need custom software for 4 IP cameras setup

[flyeye 0]

Hi,

 

I have a project involving IP cameras with a somewhat unconventional usage, perhaps. I hope someone here can advise me on the best way to do it.

 

This is what I need to do:

 

1) using 4x wifi-enabled IP cameras

2) start recording all of them at the same moment (exact same moment)

3) record highest quality video for one hour, for each camera, onto a single hard disk a normal "avi" or "mp4" type file

4) the program should be really simple - i.e. double click on an icon to start the recording. maybe there can be a monitor for the cameras also, but this is not a requirement in the beginning. only recording.

 

Can anyone advise on the best way to do this?

 

Do I need to buy an IP camera that has an SDK? If so, what make/model should I get?

 

I currently have a couple of ip cameras from lesser-known chinese manufacturers. they are WDR 1.3 or 2MP IP cameras.

 

thank you!

[akelley 0]

You want all 4 cameras to record to the same AVI file? Like you would see on a quad display? Or 4 separate AVI files? Must NVR software can do the rest of what you want, some better than others. For example, you could just have all four cameras on a schedule to record for one hour at the same time of day. Or some software can take a trigger from one camera to start the other three cameras to record. Some NVR software have basic scripting allowing you to start recording all four cameras by clicking a single on screen button. Some will be able to do some or all of what you need... just need to experiment a bit. You probably don't need to get involved in a camera's SDK unless you're looking to interact with specific camera features, but basic stopping and starting recording should all be handled by the NVR.

 

So in summary, if you don't need to mux all 4 cameras into a single AVI file, start trying out some of the NVRs that are mentioned on these boards as most have free trial versions you can experiment with. Milestone, ExacqVision, Blue Iris, etc.

[buellwinkle 0]

Most cameras have alarm inputs, check yours to see if it has ports on the back, may be hidden behind a cover if they are outdoor cameras. You wire a switch for example to all the cameras alarm input. Then you set an event to record when the alarm input is triggered and record until you flip the switch back. Could even be momentary switch that you trigger to record for 1 hour if the camera firmware lets you set that long of a record period. When you flip the switch, all the cameras should start recording at the same time. Of course you have to ask, were is it recording too? Most cameras will not let you record a single file that's 1 hour long. It may be broken up into multiple files.

 

As for AVI, tough one as most surveillance cameras record in a propriatory format on purpose so the video can't be edited on purpose for legal evidence reasons.

 

There is one camera that does it all, outdoor, HD quality, amazing wireless, alarm inputs and that's Brickcom and there's a review on my blog that has more details. It will not be cheap, but the quality and features may be worth it to you. It will record as AVI files and it will FTP the video or you can use an SD card for recordings.

[fran 0]

Hi you can manage 4 IP Cameras in the IE

[flyeye 0]

Hi,

 

OK, thank you very much for the replies.

 

Now, I have two problems:

 

1) My cameras record to some awful kind of file that I can't open in *any* player. Except youtube - I can upload it there, and it works ok. But I need to be able to open the files locally.

 

2) Yes, if it would be possible to mux the files into one single huge file with 4 videos in a single picture, it would be great. Is this even possible?

 

thank you.

[buellwinkle 0]

1) My cameras record to some awful kind of file that I can't open in *any* player. Except youtube - I can upload it there, and it works ok. But I need to be able to open the files locally.

 

There's a free program called VLC that will open up some odd video formats. Also, most cameras come with software to do the conversion. Or you may need additional codecs for something like Window Media Player to work.

 

2) Yes, if it would be possible to mux the files into one single huge file with 4 videos in a single picture, it would be great. Is this even possible?

 

Absolutely, to do live on the fly editing of video for example, take the 4 videos and merge them into one, just get something like a Tricaster by NewTek like the 850 Extreme. This used to be something only a network TV station had, but now it's within everyone's reach. B&H has it here - http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=&sku=497898&is=REG&Q=&A=details

[flyeye 0]

Hi,

 

Neither VLC nor VirtualDub can open the file.

 

If I do an RTSP capture using VLC, then it does output a usable file which can be opened in both VLC and VirtualDub.

 

As for muxing 4 videos into one - is there a way in software to do this? I can't buy a $6500 box to do that.

 

Another question - Can i connect the 4 IP cameras to one router, and then have them recognized on the network as a single IP device, and start/stop recording simultaneously?

[buellwinkle 0]

Another question - Can i connect the 4 IP cameras to one router, and then have them recognized on the network as a single IP device, and start/stop recording simultaneously?

 

No, use the alarm inputs or send URL commands if your cameras support that to start/stop recording.

 

As for software, that's easy, get a C++ compiler and start writing code.

[flyeye 0]

Another question - Can i connect the 4 IP cameras to one router, and then have them recognized on the network as a single IP device, and start/stop recording simultaneously?

 

No, use the alarm inputs or send URL commands if your cameras support that to start/stop recording.

 

As for software, that's easy, get a C++ compiler and start writing code.

 

Hi,

 

I don't want to use the alarm inputs (I want to avoid any GUI and especially not use IE)

 

What do you mean "send URL commands" ? something like this? http://IPAddress:port#/videostream.cgi?user=username&pwd=password

 

yes, I (or someone I can hire) needs to start writing code. do you have any insight into which IP camera has a good SDK ?

 

What about root access - wouldn't it help me to have root-level access to the linux system on the camera itself, where presumably I'd be able to configure all the IP address stuff and set video parameters such as white balance, frame rate, bitrate?

 

thank you!

[buellwinkle 0]

That's great that you can get programming resources to do this. I was a software engineer so I appreciate the flexibility and may have a different perspective than most here.

 

Axis provides the best SDK and their firmware is open source and you can run scripts on their cameras, so frankly, don't know any other camera company at this level. For example, I was looking for a camera that can process license plates and trigger a gate to open if the license plate is on file. There's a company that has an add-on to Axis cameras to do this. Also, there's a camera company called dropcam that used to use Axis cameras with modified firmware that uploaded video in flash format that they hosted. So the possibilities are endless and they make cameras in a wide price range, from under $200 to over $4,000 and they are the largest IP camera company in the world. I think this openness promotes innovation, don't know why other companies haven't followed their lead.

 

ACTi also provides an extensive SDK, but no open source firmware. I would put them after Axis in this regard, but still has a lot of flexibility just doing URL encoding (per your example) and you can literally control every aspect of the camera from URL commands, even things not possible from their web interface. This allows you to develop shell scripts or VB scripts to run the URL commands without much programming experience.

 

Neither camera on it's own ouputs video that you can open with anything other than their tools, so you have to manage the recording in your software and have it write to a common format.

 

I would avoid any cheap Chinese made cameras as their SDK's are typically weak and support may not be there.

 

On ONVIF compatible cameras, you can use this standard to get video and the nice thing about ONVIF, at least in theory is you can use the same code across multiple brands. But it's limited by the rule of lowest common denominator, so you may not be able to take advantage of camera specific functionality.

 

You can also access most cameras via RTSP protocol to process video. Also a standard that many camera companies follow and there's probably plenty of sample programs out there if you leverage Google to help you.

 

Lastly, check out Red5 or Wowsa, these are video processing frameworks and there's going to be sample code that you can used to jumpstart your project. They are able to take video from straight from the camera and output it in various formats, like Flash so it can be seen by most browsers if that's your goal.