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Thursday, December 30, 2010

Detection of motion using a webcam

Install motion detector webcam to monitor security
I just read about a man who caught the thief in his house with a turn on his webcam when motion is detected, and after that take a picture and email the pictures somewhere. How do I set this up yourself?

Part-mail is a little unusual, but Webcams are inexpensive these days and so is the software to monitor them. Support Multiple motion detection software packages as well as publishing the results in a different way.
 

Let's review the pieces you need.

First, of course, you need a webcam. It is nothing more than a video camera installed on your computer. Many digital video cameras, for example, can be used as a Webcam. More realistically, webcams from popular manufacturers such as Logitech is not only cheap, but often comes complete with drivers and software necessary to do everything you need.
Once you have a webcam, the next step is the software. Most will actually come with software that will allow you a kind of webcam function, but may not detect motion. This is often an option - the default behavior may be more common than taking so many pictures every second. Look for an option below or motion detection surveillance to see if the software that came with this feature .. If not, you're almost done.
If not, there are several very good packages out there. One I've Used in the past is iSPY. One I use in the past is iSPY. A quick search also appears WebCam Monitor - while I was not using this product, promising to do almost everything you might want. In fact, a quick search for "motion detection webcam software" appears a lot of possibilities. If you're on a budget, "the free movement detection webcam software" also has a few hits, but I'm always very careful about downloading the so-called "free" software.
Finally, there is what to do with motion pictures taken. Realize, of course, that computer must be connected to the internet so you can view your web cam remotely. What is the most common approach is to have a webcam to take snapshots every few seconds and automatically upload that to the website. By detecting the movement involved, the cam may only upload images if, or when, the movement has been detected .. You will then simply visit the website periodically to see what cam you've seen. (If you do not already have a website, your own check with your ISP might. Already you have space available from them that you can use for things like this.)
Scenario mentioned in the original question is an interesting one: after motion is detected, take snapshots and email them to you immediately. Not all webcam software supports this, so be sure to check out the features that you evaluate what the package is used. Mentioned above WebCam Monitor, for example, email lists as one option.
All in all, using a simple webcam surveillance for some reasonably priced, very likely, and quite popular.

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