No ability to record streaming video

[randys42]

This is a post that contains a lot of what I sent to customer support last week but have not received a reply or acknowledgment. I bought the suite although Media Catcher was the package that seemed to be what I needed. I tried the demo and it recorded a couple of frames and then stopped. I wasn't sure if that was the crippling of the eval copy and the playback finished in a second. I bought the suite and installed the Catcher and the package wouldn't record. A tip recommended refreshing the screen to alert the software to a stream but doing that resulted in an error to connect to the stream. I tried multiple times, each time creating a new file that had nothing in it except the last file that was recording something but with no video coming in, it was black. There is a cheap package called Video Capture Master that has no trouble recording the video but I wanted to be able to change the size of the capture window. Then I tried A/V which was stated to be the package to use if Catcher didn't work and A/V reported that it detected no network activity at all. Catcher had no such problem. It asked if I was behind a firewall. Of course I am. The basic Windows firewall and McAfee. I briefly disabled the firewalls and retried with the same result. My system is not exotic and while I can see how it may not detect a video stream, it's hard to understand how it could detect any network activity at all! (Especially given that on my side of the router I have 2 computers networked.) What I find most disappointing is the lack of response to this problem by customer service.

I have seen some posts related to this topic (A/V) but didn't see anything that addressed Catcher....I realize I may have just missed it but if the package wont work then I need to find out so I can get my money back and maybe apply it to CamTasia. My preference of course is to get this package to work.

Any advice on the Catcher problem or the AV problem even when the firewalls are off?

Thanks in advance...
Randy

[Susi]

I am assuming that you are following the following proceedure?

1. open Catcher and start recording
2. open internet and find file you wish to record
3. start the file you want to record

that should be all that is necessary.

[Cheryl Wester]

If you are still having an issue please write to customer service again. We answer all questions in a timely manner but this has been vacation time so we could have been a little behind. When you write to customer service let them know what operating system you are using and also the URL of what you are trying to capture so they can test it for you. Thanks.

[randys42]

Originally Posted by Susi

I am assuming that you are following the following proceedure?

1. open Catcher and start recording
2. open internet and find file you wish to record
3. start the file you want to record

that should be all that is necessary.

This is what I have found out:

First, this is not a file per se. This is a live video feed (RTMP) that is supposed to be captured in a file.

When I run Catcher nothing happens (meaning no file is created in window) So, as one of the online tips says, I refresh the browser that has the video stream. Maybe a frame or two appears in the browser and then is replaced with error message saying "Unable to Connect...Please Refresh". Meanwhile the file has been created and displays in Capture's window. It is recording. I right click the file and open Transfer Properties, this is what is reported:

From Plug-In Capture Flash RTMP streams
Target File: (Filename)
Data Saved: 5,100 kb (and counting) Rate: 55 kb/sec

Downlaoding RTMP stream;
RTMP App: rtmp://(URL)
Media Path: (folder name)
Audi Received: 0 kb;
Video received: 13.000 kb (and counting)

Again, I don't see the live video in the browser. I need to be able to do that. I click Stop Recording. It continues recording. To actually stop it I have to right click the filename and select Cancel and Save Transfer.

The Transfer Properties Screen updates to display this:

Sorry, could only download a partial RTMP stream
Media was saved anyway:
C:\Documents and Settings\HP_Administrator\My Documents\My Recordings\filename.flv

I try running the default Media Player and there is a video file there (running at super fast forward speed. So it is capturing it but it wont let me see the live display of the video window while Catcher is running.

Right now I have the McAfee firewall disabled but I doubt that has any effect. The problem is that Catcher is intefering with the real time display of the video. This is something unique to Catcher. The other programs I've tried allow recording with sound and audio while maintaining the video display so I can see what is going on. I can't do that with Catcher.

And for audio...I have not been able to see if that works at all.

Oh and I am running Firefox as browser. IE thinks I don't have Flash Player installed which I do.

Does that info help?

Thanks

Randy

[Cheryl Wester]

Hi

The program is going to often start recording prior to you seeing it begin. It is meant to capture until it finished the entire link unless you select stop and cancel like you have been doing. There are some new formats out that we are having to work on in order to capture. Our developer is aware of this and is continuing to work on this. If you need more assistance please write to technical support and they will be glad to assist you. Thanks.