Webcam capture program

[pkforch]

Hi all,
i am developing a yahoo webcam capture module for the community.
so tell me what are the features u want in it and how desperately u want it.

--UPDATE ..
Now completed for Version 5.5
Download yahoo webcam capture from
http://www.pkumar.de
and it is completely free

Prabhat

[Dave]

I use webcamwatcher to capture Yahoo cams...if you can improve on that then let me know...

[Jeff]

quote:i am developing a yahoo webcam capture module for the community. so tell me what are the features you want in it and how desperately you want it.

What features were you planning to put in it? Start there, and maybe we can add to it.

quote:I use webcamwatcher to capture Yahoo cams...

What is this program, and where can you get it, and how does it capture Yahoo cams? I haven't heard of it before.

Jeff Hester aka "Mister BigBlueBall.com"

[pkforch]

Features currently implemented:
in giving yahoo id of the person's webcam u watching .
it starts capturing frames and creates a fi´nal uncompressed avi file.
currently it captures only one webcam.

Features to implement:
1.show the list of active webcams on ur desktop so that u can choose.
2. use multithresding to eoncode final avi file
3. support for multiple webcam captures.

[Jeff]

Hey pkforch, how about a download link? <img src=icon_smile_wink.gif border=0 align=middle>

Jeff Hester aka "Mister BigBlueBall.com"

[Dave]

Hey Jeff...sorry about the late reply...I forgot that I had posted here...<img src=icon_smile_wink.gif border=0 align=middle>

Webcam watcher can be found here: http://www.webcamwatcher.com

Most of the information that you need is available on the site. It is an excellent cam capturing piece of software. The freeware version(which is also not spyware thankfully! To confirm this go to a site like http://grc.com ) can capture up to 20 cams simultaneously.

To capture Yahoo! cams all you need to do is open Webcamwatcher and edit a cam or add a cam. Once you are in edit or add mode all you need to do is add the following line where it says "Image URL" : C:\Windows\TEMP\image-[insert the name of the cam you are viewing].jpg. Remember to insert a hyphen (-) between the word "image" and the name of the cam you are recording. Thus if I was viewing babyblue777's cam and wanted to capture it then the line would read as follows: C:\Windows\TEMP\image-babyblue777.jpg.

Also make sure that you set the cam to "streaming" and that you select motion detect. These options can also be found in the edit or create a cam option dialog box.

Once you have done this you will succesfully capture the cam you are viewing. The frames will be saved to your C:\. Obviously you need to be granted permission from the broadcaster of the cam before you can capture it.

Why does this work? Well its fairly simple. Once you connect to the Yahoo! servers and view a cam, the cams image is refreshed in your TEMP folder as a *.jpg file. This is how you are able to view the cam in Windows. Thus, all you are doing is capturing the image that you recieve from the Yahoo! server in your TEMP folder and saving those images with Webcamwatcher. Thus is it not neccesary to obtain the url of the webcam you are viewing in order to capture it (thankfully!).

I am not certain if this exact method will work in Windows 2000 or XP. However all that you need to do is find the folder where the cams image is refreshed and you will be able to capture it.

Hope this helps!

"No one can make you feel inferior without your consent"

[Jeff]

Thanks Dave! I had found webcamwatcher, but hadn't thought to capture local temp files. Neat little trick!

Jeff Hester aka "Mister BigBlueBall.com"

[Jeff]

Developer Andy Sparrow has another application designed specifically for capturing webcam images from Yahoo Messenger. It's called CamGrab, and it's available in two versions: a basic, FREE version and a more advanced commercial version for a paltry $9.95 US.

It's got a funky interface, but it appears to handle the job nicely and with less fuss than a general purpose webcam capture program. Check out Andy's web site and tell him that you heard about it here at BigBlueBall. <img src=icon_smile_wink.gif border=0 align=middle>

Jeff Hester aka "Mister BigBlueBall.com"

[looker_68]

Hi,
I have been trying to get Webcam watcher 3 to record yahoo webcams. I have edited a webcam using this file:
C:/windows/temp/image-xxxxxxxxxx.jpg

Its not working. I think it may because i am using Windows Me. I cannot find where the program stores the webcam feed. Does anybody have any suggestions. I tried to find Camgrab and try it but none of the links have it<img src=icon_smile_angry.gif border=0 align=middle>. I am frustrated help

looker_68

[Jeff]

I have XP; maybe ME is similar in how it stores the images. It's different than what Win98 does.

For XP, I have to configure webcamcatcher to look in C:\Documents and Settings\[YourLoginName]\Local Settings\Temp\image-XXXXXX.jpg

It's a hidden folder, but it's there.

Jeff Hester aka "Mister BigBlueBall.com"