Linux – Video from vhs via USB capture device on Linux

Thanks to Xantec's comments, I was able to get VirtualDub working.

To get the EzCap 116 device to play in VirtualDub, you should download the latest version of the program.

Start the program, then:

• Go into File > Capture AVI...
• If no video plays, go into Devices > WDM 2861 Capture
  • if that is already selected, then go to Video > Video sources and select either the Composite or S-Video, depending on what you're using
• If the video is choppy or does not play, try these:
  • Go into Audio > untick Enable audio playback (having it ticked creates severe frame rate issues)
  • Go into Video > Compression and change it to something other than "No recompression" (you may have to experiment a little)
  • Go into Video > Capture Filter and change the settings (Default is NTSC_M, I have luck with NTSC_M_J and others have luck with NTSC_433. If you live elsewhere in the world, you might try some of the PAL options. YMMV)
• For best results when capturing, make sure that you're running the capture in a static, unchanging size; i.e., "Stretch to window" is not ticked nor is "Full Screen". If you want to change the size, you can go into Video > Set custom format, but VirtualDub seems to set the size at the device's natural output.
• If you want to apply a filter to your video as it plays, go to Video > Filter chain > Filter list... and add your desired filters.
• When capturing, your audio will desync. It's a fairly common problem with VirtualDub. Look around for tutorials on how to edit your video to fix this.

I like VLC and have it installed so for ease of use I would probably use that. If I didn't find those results satisfactory I would probably attempt to use ffmpeg with one of the autobuilds from tripp.

Syntax as follows:

ffmpeg -i foo.avi -ss 00:01:43 -t 1 -s 1280x720 -f mjpeg bar.jpg

That should take one shot at 1 minute 43 seconds and output a jpg, at 1280x720