23 replies to this topic

[Mark]

Has anybody considered building an add-in with which you can monitor a webcam connected to your homeserver? I know there are web 'enabled' webcams that can do the trick, but why not use WHS? Jut for monitoring your house while on vacation or away (use it as a security cam, even start recording if something changes) or just to be able to remotely watch your flowers grow ?

Curious on your opinion? and skills.... (no WHS developer myself yet)

[Dave Marchant (WGS)]

There are a few 'freeware' packages around that will take a webcam snapshot and post it up to a web page. This could form some sort of solution, but to have something managed through the Console would be ideal.

[Richard (WinObs)]

I use fwink for uploading a timed webcam image:

http://sourceforge.net/projects/fwink/

Best part it is Freeware.

[Mark]

 Richard (WGS), on Feb 13 2008, 01:07 AM, said:

I use fwink for uploading a timed webcam image:

http://sourceforge.net/projects/fwink/

Best part it is Freeware.

Thanks for the hint Richard.
But how did you implement it in combination with WHS? Did you create a website/page on your server?
You can't control any of the settings through the console though, can you?
It would work for now I guess, but a really integrated controllable add-in would be better!

[autodrivel]

In a similar vein:

A webcam Server Add-in may be more useful.

The issue that I'm thinking about here is the likely physical location of the WHS box.
They are designed to be hidden in a cupboard or where-ever - Streaming live images of the inside of my cupboard doesn't make for exciting viewing.
But put webcams on the User PC's and have the "take" from them distributed by WHS- THEN you've got something interesting.
Even better, have an associated WHS-aware client app on the User PCs which sends snapshots to WHS at pre-determined intervals. But it also has the capability to be "woken-up" by WHS asking for a realtime feed.
This might then be a reason for putting a WebCam on your Media-Centre PC - (Think about its position - likely to be in your main living area overlooking significant valuables and most likely to get a facial snapshot if the badguys come calling whilst you're on hols....)

[Mark]

 autodrivel, on Feb 28 2008, 01:28 PM, said:

In a similar vein:

A webcam Server Add-in may be more useful.

The issue that I'm thinking about here is the likely physical location of the WHS box.
They are designed to be hidden in a cupboard or where-ever - Streaming live images of the inside of my cupboard doesn't make for exciting viewing.
But put webcams on the User PC's and have the "take" from them distributed by WHS- THEN you've got something interesting.
Even better, have an associated WHS-aware client app on the User PCs which sends snapshots to WHS at pre-determined intervals. But it also has the capability to be "woken-up" by WHS asking for a realtime feed.
This might then be a reason for putting a WebCam on your Media-Centre PC - (Think about its position - likely to be in your main living area overlooking significant valuables and most likely to get a facial snapshot if the badguys come calling whilst you're on hols....)

You got a point! Indeed the location of the WHS might not be ideal for a webcam... But through LAN or WLAN would work and if I remember correctly they are available. But I just do not want to use their software and interface and want it connect to the WHS and also be able to store pictures of video from the webcam on the server. Ideal would be if something changes, but no idea if software is available for that...

[Mark]

GaMeR wrote a Wiki on how to install Active Webcam in combination with WHS. Until there will be a dedicated Add-in this will certainly do the trick!

[David Haigh]

Having it as an Addin would also help with issues like this one, reported by Andrew,


Hi Steve,

I currently have a custom built WHS and one of the things I am using it for is to record the output from an IP CCTV Camera. I installed the software (Pansonic's Network Camera Recorder) and configure it all by remote connecting to the box. Everything was working fine and it was recording continually night and day. I connected again via Remote Desktop last night and could see that the recordings had stopped a few night's ago at 0200h. This appears to be the time that my Windows Automatic Updates run so I guess I had one of those at the time. As soon as I logged on, the software started recording again as I have the "Start on Bootup" option switch on in the application.

It appears that WHS is waiting for an initial Remote Desktop connection to kick off the recording software. It presumably keeps this connection open indefinitely till the box is rebooted.

I have currently disabled the automatic installation of updates on my WHS but I'd rather not leave it like this. Is there anyway to get the WHS to automatically login when it is started or do you have any other suggestions I could try?

Thanks,

Andrew.

[Donnie]

 David Haigh, on Apr 3 2008, 01:14 PM, said:

Having it as an Addin would also help with issues like this one, reported by Andrew,


Hi Steve,

I currently have a custom built WHS and one of the things I am using it for is to record the output from an IP CCTV Camera. I installed the software (Pansonic's Network Camera Recorder) and configure it all by remote connecting to the box. Everything was working fine and it was recording continually night and day. I connected again via Remote Desktop last night and could see that the recordings had stopped a few night's ago at 0200h. This appears to be the time that my Windows Automatic Updates run so I guess I had one of those at the time. As soon as I logged on, the software started recording again as I have the "Start on Bootup" option switch on in the application.

It appears that WHS is waiting for an initial Remote Desktop connection to kick off the recording software. It presumably keeps this connection open indefinitely till the box is rebooted.

I have currently disabled the automatic installation of updates on my WHS but I'd rather not leave it like this. Is there anyway to get the WHS to automatically login when it is started or do you have any other suggestions I could try?

Thanks,

Andrew.

You can try installing the webcam software as a service, that way it'll restart automatically when the machine is rebooted. Any Service Installer is a great addin for WHS that allows you to do this.

[spile]

If you have an IP webcam then the process is really simple:
Set the webcam to forward to an unused port eg: 192.168.0.8:8080
Add a service and firewall rule (port forwarding) on your router to port 8080
Add an img link to default.aspx, eg: <img src="IPADDRESSHERE:8080/fullsize.jpg"></td>

Where IPADDRESSHERE is your external IP address

[jblang]

 spile, on Sep 12 2008, 10:35 AM, said:

If you have an IP webcam then the process is really simple:
Set the webcam to forward to an unused port eg: 192.168.0.8:8080
Add a service and firewall rule (port forwarding) on your router to port 8080
Add an img link to default.aspx, eg: <img src="IPADDRESSHERE:8080/fullsize.jpg"></td>

Where IPADDRESSHERE is your external IP address

Can you give a step by step on how to do this? I am running a webpage from my WHS and would like to make the IP Web cam (linksys WVC54GC) linked to that page.

Thanks

[Pete Cousins]

I'm looking at writing a simple add-in to do this. Currently, I'm thinking of writing a service that runs on the Home Server to take pictures from an attached webcam at intervals and save in a folder on the home server. This will run at low processor priority so it doesn't interfere with media streaming, backup etc. The add-in will add a tab to the console to allow selecting a camera, and some basic configuration:-
1) Enable/disable the camera
2) How often to take a picture (tests with my Logitech Webcam Pro 4000 indicate that once every 4 seconds is as fast as it will go!).
3) Where to save the pictures
4) How many pictures to place in a sub folder before starting a new sub folder (date time stamped of course).
5) An option for setting picture retention (e.g. one week, one month, 20MB).

I'm thinking that the WHIIST add-in could be used to display the pictures, but it also wouldn't be too hard to write a web page to display the latest picture.
I'm currently using WIA (Windows Image Acquisition and .net) - if anyone knows of anything better, please shout.
So - am I wasting my time? Is this enough functionality to make it useful? I may be able to add picture comparison at a later date, so that an image is only saved if it is different from the previous one.
Any thoughts welcome...

[Etoa]

 Pete Cousins, on Nov 23 2008, 06:28 AM, said:

but it also wouldn't be too hard to write a web page to display the latest picture.

That's what I am interested in. I would like to have the latest picture displayed on my web site and updated every minute or so.

[Dave Marchant (WGS)]

 Etoa, on Nov 23 2008, 06:46 PM, said:

That's what I am interested in. I would like to have the latest picture displayed on my web site and updated every minute or so.

I have been using Booru Web Cam for a number of years. Although it is pretty old software (2003) and still beta (no updates in the last 5 years) I find it very stable. I prefer the version 1.3 Beta 2 to the newer version 2. It allows you to take a snapshot at predetermined intervals (it copes with 30 seconds with no difficulty) and either store the result in a nominated directory or upload by FTP.
There are command line options to run minimised start processing, but it needs to be run under a user account. I haven't tried it as a service so far (using AnyService Installer) as I just run it on my PC and upload the picture to my web site.

[jblang]

 Pete Cousins, on Nov 23 2008, 12:28 PM, said:

I'm looking at writing a simple add-in to do this. Currently, I'm thinking of writing a service that runs on the Home Server to take pictures from an attached webcam at intervals and save in a folder on the home server. This will run at low processor priority so it doesn't interfere with media streaming, backup etc. The add-in will add a tab to the console to allow selecting a camera, and some basic configuration:-
1) Enable/disable the camera
2) How often to take a picture (tests with my Logitech Webcam Pro 4000 indicate that once every 4 seconds is as fast as it will go!).
3) Where to save the pictures
4) How many pictures to place in a sub folder before starting a new sub folder (date time stamped of course).
5) An option for setting picture retention (e.g. one week, one month, 20MB).

I'm thinking that the WHIIST add-in could be used to display the pictures, but it also wouldn't be too hard to write a web page to display the latest picture.
I'm currently using WIA (Windows Image Acquisition and .net) - if anyone knows of anything better, please shout.
So - am I wasting my time? Is this enough functionality to make it useful? I may be able to add picture comparison at a later date, so that an image is only saved if it is different from the previous one.
Any thoughts welcome...

That is exactly what I am looking for. I've tried TinCam, which works great but there is the initial cost. With all that the WHS can do, why not a webcam addin? (No, you wouldn't be wasting your time!) Only other feature I could think of if it could capture from IP cameras.

[spile]

 jblang, on Oct 15 2008, 11:30 PM, said:

Can you give a step by step on how to do this? I am running a webpage from my WHS and would like to make the IP Web cam (linksys WVC54GC) linked to that page.

Thanks

The instructions would depend on your webcam and router. Mine is an old Axis webcam and Netgeat DG834 router.

[Pete Cousins]

I've started work on an add-in, but as I'm also studying for my .net exam, don't expect anything before the new year.

[Pete Cousins]

I'm making slow progress, but have hit a problem (ok, several but I've overcome the others). The problem is that when I plug in a webcam to the Home Server, it doesn't show up in under Control panel/ Scanners and Cameras. I've tried a Logitec Webcam Pro 4000 (with drivers loaded), and a new webcam, that doesn't require drivers (cool eh?). I've enabled the Windows Image Acquisition (WIA) service that is disabled by default, and even tried runnning it under the Local System account, but still no luck. This is the case on my Production and Test Windows Home Servers. On my Windows XP Machines, the webcams appear without a problem. I want to use WIA to capture the images, as that's easier to code, which is what I believe sits behind the Scanners and Cameras. I also not that the WIA*.dll files sitting in c:\windows\system32 on the Home Servers are slightly older than those on my XP machines, but can't find an update anywhere.
I've knocked up a little app that uses avicap32.dll, but it's not as neat, and doesn't cope with more than one camera. That can capture video and picture and picks up the cameras fine (one at a time).
Can anyone help?
Thanks,
Pete Cousins

[Klode]

 Mark, on Apr 3 2008, 02:27 AM, said:

GaMeR wrote a Wiki on how to install Active Webcam in combination with WHS. Until there will be a dedicated Add-in this will certainly do the trick!

I have installed Active webcam and it works well with WHS. There is an option to run it as a service and whenever you restart the server the webcam restart as well. It's really easy to setup. You can watch it via internet if you're away from home. Just a drawback is if you use the demo version, you get a message that you use the demo and if you want to get rid of the message, you have to buy it. But it doesn't really matter for me since the message is in the upper left corner. Very good piece of software. You can add as many camera as you want always depending on your computer speed and HDD space.

And for those interested in a webcam add-in, if you use the add-in "WhsProgramLauncher13", then you can completely manage Active webcam within the WHS console.

Klode

[Pete Cousins]

I've tried Active Webcam, and although it's very good, I'd like to produce something much simpler - just an Add-in to install and configure, and away you go. Something an average user could install. It looks like WIA is out (not support on Windows Home Server!!), so has anyone got any other suggestions?
thanks,
Pete Cousins