ALMS 2011 and you internet savvy types

[vancecooley]

So, I'm ok with connecting my laptop to my hd tv to watch the races... here's my question.
What do I need to record the streaming to my laptop should I not be home during the race?
Is there a program that someone could suggest? I saw somewhere someone mentioned windows media center, but I'm not sure how that helps.
Thanks.

[JAG]

It's been suggested races will be available on demand, if not check any downloading site, the races will be up within a couple of hours like ALMS TV coverage and FIA GT streamed races.

[Deleted]

-- should I not be home during the race?

Umm, I'm afraid this isn't like VCR days. You can't just tell program a specific time when to start capturing from a certain source, and then expect to find a perfect recording when you come back home later

It' pretty certain that ALMS.com/ESPN/whatever uploads the broadcasts as replays later on (they did that with Laguna and Mid-Ohio). If they don't, well... SRO still has the upper hand then. It's also very likely that someone captures the streams and uploads them to RU and/or PE, so I wouldn't worry.

[fieldodreams79]

Currently, ESPN3's archives go back 30 days FWIW. Not sure if they will be able to archive a 12 hour event or not.



dj will surely have a lot to say about this one and will most likely be very informative. This is right up his alley.

[dj4monie]

Thanks for the cue FoD -

On-Demand means no need for a DVR or VCR for that matter. Everything is kept in the "Cloud" which is the internet. ESPN3 keeps several events for weeks, you can go watch last weekend's Texas getting upset.

Now if you MUST capture the stream, you'll have to purchase software. You might wanna try Applian for that, makers of Replay AV which I use to record Mid-Week Motorsports -

The software you need is either Media Catcher, Replay AV or Replay Video Capture.

Media Catcher is $39.99, Replay AV is $70, check the web site for the others.

However there's no guarantee it will capture this stream from ESPN or the ALMS web site. I suggest you download the demos and test them on either site.

Personally its not necessary, video streaming and on-demand are suppose to free you from archiving the content, unless it severs some historical purpose. It is likely you'll be able to go to the ALMS web site in the future in say 2013 and still watch races from 2011 that would be located locally on their servers.

This also gives the ALMS a chance to digitize all its older races and host them on servers as well.

Chiana yes you can I used to set Replay AV to capture A1GP races, wanna see the videos? I wasn't awake half the time it was capturing.

Its also possible you can record with Windows Media Encoder but don't quote me on that and I'm not sure. You can also try Video LAN player which I believe has a recording feature as well.

For all that trouble IMHO unless you really understand how streams work, what formats to use, IP tunneling and all that stuff, I wouldn't even bother.

Afterdawn Forums is a good place to start and also Video Help

[dj4monie]

Originally Posted by JAG

It's been suggested races will be available on demand, if not check any downloading site, the races will be up within a couple of hours like ALMS TV coverage and FIA GT streamed races.

That's IF you know somebody on R-U and you're willing to invite them. I've given my invites out and that's it no more.

Just watch it later on the ESPN or ALMS web site, less complication.

[Will3]

I know a program that some people use to make videos on youtube of computer video games which might work, this isn't a guarentee. Its called FRAPS and I tried it a bit, it runs in the background and all you have to do is press a button and it records. Not sure if its just for video games but I think it may be avalible to do other things. If you wanna see if it works or not heres the website:
http://www.fraps.com/download.php

[dj4monie]

Originally Posted by Will3

I know a program that some people use to make videos on youtube of computer video games which might work, this isn't a guarentee. Its called FRAPS and I tried it a bit, it runs in the background and all you have to do is press a button and it records. Not sure if its just for video games but I think it may be avalible to do other things. If you wanna see if it works or not heres the website:
http://www.fraps.com/download.php

Camstasia is much more polished. FRAPS is for "Gamers" (FRAPS ain't free either, you get a nice watermark on your recording using the free version) and I use Game Cap anyway it works better.

*You can download older versions of Camtasia, Fraps and Game Cap on the internet but you're on your own there, I will not share how to use cracked/backdoor'ed software.

Screen captures MIGHT work and likely will work, but that means he'll have to watch it on his PC screen and this gets into file formats, codecs and media players and even DVD burning.

As I said why do you need to record it? ESPN3 does it for you. ESPN3 keeps content up to 30 days, the ALMS is likely to keep it longer, its next season already and you can still watch last year's 6 hour race in its entirety.

[AGD]

The easy answer is, as stated earlier, to just use the archived version. Hopefully there will be a standardized page on the ALMS website for streams so it will be possible to open archives (assuming the ALMS website keeps archives) without being subject to spoilers. That should not be a problem with ESPN3.

If you want more of a challenge: If you have composite TV out on your computer or if you have a VGA out and a scan converter, you can record the stream to a DVD recorder, VHS VCR, or any other recording device that takes composite input. Of course, someone would still have to open the streaming window for you (I'd assume this to also be an issue if you are using software to capture the live stream) and perhaps swap out discs/tapes so this would not be a great option if you did not have at least a little babysitting.