Is it possible: dash cam/camera sending data to a computer directly?

[Ken Bayard]

I'm sure its possible, but can a web camera, or a standard definition digital camcorder send the data to your mobile laptop or an external hard drive?

Would it take up to much memory to use the computer for anything els at the same time? (web, data transfer, gps programs)

Anyone willing to explain how its done and what the options are?


Ken

 

[rdale]

Are you asking to connect a webcam to a computer and see the video on your screen? Absolutely - that's what they do. You plug the webcam into your USB port. It's not a big deal on your system.

I know of no way to plug direct into an external hard drive though.

 

[Skip Talbot]

Ken, do you mean recording the webcam's stream to a laptop hard drive? If that's what you mean, there are plenty of webcam utilities that will do this. I use WebcamMax: http://www.webcammax.com/ which also creates multiple Webcam's from a single stream so I can use it in multiple applications.

You might be able to use your digital camcorder as a webcam via the USB or Firewire port. That is going to vary from model to model. If not, then you can get a USB Video capture device that will create a Webcam out of the Camcorder's RCA composite video out (the yellow plug). Check out EasyCap Make sure you get one that's compatible with your version of Windows. Scott Bennett, Steve Miller-OK, or the ChaserTV guys are good ones to ask as they helped me setup my Webcam hardware.

I'm not sure about memory consumption, but I don't think the entire stream is loaded into memory, only small blocks that are temporarily kept. I think hard drive space is the bigger issue, and as long as you have a modern processor (a Core 2 Duo would be ideal), I think you'll have no problem multitasking with this running in the background.

Are you just trying to record your entire chase? I thought about using a webcam to do this, but I finally settled on getting a harddrive camcorder. My Sony HDR-XR500v records something like 18 hours in high definition. With a harddrive camcorder, you don't have to worry about the state of your laptop or running additional software. If your laptop shuts down in the middle of recording your webcam's stream, you'll probably lose the entire stream.

 

[Walt VanRheen]

ON a similar note, I am thinking of using web cams (2 or 3) to to record video interaction between chase partners. I would like to plug these USB cams into a single laptop using it for a DVR. Then I would want to use these files to edit together our chase with our hand held HD cameras. I am sure this would take a fairly substantial processor and memory, not to mention HD space, but that could be off loaded nightly to a portable HD.

My other thought was the small flash video cameras in the sub 200 range, but their battery life is limited, as well as internal media and I dont want to me worrying about filling up memory in the middle of a chase afternoon.

Ideas?

 

[Ric Burney]

ON a similar note, I am thinking of using web cams (2 or 3) to to record video interaction between chase partners. I would like to plug these USB cams into a single laptop using it for a DVR. Then I would want to use these files to edit together our chase with our hand held HD cameras. I am sure this would take a fairly substantial processor and memory, not to mention HD space, but that could be off loaded nightly to a portable HD.

My other thought was the small flash video cameras in the sub 200 range, but their battery life is limited, as well as internal media and I dont want to me worrying about filling up memory in the middle of a chase afternoon.

Ideas?

Use a stand-alone DVR made for CCTV that handles up to 4 cams at once. With it's own HD you can replay and use only the shots you need (one for each cam). To get real time feed from that unit, split off the video output from the DVR and have one leg going to your laptop via a usb video capture device.
I've used this same set up. The DVR and cams are all 12v. I used one of my aux 12v power poles splitting them 5 ways The entire system is self contained and controlled w/ one switch.

 

[JeffGonzales]

A web cam using a usb connect should be fine and not take up too much memory. However I started off using a HD webcam and i did get good video and transfer. The problem i came up with is i was not able to zoom in with the web cam.

I switched to a MiniDV camcorder and used it connecting via Firewire. This enabled it to be a very fast transfer and i was able to zoom plus i got a better picture since my camcorder has a 1/4 3ccd. If i hooked the Camcorder via usb it would be far slower transfer. If you are able i think the best bet is to have a camcorder dash cam hooked up via firewire, but also make sure ur computer have a firewire input. This has been the best way for me since im streaming Live. If u just want to record your chase and not stream then u can use the other options.

 

[Dennis Sherrod]

Ken
Have you looked at Mobile DVR setups? You can get various types and cost systems where you can set up directly to the DVR system. You will not have to go through a computer.

One option is to look at what SuperCircuits has to offer. They also have some good info sections on their site.

http://www.supercircuits.com/Digital-Video-Recorders/Mobile-DVRs/