The latest version of the camera capture software is now under beta test with the Back-Caedmon camera in my office (see top right small image on this blog).
The main feature of this version is that it measures the change within an image with respect to a reference image, and when this change exceeds a threshold, it automatically captures a new image. This will change the picture automatically more frequently when there are activities in the scene.
There is a baseline capture frequency, set at 10 minutes. When 10 minutes are over, a new image is captured, independent of the change, and it is then used as the new reference image. This reference baseline capture could be extended to longer times.
From first experiments today, it can be seen that the time interval for the automatically captured images is around 3-7 minutes, when the threshold for change is set to a value of 10 (this value is normalised to 255: a max value of 255 would mean that all pixels in an image change from completely black=0 to completely white=255).
I will keep the Back-Caedmon camera running with this software, and if it runs stable I will then update the regular Headingley-Caedmon Webcam with this version.
Showing posts with label software. Show all posts
Showing posts with label software. Show all posts
Thursday, January 14, 2010
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Problem with the Webcam
There appears to be a problem with the webcam system: the communication between the camera and the capture software stops, and no new image is captured. This happened now already for several times in the last few days - the current image, for example, is one from during the day. It appears that the software keeps running and uploading the same file - hence the new image date/time. But the image itself remains the same.
The reason for this could be either the cold which influences the camera itself, or the new PC and its OS environment where the capture software is running. I can now compare this PC with the "old" PC which now runs the Caedmon-Back-Camera. This one also had shown the connection error today during the day, but now appears to run stable. I will check tomorrow.
The reason for this could be either the cold which influences the camera itself, or the new PC and its OS environment where the capture software is running. I can now compare this PC with the "old" PC which now runs the Caedmon-Back-Camera. This one also had shown the connection error today during the day, but now appears to run stable. I will check tomorrow.
Friday, July 17, 2009
Free Software Available
This week with its demand on the server and on the capture software was useful for beta-testing the software I wrote for the capture.
I prepared a web site for easy access of this software: http://creativetech.inn.leedsmet.ac.uk/software/.
One software is the capture software itself (which I already announced here earlier). It can be used by anyone who has a PC and wants to capture single images to be ftp-ed onto a web server.
The other piece of software is a small client which takes an image from a remote web server and places it onto the Windows desktop. It is pre-configured to use this Headingley Caedmon Webcam, but can be set to any web URL with an updated image.
--- NO WARRANTY AND SUPPORT WILL BE GIVEN ON ANY OF THESE SOFTWARE PRODUCTS - USE AT YOUR OWN RISK!---
(But if you find a bug, you are welcome to let me know so that I can fix it. Also, if you have a question, do not be intimitated to ask; if I have time, I will certainly help)
I prepared a web site for easy access of this software: http://creativetech.inn.leedsmet.ac.uk/software/.
One software is the capture software itself (which I already announced here earlier). It can be used by anyone who has a PC and wants to capture single images to be ftp-ed onto a web server.
The other piece of software is a small client which takes an image from a remote web server and places it onto the Windows desktop. It is pre-configured to use this Headingley Caedmon Webcam, but can be set to any web URL with an updated image.
--- NO WARRANTY AND SUPPORT WILL BE GIVEN ON ANY OF THESE SOFTWARE PRODUCTS - USE AT YOUR OWN RISK!---
(But if you find a bug, you are welcome to let me know so that I can fix it. Also, if you have a question, do not be intimitated to ask; if I have time, I will certainly help)
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Capture Software Available
The camera capture software is now at a stage that I think it can be distributed - without warranty!
A link for automatic installation is available here (works properly only in Microsoft Explorer).
The software comes without any instructions - I hope that its use is self-explanatory. I will post within the next few weeks some guidance notes about how to configure it properly, but for now I do not have the time to do this. It has been tested only on Windows XP, and only with 3 cameras: Microsoft LifeCam VX-600, Philips ToUCam Pro, and Phillips SPC 200NC.
In principle, the software allows to capture one individual image at a preset time interval, which it stores as a JPG file locally. After the saving, it can also FTP the file to a remote web server, and it can put it on the user's desktop as a background image.
Just a few notes for configuration here:
After start, the software will try to connect to the first camera it finds. If no camera is connected, then it runs a detection thread in the background which will connect to a camera once it is plugged in. So a "hot-plugin" works, but not a hot-plug-out - once a camera is connected, the software will get an error when the camera is unplugged during operation.
If several cameras are connected, the user can chose one with "Devices". The compressors there have not been tested - it is recommended to leave them at "none".
The "Options" menu allows to access specific camera options. These are provided by the camera drivers and are unfortunately not stored, so each time the software is restarted, these options have to be selected again.
Do not use the "Audio Capture" - this is not yet implemented.
The "Video" tab shows the live video from the camera in preview mode. A few cameras allow the selection of the capture size with the combobox, but this is not working very stable - it is better to select the image capture size and the framerate with the Options>PropertyPages dialogs.
The actually captured single image can be shown in a "separate window" and also can be placed on the "desktop" as a background.
The "Timer" tab allows to control the timer for the single image capture: the capture rate is set by the interval between the image captures, and the file name for this image and its location directory can be selected. An image series can be stored by automatically adding a number to the images, and the starting number can be entered. There is also a start/stop timer for indicating time of series capture in case of absence. And with a check box, the image can be automatically sent to an FTP server.
The "FTP" tab allows the configuration of an FTP server: server name, user name and password can be set. Further, the remote folder on the server can be set. Precede the folder directory by "//" for an absolute path from the server root; otherwise the "home" directory of the server for the particular user will be used as a root. The local directory can be also set here - it is usually the directory where the capture software stores the captured file.
Again, no warranty, and no support for using this software!!!
A link for automatic installation is available here (works properly only in Microsoft Explorer).
The software comes without any instructions - I hope that its use is self-explanatory. I will post within the next few weeks some guidance notes about how to configure it properly, but for now I do not have the time to do this. It has been tested only on Windows XP, and only with 3 cameras: Microsoft LifeCam VX-600, Philips ToUCam Pro, and Phillips SPC 200NC.
In principle, the software allows to capture one individual image at a preset time interval, which it stores as a JPG file locally. After the saving, it can also FTP the file to a remote web server, and it can put it on the user's desktop as a background image.
Just a few notes for configuration here:
After start, the software will try to connect to the first camera it finds. If no camera is connected, then it runs a detection thread in the background which will connect to a camera once it is plugged in. So a "hot-plugin" works, but not a hot-plug-out - once a camera is connected, the software will get an error when the camera is unplugged during operation.
If several cameras are connected, the user can chose one with "Devices". The compressors there have not been tested - it is recommended to leave them at "none".
The "Options" menu allows to access specific camera options. These are provided by the camera drivers and are unfortunately not stored, so each time the software is restarted, these options have to be selected again.
Do not use the "Audio Capture" - this is not yet implemented.
The "Video" tab shows the live video from the camera in preview mode. A few cameras allow the selection of the capture size with the combobox, but this is not working very stable - it is better to select the image capture size and the framerate with the Options>PropertyPages dialogs.
The actually captured single image can be shown in a "separate window" and also can be placed on the "desktop" as a background.
The "Timer" tab allows to control the timer for the single image capture: the capture rate is set by the interval between the image captures, and the file name for this image and its location directory can be selected. An image series can be stored by automatically adding a number to the images, and the starting number can be entered. There is also a start/stop timer for indicating time of series capture in case of absence. And with a check box, the image can be automatically sent to an FTP server.
The "FTP" tab allows the configuration of an FTP server: server name, user name and password can be set. Further, the remote folder on the server can be set. Precede the folder directory by "//" for an absolute path from the server root; otherwise the "home" directory of the server for the particular user will be used as a root. The local directory can be also set here - it is usually the directory where the capture software stores the captured file.
Again, no warranty, and no support for using this software!!!
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