DaFoot Posted September 14, 2015 Share Posted September 14, 2015 Ignoring the software aspect, I'm trying to work out the best way to make use of video camera to provide a video stream to the computer. I'm thinking a low end (£150 ish) video camera with HDMI out, which I could connect to the laptop for the software to record as a loop. This is not press a button to start then to stop and edit the result. I need the camera to be constantly streaming video to the PC (the software will allow replay while still record). Is there such a thing as HDMI-in on laptops? Do video cameras provide USB output (and would it have sufficient bandwidth)? Or do I need some additional hardware between camera and laptop? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tzijlstra Posted September 15, 2015 Share Posted September 15, 2015 How important is the video-quality? Sounds to me like you would be best served by a (simple) webcam. If you search for webcam in the Google Shopping section you will find a whole host from around a tenner up to the top of your budget. For around 50£ you get an HD webcam that is on USB-3. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaFoot Posted September 15, 2015 Author Share Posted September 15, 2015 Thought about that, but the zoom provided for by better cameras would be important Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andysm Posted September 15, 2015 Share Posted September 15, 2015 Firstly I have never heard of a laptop that can accept HDMI input, secondly the HDMI video stream is uncompressed and for HD can be several gigabits per second, so you will either need a very large hard drive or a laptop able to compress HD video in real time using software, which won't be cheap. I think some cameras can stream compressed video over USB, so could try one of those, or a webcam. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaFoot Posted September 15, 2015 Author Share Posted September 15, 2015 So that would sound like if I want to use HDMI output from camera I would need some gizmo to re-encode it between laptop and camera, perhaps a USB video capture widget? Otherwise it's trying to find a USB camera with zoom then... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tzijlstra Posted September 15, 2015 Share Posted September 15, 2015 Firstly I have never heard of a laptop that can accept HDMI input, secondly the HDMI video stream is uncompressed and for HD can be several gigabits per second, so you will either need a very large hard drive or a laptop able to compress HD video in real time using software, which won't be cheap. I think some cameras can stream compressed video over USB, so could try one of those, or a webcam. I think it depends on the CPU, fairly sure the i7 series can process it on the fly, I have a laptop with HDMI in by the way, so they do exist! An HDMI capture card is probably necessary though. There is a discussion here that might help DaFoot. So that would sound like if I want to use HDMI output from camera I would need some gizmo to re-encode it between laptop and camera, perhaps a USB video capture widget? Otherwise it's trying to find a USB camera with zoom then... New Logitech cams can be controlled using a Logitech Controller App which was designed for Win8, so should work with Win10 as well. It can help with zoom, pan and tilt apparently and works with the c920, c615, c525, c310 and c270. PS curiosity dictates I ask, going on your sig I think you are planning to stream footage of animals? If you are you could have a look at http://www.liveanimals.tv Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaFoot Posted September 15, 2015 Author Share Posted September 15, 2015 Thanks tzijlstra. This project actually has nothing to do with animals.... though a future one with webcams might. This project is actually to implement a replay system, for some sports referees. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tzijlstra Posted September 15, 2015 Share Posted September 15, 2015 Thanks tzijlstra. This project actually has nothing to do with animals.... though a future one with webcams might. This project is actually to implement a replay system, for some sports referees. Ah, I can see how the quality of the camera is really important, it will be at distance? Not sure a webcam can cope with that. Modern DSLRs (Like Canon and Nikon) can film digitally, using the lenses that come with them, and thus might be more suited for that sort of thing, but you are talking a lot of money if you haven't got the cameras yet. A friend of mine uses DSLR to film at distance for his research, he shared this site on Facebook some time ago after getting questions from people about how it works: http://dslrvideoshooter.com/category/how-tos/ He shoots direct to the memory of the camera and edits it later, but I am fairly sure some DSLRs also hook up to Macs and PCs. He had a 5000£ budget to set things up and struggled to get all the right gear for that price though! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaFoot Posted September 15, 2015 Author Share Posted September 15, 2015 I've a decent SLR that will do video, but bit pricey when a £150 video camera would probably suffice. That and needing 4 sets of camera/laptop/any bits I need between the two. Recording isn't an option - it needs to be working like a webcam, providing a constant feed to the computer. Recording done on the computer, the software maintains around about the last hour of video available. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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