add automated dumping. command line example:

bizhawk.multiclient --dump-type=ffmpeg --dump-name=foobar.avi --dump-length=1000

type is one of 'vfwavi' (doesn't work), 'ffmpeg', 'jmd', 'nut', 'wave'
name is filename to dump to; might be auto-modified to add segment split names (_00, _01, etc)
length is length of dump in frames after which it auto-stops.  if omitted, set to be equal to the length of the movie loaded with --movie, or if not that, it runs forever (can be stopped from UI)

BizHawk.MultiClient/AVOut/AviWriter.cs

@@ -29,10 +29,10 @@ namespace BizHawk.MultiClient
 		/// </summary>
 		public void SetVideoCodecToken(IDisposable token)
 		{
-            if (token is CodecToken)
-                currVideoCodecToken = (CodecToken)token;
-            else
-                throw new ArgumentException("AviWriter only takes its own Codec Tokens!");
+			if (token is CodecToken)
+				currVideoCodecToken = (CodecToken)token;
+			else
+				throw new ArgumentException("AviWriter only takes its own Codec Tokens!");
 		}
 
 		public static IEnumerator<string> CreateBasicNameProvider(string template)
@@ -55,58 +55,58 @@ namespace BizHawk.MultiClient
 		/// </summary>
 		public void OpenFile(string baseName) { OpenFile(CreateBasicNameProvider(baseName)); }
 
-        // thread communication
-        // synchronized queue with custom messages
-        // it seems like there are 99999 ways to do everything in C#, so i'm sure this is not the best
-        System.Collections.Concurrent.BlockingCollection<Object> threadQ;
-        System.Threading.Thread workerT;
+		// thread communication
+		// synchronized queue with custom messages
+		// it seems like there are 99999 ways to do everything in C#, so i'm sure this is not the best
+		System.Collections.Concurrent.BlockingCollection<Object> threadQ;
+		System.Threading.Thread workerT;
 
-        void threadproc()
-        {
-            try
-            {
-                while (true)
-                {
-                    Object o = threadQ.Take();
-                    if (o is IVideoProvider)
-                        AddFrameEx((IVideoProvider)o);
-                    else if (o is short[])
-                        AddSamplesEx((short[])o);
-                    else
-                        // anything else is assumed to be quit time
-                        return;
-                }
-            }
-            catch (Exception e)
-            {
-                System.Windows.Forms.MessageBox.Show("AVIFIL32 Thread died:\n\n" + e.ToString());
-                return;
-            }
-        }
+		void threadproc()
+		{
+			try
+			{
+				while (true)
+				{
+					Object o = threadQ.Take();
+					if (o is IVideoProvider)
+						AddFrameEx((IVideoProvider)o);
+					else if (o is short[])
+						AddSamplesEx((short[])o);
+					else
+						// anything else is assumed to be quit time
+						return;
+				}
+			}
+			catch (Exception e)
+			{
+				System.Windows.Forms.MessageBox.Show("AVIFIL32 Thread died:\n\n" + e.ToString());
+				return;
+			}
+		}
 
-        // we can't pass the IVideoProvider we get to another thread, because it doesn't actually keep a local copy of its data,
-        // instead grabbing it from the emu as needed.  this causes frame loss/dupping as a race condition
-        // instead we pass this
-        class VideoCopy : IVideoProvider
-        {
-            int[] vb;
-            int bw, bh, bc;
-            public int VirtualWidth { get { return bw; } }
-            public int BufferWidth { get {return bw;} }
-            public int BufferHeight { get { return bh; } }
-            public int BackgroundColor { get { return bc; } }
-            public VideoCopy(IVideoProvider c)
-            {
-                vb = (int []) c.GetVideoBuffer().Clone ();
-                bw = c.BufferWidth;
-                bh = c.BufferHeight;
-                bc = c.BackgroundColor;
-            }
-            public int[] GetVideoBuffer()
-            {
-                return vb;
-            }
-        }
+		// we can't pass the IVideoProvider we get to another thread, because it doesn't actually keep a local copy of its data,
+		// instead grabbing it from the emu as needed.  this causes frame loss/dupping as a race condition
+		// instead we pass this
+		class VideoCopy : IVideoProvider
+		{
+			int[] vb;
+			int bw, bh, bc;
+			public int VirtualWidth { get { return bw; } }
+			public int BufferWidth { get { return bw; } }
+			public int BufferHeight { get { return bh; } }
+			public int BackgroundColor { get { return bc; } }
+			public VideoCopy(IVideoProvider c)
+			{
+				vb = (int[])c.GetVideoBuffer().Clone();
+				bw = c.BufferWidth;
+				bh = c.BufferHeight;
+				bc = c.BackgroundColor;
+			}
+			public int[] GetVideoBuffer()
+			{
+				return vb;
+			}
+		}
 
 
 		/// <summary>
@@ -120,27 +120,27 @@ namespace BizHawk.MultiClient
 			if (currVideoCodecToken == null)
 				throw new InvalidOperationException("Tried to start recording an AVI with no video codec token set");
 
-            threadQ = new System.Collections.Concurrent.BlockingCollection<Object>(30);
-            workerT = new System.Threading.Thread(new System.Threading.ThreadStart(threadproc));
-            workerT.Start();
+			threadQ = new System.Collections.Concurrent.BlockingCollection<Object>(30);
+			workerT = new System.Threading.Thread(new System.Threading.ThreadStart(threadproc));
+			workerT.Start();
 		}
 
 		public void CloseFile()
 		{
-            threadQ.Add(new Object ()); // acts as stop message
-            workerT.Join();
+			threadQ.Add(new Object()); // acts as stop message
+			workerT.Join();
 			if (currSegment != null)
 				currSegment.Dispose();
 			currSegment = null;
 		}
 
-        public void AddFrame(IVideoProvider source)
-        {
-            if (!workerT.IsAlive)
-                // signal some sort of error?
-                return;           
-            threadQ.Add(new VideoCopy (source));
-        }
+		public void AddFrame(IVideoProvider source)
+		{
+			if (!workerT.IsAlive)
+				// signal some sort of error?
+				return;
+			threadQ.Add(new VideoCopy(source));
+		}
 		void AddFrameEx(IVideoProvider source)
 		{
 			SetVideoParameters(source.BufferWidth, source.BufferHeight);
@@ -149,15 +149,15 @@ namespace BizHawk.MultiClient
 			currSegment.AddFrame(source);
 		}
 
-        public void AddSamples(short[] samples)
-        {
-            if (!workerT.IsAlive)
-                // signal some sort of error?
-                return;
-            // as MainForm.cs is written now, samples is all ours (nothing else will use it for anything)
-            // but that's a bad assumption to make and could change in the future, so copy it since we're passing to another thread
-            threadQ.Add((short []) samples.Clone ());
-        }
+		public void AddSamples(short[] samples)
+		{
+			if (!workerT.IsAlive)
+				// signal some sort of error?
+				return;
+			// as MainForm.cs is written now, samples is all ours (nothing else will use it for anything)
+			// but that's a bad assumption to make and could change in the future, so copy it since we're passing to another thread
+			threadQ.Add((short[])samples.Clone());
+		}
 		void AddSamplesEx(short[] samples)
 		{
 			ConsiderLengthSegment();
@@ -167,7 +167,7 @@ namespace BizHawk.MultiClient
 
 		void ConsiderLengthSegment()
 		{
-			if(currSegment == null) return;
+			if (currSegment == null) return;
 			long len = currSegment.GetLengthApproximation();
 			const long segment_length_limit = 2 * 1000 * 1000 * 1000; //2GB
 			//const long segment_length_limit = 10 * 1000 * 1000; //for testing
@@ -212,7 +212,7 @@ namespace BizHawk.MultiClient
 			File.Delete(tempfile);
 			tempfile = Path.ChangeExtension(tempfile, "avi");
 			temp.OpenFile(tempfile, temp_params, null); //lastToken);
-			CodecToken token = (CodecToken) temp.AcquireVideoCodecToken(hwnd.Handle);
+			CodecToken token = (CodecToken)temp.AcquireVideoCodecToken(hwnd.Handle);
 			temp.CloseFile();
 			File.Delete(tempfile);
 			return token;
@@ -263,7 +263,7 @@ namespace BizHawk.MultiClient
 		public void SetMovieParameters(int fps, int fps_scale)
 		{
 			bool change = false;
-			
+
 			change |= fps != parameters.fps;
 			parameters.fps = fps;
 
@@ -352,13 +352,13 @@ namespace BizHawk.MultiClient
 			}
 		}
 
-        /// <summary>
-        /// set metadata parameters; should be called before opening file
-        /// NYI
-        /// </summary>
-        public void SetMetaData(string gameName, string authors, UInt64 lengthMS, UInt64 rerecords)
-        {
-        }
+		/// <summary>
+		/// set metadata parameters; should be called before opening file
+		/// NYI
+		/// </summary>
+		public void SetMetaData(string gameName, string authors, UInt64 lengthMS, UInt64 rerecords)
+		{
+		}
 
 		unsafe class AviWriterSegment : IDisposable
 		{
@@ -669,6 +669,19 @@ namespace BizHawk.MultiClient
 		{
 			return "avi";
 		}
+
+
+
+
+		public void SetDefaultVideoCodecToken()
+		{
+			throw new NotImplementedException();
+		}
+
+		public string ShortName()
+		{
+			return "vfwavi";
+		}
 	}
 }
 

BizHawk.MultiClient/AVOut/FFmpegWriter.cs

@@ -232,6 +232,8 @@ namespace BizHawk.MultiClient
 
 		public void Dispose()
 		{
+			if (ffmpeg != null)
+				CloseFile();
 		}
 
 
@@ -274,5 +276,16 @@ namespace BizHawk.MultiClient
 			// this needs to interface with the codec token
 			return token.defaultext;
 		}
+
+
+		public void SetDefaultVideoCodecToken()
+		{
+			this.token = FFmpegWriterForm.FormatPreset.GetDefaultPreset();
+		}
+
+		public string ShortName()
+		{
+			return "ffmpeg";
+		}
 	}
 }

BizHawk.MultiClient/AVOut/FFmpegWriterForm.cs

@@ -79,6 +79,26 @@ namespace BizHawk.MultiClient
 				};
 			}
 
+			/// <summary>
+			/// get the default format preset (from config files)
+			/// </summary>
+			/// <returns></returns>
+			public static FormatPreset GetDefaultPreset()
+			{
+				FormatPreset[] fps = GetPresets();
+
+				foreach (var fp in fps)
+				{
+					if (fp.ToString() == Global.Config.VideoWriter)
+					{
+						if (fp.custom)
+							return fp;
+					}
+				}
+				// default to xvid?
+				return fps[1];
+			}
+
 			public void Dispose()
 			{
 			}

BizHawk.MultiClient/AVOut/IVideoWriter.cs

@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 using System;
 using System.Collections;
 using System.Collections.Generic;
+using BizHawk.MultiClient;
 
 namespace BizHawk
 {
@@ -11,6 +12,11 @@ namespace BizHawk
         /// </summary>
         void SetVideoCodecToken(IDisposable token);
 
+		/// <summary>
+		/// sets to a default video codec token without calling any UI - for automated dumping
+		/// </summary>
+		void SetDefaultVideoCodecToken();
+
 
         // why no OpenFile(IEnumerator<string>) ?
         // different video writers may have different ideas of how and why splitting is to occur
@@ -83,5 +89,50 @@ namespace BizHawk
 		/// what default extension this writer would like to put on its output
 		/// </summary>
 		string DesiredExtension();
+		/// <summary>
+		/// name that command line parameters can refer to
+		/// </summary>
+		/// <returns></returns>
+		string ShortName();
     }
+
+	/// <summary>
+	/// contains methods to find all IVideoWriter
+	/// </summary>
+	public static class VideoWriterInventory
+	{
+		public static IEnumerable<IVideoWriter> GetAllVideoWriters()
+		{
+			var ret = new IVideoWriter[]
+			{ 
+				new AviWriter(),
+				new JMDWriter(),
+				new WavWriterV(),
+				new FFmpegWriter(),
+				new NutWriter()
+			};
+			return ret;
+		}
+
+		/// <summary>
+		/// find an IVideoWriter by its short name
+		/// </summary>
+		/// <param name="name"></param>
+		/// <returns></returns>
+		public static IVideoWriter GetVideoWriter(string name)
+		{
+			IVideoWriter ret = null;
+
+			var vws = GetAllVideoWriters();
+
+			foreach (var vw in vws)
+				if (vw.ShortName() == name)
+					ret = vw;
+
+			foreach (var vw in vws)
+				if (vw != ret)
+					vw.Dispose();
+			return ret;
+		}
+	}
 }

BizHawk.MultiClient/AVOut/JMDWriter.cs

@@ -780,5 +780,26 @@ namespace BizHawk.MultiClient
 		{
 			return "jmd";
 		}
+
+
+		public void SetDefaultVideoCodecToken()
+		{
+			CodecToken ct = new CodecToken();
+
+			// load from config and sanitize
+			int t = Math.Min(Math.Max(Global.Config.JMDThreads, 1), 6);
+
+			int c = Math.Min(Math.Max(Global.Config.JMDCompression, Deflater.NO_COMPRESSION), Deflater.BEST_COMPRESSION);
+
+			ct.compressionlevel = c;
+			ct.numthreads = t;
+
+			token = ct;
+		}
+
+		public string ShortName()
+		{
+			return "jmd";
+		}
 	}
 }

BizHawk.MultiClient/AVOut/NutWriter.cs

@@ -21,7 +21,6 @@ namespace BizHawk.MultiClient
 			}
 		}
 
-
 		public void SetVideoCodecToken(IDisposable token)
 		{
 			// ignored
@@ -122,9 +121,11 @@ namespace BizHawk.MultiClient
 
 		public void Dispose()
 		{
+			if (current != null)
+				endsegment();
+			baseName = null;
 		}
 
-
 		public override string ToString()
 		{
 			return ".nut writer";
@@ -139,5 +140,16 @@ namespace BizHawk.MultiClient
 		{
 			return "nut";
 		}
+
+
+		public void SetDefaultVideoCodecToken()
+		{
+			// ignored
+		}
+
+		public string ShortName()
+		{
+			return "nut";
+		}
 	}
 }

BizHawk.MultiClient/AVOut/VideoWriterChooserForm.cs

@@ -25,14 +25,17 @@ namespace BizHawk.MultiClient
 		/// <param name="list">list of IVideoWriters to choose from</param>
 		/// <param name="owner">parent window</param>
 		/// <returns>user choice, or null on Cancel\Close\invalid</returns>
-		public static IVideoWriter DoVideoWriterChoserDlg(IVideoWriter[] list, IWin32Window owner)
+		public static IVideoWriter DoVideoWriterChoserDlg(IEnumerable<IVideoWriter> list, IWin32Window owner)
 		{
 			VideoWriterChooserForm dlg = new VideoWriterChooserForm();
 
 			dlg.label1.Text = "Description:";
 			dlg.label2.Text = "";
 
-			dlg.listBox1.Items.AddRange(list);
+			dlg.listBox1.BeginUpdate();
+			foreach (var vw in list)
+				dlg.listBox1.Items.Add(vw);
+			dlg.listBox1.EndUpdate();
 
 			int i = dlg.listBox1.FindStringExact(Global.Config.VideoWriter);
 			if (i != ListBox.NoMatches)
@@ -61,6 +64,5 @@ namespace BizHawk.MultiClient
 			else
 				label2.Text = "";
 		}
-
 	}
 }

BizHawk.MultiClient/AVOut/WavWriter.cs

@@ -283,5 +283,16 @@ namespace BizHawk.MultiClient
 		{
 			return "wav";
 		}
+
+
+		public void SetDefaultVideoCodecToken()
+		{
+			// don't use codec tokens, so don't care
+		}
+
+		public string ShortName()
+		{
+			return "wave";
+		}
 	}
 }

BizHawk.MultiClient/MainForm.cs

@@ -82,6 +82,12 @@ namespace BizHawk.MultiClient
 		public LuaConsole LuaConsole1 = new LuaConsole();
 #endif
 
+		/// <summary>
+		/// number of frames to autodump
+		/// </summary>
+		int autoDumpLength = 0;
+
+
 		public MainForm(string[] args)
 		{
 			Global.MovieSession = new MovieSession();
@@ -168,6 +174,9 @@ namespace BizHawk.MultiClient
 			string cmdRom = null;
 			string cmdLoadState = null;
 			string cmdMovie = null;
+			string cmdDumpType = null;
+			string cmdDumpName = null;
+
 			for (int i = 0; i < args.Length; i++)
 			{
 				//for some reason sometimes visual studio will pass this to us on the commandline. it makes no sense.
@@ -184,6 +193,12 @@ namespace BizHawk.MultiClient
 					cmdLoadState = arg.Substring(arg.IndexOf('=') + 1);
 				else if (arg.StartsWith("--movie="))
 					cmdMovie = arg.Substring(arg.IndexOf('=') + 1);
+				else if (arg.StartsWith("--dump-type="))
+					cmdDumpType = arg.Substring(arg.IndexOf('=') + 1);
+				else if (arg.StartsWith("--dump-name="))
+					cmdDumpName = arg.Substring(arg.IndexOf('=') + 1);
+				else if (arg.StartsWith("--dump-length="))
+					int.TryParse(arg.Substring(arg.IndexOf('=') + 1), out autoDumpLength);
 				else
 					cmdRom = arg;
 			}
@@ -208,6 +223,9 @@ namespace BizHawk.MultiClient
 				{
 					Movie m = new Movie(cmdMovie, MOVIEMODE.PLAY);
 					ReadOnly = true;
+					// if user is dumping and didnt supply dump length, make it as long as the loaded movie
+					if (autoDumpLength == 0)
+						autoDumpLength = m.LogLength();
 					StartNewMovie(m, false);
 					Global.Config.RecentMovies.Add(cmdMovie);
 				}
@@ -268,6 +286,12 @@ namespace BizHawk.MultiClient
 				debuggerToolStripMenuItem.Enabled = false;
 				//luaConsoleToolStripMenuItem.Enabled = false;
 			}
+
+			// start dumping, if appropriate
+			if (cmdDumpType != null && cmdDumpName != null)
+			{
+				RecordAVI(cmdDumpType, cmdDumpName);
+			}
 		}
 
 		/// <summary>
@@ -1966,6 +1990,13 @@ namespace BizHawk.MultiClient
 
 					CurrAviWriter.AddFrame(Global.Emulator.VideoProvider);
 					CurrAviWriter.AddSamples(temp);
+
+					if (autoDumpLength > 0)
+					{
+						autoDumpLength--;
+						if (autoDumpLength == 0) // finish
+							StopAVI();
+					}
 				}
 
 
@@ -2762,22 +2793,66 @@ namespace BizHawk.MultiClient
 			if (Global.Config.SaveSlot == 9) StatusSlot9.BackColor = SystemColors.ControlLightLight;
 		}
 
+		/// <summary>
+		/// start avi recording, unattended
+		/// </summary>
+		/// <param name="videowritername">match the short name of an ivideowriter</param>
+		/// <param name="filename">filename to save to</param>
+		public void RecordAVI(string videowritername, string filename)
+		{
+			_RecordAVI(videowritername, filename, true);
+		}
+
+		/// <summary>
+		/// start avi recording, asking user for filename and options
+		/// </summary>
 		public void RecordAVI()
+		{
+			_RecordAVI(null, null, false);
+		}
+
+		/// <summary>
+		/// start avi recording
+		/// </summary>
+		/// <param name="videowritername"></param>
+		/// <param name="filename"></param>
+		/// <param name="unattended"></param>
+		private void _RecordAVI(string videowritername, string filename, bool unattended)
 		{
 			if (CurrAviWriter != null) return;
 
 			// select IVideoWriter to use
+			IVideoWriter aw = null;
+			var writers = VideoWriterInventory.GetAllVideoWriters();
+
+			if (unattended)
+			{
+				foreach (var w in writers)
+				{
+					if (w.ShortName() == videowritername)
+					{
+						aw = w;
+						break;
+					}
+				}
+			}
+			else
+			{
+				aw = VideoWriterChooserForm.DoVideoWriterChoserDlg(writers, Global.MainForm);
+			}
 
-			var writers = new IVideoWriter[]{new AviWriter(), new JMDWriter(), new WavWriterV(), new FFmpegWriter(), new NutWriter()};
-			IVideoWriter aw = VideoWriterChooserForm.DoVideoWriterChoserDlg(writers, Global.MainForm);
 			foreach (var w in writers)
 			{
 				if (w != aw)
 					w.Dispose();
 			}
+
 			if (aw == null)
 			{
-				Global.OSD.AddMessage("A/V capture canceled.");
+				if (unattended)
+					Global.OSD.AddMessage(string.Format("Couldn't start video writer \"{0}\"", videowritername));
+				else
+					Global.OSD.AddMessage("A/V capture canceled.");
 				return;
 			}
 
@@ -2789,42 +2864,53 @@ namespace BizHawk.MultiClient
 
 				// select codec token
 				// do this before save dialog because ffmpeg won't know what extension it wants until it's been configured
-
-				var token = aw.AcquireVideoCodecToken(Global.MainForm);
-				if (token == null)
+				if (unattended)
 				{
-					Global.OSD.AddMessage("A/V capture canceled.");
-					aw.Dispose();
-					return;
-				}
-				aw.SetVideoCodecToken(token);
-
-				// select file to save to
-
-				var sfd = new SaveFileDialog();
-				if (!(Global.Emulator is NullEmulator))
-				{
-					sfd.FileName = PathManager.FilesystemSafeName(Global.Game);
-					sfd.InitialDirectory = PathManager.MakeAbsolutePath(Global.Config.AVIPath, "");
+					aw.SetDefaultVideoCodecToken();
 				}
 				else
 				{
-					sfd.FileName = "NULL";
-					sfd.InitialDirectory = PathManager.MakeAbsolutePath(Global.Config.AVIPath, "");
+					var token = aw.AcquireVideoCodecToken(Global.MainForm);
+					if (token == null)
+					{
+						Global.OSD.AddMessage("A/V capture canceled.");
+						aw.Dispose();
+						return;
+					}
+					aw.SetVideoCodecToken(token);
 				}
-				sfd.Filter = String.Format("{0} (*.{0})|*.{0}|All Files|*.*", aw.DesiredExtension());
 
-				Global.Sound.StopSound();
-				var result = sfd.ShowDialog();
-				Global.Sound.StartSound();
-
-				if (result == DialogResult.Cancel)
+				// select file to save to
+				if (unattended)
 				{
-					aw.Dispose();
-					return;
+					aw.OpenFile(filename);
 				}
+				else
+				{
+					var sfd = new SaveFileDialog();
+					if (!(Global.Emulator is NullEmulator))
+					{
+						sfd.FileName = PathManager.FilesystemSafeName(Global.Game);
+						sfd.InitialDirectory = PathManager.MakeAbsolutePath(Global.Config.AVIPath, "");
+					}
+					else
+					{
+						sfd.FileName = "NULL";
+						sfd.InitialDirectory = PathManager.MakeAbsolutePath(Global.Config.AVIPath, "");
+					}
+					sfd.Filter = String.Format("{0} (*.{0})|*.{0}|All Files|*.*", aw.DesiredExtension());
 
-				aw.OpenFile(sfd.FileName);
+					Global.Sound.StopSound();
+					var result = sfd.ShowDialog();
+					Global.Sound.StartSound();
+
+					if (result == DialogResult.Cancel)
+					{
+						aw.Dispose();
+						return;
+					}
+					aw.OpenFile(sfd.FileName);
+				}
 
 				//commit the avi writing last, in case there were any errors earlier
 				CurrAviWriter = aw;
@@ -2852,6 +2938,7 @@ namespace BizHawk.MultiClient
 				return;
 			}
 			CurrAviWriter.CloseFile();
+			CurrAviWriter.Dispose();
 			CurrAviWriter = null;
 			Global.OSD.AddMessage("AVI capture stopped");
 			AVIStatusLabel.Image = BizHawk.MultiClient.Properties.Resources.Blank;