[vlc] How to control an automated recording (directshow capture)?

[Damien Leri]

Hi,

I would like to use VLC to record classroom sessions. To start the recording I just call vlc.exe, and to end the recording I send a WM_CLOSE signal to the process (using Process.exe). For years this has worked fine for me as far as MP3 recordings. But not with H.264, for a recording that is longer than an hour or so: the process does not accept the WM_CLOSE signal, even when I give it several hours as a grace period. So the process continues and the file continues to grow. If I force a KILL, the file does not appear to be playable.

Is there a better way to control VLC from a script? I looked at the remote control interfaces (rc, ncurses, telnet, http), but those appear to be for playback rather than directshow capture. All I need to do is send commands to Start, Pause, Resume, and Stop. Ideally I could have VLC running as a windows service, but that's not required. I'm running on v.1.0.1 on Windows XP.

Alternatively, if I should be doing this directly with ffmpeg or the like, I am open to suggestions. I am scripting in Perl, not C.

Thanks,
Damien Leri
Director of User Services
Penn Law School
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