can I use my computer as a security camera ?
I’m going to be away for a couple a weeks and I don’t trsut my neighborhood, how can I put my computer, with the web-cam attached to it, to record everything while I’m away, do I need some kind of special software, or hardware, to record long periods of time ? will appreciate yuor help anybody ? thank you.
you can download free trial versions of security software
read the help section of your webcam or tutorial if it has one. you can set it to operate for a minute or two when it senses motion in its view. if someone breaks in they might steal your computer tho. So call police dept. to ask
them to put your house on special watch. Its free.
You could easily record “everything” while you’re away but I think you’ll find yourself using massive amounts of hard disk space doing this.
Your best bet would be to look for some type of security software as the above poster mentioned,
http://www.freedownloadscenter.com/Multimedia_and_Graphics/Video_and_Animation_Tools/ISpy_WebCam.html
http://www.hsinlin.com/software/webcams.html
or create your own .
Creating your own is far easier than you might think, but requires some knowledge as to how to adjust and automatically name captures (preferably by date.)
Hauppauge makes available free for download, a little utility which activates the cameras recording settings only when motion is detected. You must leave the preview aspect of the camera on so it will function, but that way it only records when there is something to record.
http://www.hauppauge.com/pages/support/support_pvrpci.html
Be wary however, having a security camera that does some good means having one that will work at night.
Many companies, (Sam’s Club, Wal-Mart, NewEgg, Best Buy, etc.. make available simple USB cameras with infrared function which work at night.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16826271001
http://cgi.ebay.com/iCAMView-USB-IP-Camera-Video-Server-IR-Outdoor-CCTV_W0QQitemZ120056538402QQihZ002QQcategoryZ4616QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
http://cgi.ebay.com/500K-6-IR-NIGHT-VISION-w-MICROPHONE-WEBCAM-WEB-CAM-NEW_W0QQitemZ140055954787QQihZ004QQcategoryZ4616QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
I personally own the last listed and have taken it into a completely dark room to test it. As with all IR cameras,( if there is no present light) the light created from the infra red lamp is decoded as a black and white image only.
Now the truth is, you can technically use any infra red light source to make your camera function at night if it isn’t already night capable.
I won’t go into all of the specifics, but if you want to use an existing camera and it isn’t night ready you can use any constant IR led lamp, (replace a porch lamp with it for example) and a normal webcam will pick it up.
This is because the ccd in most cameras can capture outside our visual range by default. You may need to remove a special filter from it located between the lens and the ccd however.
I think that about sums things up. I hope you find what you’re looking for, and if not feel free to drop me a line.