One-Click WebCam Recording!

**DJiK** · 09-08-2005, 05:06 PM

Originally Posted by Prefect

for this i'm thinking of something different, but with the same effect and use for you.

i will add a config-parameter something like "KeepOnlyXNumOfFiles = 3".

set "StopAfterMB" to 100MB. the app will remember all the generated filenames and, bevore starting a new recording, deleting the 3rd oldest (or whatever you configure).

with this setting you will ALWAYS have at least 200mb of actual video, without filling your hd space to the limit.

so if you pass by something interesting you want to record, hit stop AFTER you passed by. you will have stored 3 video files of the last 200-300mb recorded.

That's a great idea. It'd be much easier than manually deleting the older videos.

By the way, what webcam would you recommend using?
I've tried the PCChip's Xeye, it works, but it white-outs during the day.
The P35U+ I have at home takes too much power (350mA) off the 5V USB rail.

**Prefect** · 09-09-2005, 04:45 AM

@DJiK: my experience is, that cheeper webcams work better than more expensive ones. Creative Webcam Notebook (50$) is really bad (too bright, does not survive suspend-mode). Typoon Webcam (20$) works ok, but at night to dark. Vimicro Webcam (10$) works perfect! best colors i ever see, glass lenses, really good at night.

**tj!2k4** · 09-09-2005, 07:01 AM

hmm, seem to be having a problem running this in the car..

It won't start, and displays the dialog below.

I do have .Net 1.1 installed... any ideas?

Thanks..

Dave

**Prefect** · 09-09-2005, 07:07 AM

what video device do you have? try setting it to 1 in the config.ini if you have more than one devices.

this error will occure too, if you have no video capture device at all in your system.

first try another capture tool (supplied with your cam) and see if at least one video capture device is installed on your system.

**tj!2k4** · 09-09-2005, 08:07 AM

It's a 3Com Homeconnect webcam, and the video capture software that came with the camera works.

I've tried values of 0,1,2, and 3 in the config.ini for this app, but I keep getting the same error.

**Prefect** · 09-11-2005, 03:26 PM

@All: New Version: Capture!.zip

Watch out: If you chance the audio or video device, you have to re-select the video and audio properties!! Becaus switching the audio or video device causes a reset of the capture-object, setting it back to the defaults.

The error displayed when changing the audio-settings (sample rate, 8/16 bit) is now gone. You can save the audio-settings to the config.ini now correctly.

The window behaves now not as "always on top". The ontop function is now only called once while starting up, so the window is displayed and not hidden behind another window.

@Bodgy: that function was not implemented in the DXCapture tool. I removed it from the menu. But you can set the input source via the "Property Pages - Audio Capture Device", or via the windows sound-mixer.

@tj!2k4: i tested the original app and my modification without any video capture device attached to the computer. i get an error like yours when starting up the tools. Please test with the attached capturetest tool and tell me if you get the same error. If yes, your camera will probably not register itself as a normal WDM capture device in the system.

greetz! chris

**tj!2k4** · 09-11-2005, 03:45 PM

Thanks for the info..

Here's the error that I get when trying to select the 3Com Homeconnect cam.. is there any way you might be able to add support for such devices, if I send you the driver or such?

Thanks..

-

**Prefect** · 09-11-2005, 03:53 PM

Thanks for testing! I do not develop the DXCapture Class i use to access the video devices. So i cannot ad support for new devices, sorry :-/

The Capture! tool should work with all regular windows WDM capture devices (tv-cards, vivo-graphiccards and webcams). It works fine with 3 different webcams i tryed and my ati X800 card wich has video-input. So if your webcam does not work, there might be a compatibility issue with the drivers that came with the cam. Have you downloaded the newest version?

Sorry I can't help on this... :-/

**GizmoQ** · 09-17-2005, 09:40 PM

Originally Posted by tj!2k4

hmm, seem to be having a problem running this in the car..

It won't start, and displays the dialog below.

I do have .Net 1.1 installed... any ideas?

Thanks..

Dave

I had a similiar problem. Deleted the config.ini from the Capture! directory, ran my own capture proggy to make sure the camera was working, then ran capture! prog and all was well.

**Prefect** · 09-18-2005, 10:19 AM

Thanks GizmoQ. The Error will be shown, if the default values from the config.ini won't match with your camera (device id 0, resolution, framerate etc..)

these are the default values if you delete the config.ini: (last parameter...)

("CaptureDeviceConfig","VideoInputDevice", 0);
("CaptureDeviceConfig","VideoCompressor", 2);
("CaptureDeviceConfig","FrameRate", 30);
("CaptureDeviceConfig","FrameSizeWidth", 320);
("CaptureDeviceConfig","FrameSizeHeight", 240);

("AudioDeviceConfig","AudioInputDevice", -1);
("AudioDeviceConfig","AudioCompressor", 0);
("AudioDeviceConfig","AudioSamplingRate", 44100);
("AudioDeviceConfig","AudioSampleSize", 16);
("AudioDeviceConfig","AudioChannels", 1);

("MiscConfing","SaveToDrive ", "C:");
("MiscConfing","SaveToPath", "\\");
("MiscConfing","VideoFileName", "CarPC");
("MiscConfing","AutostartCapture", 0);
("MiscConfing","StopAfterMB", 0);
("MiscConfing","StartOver", 0);
("MiscConfing","WindowStateOnLoad", "normal");

New Version: Capture!.zip

Added Try-Catch to display errors while starting up. Now the app will not close itself if something goes wrong while trying to setup the camera. So you can try switching the device and save the config.

Chris