.TH 2500 1 .CT 1 graphics comm_dev .SH NAME 2500 \- BVH2500 videotape recorder .SH SYNOPSIS .B 2500 [ .B -lq ] .SH DESCRIPTION .I 2500 is an interpreter of commands to control a SONY BVH2500 1-inch video recorder, whose inputs and outputs have already been set up. The options are .TP .B -l Create a log file; useful in pursuit of bugs. .TP .B -q Suppress the initial status report. .PP Most of the commands require an intimate knowledge of the equipment. The simpler commands are described below; see the .B help command for a complete list. Times are given as .B "[[hrs.]min.]sec.fr" where there are 30 frames per second. The commands are .TF viewxxxxxx .TP 10n .BI cue \ t Move the tape to time .IR t . .TP .B help Produce a list of all commands. .TP .BI loop "\ t0 t1 fps" Play from .I t0 through .I t1 and back again at .I fps frames per second. .TP .B play Start playing the tape from the current frame. .TP .BI snap \ n When in still record mode, record the current input onto the next .I n frames. A missing .I n is taken to be 1. .TP .B status Print some status information. The command .B status status prints all available status information. .TP .BI still \ t Go into still record mode and cue to time .IR t . The command returns before the tape transport is done; usually it must be followed by .LR wait . .TP .B still mode on|off Turn still mode on or off. .TP .B stop Stop the tape transport. .TP .BI view " t0 t1" Play from .I t0 through .I t1. .B wait Wait for the previous tape transport command to finish. .TP .B ! Interpret the rest of the line as a .IR sh (1) command. .TP .B # Comment. Ignore the rest of the line. .PD .PP .SH EXAMPLES Assuming you have already set up the video switch to feed the BVH2500, the following script will record (or rerecord) a movie starting at 2 minutes. .EX still 2.0.0 wait !generate an image snap 1 # repeat the last two lines as necessary still mode off stop .EE .br .SH BUGS The BVH2500 will misbehave if the pause between .BR snap s (in still record mode) is too long, or if you record for many hours on end. The latter problem can be avoided by using scripts that run for 2 or 3 hours and sleeping for 10 minutes between scripts with the tape transport off. .br Commands in the help list are (incorrectly) capitalized.