Bash script to numerize a VHS using a Hauppauge USB-Live 2 device using ffmpeg under Linux

Hauppauge_VHS.md

VHS recording: how-to

Bash script to numerize a VHS using a Hauppauge USB-Live 2 device using ffmpeg under Linux.

Usage

./vhs_rec.sh output_filename.mkv 1:45:00

Optional arguments:

• output file name
• duration (ffmpeg time format)

Video standard

Set the VHS_STANDARD environment variable to either :

• secam (default)
• pal
• nstc

Connecting the Hauppauge device to a recorder

Reference

• Linux kernel V4L2 documentation
• ffmpeg v4l2 wiki
• Using the Hauppauge USB-Live 2 with Linux

vhs_rec.sh

#!/bin/bash
output="$1"
if [ -z "$output" ]; then
	output="output.mkv"
fi
if [ -z "$VHS_STANDARD" ]; then
	VHS_STANDARD="secam"
fi
if [ "$VHS_STANDARD" -eq "secam" ]; then
	VHS_STANDARD_V4L2="SECAM"
elif [ "$VHS_STANDARD" -eq "pal" ]; then
	VHS_STANDARD_V4L2="PAL"
elif [ "$VHS_STANDARD" -eq "nstc" ]; then
	VHS_STANDARD_V4L2="NSTC"
fi

duration="$2"
if [ -z "$duration" ]; then
	duration="02:00:00"
fi

v4l2-ctl -s "$VHS_STANDARD_V4L2"
echo "Recording for $duration as $output with standard $VHS_STANDARD"
# output format: h264 for video, opus for audio
ffmpeg \
	-f alsa \
	-thread_queue_size 4096 \
	-i sysdefault:CARD=Cx231xxAudio \
	-f video4linux2 \
	-thread_queue_size 4096 \
	-framerate 25 \
	-channel 0 \
	-i /dev/v4l/by-id/usb-Hauppauge_Hauppauge_Device_0014068359-video-index0 \
	-standard "$VHS_STANDARD" \
	-c:v h264 \
	-b:v 2M \
	-c:a libopus \
	-b:a 96k \
	-async 1 \
	-preset faster \
	-t "$duration" \
	"$output"