Realtime view when convert/saving video from webcam?

[vrtigo1]

Hello All,

I'm trying to use VLC to record audio/video from my webcam and save it to a file on my hard drive.

If I use Media > Open Capture Device > Select my webcam > Click Play button, then I can see and hear myself in realtime and the video file is successfully saved to my hard drive. However, it appears this is saving uncompressed video as the file size is quite large. My use case for this is a small podcast which would have a run time of about an hour and I don't believe I have enough hard drive space to accomodate a recording this long.

After some Googling, I determined that I can compress the video I record by going to Media > Convert/Save > Capture Device > Select my webcam > Click the Convert/Save button. After doing this, I arrive at a 'Convert' dialog which is where I can select the profile I want. I noticed that on this screen under the settings, there is an option for 'Display the output'. I assume this means that VLC should display the output from the webcam on screen (i.e. I can see myself as I'm recording), however all I see is (what appears to be) the first frame of the output from the webcam. So I see a still image of myself which never updates.

The recording that is saved on my hard drive is perfect, it's compressed video that looks great. The only problem is that I'd like to be able to see myself as I'm creating the recording so I can ensure that I'm centered in the video feed.

Is there any way to both compress the video file and see a realtime view of myself as I'm recording?

I found another post on the forum which asked essentially the exact same question, but nobody ever responded. I'm hoping I'll have better luck.

TIA

[vrtigo1]

TTT. Anybody? Would really be extremely useful if I could get this to work.

[Ludrax]

The recording that is saved on my hard drive is perfect, it's compressed video that looks great. The only problem is that I'd like to be able to see myself as I'm creating the recording so I can ensure that I'm centered in the video feed.

that file can be opened from another VLC?

[creatix1986]

@vrtigo1:
Man, your post helped me so much although no one answered on your question but i couldnt figure out that first part about how to initially compress the live capture in VLC. Thanks a lot (although you probably will never read this)