Can live video from a miniDV camera be streamed over a network? If so, how?

Question

Is there any free software that can be used to stream live video from a miniDV camera connected to a computer to another computer? If answers could be provided quickly, that would be much appreciated as I have this project that needs doing tomorrow afternoon.

Answer 1

Assuming you have either a video capture card or chipset, or a firewire card or chipset...

How about Windows Media Encoder on the sending computer and Windows Media Player on the receiving computer?

Both are free!



(comments re Additional Details)

Yes, WME very definitely does real time live streaming encoding. I know. I'm the administrator of a college streaming server.

Also: I'm sorry, I don't know what's available for live streaming on the Mac -- maybe Adobe Flash video or Real Media?

re USB cams - How good do you want this to look? USB webcams are usually 1/4 screen 15fps.

Answer 2

a miniDV camera is a poor choice for internet streaming. that is because the datarate over firewire is fixed at 25 mbps. The fastest DSL lines are under 2 mbps. That is quite a crunch for the software to do in real time.



A camera that has USB connectivity can generate a much slower data rate, making the relay at the computer an easier task. Also USB is not a fixed rate, so data can be sent out from the camera in bursts freeing the processor to do IP tasks as needed.

Answer 3

Best camcorder to use Is a MinDV tape camcorder. A HD camcorder, this means any camcorder that shoots in HD that uses a different storage media, to equal the video quality, you need to spend in excess of $3300 to find a HD camcorder that could. Hook them to you computer with a Firewire Cable, they come lengths up to 25 feet and I have connectors to hook these together. These cables go to a IEEE1394 port on your computer, at which point you can do anything a webcam could do with the turned on camcorder. Using the Manual mode on the camcorder, set the focus, which is not hard to do and set the exposure, again, simple to do, you could monitor all day and have no issues doing so, using even Windows Live Messenger and video call. free to do, easy to set up.

Answer 4

Have you tried the software that came with your camera??Streaming video is done via USB!! Have you checked your camcorder support site??