirty compile:

make distclean [optional]
CPPFLAGS=-I/usr/include/ffmpeg LDFLAGS=-L/usr/bin/ffmpeg
./configure --with-gtk2 --with-forced-embedded-ffmpeg && make gvidcap
make gvidcap
make install [optional]

Quick test:

./src/gvidcap &

Use gvidcap !

Raw capture:

gvidcap --gui no -v --file ~/img_%04d.xwd --frames 0 --fps 10 --cap_geometry 1024x768+0+0

The following can be used but it slow down the machine (png compression require too cpu):

gvidcap --gui no -v --compress 9 --file ~/img_%04d.png --frames 0 --fps 10 --cap_geometry 1024x728+0+0

Convert .xwd images to .png images because mplayer only support .png, .jpg, .tga and .sgi image file format:

convert img_*.xwd img_%04d.png && rm -rf ./*.xwd

Preview the video:

mplayer "mf://*.png" -mf fps=10

Make a video from successive screenshots:

mencoder "mf://*.png" -mf fps=10 -ovc lavc -o ./video.avi

Documentation:

• http://www.linux-magazine.com/issue/45/DeskTOPia_xvidcap.pdf
• http://www.jarre-de-the.net/faq/pdf/faq.pdf
• http://www.tuxbihan.org/IMG/pdf/gvidcap.pdf
• http://www.csit.fsu.edu/~beason/recordMovie