Video Surveillance

[AUtigers350z]

Well since it doesn't seem like I will be able to get out of Campus Pointe for this next year I am thinking about installing some sort of video surveillance in our apartment out a window and just parking my car closer to the front where I can monitor who gets near the Z. I am looking for a camera, preferrably color/night shot and a way to hook it up to my computer so that it backs the videos up to my hard drive.

I know some of you guys are quite the computer gurus so if anyones got any places to look for something like this I would appreciate the advice as I'm not even sure where to start.

Thanks,
Eric

[Jess]

there's tons of software that'll do that. most will have motion activation. Im sure you can find a good cam to meet your lighting conditions that you can stick in the window.

Even if you have a dynamic IP you'll be able to set it up so you can keep an eye on your shit in real time even if you're away from your place.

once you find some software that fits your needs, do the right thing and download it illegally via torrent i.e. torrentspy.com or thepiratebay.org

here's a google search. start checking stuff out. When I was living in Auburn, there was a dickhead assed neighbor who liked messing with my tools (ask 95coupe) so for a while I had a cam set up in that fashion. I forget what software I used though.

http://www.google.com/search?num=100&hl=en&safe=off&sa=X&oi=spell&resnum=0&ct=result&cd=1&q=video+surveillance+download&spell=1

[Zx RaTeD]

If you get one that you can view over the net, just be sure to set a password on that shit. There are tons of them out there that are easy to find with no passwords on them. I've heard people getting burglarized as a result.

I actually had a camera aimed at my car in the window when I lived at the village. Unfortunately it was often unplugged because my roommate would hook up his speakers and playstations and shit. The night that my car cover got jacked, it was unplugged. My shit just recorded to a vhs and I got it from the sharper images website. It was one of their first wireless cams. Worked pretty good, but I guess extreme use made the camera finally break. It came with a nice little flip up monitor as well with 4 different channels for multiple cams. It even had Playboy!

[AUtigers350z]

Cool thanks for the info. I will look into this more when I get back from the beach. Definately gonna be nice to get away and throw a few back :beer: while checkin out some hotties =)

[xamraci]

Cool thanks for the info. I will look into this more when I get back from the beach. Definately gonna be nice to get away and throw a few back :beer: while checkin out some hotties =)

Dood, your boyfriend isnt gonna be at the beach with you this time...you wont be throwing back cock shakes...damn idiots

[Grider]

My dad and I looked at doing this for him to take video of the deer he feeds in his backyard using Zoneminder (http://www.zoneminder.com/) on a linux server. Probably over complicated for your needs, but I know for sure that it will record video based on activity in zones that you setup in the picture.

Problem with what you are planning to is that you have to get the same parking spot all the time or move and adjust the zoom on the camera and the zones to match where the car is every night or time you park it. If you do not zoom in then you are not going to be able to get video that is good enough to identify someone; all you will have is an entertaining video of how they took shit off your car.

Also I like using an old tape based video camera because they can be had on the cheap and give you better quality than a cheap usb cam. You can run an rca cable to a good capture card on your computer or you can find one with firewire (dv.link on Sonys) and a firewire card on your computer and record with that. Since you are not using the tape to record it works well and you get better low light capability and a better quality video than you do with a shitty usb camera.

The bread and butter of any of these setups is the software. I have not looked at any of this stuff in a while so I do not have any Windows based software recommendations. I might play with it this weekend; I've been looking for an excuse to get my camcorder out.

[AUtigers350z]

My dad and I looked at doing this for him to take video of the deer he feeds in his backyard using Zoneminder (http://www.zoneminder.com/) on a linux server. Probably over complicated for your needs, but I know for sure that it will record video based on activity in zones that you setup in the picture.

Problem with what you are planning to is that you have to get the same parking spot all the time or move and adjust the zoom on the camera and the zones to match where the car is every night or time you park it. If you do not zoom in then you are not going to be able to get video that is good enough to identify someone; all you will have is an entertaining video of how they took shit off your car.

Also I like using an old tape based video camera because they can be had on the cheap and give you better quality than a cheap usb cam. You can run an rca cable to a good capture card on your computer or you can find one with firewire (dv.link on Sonys) and a firewire card on your computer and record with that. Since you are not using the tape to record it works well and you get better low light capability and a better quality video than you do with a shitty usb camera.

The bread and butter of any of these setups is the software. I have not looked at any of this stuff in a while so I do not have any Windows based software recommendations. I might play with it this weekend; I've been looking for an excuse to get my camcorder out.

Cool, preciate it. I realize this is going to take quite a bit of reasearch on my part as I haven't done anything like this before. Just thought I would get a good starting point from one of you guys. If you decide to mess around with anything this weekend and find something you like, let me know.

Thanks Jason :thumbsup:


Dood, your boyfriend isnt gonna be at the beach with you this time...you wont be throwing back cock shakes...damn idiots

Nick your just jealous you can't be there throwing back cock shakes with us.. :omg:

[Grider]

I got zoneminder working....

I did not mess with the windows ones as the capture card I am playing with it about 10 years old (gotta love pci) and windows drivers are spotty for it. I've got a ATI TV wonder but it stays in my pc as it is the tv for my bedroom. It is a crappy card for doing this with. I have a dual tuner Hauupage MCE-500 in my SageTV box that would be perfect as it encodes mpeg2 on the card but it is too nice to be taking out and mucking around with.

I might load up windows again on that box, but I was not in the mood to deal with its shit today.

[Jnic335i]

My cousin has that setup in his Business in Gulf Shores. Hooked into the IP and has night, motion detection, and sound. and he can view it any where that has internet access. Pretty freaking pimp.