unable to interface axis ip network camera

[Mozill]

Hi Gavin,

Thanks for a prompt response. Actually, I am trying to acquire image using freely available webcam library from Pete's website at http://www.cs.unc.edu/~parente/labview/index.shtml
I tried the LabVIEW Webcam Library functions provided by Pete, but somehow I am not able to receive any images on the front panel. I tried running the Webcame Get Digitizer vi to get the driver number, but it only shows WDM at number 0.

I dont know whats wrong, could you help me please?

Regards,

Mozill

[T-Route]

Hello Mozill,

I am very sorry but we do not have any additional information regarding the use of Pete's webcam VI's since they do not use any of the NI drivers to communicate with the cameras.  I would strongly suggest searching the NI forums and other external forums for any additional information regarding the use of Pete's webcam VI's that other customers may have posted.  I found a couple posts in my searching that have a few suggestions on troubleshooting (URLs below).  With our IMAQ for USB driver the camera needs to be direct show complaint in order to work.  It looks like Pete's VI's have a similar prerequisite called Video for Windows (VFW) that his VI's use to capture images from a USB webcam.  Can you tell me the image format the VI's use when the image is acquired?  I hope this information helps.  I invite anyone else with experience in using Pete's webcam VI's to post with any ideas.  Thanks and have a great day.

 LabVIEW webcam:

How do I acquire from my usb webcam?

Regards,
Mark T
Applications Engineer
National Instruments

[Mozill]

Hi Mark,

I am trying to run the 'Webcam Continous Capture.vi'  available in the webcam examples folder from the Pete's website. I also installed the file in the directory user.lib as suggested. But I am not able to acquire any image. There is no indication of the image format Pete is trying to use here. I am totally lost. I do not wanna use the vision development module as it is out of my budget for such a small application.
Any help is appreciated.

Thank you for your time mark.

Regards,

Mozill

[T-Route]

Hello Mozill,

Can you tell me what Pete uses to display the images then? Is it an IMAQ image display or a picture box?  Do you receive an error when you try to acquire from the camera?  A little more information might help in troubleshooting this issue.  I'll do my best to try and help you out but it is possible that your camera will not work with Pete's custom webcam VIs.  Let me know and we'll see what we can come up with.  Thanks and have a great day.

Regards,
Mark T
Applications Engineer
National Instruments

[Mozill]

Hi Mark,

I think Pete is using a 'webcam flat to picture.vi' to get the image and then uses probably (i am not sure) picture box to display the image. I am attaching the vi for your reference. I do not get any error, but at the same time I am not even able to acquire any video on the front panel. It only shows a watch. It is said on Pete's website that I should be choosing correct driver number to get the image, so I tried running the 'webcam get digitizer.vi' to get the device number, but no luck. I am attaching the whole zip file as designed by Pete.

Thank you for your time, Mark.

Regards,

Mozill

[T-Route]

Hello Mozill,

I have taken a look at Pete's Webcam VIs that you posted.  It looks like he uses Call Library Function Nodes to call his custom made DLLs to initialize a camera as well as return data from the camera.  He then uses the “Draw Flattened Pixmap” VI (from NI) to convert the image data to an actual image that LabVIEW can display.  If you probe the output data and find that data is being returned from the driver through the call library function node and no image is being displayed then there might be something wrong with the conversion process and we can take a look at that.  If none or blank data is being returned than without knowing how the driver was written I am sorry to say I will be unable to help you.  I noticed on Pete's Webcam page that he no longer supports his webcam driver.  Since he would be the only one in this situation that can shed some light on the issue you might want to start looking at some alternatives.  I highly encourage you to at least download the Vision Development Module for a 30 day free trial.  This way you can also install the USB Driver we have posted on our website to see if it will be compatible with your camera.  You will at least have access to this API for 30 days and can then decide if it is worth buying.  One thing I noticed from another one of your posts is that you want to do simultaneous image acquisition from 2 webcams.  Please note that our IMAQ for USB driver version 1.0 does not support acquisition from multiple cameras simultaneously.  I am sorry I could not help you more.  If anyone else has ideas for Mozill to try please feel free to post.  Good luck with your project.  Thanks and have a great day.

Regards,
Mark T
Applications Engineer
National Instruments

[Mozill]

Hi Mark,

I tried probing the return value of the call library function node, the value of which is displayed as 0. Also, I value changes to -1 if I change the webcam digitizer number (driver number) other than  0. Also, I found that the green LED is ON for only driver number=0; for any other number, if turns off.

I will definately try the vision development module as you suggested me. The image capture I am trying to do is only until April 2007; its part of my non-commercial thesis project. Its not something which I will be running all the time. As you suggested me that I cannot perform image capture for two cameras simultaneously, but is it possible to capture them one at a time with the same code? Could you also suggest me a specific discussion message pertaining to my situation.

I appreciate your time towards my thesis completion. Thank you very much and have a great weekend.

Regards,

Mozill

[Mozill]

Hi Mark,

I am not sure if I will be able to capture video from my camera using vision development module. I am using following camera: http://www.grandtec.com/webcam.html

My webcamera does have an activeX drivers in the manufacturer cd. Any help is appreciated.

Thank you.

Regards,

Mozill

[T-Route]

Hello Mozill,

To find out if your webcam is Direct Show compliant you will probably need to contact Grandtec.  I looked at the website for the camera and could not find any documentation that described the driver the camera uses.  If your camera has an Active X object you can definitely use that in LabVIEW.  As long as the Active X object is registered it should populate in the list of Active X objects when you add an Active X container.  There is some good information about using Active X in LabVIEW at the following link.  I hope this helps.  Thanks and have a great day.

ActiveX and LabVIEW:

Regards,
Mark T
Applications Engineer
National Instruments

[Mozill]

Hi Mark,

I followed your suggestions and I am able to capture the image. Thanks a lot for the help. However, I am running through some problems. The first problem is that when I try to stop the vi, labview freezes, I am using the vi 'Grab with Property Page.vi'. The second problem is that when I copy paste the 'Grab with Property Page.vi' in my custom vi program. It does not work; I cant even access the nodes. It shows just the image of the vi I copied. Is there any way to solve the problem?

Thank you for your time.

Regards,

Mozill