Best DIY IP Camera Software for Under $500

S

Shurafa

Member
I am looking to purchase IP Camera software for my home.

1.I plan on having between 4-16 cameras.
2. I would like to be able to recognize the persons face even if they are just walking by.
3. I would also like to be able to store the information on a server.
4. Is there anything else I should be looking for?

I have tried OpenEye, Webcamxp, Vitamin D, iSpy and GotoCamera. So far I really like Vitamin D. The ability to easily recognize/record objects is really nice. For $199 the price point seems like a good value as well. The problem is the quality is very low however I this is a result of the cheap cameras I have.

What software do you use and what do you recommend an why?
 
VitaminD, hands down. It's a breeze to work with, the rules work very well and the support is good. I would blame your cameras over software any day. Start with the fundamentals. At 16 cameras, you better have one hell of a rig to run on, too.
 
Have you looked at Zoneminder? There are several folks over on the Homeseer forums that run it and seem to really like it.
 
Shurafa said:
I am looking to purchase IP Camera software for my home.

1.I plan on having between 4-16 cameras.
2. I would like to be able to recognize the persons face even if they are just walking by.
3. I would also like to be able to store the information on a server.
4. Is there anything else I should be looking for?

I have tried OpenEye, Webcamxp, Vitamin D, iSpy and GotoCamera. So far I really like Vitamin D. The ability to easily recognize/record objects is really nice. For $199 the price point seems like a good value as well. The problem is the quality is very low however I this is a result of the cheap cameras I have.

What software do you use and what do you recommend an why?
Click to expand...
If you are going to go for 16 cameras I would recommend one of the higher end package systems that come with the DVR and the cameras. Be aware though, in the camera world the old addage you get what you pay for holds very true.
 
Shurafa said:
I am looking to purchase IP Camera software for my home.

1.I plan on having between 4-16 cameras.
2. I would like to be able to recognize the persons face even if they are just walking by.
3. I would also like to be able to store the information on a server.
4. Is there anything else I should be looking for?

I have tried OpenEye, Webcamxp, Vitamin D, iSpy and GotoCamera. So far I really like Vitamin D. The ability to easily recognize/record objects is really nice. For $199 the price point seems like a good value as well. The problem is the quality is very low however I this is a result of the cheap cameras I have.

What software do you use and what do you recommend an why?
Click to expand...

Hi!
I try to run most of my software on a mac so I am using a program named SecuritySpy. Check out the site at securityspy.com.
There are a ton of cameras supported as well as analog to ip servers. In addition, you can send email alerts, upload to an ftp folder/site.
This is a very feature rich app for a couple of hundred dollars. Some of my clients insist on the mac platform and this is the only native application which I have had great success with.
One of my sites is running 54 Axis P3344 VE on a MacPro with no problems.
 
I just built a machine to do this last weekend as my old one would not cut it. As AnthonyZ suggested above you will need a pretty decent PC build to accomplish your task, especially with 16 cameras.

I currently have eight cameras on two Axis 241Q IP video servers and run both Vitamin D and WebCamXP on an Athlon II processor with 4 GB of DDR 2 Ram and a 1.5 TB hard drive. My processor usage is under 30% with this setup.

The reason I run both Vitamin D and WebCamXP is Vitamin D is Superior in capturing video snippets based on their extensive (and accurate for various situations) rules. WebCamXP provides me a web page with thumbnail images of captures only based on percent of pixel changes (not nearly as accurate); but, this gives me a good quick look of captures (review them each morning) and if further investigation is warranted, I'll look at the Vitamin D archives. Plus the new version of WebCamXP provides a nice smart phone interface in their included web server.

I DO wish Vitamin D had a nice capture interface and web server like WebCamXP. Then it would be far superior to anything else out there. After messing around with other software I did find Vitamin D to be far superior in their capture rules though and it is amazing the capture scenarios you can accomplish with this software (for instance when someone enters a doorway). I do suggest downloading both of these programs and playing around with their free trials.

As far as camera quaity, I have yet to find one that really meets my needs of facial recognition, especially at distance. I DID find that distance if very important, especially with cheaper cameras. My camera reviews and experience included prices ranges in the low 100's to mid 300's. Someone here suggested the Mobotix line for superior quality and detailed image detection, but their price range of 1000'ish is above my range.
 
Or, you can get IP cameras that have a built in DVR with the ability to upload to a fileserver for archival, and then just view them individually through Quicktime/VLC/IP Cam Viewer (for Android/Iphone/BB).

This is what I do. I use the Sharx cameras (http://www.sharxsecurity.com). h.246 30fps video. They are nice cameras, and the outdoor ones are made extremely well.
 
Yea, I should have also pointed out that the Mobotix line of cams I mentioned above have both a separate camera for night vision and a DVR AND it boasts a 60 degree C operating temp (important here in Las Vegas :) ).
 
Personally I like Zoneminder (Linux) and have been running it for years now. I have 8 analogue and 3 IP cameras hooked up to it. Once configured its pretty stable. Best of all its free.
 
Curious about Vitamin D... Is it a browser based interface, where any PC on your network could view the cameras via a browser pointed to an IP address?
 
Icatcher

I have used in it numerous installations with good results. Its mobile view is nice for cell phones. Lots of other useful features.
 
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