Camcorder for security/survellance?

Hi,

I have a Sony miniDV camcorder. I want to use it to monitor a room when I
am away. In the room there is a Windows XP PC with a Firewire card. I want
to use my the camcorder to capture video when motion is detected. I tried a
few programs. They either do not see my camera or motion detection works
really bad: false alarms, does not detect motion.

Is this solution possible? A salesman in the store tells me that I have to
purchase and a card with 4 video inputs (comes with software) and some kind
of camera. $600.

Thanks,

Alex.

"Alex Koifman" <akoifman@yahoo.com> writes:
> Is this solution possible? A salesman in the store tells me that I have to
> purchase and a card with 4 video inputs (comes with software) and some kind
> of camera. $600.

It's simplest to do this with a webcam. There are lots of those in
the $30 range, and various free programs that do the motion detection,
and save some still frames whenever something has changed.

Maybe it is cheaper to get a NetCam from StarDotTech.
http://www.stardot-tech.com/netcam/
--
David Wang - Tech Support
Extreme Node - Blade servers and Linux clusters based on the standard ATX
form factor
http://www.extremenode.com


"Alex Koifman" <akoifman@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:GBG7d.164423$D%.119636@attbi_s51...
> Hi,
>
> I have a Sony miniDV camcorder. I want to use it to monitor a room when I
> am away. In the room there is a Windows XP PC with a Firewire card. I
want
> to use my the camcorder to capture video when motion is detected. I tried
a
> few programs. They either do not see my camera or motion detection works
> really bad: false alarms, does not detect motion.
>
> Is this solution possible? A salesman in the store tells me that I have
to
> purchase and a card with 4 video inputs (comes with software) and some
kind
> of camera. $600.
>
> Thanks,
>
> Alex.
>
>

Hi,

I already have a camcorder.

In addition, I do not see motion detection Netcam.

Thanks,

Alex.

"David Wang" <davidwang8@covad.net> wrote in message
news:6b87a$4162ae33$18ba6ba6$12957@msgid.meganewsservers.com...
> Maybe it is cheaper to get a NetCam from StarDotTech.
> http://www.stardot-tech.com/netcam/
> --
> David Wang - Tech Support
> Extreme Node - Blade servers and Linux clusters based on the standard ATX
> form factor
> http://www.extremenode.com
>
>
> "Alex Koifman" <akoifman@yahoo.com> wrote in message
> news:GBG7d.164423$D%.119636@attbi_s51...
>> Hi,
>>
>> I have a Sony miniDV camcorder. I want to use it to monitor a room when
>> I
>> am away. In the room there is a Windows XP PC with a Firewire card. I
> want
>> to use my the camcorder to capture video when motion is detected. I
>> tried
> a
>> few programs. They either do not see my camera or motion detection works
>> really bad: false alarms, does not detect motion.
>>
>> Is this solution possible? A salesman in the store tells me that I have
> to
>> purchase and a card with 4 video inputs (comes with software) and some
> kind
>> of camera. $600.
>>
>> Thanks,
>>
>> Alex.
>>
>>
>
>

That's very true. You don't need an expensive camera to capture
motion. I have a Logitech Clicksmart 510 webcam I bought a few years
back for $150, now you could get it for $50 or less. Anyway, there's
software bundled into one, where you can set it to motion detector,
set the sensativity to lowest, and it'll pick up anything that moves.
It will capture video in snipets as long as the movement continues.
Once it senses no movement, it will stop recording and save it to your
hard drive.

This is precisely what you need:
http://www.pantiltcam.com/TCamWeb/powerpod.htm

They offer the necessary software also.

have fun.

If you do use a netcam Like I do monitor my office in fact I have 3 cameras
look at this software from crime catcher.
the reason I say this cause I've tried at least a dozen software products
for this and couldn't find any other than crime catcher that didn't give
false motion readings.

its at http://www.crime-catcher.com

Oh don't get the beta use 3.09 version of it.


Hope this helps


"T.P." <plasticsteak1@sbcglobal.net> wrote in message
news:jrHdd.11391$Rf1.5303@newssvr19.news.prodigy.com...
> This is precisely what you need:
> http://www.pantiltcam.com/TCamWeb/powerpod.htm
>
> They offer the necessary software also.
>
> have fun.
>
>

Alex,
I have the answer for you, but first may I offer a little education.

You could buy a video capture card and there are many different brands
to choose from these days. All of these video capture cards pretty
much do the same thing, they process video frame by frame. Each video
frame is basically a individual picture that consists of lines of
data. The lines of data consist of pixels. Each pixel has its own
unique digital signature know as RGB or Red, Green, Blue. So, whenever
one frame is compared to the next the capture card is looking for a
difference between the RGB of pixels. When this change is detected it
is considered to be motion. Atleast that is what we all call it. But
it really isn't motion it is a change in the video stream that is
detected.

No matter how sophisticated your camera, capture card, or software is:
Motion cannot be detected unless it happens to move in front of the
field of view of your camera. This is the main reason why more and
more people struggle with this technology. Why? Becaues in order to
adequately cover any area it would require several cameras, power
supplies, wire drops, and possibly multiple capture cards. all of this
starts to add up pretty quickly even if you choose to use cheap
low-buck equipment. And most people don't have the time to do their
own pro-install because none of the video security manufacturers have
figured out how to make a simple solution. Or perhaps they know that
the money is in selling volume not an easy solution. Im starting to
ramble, but almost to my point.

Suppose, you could buy a camera that was developed in such a way that
it could detect motion in any direction. Even outside the field of
view of its own lens. Suppose this product would detect motion in 360
degrees and position the camera exactly where the motion was detected
and then track the motion as it moved automatically. Well, I know of
such a product that can do all of that and a whole lot more. I
developed it myself and built a company around its core technology.
goto: www.securitytechsystems.com and check it out. If you like what
you see, give me a call I will hook you up with one for less than you
paid for your camcorder and what you expect to pay for a capture card.
But with my product you will be able to see anything, anywhere,
anytime with only one camera and one install.

In article <44c150f1.0411022244.b16fc85@posting.google.com> contactsts@cs.com (Darren) wrote:
>
>Alex,
>I have the answer for you, but first may I offer a little education.
>
>You could buy a video capture card and there are many different brands
>to choose from these days. All of these video capture cards pretty
>much do the same thing, they process video frame by frame. Each video
>frame is basically a individual picture that consists of lines of
>data. The lines of data consist of pixels. Each pixel has its own
>unique digital signature know as RGB or Red, Green, Blue. So, whenever
>one frame is compared to the next the capture card is looking for a
>difference between the RGB of pixels. When this change is detected it
>is considered to be motion. Atleast that is what we all call it. But
>it really isn't motion it is a change in the video stream that is
>detected.

A great many people think they are thinking when they are merely
rearranging their prejudices.

>No matter how sophisticated your camera, capture card, or software is:
>Motion cannot be detected unless it happens to move in front of the
>field of view of your camera. This is the main reason why more and
>more people struggle with this technology. Why? Becaues in order to
>adequately cover any area it would require several cameras, power
>supplies, wire drops, and possibly multiple capture cards. all of this
>starts to add up pretty quickly even if you choose to use cheap
>low-buck equipment. And most people don't have the time to do their
>own pro-install because none of the video security manufacturers have
>figured out how to make a simple solution. Or perhaps they know that
>the money is in selling volume not an easy solution. Im starting to
>ramble, but almost to my point.

Why do you wonder if it makes you annoyed to be starting to ramble?

--
Lady Chatterly

"LC is a bot- a script that posts an automated reply to anything
ending is a question. she was created and placed here by a
disgruntled computer hacker named "Doc Jeff" ignore her" -- The
Cunning Linguist :Ţ