Marcus - All my motion activated recording has been at the recorder/PC
end. The camera continuously sends what it sees and the software
recorder detects change between frames to determine if the motion
threshold is crossed. It only writes to the file when change is
detected. Think of it like a software controlled pause button. Look
for the ability to have a time stamp on the image as you can't determine
when the critters are active based on start/stop time of the recording
if it is motion activated.
As an example, it your motion activated recording has the camera
pointing at a street, you might get 30 minutes of recording an hour at
commute time, 10 minutes of recording per hour at mid-day, and no
recording in the wee hours of the morning.
You have several options to help control file size including setting the
resolution and number of frames per time period. Normal video is 30
frames per second, but for just identifying critters, you could cut that
down to 1 frame per second and significantly reduce the file size.
Motion would be jerky, but you would see the critters.
If you have a product in mind, see if you can download the manual to
read about the options available to you.
I have a Swann camera (obsolete model) that is decent -
http://www.swannsecurity.com/
Q-See is also a brand that has been around at least a few years -
http://www.q-see.com/
Brian
Marcus Pless wrote:
> I'd like to thank everyone for their suggestions. Since I'm
> basically looking for a "critter cam" this needs to be an
> inexpensive project. I've got a couple of ideas based on
> the responses that I'm still investigating. One question
> that I've sent to a retailer (at Smarthome.com) is exactly
> what "motion activated" implies. Is the camera always "recording"
> to a PC and it only uses the motion activation to generate
> an alert, or does the motion activation initiate the "recording".
> Potentially a huge difference in disk usage. ;-)
>
> When/if I implement something I'll report any findings.
>
> Thanks again!
>
> --Marcus
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