any1 know of some products/solutions for video surveillance with a mac?
say one or four vid cameras, mac as web server, etc?
say one or four vid cameras, mac as web server, etc?
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Video Surveillance with mac?
- Thread starter Cybix
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You can use an iChat camera and use a Mac. Furthermore, you can write your own automation process with automator and quicktime pro, watch it from another computer and save the images somewhere else. I have experimented with it a bit. It is possible, but I couldn't get it to work properly.
I've used EvoCam to stream a web cam to my website so that I can check in on employees now and then.... cheap and quick.
http://www.evological.com/evocam.html
It includes a built in web server and a lot of options. All you need is a web cam that works with it.
http://www.evological.com/evocam.html
It includes a built in web server and a lot of options. All you need is a web cam that works with it.
any suggestions on a webcam that will work w/ evocam? I need to setup my camera about 10-15 feet from our front door to catch our neighbor breaking in....don't want to spend anymore than $150 though....and the person needs to be recognizable on there of course! 
Thanks for your help!
Thanks for your help!You'll have to check their website for a list of supported cameras and maybe pick one of the higher end ones... I do know that not EVERY usb camera ill work with evo cam (found that out the hardway).
Let us know what you find, I could stand an upgrade.
Let us know what you find, I could stand an upgrade.
cool just checked...that list didn't exist last time I looked into this....i have to do this for sure now though! Are all of those listed on evo compatible w/ the mac - or just the software? Any suggestions if you've used any of them listed would be helpful....just not sure if a webcam will work across a room...will the person be recognizable??? Sorry new to all this web cam stuff! We have a mini dv but we would like to be able to take it with us when we are gone!
We have a mini dv but we would like to be able to take it with us when we are gone!Heh. If I lived near you I'd offer to come over and house site with a baseball bat, neighbors that you can't trust really get under my skin...
I might recommend just getting an isight. My goal it to get one that's weather proof so I can mount it outside, but for your needs maybe just get an isight because you know it will work and it's within your price budget.
I might recommend just getting an isight. My goal it to get one that's weather proof so I can mount it outside, but for your needs maybe just get an isight because you know it will work and it's within your price budget.
Ha I'd appreciate that one! The kid could use a swift kick in the ass! Not sure if I can use the video footage to get him arrested, but I sure can call the police and let em know someone is in my house right now!
yeah i thought about the iSight...but I need something ASAP....and iSight isn't made anymore and not so easy to find (to my knowledge) I'm deciding between two right now...
http://www.cdw.com/shop/products/default.aspx?EDC=633989
or
http://www.cdw.com/shop/products/default.aspx?EDC=530262
both are on the evo list, and are available at CDW which is close enough for me to drive to and pick up - assuming they are in stock....i would hope one of the electronics stores around me will have either of these....would like to get one asap so i have time to set it up...i'm sure we'll have some problems, lol....as long as it does what i need it to, its all good!
yeah i thought about the iSight...but I need something ASAP....and iSight isn't made anymore and not so easy to find (to my knowledge) I'm deciding between two right now...
http://www.cdw.com/shop/products/default.aspx?EDC=633989
or
http://www.cdw.com/shop/products/default.aspx?EDC=530262
both are on the evo list, and are available at CDW which is close enough for me to drive to and pick up - assuming they are in stock....i would hope one of the electronics stores around me will have either of these....would like to get one asap so i have time to set it up...i'm sure we'll have some problems, lol....as long as it does what i need it to, its all good!
That's the one I'd go with out of the two. The other is reviews as "poor image quality" on amazon...
any suggestions on a webcam that will work w/ evocam? I need to setup my camera about 10-15 feet from our front door to catch our neighbor breaking in....don't want to spend anymore than $150 though....and the person needs to be recognizable on there of course!
If your budget is up to $150, also consider going with an all-in-one solution like the Panasonic BL-C10. You can get them for around that on eBay. I have 5 of them around my house - 3 outside (mounted under the eaves where they don't get wet, relatively mild weather) and 2 inside. The main drawback is that this particular model is ethernet-only, meaning you have to run a cable to it. There are wireless models too, but they're more expensive and probably out of your budget range.
The primary purpose of us getting these was to monitor the dogs when we're at work, but the front door cam also works great for security purposes.
The camera has a built in web server, so if you setup your router to allow access from the outside, you just connect to its web address and view live images. It also has a feature where it can trigger based on a motion sensor and capture multiple still images for later viewing. I have this enabled on my front door cam, and it's set to ftp the captured images to my Mac. Lets me know when packages are delivered or just when solicitors come to the door during the day. Also helps to screen out solicitors on the weekend or evenings when you're home and you don't want to come to the door.
I use all 5 of these cameras plus my Macbook to "record" a timelapse video of each day's activities while we're not home (I disable it while we're home... we're not running one of those services where people pay $39.95 a month to watch 24/7
). It's kind of a complicated process as I'm a real do-it-yourselfer, so I can't really offer a complete, easy working solution for anyone to use. But basically:- A script runs during the day and captures an image from all 6 cams (5 network cams plus Macbook iSight) via the internal network every 2 seconds.
- Another script pastes all 6 images (320x240 each) from each capture together into a 960x480 final image.
- An AppleScript uses QuickTime Pro to open the resulting image sequence for the day at 30 fps, giving a resulting movie where each second of movie time is one minute of real time. The AppleScript then saves the image sequence as a QuickTime movie using H.264 to compress it to about 990 kbps. A typical workday (9-10 hours away from home) ends up around 60 MB. It's great fun to watch what the dogs were doing all day (and sometimes being bad!).
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OK got distracted from this project for a while but here's an update...BTW BANKSHOT you sound like you know what your doing...I could really use your help when you have some time! More on that in a sec...
I purchased Evocam - what a great little program! I ended up getting a Logitech STX webcam...works great except no audio.....the only problem I had while using this while I went away for a few days was that it stopped emailing me like it was supposed to...could this have to do w/ my ISP and dynamic IP addresss? Or is this not related to a USB camera? IT did still capture and save my video and images onto my computer though...no break - in...i am wondering if the kid caught on - i gave him a dirty look one day who knows! lol.......either way I still would feel safer w/ a camera on not only for security but to watch my two cats and dog...
The camera I just mentioned was a quick solution to what I'd really like to do....I ordered and received a Hawking HNC300 and have had NO SUCCESS of setting it up properly! I could really use some help here, as networking, IPs, Static/Dynamic, Port Forwarding & DNS stuff just doesn't come so easy to me. I'm really overwhelmed by everything I need to do and I have tried to get this to work and have done a ton of research and read the Evological FAQs w/ no result. So if someone on here can help me that would be greatly appreciated...I'll wait a few days to see about responses before I post a new thread....or should I anyways?
Thanks in advance for any advice!
More on that in a sec...I purchased Evocam - what a great little program! I ended up getting a Logitech STX webcam...works great except no audio.....the only problem I had while using this while I went away for a few days was that it stopped emailing me like it was supposed to...could this have to do w/ my ISP and dynamic IP addresss? Or is this not related to a USB camera? IT did still capture and save my video and images onto my computer though...no break - in...i am wondering if the kid caught on - i gave him a dirty look one day who knows! lol.......either way I still would feel safer w/ a camera on not only for security but to watch my two cats and dog...
The camera I just mentioned was a quick solution to what I'd really like to do....I ordered and received a Hawking HNC300 and have had NO SUCCESS of setting it up properly! I could really use some help here, as networking, IPs, Static/Dynamic, Port Forwarding & DNS stuff just doesn't come so easy to me. I'm really overwhelmed by everything I need to do and I have tried to get this to work and have done a ton of research and read the Evological FAQs w/ no result. So if someone on here can help me that would be greatly appreciated...I'll wait a few days to see about responses before I post a new thread....or should I anyways?
Thanks in advance for any advice!