webcam

 

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 webcam(1)                                               webcam(1)
 
 
 
NAME
        webcam  -  capture  images  and upload them to a webserver
        using ftp
 
SYNOPSIS
        webcam [ config file ]
 
DESCRIPTION
        webcam captures images  from  a  video4linux  device  like
        bttv,  annotates  them and and uploads them to a webserver
        using ftp in a endless loop.
 
 CONFIGURATION
        At startup webcam reads the configuration from  the  given
        config  file  or  ~/.webcamrc  if none is specified in the
        command line.  It looks like this (the  given  values  are
        the defaults):
 
        [ftp]
        host = www
        user = webcam
        pass = xxxxxx
        dir  = public_html/images
        file = webcam.jpeg
        tmp  = uploading.jpeg
        passive = 1
        debug = 0
        auto = 0
        local= 0
 
        [grab]
        device = /dev/video0
        text = "webcam %Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S"
        infofile = filename
        width = 320
        height = 240
        delay = 3
        input = composite1
        norm = pal
        rotate = 0
        top = 0
        left = 0
        bottom = -1
        right = -1
        quality = 75
        trigger = 0
        once = 0
 
        The annotation text is processed with strftime.  Check the
        strftime(3) or date(1) manpage to see how you  can  format
        the  timestamps.   The text can also be read from a extern
        file (use infofile for that).  input is the  video  source
        (TV/composite/whatever),  norm  the TV norm.  delay is the
        delay between two images in seconds.  quality is the  JPEG
        quality for the stored images.
 
        If  debug in the ftp section is set to 1 the complete com­
        munication between webcam and the ftp utility  is  printed
        to  stderr.   auto  enables autologin via ~/.netrc (starts
        the ftp utility without the '-n' switch).  If local in the
        ftp  section  is  non-zero,  files  will be stored locally
        (using the dir, tmp,  and  file  parameters)  rather  than
        ftped.
 
        top,  bottom,  left,  and  right in the grab section allow
        cropping the image after it is grabbed.  They should  sat­
        isfy 0<=top<bottom<=height and 0<=left<right<=width.  (0,0
        is the top, left corner.)  If rotate is positive, the out­
        put  image  will  be  rotated counter-clockwise 90 degrees
        that number of times (1, 2, or 3).
 
        With trigger set to a non-zero value  webcam  will  upload
        the  image  only  if the content of the image has changed.
        It just looks for the maximum difference between the  last
        uploaded  and  current image and if it is greater than the
        specified value the image will be uploaded.   If  once  is
        set to 1 webcam will upload a single frame and quit.
 
        archive  can  be  used  to create a (local) archive of the
        webcam images.  Just specify a the filename for the  files
        as  argument.   The  filename will be processed with strf­
        time(3), so you can use the place the  usual  time  format
        controls into the string to get unique filenames.
 
AUTHOR
        Gerd Knorr <kraxel@bytesex.org>
 
 COPYRIGHT
        Copyright (C) 1997-2001 Gerd Knorr
        This  program  is  distributed in the hope that it will be
        useful, but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied
        warranty  of  MERCHANTABILITY  or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR
        PURPOSE.
 
 
 
                      (c) 1998-2000 Gerd Knorr           webcam(1)

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