This tutorial will take you step-by-step through setting up your PC and Webcam to act as a motion-detecting and recording security camera system. And the software required to do this is open source (free).
Why?
What?
How?
Advanced includes: Multiple Webcams, Sending pictures to a remote location (FTP), How to duct-tape the light off your webcam (super-stealth)
Examples
Coming soon: How to do the same thing, with a Mac.
6 Reasons to set up a motion activated web-cam
- Maybe you live in a questionable (at best) part of East Vancouver and you’ve already been broken into (while you were doing the dishes). It would be helpful next time to have pictures of the intruder.
- Maybe you’re trying to prove to your landlord that some of the more questionable members of the general East Vancouver public are using the pathway between your building and the one next door as a shortcut between streets. Often with very large bags of cans (it’s a Vancouver thing). Loudly. At all hours of the day and night.
- Perhaps you want to catch someone using your PC after you’ve asked them repeatedly not to use it (because they seem to go out of their way to install spyware, toolbars you don’t want, and leave behind Britney Spears mp3s on your desktop)
- You’re bored?
- You want to get pictures of the pretty birdies eating from your new bird feeder.
- Yeah I know what you were expecting here, that’s lewd. Get your mind out of the gutter, this is a family site.
For this tutorial you’ll need:
- a PC running Windows 98, ME, 2000, XP (the software is untested on Windows 95 and NT, but should work)
- a webcam (or two, see advanced)
- Dorgem - an open source (free) webcam utility. Update: Though Dorgem has been discontinued, the download links still work, as does the software. The author will not be updating it anymore, and won’t be answering email support questions.
To upload images ‘off-site’ (in case someone steals your computer) you’ll need an FTP account. See the Advanced section when you’re done the initial setup.
- Install (if it isn’t already) your webcam. If you’re pulling one out of the closet and have long since lost the install CD, here are links to download the drivers for some of the most common webcam vendors:
- Download and install Dorgem. The installation is very straight forward, you’ll mostly click Next a bunch of times.
- Launch Dorgem and select your Webcam from the Camera selection drop-down list.
- Click the Preview button to display the view your webcam has. Physically adjust the camera to face the area you want to monitor.
- Click the Source button and make any adjustments to the Brightness, Contrast and/or other settings. Click OK when you’re happy with the results.
- Click the Options button
- Place a check in the box labeled Use motion detection. Certain Webcams (most often Labtec) can require Dorgem to “reconnect” after a certain period of no motion being detected. For now leave this box unchecked. If you notice that your Webcam isn’t capturing any images even though it should have, revisit this section and place a check in the box. It should be noted that if you do need to use this setting, your cam will likely take a picture every time Dorgem “reconnects” to it, so try using 5 minute (or higher) intervals. Otherwise you’ll end out with a LOT of pictures, most of which won’t have captured actual “motion”.
- Click OK after you have enabled motion detection to return to the main Dorgem window. Now you’ll need to create a ‘profile’ - which Dorgem refers to as Storage events. Click the Store settings button to create an event.
- Choose File and click OK (adding an FTP event is covered in the Advanced section, set a local file first to make sure everything works)
- Enter a Name: for this event, make sure Enable is checked, and then set an interval. Since you’ll be using motion detection, you probably want to capture images fairly “closely together” - so try 1 or 2 seconds. If you know for certain that this camera will detect a lot of motion (your camera faces an area with a lot of movement) you may want to set this somewhat higher. This setting can always be changed later, so experiment a bit. Click the … button next to Filename:
- Here you’ll be setting the folder to save images to, and the actual filename for each image. Dorgem allows special characters in file names so that each name is unique (otherwise each time your camera detected motion it would take a picture and over-write the previous one). Somewhere in the file name, enter the characters %g - which will give your file name a time-stamp. If you use %G in the file name, it will also add the current year.
Because my camera is taking pictures of movement on my patio, I named the file patio-camera%G%g. This results with images being saved as patio-camera20060926165001.jpg. Broken down that’s patio-camera - the current year - the current month, day, hour, minute and second. Click Save after you’ve selected a folder and file name.
- Click OK
- Click Close to return to the main Dorgem widow
- Wave your hand in front of the camera. Or throw something within its view. Jump around in front of it like an idiot. If everything was set correctly, you should now have some images in the folder you specified. Go take a look..
- If it didn’t work, start again at step 3 and double-check everything. The built-in Help file included with Dorgem is actually pretty helpful - use it for troubleshooting. Feel free to leave a comment below and include as much info as possible and I’ll try to help as well.
Multiple Webcams
If you can get more than one Webcam to work in Windows (not always an easy task, esp. if they’re Labtec), Dorgem can support them all. You don’t need to install another copy of Dorgem, but you do need to start each instance differently. To do so, follow the steps below..
- Right-click on your current Dorgem desktop icon and select Create Shortcut
- You should see a new Dorgem (2) icon on your desktop - right-click on it this time, and choose Properties
- Make sure the Shortcut tab is selected, and change the Target: to:
“C:\Program Files\Dorgem\Dorgem.exe” /c:cam2
If you installed Dorgem to somewhere other than the default location, make the appropriate changes.
- Click Apply and then
Sending pictures to a remote location (FTP)
If you’re using this as a personal security system for your residence, you may want to store the files off-site, in case someone steals your computer (rendering your security totally useless). To do so, follow these steps.. (note: you’ll need an FTP account - check to see if your ISP provides one for you, eg. Personal Web Space/storage).
- Click the Store settings button and then click Add.
- This time select FTP and then click OK
- Enter in the required information. The file name can use special characters (see step 11 in the first How part of this tutorial). You may have to experiment with some of these settings. For example, I have to use Passive mode because of the way my home network is set up. You may not. Click OKwhen all of the required info has been entered.
- Wave your hand in front of the webcam (or throw something through its field of view). Check your FTP site and you should see a new file (or files) there. Note: when I have both save to my local hard drive and save to FTP enabled, only one works. You may need to disable the local copy if you want FTP to work. If you figure out a way for both to work, by all means let me know.
How to duct tape the light off your webcam (super-stealth)
- Does your webcam have an annoying light that gives away its location when you try to hide it?
- Find some duct tape that matches the colour of your camera. Or, masking tape and a marker.
- Place tape over the light.
- Your camera will now blend in like a ninja. Extra bonus: use the duct tape to hold your hidden camera in place.
Examples (from the first day I set this up)
Yes, birds will trigger the motion sensing webcam.
Seriously, this isn’t a shortcut for you to use.
How patio furniture gets stolen.
I don’t care if you’re practicing your tight-rope walking, stop using this area as a shortcut.
You too.
My webcam lets me know when not to open my blinds. AKA get an unrequested view of some carpenters crotch.
–
Update 9/29/06:
Just a quick note of thanks to those who linked to this tutorial, offered constructive criticism and suggested other alternatives.
It blew my mind to see this tutorial featured on Lifehacker, one of my favorite web sites.
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Logitech Imagestudio is another alternative if you have a logitech camera. It also does nice things like stop-motion, etc.
Xitanto - you’re right. I’ll update this in a bit, a couple of webcam vendors do include software similar to this. I *think* Creative Labs does too.
Just read your “6 Reasons..for a web….etc.”
GREAT!!!! Yes, your literary style is entertaining!
Nice….gonna try this out right now!
hi great stuff, is a very good start for a very low cost security camera system. Maybe just a suggestion, can keep adding others recording software in for alternative and those can record mpeg or mpeg4.
Thanks.
Lam - for sure. As Xitanto mentioned, Logitech Imagestudio has similar features. I’m pretty sure that some of the d-link webcams come packaged w/ another app that does the same. Mine was OEM and didn’t come w/ any software (other than a windows driver).
Can this capture video clips instead of snapshots until it doesn’t detect motion? is there a way to set the sensitivity?
I know Creative has some software that does that. I set it up pointed at my bed one night, it started recording once there was enough light in the room. Woke up with about 60 short video clips that I then stitched together, man, I toss and turn a lot!
“is there a way to set the sensitivity?”
Would be very sweet if this was implemented!!!
Anyways I was wondering if this will work as a service (I know there is some way to make any software run as a service but I forget how to
)
If not, that would be one nice feature, that way I can log off the current user and the application still will work (at least the app I have been using for security requires the user to stay logged on)
Anyways keep up the good work, oh, and adding uploading would (not sure, maybe you have this) be the best… imagine someone steals your PC, at least u can go to an FTP or email and get some evidence!!!
Does anyone know HowTo build an optical zoom for a webcam? In combination with this great HowTo there would be even more usage scenarios.
Nice app.
http://members.tripod.com/acls2001
Here’s a handy linux equivalent - even shows you the pixels that trigger it. Found it while dealing with a nutjob that was stuffing mail boxes with incindiary flyers in our neighborhood. You’ve gotta love America Suburbia. Ugh.
Link:
http://gspy.sourceforge.net/
Works wonderfully. Thanks for the tut.
Any ideas why, when I use FTP to store the file, “.temp” is appended to the filename.
I have a similar setup using Pryme (http://www.hilo.dk/pryme.php) had some problems with auto capture, but solved those using AutoHotkey.
It’s basically the same as this, with the addition of being able to set sensitivity.
How can I make this email to my gmail account? Is that even possible?
A nicely integrated product similar to this is the TrackerCam (www.trackercam.com). They have a motorized pan/tilt base for USB webcams that is controlled via USB. It can be set to follow a moving object and record video. Other software will let you record multiple video streams, and includes motion detection control.
They also have a product that controls pan/tilt and zoom for certain digital video cameras with a firewire interface.
I have used TrackerCam’s USB product, and it works pretty much as advertised. (no affiliation with the company, just a customer)
Nice, but I have a question. Does the camera detect movement as the sun sets and it gets darker outside? Or is it too gradual to pick up?
TJ -
Yes, it does.
Derek -
I think those are ‘partial’ uploads - as the image is being uploaded it might have a .temp extension until the entire file is done uploading. Do the .temp files stay around?
yourmom -
Yes, I’m pretty sure. There is an .avi output, but I haven’t played with it (yet). I’ll be updating this document before the end of the weekend and I’ll see if I can get the .avi thing to work and then outline it as well.
Cheers!
Ross
Too bad no one in their right mind uses Windows anymore…
Ross - thanks for your reply.
Yes the file stays. If I chop off the .temp, it seems to be a fully formed JPG.
The .temp extension seems to be coming from the Dorgem. I’ll try it with a different FTP server though.
My bad - if you’re using FTP, the account needs more permissions than just ‘write’.
That camera takes some great pictures. Seems to work better than a sensor. How would you use this for a camera than scans from left to right?
to send it to gmail, download GMaildrive, and then store your security images in that drive.
Great software - better results than on3 I nearly paid twenty dollars for!
I’ve pretty much cleaned up my neighborhood of the junkies and crackheads using surveillance and my website http://www239.pair.com/nanden00/chc/
The detectives love it. I just burn them off a cd of the activity and off they go to court with the evidence. Real simple.
Fantastic tutorial! Slight problem getting it to save pics in gmail….anyone fancy helping with a tutorial on that lol. thanks x
I have a labtec camera which comes with a motion detection routine…
I like the fact that you can set the sensitivity on it to stop leaves or whatever from triggering it.
Only supports the one cam though…
So Dorgem wins on that one, just wish it had sensitivity control
Hank,
I look forward to the day when OS X and Linux are installed on more home computers than Windows.
DerekB,
Ahh now that makes sense. I’ll include a note about that when I update this again (re: permissions).
Paul,
It’s not out of the question re: sensitivity. There might be a command line option to set it. When I’m back in front of a PC w/ Windows I’ll check. It might be in the Dorgem help file…
This is a great tutorial. But does it only work well with Windows, and not with other programs? It would be more helpful if it’s not limited to Windows only.
sorry if this is a stupid question but,does the computer have to be left on for this to work?
Dryl,
I’m a firm believer in the “no such thing as stupid questions” phrase - yes, your computer has to be left on (if you want to capture images 24/7. The monitor can be turned off.
Thanks for the info. It was very helpful and came at the right time for me.
Thanks.
The info provided is really useful
this looks very useful, but even though my webcam is pointed at an unmoving aprt of the room, it seems to constantly capture images, what might ibe doing wrong? Please email me at REMOVED-BY-ROSS-SO-YOU-DONT-GET-SPAMMED@gmail.com if you think you may know.
I’ve emailed Daniel but I thought I’d post the info here too in case someone else has a similar problem -
–
1. Are you turning lights on and off? I’ve tried this w/ 3 different webcams so far, and the Creative Labs N10225 is REALLY sensitive to light. Even a window in the background can cause the camera to capture images when a cloud passes by.
2. What did you set the “File store settings” interval to? Try 5 or 6 seconds.
3. Does it start taking pictures when there’s motion, and then not stop? Or does it just immediately start taking pictures? If it doesn’t stop AFTER it detects motion, try placing a check in the “Reconnect if no motion is detected for x minutes” (step 7 way above). That’s not REALLY the purpose of that check box, as it seems the ‘reverse’ might be happening to you.
4. Is the Webcam being moved somehow? (vibrations? is it sitting on a sub-woofer?
)
Hope this helps -
Ross
Great Tutorial! Here is an inexpensive version of webcam motion-detecting and video recording software:
http://www.WebCamSecuritySystem.com
a really great software package i’ve been using for a couple years is Supervisioncam. very flexible code, and FREE.
of course it motion senses, and it also will post captured jpg’s to a website along with an html file to let you view them conveniently.
great stuff
http://www.supervisioncam.com
Esta solução resolveu o meu problema de saber quem “retirava” lol as mais lindas plantas do meu jardim na casa de férias…
Um “velho” PC de secretaria, uma cam ja com 6 anos e…
aí esta um magnifico sistema de segurança!!!
Óptimas instruções…
is there a wireless webcam which u can connect to your pc. and can u use multiple wireless webcams if thereare any
hey wow!! awesome!! Im loving this!! thank you so much!!!!!
intel - yes there are a few. I’d suggest checking amazon.com, just search for wireless webcam. While I don’t have one (and can’t confirm for sure), I’d expect you could use multiple wireless webcams the same way you would multiple ‘wired’ webcams. That’s a lot of w’s.
boing - you’re more than welcome!
hi, wicked idea, but it doesnt seem to work with my (rather poor) Web camera!!! ive ypinked my sisters My_cam Usb web camera and it refuses to use the motion detection setting!!!! Ive even added the 5 minutes auto re-connect, and i still get a new pic every 2 seconds regardless of motion!!
Any ideas or help would be most appreciated!!
Cheers
Hi If you remove the Infra-Red blocking filter from the webcam, in my case the Toucam, it can be used in complete darkness with the area you are surveiling illuminated with an IR lamp.
Does anyone know how to use this on a Mac desktop and a Windows webcam? Is that even possible? Thanks in advance, fellas.
I got many pics in my documents when the puppy just walked by but I can’t see anything. It’s dark. The camera is in the window. Also in the dropdown box my camera isn’t listed.
I’ve emailed this to Cheryl but I’ll post it here in case anyone else is having the same problem -
Have you tried adjusting the color settings in step 5 of the “how” part of the tutorial? That should help brighten up the pictures. Are they totally “black”? Was it at all light out when the puppy walked by? When you click the ‘preview’ button in Dorgem, does the video show up correctly?
I’m not sure about the camera not appearing in the dorgem list - is it in use by another program by any chance? A lot of webcams come w/ software that the webcam is “supposed” to use, and may be ‘using’ the webcam even without you directly knowing..
It was not totally black. I could see the street light in the back ground. Let’s just say I only knoew my puppy was there because he barked and then the camera started taking pictures. When I click the preview button it is also very dark. The camera is not being used by another program Ross. It says Microsoft WDM Image Capture (win32). My camera is a Logitech.
Hi! Your article is very helpful and detail, thanks a lot!
I am planning to make a device which can use the motion detection to trigger external program, such as sending a ASCII code like “esc” key to system. Could anybody give me some hints?
I would like PC to run a slide show (powerpoint or flash), when there is an object moving in front of the webcam, the slide show changes to other page and play sound or movie. Is this difficult to do?
thanks works just fine and great, i use zoneminder in linux but this is great for the windows pc i have.
thank u
I tried this and it worked perfectly! This is an excellent tutorial with clear and illustrated examples.
Last night it worked fine. Today I open it and the preview is pitch (how doe’s that sound) white. I closed it and restarted. I also tried to take a capture piture and it worked. I went to the folder and there were pictures. Unfortunately they were also solid white.
Thanks for the great site. Next time I’ll figure out security monitoring BEFORE my car is broken into!
Great info, easy to follow.
Christian
Great Program!!
Can I play a sound file when motion is detected? For example, I could create an alarm or say something like “you’ve just been photographed” when motion is detected.
Thanks, John
I really like the Gmail Drive suggestion, but I can’t find a way to make it work. GDrive is a system folder and can’t be found by browsing from within Dorgem. Creating a shortcut to the Gmail Drive is easy enough, but even when I copy the shortcut properties for the target to Dorgem and it will not work.
Otherwise, I’m sure I’ll use GMailDrive for other things. Thanks!
step by step how to on video surveillance with a vcr and/or a dvr.
Anyone know how to upload the capture pictures/video to mobilephone. That’ mean we can remote viewing by mobilephone ( GPRS / 3G based mobilephone ) ??
can we use even a mobile phone with built in camera in this fashion
I will be waiting for your answer
Regard
Das
Has anyone figured out how to output all captured images to AVI? I tried it but couldn’t figure out how to make it work. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
I think the USB connected web cams have a wire length limitation of about 15 feet at the longest and probably shorter in many cases.
As far as I know the process of extending the wire length can be one of the following:
1. Use active extender modules that are good for 15 feet each (up to 5). They run about $25 and don’t always work well for every knid of application.
2. Use a fiber optic extender (150 feet, $200). Problem there is that (far as I know) they only run USB 1.x (slow)
3. For each web cam use a server box ($80) with a USB port and connect over WiFi. Might be a little hairy.
4. Use the new wireless USB standard. Limited distance (a few meters at full USB 2.x speed, 10 meters at USB 1.x speeds.
5. Use Bluetooth (slow, need the special longer range flavor of Bluetooth - compatibility?).
I’m listing all this because I like the idea and with the hope someone comes back with a long connectivity solution.
You can do similar things with regular digital cameras USB connected, but only with certain models.
For Canons:
http://www.breezesys.com/products.htm
(here’s their pitch)
Why Use PSRemote?
PSRemote enables Canon PowerShot camera users to:
Control the camera from a Windows PC
Operate the camera from a distance and in inaccessible locations
See live viewfinder display on PC screen
See large high resolution previews of shots on the PC within seconds
Take better product shots for eBay and other online auctions/stores
Improve exposure control in tricky lighting conditions
Gain unrivalled control of camera settings in tethered operation
Create time lapse sequences over short or extended periods
Use motion detection to automatically take pictures for wildlife photography and security applications (requires Webcam Zone Trigger which must be purchased separately).
Use the large preview image to display:
Flashing highlights to indicate over-exposed areas
Grid overlay to assist accurate alignment
For CanonG1, G2, G3, G5, G6, G7, S30, S40, S45, S50, S60, S70, S80, S1 IS, S2 IS, S3 IS, SD100, SD110, S230, S400, S410, S500, A30, A40, A60, A70, A75, A80, A85, A95, A300, A310, A400, A510, A520, A620, A640
I use mine to watch my dog from work! Neato and thanks!!!
Someone (first post) mentioned Logitech Imagestudio as having motion triggering which is true. Unfortunately (reading the Logitech forum) only some older models can run it. Imagestudio got incorporated into QuickCam after version 8.0
So after version QuickCam v7.6 (current version is QuickCam v10.5 ) they disabled the motion feature.
Cameras like the QuickCam Fusion, QuickCam Ultra Vision, QuickCam Orbit etc. can’t run it. If anyone knows a workaround for this please let me know.
“Coming soon: How to do the same thing, with a Mac.”
OK, HOW soon?
-The Doc
great tutorial,but why not instead of taping the light on your webcam,take advantage of it…like this:
replace the led-usually green- with an ir led (cant remember what they are called exactly but they luminate in the invisible to human eye ir spectrum),camera lenses should be sensitive to this light…haven’t tried it yet,the thoought just hit me…
Hi, thanks for your how-to. I have two questions though: 1. Can one lenthen the USB cable to say 25m and 2. is there a simple and cheap way of hooking up your PC via GPRS modem and being able to view the triggered pics on your WAP cel phone?
Thanks
I just have one question. My computer has audio and video ports just like a TV. Would my computer be able to use this software for a infared security camera that uses these ports?
Hi i like your software its exactly what ive been looking for but can u tell me how to stop it everytime it takes a pic it overwrites the last one this is really annoying.
Can a wireless modem work with this scheme? Would it be more expensive that a standard phone line? Is a computer required if wireless modem is used? Advantages and disadvantages…your thoughts please. I appreciate your efforts, thanks.
the site was very helful and they robbers were very fast and ………
Ben Lynch needs to review instruction step #11. Settings need to give digital images different file names for each capture - for this program or any other!
My question - can this be made to run in stealth mode??
how do take photo in webcam in send to e_maill id?
how to take photo in webcam?
Great tutorial , works well!
Now that I have my webcam ftp’g images to my server, is there a tutorial on how to create a webpage that will:
1) take my .jpg images (all of which have unique filenames) and allow me to view them in the browser, and maybe pan back and forth between the newest and oldest images
2) is there a way to set my ftp site to delete images older than 10 days old? Otherwise I’d have to constantly be in there deleting old images that I no longer need.
3) how do I set the ftp so that it ftp’s into a specific directory on my webspace? There doesnt appear to be a “Host Directory” setting in Dorgem. Otherwise, it will drop all these .jpg files onto the root of my site.
When I try to use this its says “couldnt capture to temporary BMP File. But I chose the jpeg file format
can i use my web cam as home secruity and also as a web cam to chat online to friends do i need to change settings every time or buy 2 web cams ? how would this work?
thank 4 ur help
What is the best motion sensor activated webcam to buy. What cam do u have in the pics.
Example of many webcams from around the world:
Great advice and instructions they helped my mom out alot i did it by myself but she wanted to know how to do it and I couldn’t show her, so I showed her your site and now she is happier then a pig in shit. Now she caught someone stealing her smokes…. and her car. Thank you and keep up the supendes work.
Excellent tutorial - must have taken a while to write and compile all the screenshots
This will be helpful since my office has been broken into twice this week. Today I spent 7 hours repairing the skylight instead of finishing orders and making money. The outdated camera system we have is crap so as a temporary internal measure, a webcam & website should make life a bit easier
Thanks again, Paul Wilson, Uk
awesome thanks
I just got a Creative Live Cam notebook pro after reading this (cheap on craigslist). The included software will do all this stuff and you can adjust sensitivity with an easy slider.
It will upload to FTP and/or send you an email (with a snapshot if you like) when motion is detected. It can also stream the video through your Yahoo Messenger account (not sure how that works but you can do it).
hi
thanks for the help it helped me catch a bergular geting in to my house and i got loads of l
pics thanks to you once again thank you
ben
hi
do you know if and how you can use dorgem to record like a video camara
Another example of many webcams from around the world:
I want to have one webcam installed in our park that will allow me to look at the park anytime over the winter months when we are in Florida? I currently have wireless X10 cameras installed in the park but these are not connected to the internet. Do I need a dedicated computer connected to the internet at all times for streaming video? What program is required for this. Your help would be appreciated.
Hi, thanks for the Dorgem solution! It works great! With dorgem I could improve security using the oem camera of my laptop. I found the solution of sending e-mails with snapshot attached using Blat (free command line smtp client) and Dorgem command line. At the top of my (dorgem related) wish list there is the possibility to set a formatted pattern (like “patio…” in the tutorial) for the %s argument used in the command line: that is I’d like the attached file to have a “myname%G%g.jpg” pattern filename. Thank you again!
i am having problumes with this every time it takes a pic it just replaces the one that it has already taken so i would never know if someone has been here or not so can you please help
I am having the same problem as wesley. I only get one jpg. The video also replays in fast motion. I have fps set to 30. Shouldn’t it play back at normal speed? Also, is there a way to stop capture without having to exit the program? Thanks…
1. What wireless webcam camera do you reccomend, if I put the camera near an inside window and some approaches the outside part of the window would moat cameras get triggered ?
2. If I use Blat to auot send an email after the camera has been triggered what are the coomands I need to add ?
Lemonhead,
I don’t know for question n.1, for n.2 i used for command:
“mybatchfile %s”
mybatchfile.bat contains:
c:\blat -install mysmtp mysender 3 mySMTPport - usr pwd
c:\blat mybodyfiletext -to myrecipient mysubj %1
hope this helps
If I already have a website is there a way to view my camera remotely ?
hello guys,
can anyone of you tell me or give me direction on how to view live using this software. I do not want to store images, but instead I want to view what my webcam captures in live, real time.
Thankyou
[quote]hello guys,
can anyone of you tell me or give me direction on how to view live using this software. I do not want to store images, but instead I want to view what my webcam captures in live, real time.
Thankyou[/quote]
Just open up the utility and click preview.
****I am having the same problem as wesley. I only get one jpg. The video also replays in fast motion. I have fps set to 30. Shouldn’t it play back at normal speed? Also, is there a way to stop capture without having to exit the program? Thanks…****
I’m having the same problem.
If there is someone lurking outside my house that shouldn’t be the cam picks their face up. I have the picture but if a bird flys by there goes the intruders picture only to be replaced by a bird.
Why doesn’t this utility take individual pictures instead of replacing the same one each time?
Is this the way it is suppose to work or is there something I’m not doing correctly.
Thanks.
can u tell how to use a mobile cam as a webcam?is it possible to use a mobile cam like that
can you use a PS2 eyetoy for this
Nice tutorial!
This is how you can play a beep sound with Dorgem if s.th. moves:
Storage type “External program” and command:
sndrec32 /play /close “C:\Windows\Media\ding.wav” -%s
Is there any way of setting the sensitivity on my webcam through this software? Any help would be appreciated.
Any recommendations on webcam? Do i purchase a standard or motion detection webcam?
Thanks so much. I’m going to set some bait to see which of my roomies is stealing my money!
Hello , i have install correctly , i think dorgem . But there is a problem. I can’t see an series of images but only one , the last , and the others are cancelled automatically . Can you help me ? thank
u
well if i catch the thief then it worked if not i look elswhere
what it the power was shut off or the PC re-start. how does it work again. or how will the software return again to its surveilance?
How to use your PC and Webcam as a motion-detecting and recording security camera
WOW this works perfectly, thanks sooo much. Now I can find out who’s entering our factory late at night.
Thanks again…
finally I will be able to find out how my basement mysteriously gets rearranged; is it the landlord or Sam Fisher?
It a nice artical, I will try to implement it practicaly.
Industronics Engineering
What if i just want to take a picture from my webacm remotely trough my pc? can this program work?
Anon (who asked “What if i just want to take a picture from my webacm remotely trough my pc? can this program work?”)
No, I don’t think so.
can you suggest a program that would do? tnx a lot.
The first thing that comes to mind is to install the realvnc server on your home computer (the one with the webcam) and then use a vnc client to connect to your home PC. That will allow you to remotely control your home computer, including taking pictures through its webcam. RealVNC can be found at http://www.realvnc.com/.
Hope this helps.
thanks i set this up as soon as i saw it works great the women a cross the street broke in my house so next time i got her fat crack @$$ thanks to my lil toy poodle save the nite she dont bite but she is a hell of a barker
This tutorial was excellent. I work for a small shipping company and we rent out a space from another company and we have been worrying about the flow of people from the other company’s walking by our set up. This helped out a lot to help keep an eye out when we are gone for the day and weekend. thanks
i want a moving detecting software to record videos capturing through a capture card. only the movements must be recorded.
Excellent guide.
Many thanks.
http://www.camseyes.com provides the possibility to forward you directly the pictures in your inbox.
sanders -
Can you provide some more info on that service? It seems a little suspicious - there’s no terms of service, no assurances that it’s not just an email harvesting spam “service” etc.
The site is under construction and is NOT harvesting emails for spam purpose. Terms of services will be added soon.
For all the folks getting ‘just one pic’, see near the top of the page, ‘How?’, and instruction #11. Personally I use filename-%G-%g to make the date/time easier to read.
For all the folks getting ‘continuous streams of pics,’ you probably have set filename%G%g, -and- have turned on the Auto Capture checkbox. At least that’s the effect I got.
Here’s a interesting program that will help you out.
Go to Archive.org (Great place to find archived sites)
Search for a program called Catspy.
The only free version available is in the archive and best of all the program run’s stealth mode and takes practically any codec.
But hey you don’t have to take my word for it.. and yes it accepts frame rates and is not a memory hog like most programs.
question 118 above, asked about a window popup message that said “couln’t capture Temporary BMP FILE!”. I am getting the same message every time.
I setup the file store and I copied exactly like your instructions; C:\patio\patio-capture%G%g.jpg
When I check mark auto capture it happens repeatedly. What are we doing wrong??? please help us…aggh…
Thanks,
Murster
Thanks for the tutorial. I had downloaded Dorgem before reading this, and gave up on it as it didn’t seem to come with enough info to be set up properly.
Need something to control several wireless cameras
that will trigger on motion, producing jpeg only files.
Perhaps this program will meet the need after all, but if anyone knows of other free programs that have great memory mgmt, and better UI It would be very nteresting to hear about them.
It’s time to make one those bad guys a movie star.
Hi, I love this program! I live in a townhouse complex and we have another townhouse complex behind us, but because the other townhouse complex is a little bit harder to get to, they take our parking spots and walk down a hill to get to their house. We’ve put notes on some cars but a lot still park here, so I’ve set up my web cam with this program. What I’d like to know is what is the best way to go about capturing images during the night time. Our parking lot has few lights, so I’m wondering how I could make it easier to see people coming up from the hill in front of out parking lot. If you think you can help me, email me at mjoyce91@gmail.com, and I can send you some pics so I can make it a little bit more clear for you.
I am designing a simple household light that would be able to sense the motion of a human hand over the lightbulb hood and turn it either on or off. Please what kind of sensor do i use.
Thanks for this great download and super tutorial. This was exactly what I’ve been looking for to set up as a security camera as well. I bought a really, really inexpensive webcam some time for that purpose and never could get the software that came with it to work right. This is so easy and very doable. I want to check my yard when I’m away…wish I had this a couple of years ago.
Ok a couple of question: I finally was able toset this to capture to my ftp site. However, does it just give you one pic when you downloadd the file? Or am I missing something. I’d like to be able to get a “video” of what goes on when I capture this. Is this not a video capture or rather a still capture? And, by that, I think I may have just answered my other question.
But if you or anyone else gets to change to respond by sending an email, I would appreciate it. Thanks for this and for your great tutorial!
Sorry for the typos lol
I just set this system up and mounted the camera above the group workspace. Wow. No I can pinpoint the slackers from my bedroom!
Next step: installing a mic so I can tell if they’re talkin’ about me.