[done] Support for IP-cameras

[fshsweden]

I think it would be great to have support for IP-cameras (like Axis). Then it would be possible to have remote cameras included in the production!

[Mike]

I can do that. May I ask how you would use this feature, just fun or are you building a surveillance setup?

[fshsweden]

It would be used as a low-low-budget way of having multiple (most likely wireless) cameras at sport events.

I'm not sure, but that must be more cost effective than any other multiple camera solution, right?

In my case, I would like to have 2-3 extra cameras in an ice hockey arena for example. Depending on the quality of the IP camera (and the mic), it could possibly be used for in-game interviews too, so sound support would be great.

I have done streaming from various IP cameras myself, so I know its possible, albeit a bit tricky to deal with the various formats and non-standards... Axis cameras work well, as do others. There are also some models that simply doesnt work well at all.

I'm still evaluating VidBlaster, havent bought a license yet, but it looks promising!

[Mike]

If you can semi-permanently set one up and give me its IP I'll run some tests.

[fshsweden]

I'll se what I can do with my remote cameras (at my summer house) but it'll take reconfiguring, opening up firewall etc.

In the meantime, I believe there are a few public cameras you can test against.

Check this list to begin with: http://www.webcamxp.com/publicipcams.aspx

All are probably not open for streaming, but if you're lucky you'll find at least a few.

[Mike]

Assume you are referring to the mms streams, right? BTW: I hope you realize you can already incorporate any of these streams into VidBlaster using screen capture?

Meanwhile I want to invite others to post here if you want to see (direct) support for IP cameras implemented.

[fshsweden]

No I was more thinking about accessing the MJPG stream using:

http://ip-address/axis-cgi/mjpg/video.cgi?resolution=640x480

or MPEG4:

rtsp://ip-address:554/mpeg4/media.amp

I'm not an expert on these formats (well MJPG is easy) but we used VLC to stream and re-encode to H.264 in another system, and I know both these techniques work on Axis (including sound).

[rwilliston]

I am also interested in using IP cameras for wireless multiple-camera coverage of live events. Otherwise, I have to come up with some sort of wireless way of transmitting an S-Video, Firewire or USB signal from a typical camera to the computer...or I string cables to the one or two cameras I would like to place to cover a different angle.

[Dean Los Angeles]

I am setting up a sporting event with one camera 1 1/2 miles from the broadcast computer. There is an existing Ethernet microwave connection, so an IP camera will work well.

Will Vidblaster Pro be able to see the camera?

If not, that forces me to buy a decoder and another video input card. Kind of an expensive work around.

Assume you are referring to the mms streams, right? BTW: I hope you realize you can already incorporate any of these streams into VidBlaster using screen capture?

If I have to chose between screen capture and decoder/video input, which has the least cpu impact?

I am planning on a quad core processor with 4 cameras. The output will be streamed to a Windows Media Server.

[Mike]

Hi Dean,

Welcome to the forum! Please don't buy a decoder, I will implement this as soon as some of you can give me your live feeds for testing, as testing this is vital (i.e. what happens if a feed hickups or drops etc.).

Capturing from screen was offered as a temp solution, it's not as elegant (and CPU friendly) as direct support.

Mike

[natfunk71]

I would also benefit from IP camera. My broadcast features 2 hosts in separate locations. He's in another city. It would also be good to have interviews via "satellite", if you will.

[abouvette]

I would also benefit from IP camera. My broadcast features 2 hosts in separate locations. He's in another city. It would also be good to have interviews via "satellite", if you will.


Add me to the list of those interested in getting a remote camera linked to VidBlaster.
I don't have one for my own use but here is what I did and the results I got:

I went to webcamxp and downloaded an IP Camera driver:
http://www.webcamxp.com/download.aspx. Here is what it says about the driver:

IP Camera [JPEG/MJPEG] v4.2.7.2

this directshow source filters allows to connect all conventional ip cameras able to provide JPEG images or MJPEG streams. this can be used in any applications using video devices such as Skype, windows media encoder or msn messenger.

After installing the IP Camera driver, I then connected to one of their test cameras:
http://www.webcamxp.com/publicipcams.aspx

In my case, I chose the first camera in the Mobotix M10 list:
http://142.176.162.53:8082

I did this by selecting "IP Camera" in the video source dropdown in Adobe Flash Media Encoder 2.5.

In less than a minute, I had the camera's feed streaming in FME.

I then shut down FME and tried to do the same in VidBlaster PRO. I had a simple usb camera as camera 1 but when I choose IP Camera for camera 2 VidBlaster crashes. I get a message saying that the application encountered an error... vidblaster.exe.

I'm using XP sp2.

[Mike]

IP Camera support will be added in v0.43. Meanwhile if you have a true IP camera up & running, please let me have the URL (you can DM me if you want to keep it private) so I can test it.