Sprucing up Network Cam Image...

[David Pinero]

I finally purchased a DCS-1000W network camera and got it to produce a
static webcam image via FTP to a server so that I could use said image
on a webcam page. The live streaming thing is fun, too.

But about that static image. When I ran a USB webcam and the
associated software to drive it (e.g. Homewatcher, KabCam, ConquerCam,
etc.), I always had options to add colorful time stamps, banners, and
logos.

Well, the problem is that the network camera image lacks all of this!
The inherent configuration doesn't seem to allow for sprucing up the
static image at all. When people visit my webcam image (link below),
all they get is the image with no reference to time, no logo, no
nothing. Just an image.

I knew of this before I bought this model camera and was simply
resigned to the fact that I couldn't have any of this stuff AND a
network camera like the DCS-1000W.

However, it occurred to me there might be third-party software that
"takes over" those kinds of features after all.

Is there software that accepts a static network camera image, applies
a time stamp or whatever other decorations you might want, and then
FTPs it again for basic webcam page presentation? It would be
software very much like your KabCams or HomeWatchers only without the
video device part. Its "video" input would actually be an image file
delivered by the network camera.

Here is my current webcam page. Notice there is no banner or time
stamp (the associated live stream does, but I'm talking about the
static one):
http://www.davidpinero.com/webcam.cfm

Here is an example of how it SHOULD look (I'll use the famous
CoolerCam as an example). Notice it has a time stamp and the company
logo on it?
http://www.coolercam.com/

I imagine this software would FTP the original image someplace first,
this hypothetical software would then fetch it, process it with a time
stamp or banner, then throw a "new" image back up - perhaps with a
different file name. In any event, the one sent back would be the one
used in the ultimate presentation.

Dave

[David Pinero]

On Sun, 14 Dec 2003 22:41:35 GMT, David Pinero
> wrote:

>
>I finally purchased a DCS-1000W network camera and got it to produce a
>static webcam image via FTP to a server so that I could use said image
>on a webcam page. The live streaming thing is fun, too.

I'm going to reply to my own post. The question still stands if
anyone can answer it. However, I have since discovered that
Homewatcher (www.homewatcher.com) does what I'm asking, if only very
basically.

Homewatcher allows you to program an image URL as a video device. It
polls an HTTP location every minute for an image file you specify,
downloads it, applies a time stamp or whatever, then UPLOADS it again
on some time interval or motion basis. It calls this feature "Axis
Camera" support but it's really NETWORK CAMERA support because it's
basically the same problem for all network cameras.

By the time you see this you will notice that my webcam page now has a
time stamp. The drawback to this approach is that A) Once again I
have to devote some local PC CPU resources to run Homewatcher, and B)
The minimum update interval for a static image is however long it
takes for the complex series of interactions to take place between the
network camera, Homewatcher, and the FTP location. If you're a webcam
operator used to one minute updates, you might have to settle for 2 at
best under this configuration.

Still, if one had several dozen webcams, which is my target
proficiency, this would be an ideal way to label and manage them all.
Unfortunately Homewatcher does't allow for more complex levels of
banner application but other software might. I'll continue poking
around and report to this group.

Dave