[question] Webcam Monitoring

Ok Judge, here's one for ya.

Is it possible to write a script to grab a webcam image?

I'm asking here because you know a bit about scripting and perhaps it would be cool if it can be done either with scripting to use in SysStats or perhaps as an added 'ability' for the next version of SysStats.

Personally, I hate the software that came with my Creative Webcam NX. I do however use it to grab images and then to post to a website because I searched all over and haven't found anything I like that will simply grab images and put them in a specified directory with a nice and simple interface.

As I was farting around with the DTP config of mine I was thinking that it might go well with such an application. The script would grab images at timed intervals and the dtp could be pointed to the directory where the webcam grabber stores the images.

I dunno, maybe it's impossibly hard ... since it seems so difficult to find such an app that is FOR webcams ... not just accessing the device.

#197640

Since most webcams take temp pics and can save them locally, I dont see why this can't be done.

same goes for webcam's from websites since it just updates the image with a file of the same name.

#198137

Heres a freeware app thats skinnable and you can save the images to a folder should work good .........Webcam Viewer

#198169

Ok, well, I did configure DTP to go into my saved images from the capture software and of course that works for viewing images already taken. And for now I have the shortcut set to launch my webcam monitor.

The app Ghost suggested is cool and all, but I was kinda hoping for something that I could use to view my own webcam ... not from a url, but from the actual device ... so I can snap a pic from it live.

I found this other program awhile ago. For the life of me I can't remember what it was called, but it would grab snaps from the device. The only problem with it was that I couldn't see the live image. This is sort of annoying as a lot of the time I have my cam pointed outside where I can't reach it easily, and I can't see what I'm snapping before I snap.

#198283

Found a neat little util/app called VideoThumb2.

It uses DirectX to dray JUST the overlay on your screen. No borders, or buttons on or around the image. It has the ability to draw the video at any size, meaning the video overlay can be sized to any dimensions by simply dragging the corner. It accesses a few functions through either the tray icon or a right click on the overlay.

I can currently use this to draw on top of one of my desklet backgrounds to give an iillusion of it being a webcam desklet ... but of course I can't put any other overlays on top of it, like for a shiney screen type gloss etc.

Two things not so fitting for me personally about it are that while it's running it uses a tab or button on the taskbar [i'd much rather have it always in the tray] and it can't seem to do snaps.

But for the most part, I was just interested in it because it does just the overlay.

I'm just wondering, not being a programmer, if this app could be used with scripting to draw the overlay IN a SysStats config?

#198712

http://www.thedashboarder.com/archive/

scroll down to JEarthCam 1.1

can we port this?

it uses java, but I got it to work in my browser just fine

#202575

@Manyk, you may want to check out iMage-in. It can download the same picture from the Internet as often as you want (so your webcam must keep saving to the same filename). You can use a glossy PNG -- or basically any image -- as an overlay and group both so they move together. It's small, free, and only appears in Task Manager (right click on an image, choose Properties, then Quit to exit).

It can't grab pictures from your camera and it's not scriptable, but you can use the images as desktop shortcuts. You might find it useful until something better comes along.

#204156