DVCONT(1)

NAME
dvcont - send control commands to DV cameras

SYNOPSIS
dvcont <command1> [ <command2> ... ]

DESCRIPTION
dvcont is a command line tool to send control commands via an IEEE1394 link to a device that implements the AV/C specifications by the 1394 Trade Association. Or for the non-techies: dvcont lets you remote control your DV camera via a Firewire cable. The following commands are understood:

dev <number>
    Select device number on chain to use. (dvcont tries to automatically detect the camera. Use the dev command BEFORE any other commands for manual control.)

play
    Tell the camera to play. If already playing, it toggles slow-motion.

reverse
    Tell the camera to play in reverse. If already playing, it toggles slow-motion.

trickplay < -14 to +14 >
    Tell the camera to play at various speeds. 0 = forward play, -14 = fastest reverse, -8 = 1X reverse, -1 = slowest reverse, 1 = slowest forward, 8 = 1X forward, 14 = fastest forward. (Not supported by all cameras.)

stop
    Tell the camera to stop playing.

rewind
    Tell the camera to rewind. (Use in stop or play mode.)

ff  Tell the camera to fast forward. (Use in stop or play mode.)

pause
    Tell the camera to toggle pause play.

next
    Tell the camera to go to the next frame. (Use in pause mode.)

nextindex
    Tell the camera to search for the next scene. (Use in pause or play mode.)

prev
    Tell the camera to go to the previous frame. (Use in pause mode)

previndex
    Tell the camera to search for the previous scene. (Use in pause or play mode)

record
    Tell the camera to record. (Use with caution!)

eject
    Tell the camera to eject the tape. (Not supported by all cameras.)

timecode
    Report the timecode on tape in the format HH:MM:SS:FF (hours, minutes, seconds, intra-second frames).

seek <timecode>
    Tell the camera to go to the timecode, given in format HH:MM:SS:FF as above.

status
    Report the status of the device.

pluginfo
    Report available plugs.

verbose
    Tell the program to tell you debug info.

version
    Tell the program to tell you the program version.

help
    Tell the program to show you a help screen.

AUTHORS
dvcont was written by Jason Howard <jason@spectsoft.com> and Dan Dennedy <dan@dennedy.org>. This man page was written with the help of help2man by Daniel Kobras <kobras@debian.org> for the Debian GNU/Linux distribution (but may be used by others). Updated by Dan Dennedy <dan@dennedy.org>.