Linux webcams for dummies

Philip Walden pwaldenlinux at pacbell.net
Mon Apr 2 16:25:56 UTC 2007


Michael A Peters wrote:
> I've not purchased any hardware and I will not be doing this until next
> year. I want to start looking into what is needed now though.
>
> I breed reptiles as a hobby, right now just various subspecies of the
> Common Kingsnake (Lampropeltis getula) and the California Alligator
> Lizard (Elgaria multicarinata multicarinata)
>
> Next year if it is possible I would like to set up a webcam to show
> incubation and hatching of a clutch of eggs. I'd like to do it using
> Linux technology - as I'm not buying a mac and I'm not paying for vista.
>
> For most of the incubation, there is no action - so a still image
> refreshing once an hour would be more than sufficient. As it gets closer
> to hatch time, though, it should refresh a lot more often. I don't know
> if a streaming video codec should be used that time or what. Kingsnake
> eggs usually take several days to hatch. The snake makes a couple slits
> in the egg and then rests with its nose sticking out for sometimes two
> to three days before it decided to venture out of the egg while it
> finishes absorbing the yolk.
>
> Alligator lizards sometimes do that, sometimes they burst their egg open
> and are out within a minute. So an alligator lizard egg incubation
> webcam would definitely need to have a very fast refresh to catch the
> action.
>
> Any suggestions on what type of hardware and software would be needed to
> do this with Fedora?
>
> Preferably I would want a script set to just automatically switch from
> the once an hour refresh to the more frequent refresh when it gets near
> hatching time. Also it would be nice to have a text layer automatically
> added that shows the days since clutch deposited.
>
> Resolution of webcam hardware is also an issue. kingsnake eggs are often
> the size of a ping pong ball, sometimes elongated and a bit bigger.
> Alligator lizard eggs are about the size of lemon drop.
>
> What kind of bandwidth is needed, can theora be used, and are there
> theora plugins for quicktime and windows media
>   
I have used *motion* to do this. It works with any kind of webcam 
(serial/usb direct connect to PC) or internet camera (stand-alone cam 
with built in web server). Motion constantly monitors images looking for 
motion events and logs events to disk. Another option will create movies 
of the events.

I used it to catch hooligans steal lawn ornaments, for example.

http://www.lavrsen.dk/twiki/bin/view/Motion/WebHome





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